"The following passage is a preserved personal testimony, written by Kvadskrifter Hrafn of Ättji Ljosrvalde, who bore witness to the Vardar invasion of Hjartsveit. It was later transcribed into the annals for its vivid account of the moment war arrived at Ljosrvalde’s shores."

• "The beach was misty as it always was, the fog suffocating the air and blocking one's view of the sea. So when my fellow watchmen looked northward toward Vargsundet and beyond, all that could be seen was the dense fog, and nothing else. Perhaps the soft beating of the waves against the shore, yet not even that could be heard over our idle conversings."

  "Hjartsveit, sleepy coastal town home to many of ättji's watchmen, was oddly awake this morning. At the time, I was oblivous as to why. We were all oblivious as to why. Perhaps Ótkeld had stirred us. From our beds, from our dreams, from our silence. Since the coasts were clear as far as we could see, we retreated back to our houses for the time being."

  "As I conversed with my family at the time, cracking jokes and laughing together, Fyrbansropet rang as loud as raging bull. No wonder Ótkeld had woken us up. He knew this would happen."

  "I apologised profusely to my wife and child as I said that pirates had made landfall again. Pirates were a regular sighting, since they love raiding coastal towns. I went to grab my musket and ammunition before sprinting out to the coast, meeting back up with my fellow watchmen to defend the town."

  "Commander wasn't taking this as relaxed as we were, for he had the mentality that every time that 'pirates' were landing it could be an invasion. Although everyone knew that would be impossible, right? Standing as straight as an arrow, I jammed the ammunition into the chamber with the ramrod. I was unprepared to fight, yet all I could do was hold the gun at present. It was time to scare those pirate bastards away."

  ㅤ

  "Present!"

  "Fire!"

  ㅤ

  "And there was the first shot. However, they weren't retreating. We could barely see them through the fog, but at the very least it was thinning every second. As the fog thinned further and further, the silhouette of what seemed to be a battleship started forming in my vision. Perhaps I was just hallucinating? However, my mates were seeing it too. No way. No one would dare mess with Ljosrvalde, right? The Vardar flag came into view as the fog thinned, and as soon as we recognised it, that's when we knew that everything was over."

  Everything.

  "I tried my hardest to hold back tears as I abandoned post and ran back into my house, urging my wife and son to flee Hjartsveit as fast as they could. It pained me to know it would be the last time I would see them, yet I knew my hand was forced. As a watchman, also a member of Skjoldstandet, we were expected to sacrifice ourselves for the betterment of Ljosrvalde."

  "I shed a tear as I turned away from them and faced the sea, running back to my post. I thank Ótkeld for having some empathy for me. Those brutes. R*tlingars. None of us would have expected Vardars would come to us in war. Yet, here we were. Standing as straight as an arrow. Jamming the ammunition into the chamber with the ramrod. Flammerne, we were unprepared, but all we could do... was prepare."

  "Round after round we fired, unrelenting Vardars not hesitating even the slightest as they rowed closer to the shore. In between commands, I managed to look at Commander. He looked shaken. Even Commander, man who warned us, who readied us, was shaken. You could see it in his eyes. The fear. The knowledge. This was no raid. This was history turning. Our Vardløparar Raskur mounted his steed to set off for the capital, even though he knew it would take days to reach Høvkapten. By then, Vardars could have conquered most of the northern coast. It was unfortunate, yet what could we do? All we could do was pray to Ótkeld that he would make it safely."

  "Vardars were drawing nearer. And nearer. And nearer. At that point, there would be no chance we would be able to actually shoot them all down. So we fixed the stikknagl to the barrel. Even though that meant we could no longer fire bullets at bl***tarare and that it would increase the chance of death, it did also meant better defense. To my right, Svein slotted the stikknagl in, his hands shaking as he muttered probably a prayer to Ótkeld."

  "As the fog finally departed and the sun began to beat down on us all, Vardars made landfall. That's when we charged forward and attacked. It was absolute bloodshed. Steel clashed against steel. Screams, grunts and yells drowned out the crashing of the waves. I lunged at the first face I saw, the stikknagl plunging deep into flesh. Fresh blood spewed out, splashing on my face. Svein was beside me one second, then gone the next, swallowed by the fray. I didn’t have time to grieve. Another bl***tarare swung at me and I managed to hold his stikknagl with my own. My musket was heavy. My arms, shaking. The air stank of corpses, blood and the faint tinge of the sea. This wasn’t a skirmish. This was slaughter. And we were losing."

  "Commander never ended up declaring to fall back. Yet we did so anyway. Out of fear. Desperation. Inner instinct. I asked Ótkeld why he had let this happen, yet I also knew he had a deeper plan for Ljosrvalde and the whole of Nordstägg. I abandoned my musket, gripping my karambit tightly by the handle as I made a run for it. I continually slipped on bodies - friend or foe - as I fled back to Hjartsveit. I thank Ótkeld that he evacuated everyone at the very least. Those of my fellow watchmen who were still alive fled along with me, into the forests south of Hjartsveit."

  "Hjartsveit, Skjoldstandet, I'm sorry."
  

ic footnotes:

• The term "ättji" in the excerpt may refer to both the ruling house and its associated territory. Scholars debate whether Ljosrvald held formal vassals during this period.

• The original manuscript uses the terms 'råtlingars' and 'blodätarare', highly derogatory terms to refer to the Vardars. The terms were commonly thrown around during the time period of the passage's writing by those aligned against the Vardars.

ooc footnotes:
translates into "the old chronicles of western Nordstägg"
no direct translation into english but into japanese, the term uji (氏) fits well
translates into "wolf strait". geographically, it's the strait between vardlingøy and nordstägg.
translates into "the cry of the warbringer". the fyrbansropet was an alarm in ljosrvalden coastal towns that housed watchmen. held by the lead watchman, it rang when they noticed war incoming.
translates into bayonet.