The Cleanse

Historical Event
The years that followed The Year of Perpetual Ash saw many people from all walks of life worry if the gods were angry with the denizens of Exandria. This would manifest itself into the eventual confrontation of differing beliefs called The Divide. However, before these ideals fully realized into opposing sides, people who felt the need to rid themselves and their cities of sacrilegious items such as weave became known as The Cleanse. It was a gradual and natural process that took years and happened in several places independently of the others. Over time, though, it did get more organized and eventually most of western Tal'dorei had been "cleansed". This is also the same time period that saw mass migrations across the face of Tal'dorei along Alliance and Federation lines before these institutions were even founded. People who believed strongly in The Cleanse immigrated to cities like Syngorn and Emon to be with folks that shared in their beliefs. Conversely, there was a mass emigration out of the same cities and surrounding areas by people who did not believe in the extremism that their neighbors and leaders were expressing. By the year of the Divide (898) most of Tal'dorei had already chosen their sides in the upcoming conflicts simply by moving towards the side that most agreed with their views. And those who refused to move soon became ostracized because of their radical beliefs. Eventually The Cleanse came to mean the replication of this purging of weave artifacts but spread across all of Exandria.

The Modern Connotation
The Cleanse has since become a source of religious fervor amongst the deeply religious that they wish to duplicate the purging of all weave all over Exandria. They believe that all life is at stake if the world is not cleansed and slowly started to believe that it should be carried out by any means necessary. These beliefs have become increasingly popular over the recent years in the west and have been growing more militant. They are starting to believe it is better to kill as many people as it takes versus the possibility of world-wide extinction. Now, the Alliance is under constant threat of a new Cleanse if enough extremists organize to conduct one. The root of the issue is that most of the Federation has True Belief in the idea that the world is soon going to end if weave is not purged from the world. And true belief in something that powerful can truly inspire great atrocities in the name of saving the world.