The Book of Jeraneck has many passages focusing on the anguish felt by those who saw their civilization collapsing around them. Here's a brief example:
“I have been upon the watch towers I have seen the destruction and
the death that covers the whole land. I have heard the cries of the
children and the mothers and the fathers. I have heard them beg for
their lives. I have heard them cry for mercy. And I have cried and I
have wept, for this land is now desolate and all our great buildings are
gone.” Book of Jeraneck 17:29-3