<p>The plan is to set you ashore at Halle Bluff, drop anchor and await your return. An <ch.eacute/>lite team of trusted guides will lead you from the bluff to Ikaya. Once inside the ice fortress, you are to hunt down and capture Vonotar, and then return with your guides to the ship. Your mission must be accomplished within thirty days at most, for winter is closing in and no ship can withstand the grip of the Kalte pack-ice. If you do not return in time, the captain will be forced to set sail without you.</p>
<p>For six days, the <cite>Cardonal</cite> sails across the stormy Kaltersee without running into a storm; but every day the temperature steadily drops until a layer of ice covers the decks. On the morning of the seventh day, the snow-capped island of Tola is sighted on the horizon. Soon after, a light wind rises from the west.</p>
<p>At first, there appears to be little danger, but within half an hour a furious blizzard is blowing, and all sight of land quickly vanishes in the scudding drift. All day the furious gale rages. Tremendous winds slice the tops of the huge grey waves and water crashes over the decks, masts and rigging of the ship, freezing almost immediately into solid ice. The sides of the ship become several feet thick with sea water. It is not until early evening that the weather clears, and although the wind still blows strongly, the force of the gale is spent.</p>
<p>The plan is to set you ashore at Halle Bluff, drop anchor and await your return. An <ch.eacute/>lite team of trusted guides will lead you from the bluff to Ikaya. Once inside the ice fortress, you are to hunt down and capture Vonotar, and then return with your guides to the ship. Your mission must be accomplished within thirty days at most, for winter is closing in and no ship can withstand the grip of the Kalte pack-ice. If you do not return in time, the captain will be forced to set sail without you.</p>
<p>For six days, the <cite>Cardonal</cite> sails across the stormy Kaltersee without running into a storm; but every day the temperature steadily drops until a layer of ice covers the decks. On the morning of the seventh day, the snow-capped island of Tola is sighted on the horizon. Soon after, a light wind rises from the west.</p>
<p>At first, there appears to be little danger, but within half an hour a furious blizzard is blowing, and all sight of land quickly vanishes in the scudding drift. All day the furious gale rages. Tremendous winds slice the tops of the huge grey waves and water crashes over the decks, masts and rigging of the ship, freezing almost immediately into solid ice. The sides of the ship become several feet thick with sea water. It is not until early evening that the weather clears, and although the wind still blows strongly, the force of the gale is spent.</p>