The village sat in a sheltered spot near the center of the wide plateau. When the wind blew — which was most of the time — snow whipped off the surrounding drifts and surrounded the settlement in a swirling shroud of white. As the group passed the foreboding wall of victims, a dozen sled-dogs began to bark, alerting the village to their presence.
Twenty structures made up the village, divided between snow-block shelters and double-walled yurts made from sealskin stretched over whalebone frames. Sixteen of these structures were small, one-room family dwellings. One ice-block shelter was a storeroom used for gear. Loklafd explained that the supplies were owned in common by the tribesfolk and would include fishing nets and heavy ropes used for whaling.
No columns of smoke rose above the village to give away its location, since they possessed no wood or peat to burn. The only artificial heat came from lamps and tiny stoves that burned whale oil. The villagers lived on fish, whale meat, and seal meat, eaten raw or dried on racks that were scattered around the village.
One yurt near the center of the village was slightly larger than the others, and was home to the Ice Hunter chieftain, named Barking Seal. A yurt standing apart from the rest of the shelters appeared to be home to their shaman, as indicated by the many animal totems and whalebone carvings surrounding the hut.
The largest structure in the village was their destination, the meeting hall, heavily decorated with whalebone and the skulls of fish and mammals. It Consisted of one large room with a wooden floor made of planks salvaged from ships that had been caught and crushed in the Sea of Moving Ice. A long coil of rope hung on the wall near one corner with a large iron pulley that was suspended from a beam above a dark hole.
With a dozen standing warriors and six dogs, Chief Barking Seal and his advisers, the Shaman woman called Bonecarver, and a tall warrior named Orcaheart, sat on benches around a central firepit. A clear bench before the fire was suitable for four to sit while the others would be forced to stand behind them.
Loklafd indicated to Mord that they and two others should sit and that they should address the chief first, and he would respond.
