The raiders came through the tree line at the fourth bell of Ironrise, which was wrong.
Kesseth raiding parties attacked at dawn. First light, eastern approach, the sun behind them, the glare forcing defenders to squint into the treeline where the shapes of attackers blurred into the shapes of shadows. Four hundred years of Kesseth raiding doctrine had established this as doctrine for a reason: dawn attacks maximised confusion, minimised defender preparation time, and exploited the transition between night watch and morning shift when garrison staffing was at its thinnest. Dawn. Always dawn.
These raiders came at fourth bell, mid-morning, full daylight, the sun overhead and the shadows short and the defenders already at post with hot food in their stomachs and clear sight lines to the northern treeline. The timing was wrong. The timing was deliberately wrong. The timing was a message: we are not here because we need surprise. We are here because we want to see what you do.
