Chieftain Toredill of the Styval tribe didn't believe the goat herding boy when he ran to his tent a day ago and spoke of strange black mountains appearing out at sea.

The tale was fantastical! Pitch black hills bellowing black smoke magically appearing out in the sea? What a poor jape!

He made to have the boy flogged and thrown out of his tent, but others came to him reporting the same. He wondered if they swallowed wild herbs and went mad.

With no choice, he decided to go himself and see. He rode his prized unicorn upon the hill overlooking the shores of crab claw point. That's when he saw them. His people had spoken true!

Far out on the horizon a group of smoking Mountain ranges or floating spires black as Wightsbane appeared out in the shivering sea!

His clan, the styvals of crab claw point had always guarded the coast, fished and traded with passing ships. In ancient times his ancestors would build great vessels to aid house Magnar in raiding and trade. That was until the Starks smashed them and killed their most talented sea-vessel builders.

Now, when long winters came and the waters were too rough to fish from land, he and his people could only hope for ships to come to them for trade or to be smashed against the stoney ashore, where they may scavenge the dead.

He sent a ride to kingshouse with word of the strange appearances and prayed beneath the heart tree at night.

He even summoned a woods witch to him so that she would divine the mysteries of the ominous spires. Possibly she could make sense of omen and deliver the words and blessings of the old gods onto him.

That night, under cover of moonlight, the witch sacrificed one of his precious goats at the roots of the heart tree. She peered into the eyes of the weeping face carved into the tree's trunk and drank the goat's blood with herbs and spices.

The witch danced and said only a word before collapsing dead.

'Eldr'!

He'd later came to know the word was old tongue for fire. The passing of the hag was no good omen at all.

So chieftain Toredill rallied his men, set up watch and waited to see what would happen to the mountains.

That's how he ended up at the shores of Crab claw point yet again. This time mustering a force Nine-hundred strong. All able bodied men and women in the village to hold a vigil as the pregnant women and children stayed further away.

It was around noon when he noticed it. One of the smoking mountains seemed to grow larger. He soon realized it was calming closer to the shore!

In no time, the thing was upon them. It was massive! He didn't know what sorcery kept such a terrible thing afloat! The massive mountain was undaunted by the rough waves and sliced through them like Wightsbane through goat fat.

"Ready!" He shouted at the men lined before him. They drew their bows and aimed them high.

Before the thing got into range, aloud crash was made from behind it as if something fell into the sea.

The sound seemed to set the men off and they began firing without his command. He could do little as the men fired away at looming thing. He couldn't find his voice to admonish them.

They paused for a moment as the thing seemed to cease it's approach. Now that it stopped, he could more calmly behold the thing in all it's peculiar glory.

As Toredill beheld the thing, he realized it was actually a vessel!

'A Ship!' How such a vessel could be made, how it stayed a float was lost to him. He knew the vessel was made of something heavy as the few arrows that managed to land any hits bounced off.

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Just as he let his guard down, the strange vessel released a hiss and then the front end of the ship fell, slamming into the rocky earth and sending vibrations through the ground. It was as if a ball of thunder had fallen to from the skies!

He heard screams from both the men before him and the hiding people behind him.

"Fire!" he shouted at the men while notching a wightsbane-tipped arrow as well.

The men began firing even as steam poured forth from the strange ship.

Massive beasts descended from it, roaring as they charged. Some of his bravest men rushed forward! What mad courage fueled them he didn't know. Some turned and ran.

As for him? What did he do? Nothing actually. For some reason couldn't dig up the pluck to attack or retreat. He could only watch as the hulking armored beasts trampled his men.

He could see them clearly now, the figures of men sat atop the monstrous beasts. They were clad in black and crimson armor.

Before he could ride forward to aid the few brave souls who charged the beasts and the devils ridding them, he watched as one of the riders gathered fire in his palm and threw it at the closest of his men!

The man was knocked back, he fell to the ground grasping at his pink and soldering face! Soon all the mounted warriors were hurling flames at his men!

He heard shouting from the direction of the cured vessel. He looked to it and saw a stream of black and red pouring from it's blighted maw.

'We're fucked!'

He made his decision in that moment. With a kick of his feet, and a tug of his reins, he turned his unicorn around and rode off before the charging hulks could meet him! The chief felt heat tickle his neck briefly then.

He passed his village, barely glancing his wife and children as he urged the mount to go faster. In that moment his wasn't the chieftain of the ancient Styval clan, he wasn't the back-breaker as he claimed to be, he wasn't a father or husband. He was a man who wished to live!

'Fire wights! Daemons from the sea here to burn the world to ash!'

He rode his unicorn into the mountains. 'Lord Magnar! I hav'ta warn Lord Magnar!' These thoughts rung between his ears as he sped into the rocky path.

________________

Lieutenant Gin descended Sozin's Fist's with his arms folded behind his back. Lately, his mood had been rather poor; the frigid weather did not contribute much in improving to it.

He scanned the area, the rocky shore, crashing waves, daunting Mountain range in the distance and finally the 'settlement'. It was a ramshackle thing of rough and tumble tents that seemed to be made of animalskin and sticks.

As he entered the 'village' proper; it was the smell of the place that hit him first. It stank of unwashed bodies, goat urine, rotten fish and excrement!

He couldn't help but hold his fist to his nose to stifle the scent. This was far worse than any earth kingdom hovel he'd ever been stationed in.

And those were many.

He watched as his soldiers gathered the... inhabitants of this damned island in chains at the center of their settlement. They were odd to say they least, aside from the smell of these... people, if one could even call them that.

They looked like nothing he'd ever seen. From the savage WaterTribe oafs he read about in the academy to the barbaric Earth Kingdom denizens he fought, none looked so... strange.

'I bet even those dead Air Nomads, with their shaved heads and tribal tattoos wouldn't look so inhuman.'

They were hairy, possessing far more than anyone he'd seen before. The men in particular had great bushes of hair on their faces! Unlike the sleek and straight hair of his people, these fellows sported bushy and untamed locks. Then there was the pale and milky skin, broad faces, large bodies, long noses and...

'The colour of their hair.'

He'd never seen such hair colours before, some had red others even had yellow hair! Was it dye? That didn't seem to be the case.

'What type of creatures are they? This truly is another world! Are they spirits?' He heard they looked unnatural. But if that was the case, then the people of old were rather foolish to worship these... ugly and savage beings.

The tall and robust creatures looked up at him with fear as they were rounded up. Some of them even deigned to speak! It was a most ugly thing. A garble of sounds with no trace of intellect.

'Even the uncultured savages of the other nations had the barest minimum of sentience to form actual words.

"Lieutenant!" A soldier ran up to him while panting.

"What is it private? Have you forgotten we have limited time to secure the area?"

"N- no Lieutenant! We are trying but we're experiencing difficulties with the umm... Private Lu Ten!"

Lieutenant Gin almost grabbed his face. He had great reverence for the Firelord and nobility in extension, but he couldn't spend his precious time babysitting one.

"What are those issues?" He asked.

"... He has made a royal declaration!" The private's face mirrored his own in shock!

A royal declaration! This is no simple matter! Reneging on such a decree was grounds for execution!

"What is it!?" He almost slapped the man for pausing.

"H- He's not allowing anyone to cut down the trees with the crying faces sir!"

Lieutenant Gin was stumped.

"The Trees with the what?"