Today we saw some vines that had white stalks and opaque berries. They took root beneath an overhang, but the stalks drape all over the ice. The horses eat the plants without hesitation, but I’m not sure if they enjoy eating the plants or if they’re just hungry. I tasted one of the berries, but had to spit it out because of the tart flavor. Niahla’Sen wondered if these might be the same type of iceberries the Barbidons use in their winter drinks in Sarda. Supposedly, those can help drive away the cold. None of us like the flavor of these berries, but perhaps we’ll work up the courage by tomorrow when we’re finally beginning to realize just how cold we’re going to be for the next few months.
Also, we stumbled across something interesting. When we sailed north over the top of the world on the way to Etnyben, the Sisterhood operatives used their arcane powers to keep the ship warm. Here at the bottom of the world, it seems the Lunari assisted in keeping the armies of the Great Kings warm. Their powers are well beyond those of the Sisterhood operatives, and many of the fires are still burning. In some places, a single fire remains. In others, the fires of large camps continue burning. It seems the iceberry plants, if that’s what they truly are, grow better near these fires than far out in the open ice.
We are currently at what used to be a camp, and managed to find enough of a structure among the remaining ruins for us to have heat and shelter for the horses and us. If we are this fortunate each night, perhaps our journey to Nazada won’t be quite so difficult. It would be almost like finding an empty inn each night; all we need to do is make it once again suitable for guests. We have enough canvas to erect a tent or temporary roof over many of these ruins, and perhaps we’ll find ancient supplies we might be able to use since armies often leave extra stuff behind. However, we’re not going to take more than we need and can carry.