The Chishima Current followed the chain of the Kuril Islands, surging endlessly south. The string of islands was like ice beads upon the sea, threaded by the ocean current into a necklace and hung around the neck of the Ainu tribes. Tall peaks breathed volcanic smoke; they were the finest markers on the sea, allowing even the little boats of the local tribes to sail back and forth smoothly. Long green grass covered the slopes beneath the islands' mountains. There were hardly any trees to be seen, only the green below and the snowy white above.
Gray seagulls flew through the gray sky, crying out lightly now and then, plunging down to strike the sea and seize fish riding the current south, then skimming past the sails of the Longships as they flew away. A snow fox stood on the cliff of a snowy mountain, staring with glossy black eyes as three Longships rowed in, then rowed away with the sea current, vanishing into the southern horizon.
"Great divine spirits of the sea and thunder! The Chishima islands of the Island Tribe actually have this many islands!... These islands are covered in green grass. They all look like fine pastureland. But they're too scattered and too small. They aren't suited for Reindeer migration, and there won't be any large herds of prey. They can't support a tribe of more than a hundred people either... Islands that are too small are also hard-pressed to have mountain hollows where one can shelter from wind and snow and survive the winter. And most crucially, the wind on these islands must be tremendous, so there are barely any trees, which means no fuel and no houses!... Winter here must be frighteningly cold!..."
As a deer-herding tribe from the Kamchatka Peninsula, the Deer Tribe hunters'