What Is the Warcross Wall?
Research Notes on the Wall, by Brelan AshMar
April 12, 2026
What is the Wall?
Sure, we’ve all heard the stories of how the Empire’s last few mages used the last of their magic to save us from both plague and the Vampire hordes, but… what is it?
Nothing grows near it for miles. There’s no wildlife of any sort in the vicinity. The Wall itself is made of large, gray stone bricks, perfectly fit together into an 80’ tall barrier. Nine towers (why nine? An odd number to be sure) are dotted along its length, which is somehow the entire continent of Espon. The bricks themselves are cool to the touch, despite baking in the sun most of the time. The last remnants of magic in the world are visible as faint, pulsing lines of light just under the surface of the stone.
Not just fauna and flora, nothing seems to work near it. Attempting to climb it is impossible without tools, but rope and cord will snap without reason, metal will chip or break. Food goes bad. Tents collapse. Don’t even get me started on any sort of tech — it’s completely useless out here, no matter what it’s function is. I had to walk since vehicles just… stop working. Even the bike I brought just locked up as I approached. I suppose I should consider myself lucky that paper and pencil work as intended in close proximity to the Wall, though there were several times I thought I would lose them to unlucky bursts of wind.
I’m on my sixth tent in a month, but I’ve learned only to bring limited provisions if I’m getting very close. There must be a way to stay out here for longer.
April 16, 2026
No one else comes out here. Locals along the length of the Wall have all sorts of different and sometimes conflicting reasons why. The Wall is dangerous; the land is dangerous; something dangerous is seeping through and killing the land; the government doesn’t want anyone looking into the Wall; the government is already looking into the Wall; people who take an interest in the Wall go missing (a rumor I am happy to disprove as I have been studying it for months now); Truth Seekers don’t like people investigating the Wall; etc.
The locals think I am crazy for the number of times I’ve gone out to the Wall. Today I was told a ghost story by a little girl in Sturlow — something about the nearby tower being haunted. I’m not sure how it could be; there’s no door or windows. Seems like solid stone. Why even have towers? It’s a magic wall. What purpose do they serve? No one was ever going to man them even if there were interiors. They are not within sight of each other.
Surely… surely they weren’t… towers just for the sake of having them?
May 2, 2026
The Wall is not a straight line, but it is made up of straight lines which ignore the topography of the land it passes over. I can’t figure out why it changes direction where it does. If you overlay an old map that predates the Wall with a current one, it mostly lines up with the old country borders, but definitely does not respect them. So why not just a single straight line? Or at least a straight line between towers? I swear, it has no rhyme or reason to it at all. Perhaps everything with magic was this way?
You’d think that where the Wall meets the shore you could just go around, but instead there is a terribly thick fog that seems to eminate up from the water. People who go in get turned around somehow, and find themselves walking right back out. I’ll have to try it myself at some point, but currently my research grants will not allow me to travel that far.
I have had to buy another tent.
May 18, 2026
I have moved to a location in Elbe and set up a new camp just out of sight of a different tower. I’m hoping for better luck here. At least the nearest town is a little closer.
This tower is identical to the first, as expected. Though… I may be imagining it, but this one feels a little warmer when I touch it. Perhaps because the weather is getting warmer? Though it hasn’t been significantly different in temperature, definitely not enough to affect stone.
Is it actually stone? Do any of the laws of nature actually apply to a magic wall?
What is the Wall?
May 30, 2026
What happened to the towns and cities that must have been here before the Wall? People must have lived here. Where are those remains? Was there an evacuation? I can’t imagine a successful evacuation of an area the entire length of a continent. Some people would have stayed behind. They always do, refusing to listen to the warnings.
What happened to them?
What happened to the people on the other side?
June 5, 2026
My things have fared better at this new camp. Well, the food and tent has; tech is still a lost cause. Which is upsetting, because I really wanted to take pictures! But at least I don’t have to go into town every other day.
The summer weather has turned obnoxiously hot. I’ve stocked up on water, and a friendly older gentleman gave me an old-fashioned cooler — the kind that relies on plastic insulation rather than tech. The block ice I bought for it can keep things cool for almost a week before I have to get more. But even though they are willing to supply, they won’t talk about the Wall or the tower. They watch me leave like it’s the last time they’ll see me, even though I’ve been back several times now. Surely that’s enough to show them their superstitions are just that — superstitions? I am perfectly safe out here despite the lack of tech.
Other than in my tent, the Wall itself is the only real shade, though it gets dicey around noon. I’ve been limiting my research times to the morning and late afternoon because of it. The feel of the Wall itself seems to have gotten somewhat cooler when I touch it now, which is pleasant in this heat. I’ve gone out a few times at night, but…
It’s hard to explain. There’s nothing and no one out here, nothing at all.
But I can’t bring myself to stay out for long at night.
June 17, 2026
Why was the knowledge about the Wall lost? Just because magic can no longer be performed doesn’t mean we should have lost the knowledge of what exactly it did and why it did so. The explanations should still be known, shouldn’t they? All that was supposed to be lost was the ability.
Without knowledge, without understanding, how do we prepare for the future? Will the Wall stand until the end of time, cleaving the continent of Espon in two? Or will it fail some time in the far future, crumble into legend like the magic it was made from?
Was it even made from magic, or simply with it? There are no records. Why? Were these things so well known that they simply saw no reason to write them down? Or was it on purpose, a desire for the knowledge to fade into obscurity? What purpose would that serve?
If the Wall does fall, what is on the other side?
June 24, 2026
This Wall was meant to protect us, but now that protection is frightfully maddening, preventing us from having any answers.
I feel like I’m going in circles.
Maybe I should go to the coast and try to enter the fog. At least that would be something different.
June 26, 2026
It’s odd — my ice has lasted for almost three weeks? I only noticed because one of the townsfolk mentioned it had been a while since I’d last bought ice.
June 29, 2026
The area around the Wall is perfectly, unnaturally flat. Maps from the 1400s show normal topographical features that were wiped out when the Wall was built. Built? Raised? Created? What is even the right term?
There is no official name for this strip of land that abuts the Wall, but locals all along the length call it the Waste and I have to say the word is very appropriate. The area has been laid to waste. Just dusty ground as far as the eye can see — and the Wall. I’ve taken to laying outside my tent for a bit at night, looking at the stars. The sky is beautiful out here.
But something about the Waste at night sends a shiver down my spine. When the moon is out I can see for miles around my tent. I am alone. There is nothing out there. But it feels like something is watching me back. I can’t explain it.
Now that I think about it, the fact that everyone has the same name for it is rather odd. It implies the name was brought in instead of forming naturally.
August 3, 2026
I don’t have all that much longer to find my answers. This research trip was only supposed to last until September and my funds are now dangerously low (a depressing side-effect of having gone through so many tents earlier in the year). The weather hasn’t gotten any cooler and I feel sticky all the time. Well, all the time I’m not in contact with the Wall. I’ve discovered it has a wonderful cooling effect that counters the heat. By that, I don’t just mean that it’s cool to the touch, as I noted earlier — rather, I feel significantly cooler after touching it for about an hour or so. It’s the only relief out here. Returning to town is the only other option.
But that feels too much like giving up. I won’t let the heat defeat me.
I do wish I dared try moving my tent closer to the Wall to take advantage of its cooling effect at night, but I do not want to have to buy any more tents. I’m already dreading filling out my expense report for this trip.
The Wall guards its secrets well, and I have just about a month left to try to uncover them.
August 6, 2026
Why did I have to choose the Wall as my thesis subject? Edna warned me that this was a stupid idea. We already know everything there is to know about the Wall. It is a magic wall built 500 years ago that cleaves the continent in two. End of story.
Perhaps this is a fool’s errand, but I just have so many other questions. I wish I could be satisfied with the information we have, but I’m not. It fascinates me, this marvelous wonder. Proof that magic did exist at one point. That people were capable of things that even tech would struggle with today.
What is the Wall?
August 16, 2026
I can’t shake the feeling that someone is watching me.
August 17, 2026
I think there’s multiple someones.
