Ansgar who was already in the kingdom of Athlone, advanced to the castle of the barony of Uisneach which was on the border with the kingdom of Ireland.
So he sent a group of vanguard soldiers to safeguard the road through the frozen swamps, because he had hidden enemy troops.
This because it was a barony that was on the border, so it would be quite normal to be able to find more enemies than usual.
The vanguard troops advanced through the swamps until they could find a small guard post where there were only about 5 warriors.
Which were heating up in the fire, the vanguard soldiers communicated by signals and, without wasting time, surrounded the small guard post.
Once it was completely surrounded, they walked slowly while preparing their crossbows. The warriors who were hungry and cold stared in horror as they were surrounded by enemies.
So they simply dropped their weapons and raised their hands because they were not willing to die in that place. The soldiers approached and subdued them.
After this, a soldier who could speak Irish approached them to ask where there were more guard posts.
The leader of the warriors, who was a man of about 37 years looked sadly at the soldier. "There should be about ten guard posts in this place.
However, because of the famine, we are the only guard post left in this place and if you hadn't arrived, I would have had to give the order to leave this stupid guard post.
We haven't received any supplies from Uisneach Castle for 2 weeks. We've been feeding on some moldy barley. "
The soldier looked seriously at the man. "So the path to Uisneach castle is completely free?"
The man nodded. "There should be no more guard posts. How did I say we are the only ones in this damn place, maybe even the castle has already been abandoned."
Another of the soldiers approached his companion. "You should ask him if he knows why there are so many spirits in the barony of Adragh.
I think they should know a little more about that damn place than we do. "
The soldier turned his head and looked at the man seriously. "Our army passed the barony of Adragh a few days ago. You know what the hell happens in that place.
We found a town that seemed to have people, but when we checked they were only corpses; it is not normal for spirits to manifest in that way.
Do you have any idea why that happened? "
The man looked seriously at the soldier. "You passed through the cursed barony and were able to get out alive. You are pagan bastards who do not fear death.
That place for many years became a cursed land, according to what I have been able to hear from the people who have been fleeing from that place during the time that I was in this guard post.
It is assumed that one day the priest of that barony fell in love with a woman who lived in the forest. His love was so sick that he ended up kidnapping the woman and raping her.
The woman having been raped she cursed the priest and all that land. The priest then ordered that they kill that woman.
However, the curse of that woman worked, because first the priest died in strange circumstances, later the crops that were sown in the few fertile lands of that barony could be.
After a few months, they saw strange things and as the years went by the situation got worse.
The last survivors of that damn place passed by my guard post about three months ago. All of them had completely sad faces.
When I asked some of the survivors, they simply told me that this place no longer belonged to the living.
They told me about so many strange things that happened that I was afraid for a few days. What I heard really left me quite worried.
The only thing I am grateful for is that our guard post is not near that damn border, although you did make it to this place.
Which to suppose that the few border guards must have escaped through other places because it is assumed that they had orders to take care of that place.
I don't really blame them. First they leave them without food and then they make them take care of an area that is near a place where there is a curse.
But that's all I know about the Barony of Adragh. "
The soldier just shook his head. "You will have to wait in this place with some soldiers. Remember not to do anything stupid because they will kill you instantly.
We will continue advancing to reach the castle of Uisneach. "
After this, the soldier told the story that he had heard from that man and the vanguard soldiers set out on their way to the castle of the barony.
Two days later, Ansgar arrived at Uisneach Castle, where he found there were only a few defenders.
Which seemed to be dying of hunger, because looking at them from the spyglass he realized that they were quite weak.
So, using one of the imprisoned warriors as a messenger, he demanded the castle's surrender in exchange for food.
The defenders of the castle of Uisneach upon hearing the messenger, laid down their weapons and peacefully surrendered the castle as their kingdom had left them completely abandoned.
They simply continued to guard the castle as the cold outside could kill them as they were afraid of surrendering to the soldiers and border guards of the kingdom of Ireland.
Ansgar, taking advantage of the conquest of the castle, ordered that a messenger went to the kingdom of Ireland to request support to conquer a barony in the south of the kingdom of Breifne.
Which was the Barony of Cavan, this is why Ansgar's troops would advance south with the intention of conquering the Barony of Birr.
The messenger who was on horseback quickly reached the border and met soldiers and warriors from Ireland who were guarding the border.
In reporting on the fall of the barony of Uisneach, the warriors and soldiers celebrated that they could be sent elsewhere.
After this, the messenger rode his horse for three days until he reached the city of Dublin, where he delivered the message to King Vilhelm.