>>413She hands you to the diary to read...
3rd Boron of the year 903
Mistress Sari is very upset. She said she had important business to do, I should pack everything, we would leave this evening. Shortly thereafter some wagoners arrived. They packed everything of value and loaded it on a carriage. I am sure they took some for themselves, but the Mistress said it was alright. We left with the evening tide. Heldan, the lover of the Mistress, accompanies us.
4th Boron of the year 903
We sail north with moderate wind. It is extremely cold. It starts to snow in the afternoon. The crew is grumpy. Sailing to Paavi in winter is supposed to bring bad luck.
5th Boron of the year 903
The captain explains that the ship has a flat hull. If she is caught by drift ice, the hull will not spring a leak but will be lifted out of the water.
6th Boron of the year 903
The ice drift becomes stronger, heavy wind is pushing us towards the coast. The captain can countersteer, but we barely move forward anymore. The crew says the voyage is ill-fated. The witch on board (they mean the Mistress) is cursed.
7th Boron of the year 903
Mistress still hasn’t told me where we are going. I am worried about the crew. The ice drift has gotten worse again. The captain thinks we cannot go any further and moors at the mouth of the Ceamon. There is a small village her called Caamajuk. We disembark. The Mistress says we cannot wait. A short time later we have found a boatman.
8th Boron of the year 903
It was still night when we brought everything on board. This morning, we move up the river.
11th Boron of the year 903
It is already dark as we reached Kokjuk. Mistress has rented some ponies and a guide.
12th Boron of the year 903
We loaded our valuable freight on the animals.
18th Boron of the year 903
After lots of troubles we have reached a small village called Uta. The small horses are very sturdy.
19th Boron of the year 903
There is a round lake here which the locals call Johonkuhun.
22nd Boron of the year 903
We find a temple of Boron in the middle of this solitude. Is it a good omen in these god-less lands?
23rd Boron of the year 903
The high snow makes it hard to move forward. We reach a ruin in the evening. It gives us some protection from the cold winds. I can barely feel my feet anymore. I awake from howling at midnight. Was it really just the wind?
25th Boron of the year 903
We have reached a village at a river.
26th Boron of the year 903
One of the ponies has died this morning, another one follows in the afternoon. The Mistress has told us to load the valuables onto our riding horses. We will walk on foot ourselves.
28th Boron of the year 903
We are hopelessly lost. Thick fog makes it impossible to orientate ourselves. But the Mistress presses on as if she’s possessed.
30th Boron of the year 903
We have been in this snowy desolation for four days now. We are out of food. We squeeze water out of the ice out of thirst. We keep each other awake at night or we would freeze to death. This seems to be the end.
2nd Hesinde of the year 903
I no longer feel my toes.
4th Hesinde of the year 903
I can barely write with my stiff finger. We were saved. At the Wolf Stone some natives found us and carries us to their camp. They gave me booze, lots of booze. When I awoke, they had cut off my toes. Their shaman said it had to be done, or the gangrene would have spread across the whole leg. I wonder why I pledged loyalty to Sari. But it is not on me to doubt my Mistress.
6th Hesinde of the year 903
The Mistress urges us to depart. I still cannot walk properly again. We rent some of these strange animals they call Carens. They are to carry our load while we use the horses to ride. A guid is to bring us to the Bornland.
10th Hesinde of the year 903
We spend the night at a lonely trading post. It’s nothing but a lonely house in the endless snow.
11th Hesinde of the year 903
We reach another trading post in the evening. Our guide has quarrels with a hunter – because of some wolf pelts.
12th Hesinde of the year 903
Our guide is dead, the hunter is gone. There are no tracks in the snow. No one wants to guide us because the weather is so bad. Still, the Mistress orders us to move on.
13th Hesinde of the year 903
We move Easte I think, or South. We are lost again.
18th Hesinde of the year 903
At the crack of dawn Halden has passed away. The Mistress is beside herself with sorrow. She does not want to see anyone; I have to hide. I hear her pray. She does not want any of the gold anymore. She orders me to unload everything and let it just lie here. I obey, I don’t know why. Mountains of gold in the snow. But I will retrieve it, so help me the Gods. I will retrieve it – someday later.
