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Here we go.
We set out from Anskaven on the Sommlending warship Cardonal. Food, water, ice equipment and Kanu-dog teams were loading onto the ship before we left. Only the most senior members of the crew knew what the voyage was for.
The plan is for me to set ashore at the Halle Bluff, which you can see on the map. There the ship will drop anchor and await my return. An elite team of trusted guides will take me from the Bluff to Ikaya, the Ice Fortress. Their job is to get me to and back from Ikaya, my job is to penetrate the defenses of the Ice Fortress and find and capture Vonotar if possible, and kill him if not. This is the traitor to his own people that is responsible for the death of many of my fellow Sommlending. Our mission cannot take longer than 30 days, because the Pack Ice will begin to form and endanger the return.
For six days, our journey is uneventful, and on the seventh we only have a small ice storm and spot the island of Tola. However, as we approach, the ice storm grows stronger and as the day continue, the ship is forced off course and lands at the Ljuk Ice Shelf instead of the Bluffs. We unload here, because it would waste a day to travel back to the Halle Bluff.
We have a choice of routes from here. We can go up the shorter but rougher trek to Cloudmaker Mountain, and from there across the Viad Glacier. Or we can take the longer but easier trek through the Hrod Basin and into Storm Giant Pass to Ikaya. Each should take about ten days, and the choice is mine.
I choose to take the shorter, more direct route, but harder. That way, if something goes wrong, there is less mileage to cover.
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