The destruction of Ark Mount

Was a major turning point in the history of the Archivists when the Empire of Chikago crushed the Archivist uprising and destroyed their holy city of Ark Mount. It began following the execution of the prophet Damian, who rejected the corrupt

Despite Damians teachings against violence many of his followers were infuriated by his death and the High Priests role in its occurence. They rallied around one of the prophets closest friends Makrun and stormed Ark Mount, taking the city and killing the High Priest in revenge. They then eliminated nearby Chikagoan garrisons and took full control of Kolyrado. However, many still saw peace as an option, and sought to make a deal with the Chikagoans so that the knowledge held within the city would not be destroyed, these followers became known as the Pragmatists, whom were led by the prophets own mother Ayjra.

Within a few months the Chikagoan Legions personally led by the Emperor Don Wabash III surrounded the city, holing both Zealots and Pragmatists within the ramparts of the city. The Zealots held the Ark itself and continued to the fight the Emperor, who offered to spare their city if they surrendered. As a result fighting broke out within the besieged city between the two sects, which would become the pretext of the later schism of the archivists, with the pragmatists attempting to take the Ark so that they could save its texts and make a deal with the imperial forces.

However, by the time they finally took the Ark from the Zealots after the suicide of their leader Makrun, the Chikagoans had breached the city and were beginning to burn it. Frantically the Pragmatists began smuggling whatever books they could get their hands on out of the city thru secret tunnels that led out of it. They were only able to save a small portion of them however and the ark was burned along with most of the ancient knowledge it held.

Both the surviving Pragmatic and Zealot Archivists then went on a diaspora around the empire away from their homeland in what became known as the Scattering, where they would live in seclusion and persecution until the conversion of the Emperor Hannibul Washtenaw a half a millennium later.