“The Sack of Havenreach” is a old Hedrylli Glorification Song, passed down via word-of-mouth from singers and shamans for over two hundred years before being written down upon Ellador|Hedryll]]'s absorption into the Regalian Empire. This particular tune tells the tale of a great host’s largest raid in Ithania, on the modern-day capital of the Ithanian Sovereignty. While having no noted original author, most credit is gifted to the warrior poets that served in the raiding on that day. Of course, with multiple authors and two hundred years worth of telling, each account of the poem differs, though most of the time only slightly. Many historians conclude that the poem is a symbol of the Velheim's long history raiding overseas, pillaging, and looting neighboring kingdoms.
The Sack of Havenreach
Waves soothed the balmy sand,
Ships smother the dead shore,
Warriors from far come for war,
With godly blessing they march,
A city of riches in the morning horizon.
With dawn came the calls of fear,
A city’s gate closed to the warriors,
With the north treader’s call,
The wall did form,
Shield brothers in rank.
Quarrels did rain down,
The besieged taking action,
The fluttering of the bow,
With heavy hands the wall fell,
The northman’s charge led the way.
No longer had the siege waited,
With walls on the ground the traders yielded,
Havenreach was stripped to ash,
Many a men fell in a fortnight,
Under the North Treaders command,
The range was a paradise no more.
Many a man had earned his honor,
Many had earned their wealth,
Many had perished on the field,
And many returned to home.
Trivia
The poem itself is still despised in Ithania to this day.
There are some that believe this entire supposed incident is a fiction. Instead, they propose the event that actually took place was a minor attack on a village close to the city, one the Ithanians dramatized into a devastating assault on their grand settlement, which then reflected back to the Velheim who puffed their chests and took full credit for it.
