During one of its many long voyages, the Khijovian crew of the Arcadia ventures for the first time into the uncharted waters of the Wintry Ocean and discovers a remote polar archipelago surrounded entirely by ice cap glaciers. The fearless explorers reclaim the islands in the ascended king's name and soon set sail again for the Wintry Bight. However, a terrible storm hits the ship which is destroyed: the survivors are shipwrecked in unknown lands…

"Logbook of the Arcadia - May 12, 1608
Day 137

The undersigned is the second lieutenant on board Zenio Periclon. I certainly won't tell about the grandiose enterprises of the Arcadia before the fatal storm, but rather a report of the recent shipwreck as expeditious as possible given my still strongly shaken soul. At the continued and assiduous request of the captain, I will put in these pages in the name of the surviving crew - albeit extremely reluctant - our recent tragic experience and our baneful castaway in such unknown wilderness. Oh, I be damned: the mere thought of recalling these atrocious events stirs up in me a depraved feeling of insane terror... It really does pain my veteran soul to rehash the horror of what happened in those execrable waters, in that watery hell..! My very hands are trembling as I try to reelaborate these terrible events, afflicted - alas! - from the gargantuan weight of my wretched memory.

Now, the Arcadia first entered what the Prestorians call Wintry Bight a few days ago, yes, soon after we discovered that recondite polar archipelago. Apparently, the nautical map supplied to us by those cursed Prestorian sailors did not specify that these waters were afflicted by vehement storms and terrifying waves! We soon sighted a dark storm cloud in the distance but, owing to the perilous and violent waters, were prevented from changing course. It was now inevitable: that storm was impending indeprecabily. The captain, in a desperate attempt to save us, had the cargo thrown overboard to lighten the Arcadia, but in vain. We were overwhelmed by the impetus of the unforgiving marine gods' anomalous waves. I don't quite remember what happened after our dear ship pitched sideways in the brutal waters, all I know is that we were shipwrecked in lands unknown to Khijovia, not even mentioned on the Prestorian map we so mistakenly relied upon.

Thus, with no food and no hope of survival, we remain isolated in these wild lands until we die. Oh, and don't think we're crazy: many of our slanderers at home still accuse us of fallacies, considering us a group of lying charlatans posing as explorers, but now I would really like to see their reaction to our terrible ordeal..! Well, this manuscript is to be considered, like the entirety of the ship's log, the definitive proof of the veracity of our tragedy in the Great Ocean. Ah, infernal waters! Let all hope be abandoned when you set sail...

Oh, what is it that I hear? My fellow survivors have sighted… yes, it seems they have found something yond. What will it be? Oh, Heaven save us! I'll stop here and go check it out myself…"