Forests so wide the eye can not see the end of them. The steppes, dead in winter, nothing but snow. It kills all but a few. In summer and spring they transform into vast green fields, giant herds wandering side by side by side with the nomadic tribes. See the coast, magnificent tall grey cliffs, at their shores long ships lie. Feared men with great beards dressed chain and leather stand by the railings, eyes turned towards the south and west, looking for distant shores and plunder to take. See the icy north, the lone bear that wanders on the hard crust of the snow. High above, a cloud free sky. See! A flash of light! What was once a star filled patch of sky, nine stars break free and fall across the heaven. The patch remains black, the stars are gone, and down below the world begins to turn.
Three elder women sit below a tree, their hands move across a loom, and then they stop. Their eyes are raised from the loom that changes beneath their fingers and stare upon the sky. As one they scream.
Across the snow fields on the north moving as one line is a group of small figures. As one comes closer one see that there are 3 dwarves making their way over the hard crust of their snow. Two of the three drag a third dwarf on a makeshift sleigh. A trickle of blood is left after the one being dragged. Of the three dwarves standing only one is without wounds, except for a deep dent in his helmet. The dwarf with the blistering headache is Agmundr Aggisson warrior of one of the dwarven tribes.
Ten dwarves set out ten days earlier on a hunting expedition to the north. Their main goal was to hunt seal and the great white bear, the only two animals that really survive harsh climate. In the beginning their hunt went well and they felled a great bear and two cubs. But as the journeyed further north, they soon realized that they were not alone in their hunt, something else was roaming the vast white wilderness. On the eighth day they encountered their enemy. Giants. A large group of giants, four times the number of the dwarves ambushed and attacked them. Two dwarves went down at once, Agmundr Aggisson one of them by a blow to his head. His two companions walking behind him, Mektar and Daelie grabbed him and the wounded Dornin and escaped the slaughter.
This was two days ago and the group has made good time to the south, but now the sun is setting and it is time for the dwarves to dig into the snow for the night. They are not sure, but they all fear that the giants might be following, not allowing them to warn that the giants are gathering themselves into large groups.