“We did not leave. We learned when to be quiet.”
The Ashwake Enclave is a Norse-descended coastal war-camp—not a raiding host, but a standing people. Fisher-warriors, shipwrights, rope-makers, and shield-bearers who stayed when the longships stopped coming.
They are not conquerors anymore.
They are watchers.
They guard old landing coves and sea-paths
They control ship traffic quietly, without banners
They remember Crown promises that were never kept
They prepare for wars they hope never reach them
The Ashwake do not march inland unless the land itself is threatened.
Low voices, long memories
Weapons kept clean but unused
War-songs sung only at funerals or departures
Children taught knots before letters
Gods remembered, not worshipped loudly
They believe fate watches those who watch the sea.
The Tide-Keeper
Not a king. Not a jarl.
Chosen by consensus and survival.
Their duty:
Decide when the Enclave stays hidden
Decide when ships sail
Decide when the old shields come off the walls
Once a Tide-Keeper orders war, there is no retreat.
They know her name.
Astrid Thorsdottir came from Ashwake blood.
Elowen is seen as:
A rope-keeper
A witness
One who bends fate without breaking it
If she came to them asking for help, they would not answer immediately.
They would ask:
“Is the land poisoned yet?”
Mutual respect, little contact
Ashwake provides escape by sea
Greenwood provides early warning inland
Neither commands the other
If the Iron Writ reaches the coast, that silence ends.
A hidden evacuation route for villagers
A last-resort ally if the forest falls
Proof that England is not as unified as the Crown claims
A place where old Norse songs are still sung without fear
A reminder that conquest does not erase people—only names
“The sea forgets nothing. It only waits.”