Arx Atrata
			Spiritus in Terra

1. Legacy

(A Song of Remembrance)

As the sun rises and falls
And constellations crawl across dark skies
Our time here grows ever shorter
And the silence of the void beckons us all

We are given just one life
And each day our fate is left in our hands
Choosing whether to build or to destroy
As the tides of time crawl across the sands

With each moon that passes
A life drifts away
With each moon that passes
Souls slowly decay

We may not pass into legend
But we will be noted for our deeds
Shadows of today cast into eternity
And our abstract marks on the world
Shall become our legacy

The changes that we wrought
Shall live on forever
Monuments to dreams of the dead

And when we return to the earth
And leave life to others
Our spirit remains and endures


2. Hiraeth

(A Song of Longing)

Yet another year has passed
Things change yet stay the same
Times I've lost but not forgotten
Glories I can never reclaim

Sometimes we yearn
For something that never was
Wishing to return
To lands that never were

I travelled this road with friends and foes
Many were left by the side of the track
Willing or not, now they are absent
We look to the past, but cannot go back

Timeless demons
Ancient ghosts

This time was given to us
Not to hold, but to see
And remaining forever in that moment
Was never meant to be


3. Sherwood

(A Song of the Forest)

Ten thousand years ago, when ice fled north
And water set Albion adrift once more
The land turned to emerald; great oaks burst forth
And took their place, united as Sherwood

It once was said these woods were home
To outlaws roaming free of feudal bonds
Hunters dwelling amongst the trees
And refuge sought beneath their fronds

A place of solace
Our ancient forest

Then men carved at the woods, 'til little remained
Memories and spirits harshly cast away
Now only a remnant holds against the blight
Yet maybe it will prevail, once we are dead and gone


4. Impermanence

(A Song of Hubris)

Wisdom of the ages, passed through generations
From father to son, from mother to daughter
A shared legacy of a people
Their knowledge, their heritage, an ancient gift

By voice or rune or paper passed
Mankind's knowledge in words held fast
Until the day when those words moved swiftly
Burning bright, then fading to obscurity

A weapon that cannot be wielded
After today's sun has set
A shield that brings us no safety
In battles with tomorrow's foes

How quick we are to forget the old ways
Spurning the gifts of the past
Wildly we embrace our fleeting power
Seldomly knowing the cost

Today's wisdom
May never be known
To those that follow in years to come
Cursed to wander alone

Or maybe they are blessed
To prosper in innocence
Which came at our expense
Our downfall, our descent into impermanence


5. Spiritus in Terra

(A Song of Timelessness)

Each kingdom leaves its mark
Long after the king is gone
Battles fought and monuments raised in steadfast stone
Ancient paths meander
Through the lands of the present day
Ruined forts stand guard
As sentinels of yesterday

Strata of existence
Layer after layer
Forming the Albion of today
Spiritus in Terra

We hear the whispers of the ancients on the wind
Over fens and woods and dales come messages of old
Windswept hills eternally stand astride the verdant earth
Forests cast their shadows on the soil
From which all life began


6. The Traveller

(A Song of Change)

Once as a child I looked out from home
Over the fields I saw travellers passing in the night
On their way to destinations unknown

Time erodes us
Life escapes us

Once as a man I returned to that place
And traced the paths I had walked before
My people were gone, but I felt them still

We can never truly return
Because we never truly leave

Now I am the traveller
Looking back upon my former home

I can never return to those times
But they live on in me, in this place


7. The Barrow

(A Song of Acceptance)

When my time has come
Lay me here to rest
Looking out to the west
Where the sun sets
As it will for me

Do not mourn long
For I will be home
Watching over the land I loved

What fate will bring us
I cannot know
Our world may change, our people too
But I did what I could
Within the shackles of fate
No more and no less
Will the world offer to you

In death my name will be forgotten
And lost to history
So I did what I could
In the time offered to me

Now my time has come
And here I do rest
Looking out to the west
Where the sun sets, as it did for me

Farewell