Discovery

From the notes of Doctor Ivan Sanderson.

"I have marveled over the stories of these wondrous creatures since I was just a boy, and I have always believed them to be actual living creatures. As I continuously say, one must always, and I do mean always, keep an open mind when working in science. Be open to the myths and legends spoken of by native peoples. Some may be exaggerated, yes, this much is true. But there is always a grain of truth in every one. In this case, I believe that the reality is even more wondrous than the stories.

Jane and I went in search of this creature upon our trip to Arctica in search of Irushma, in order to kill two birds with one stone. Or rather a serpent and a bird in this case! Our search led us to the west, in the Deathfrost Hills, an aptly named region if I do say so myself. Just as we made it to our destination, a fierce blizzard struck and we were stuck in the middle of the snowy and icy plains of Arctica. There was nothing but ice for as far as the eye could see, like a desert of snow. We had little choice but to pitch our tents and hope for the best. Jane feared a herd of Mammothraw may come crashing through our camp at any moment, I saw little chance of that. But out here, you never really know. There is good reason why most never come this way.

As we camped, we kept hearing strange noises all around us. For a little while we tried to use two separate tents, but before long we were huddled together in mine, as Jane no longer felt comfortable on her own. I kept reassuring her that the noises were likely the wind, but my words were of little comfort, and betrayed my own fear and discomfort. The cold icy winds were beating us down, and our gas heater was doing little to warm us.

That was until we saw it. Wondrous colourful lights that lit up the sky. We came out of our tent to get a better look at the lights, as the blizzard had waned. It was in that moment that Jane thought she saw something flying off in the distance. We both ran after it, forgetting all of our gear and just hoofing it through the ice and snow toward what we saw. Finally we came upon what could only be the Deathfrost Hills, but there at the base, was a cave. But it was what was above that really caught our eyes, as we looked upon a huge light blue bird with massive rainbow coloured wings, perched upon a cliff overhanging the cave entrance, and it was staring right at us. We both stared at it in complete disbelief for a long time, before the bird finally took flight and flew off back toward where we had left our gear. Jane went off to retrieve it while I stayed and made camp inside the cave until she returned.

The next day, a snow-Balthro caravan found us on its way to the river to fish, and they brought us back to Icereach. We both suffered from frostbite and if we had stayed out in the middle of nowhere in that tent for much longer, we both could have been dead. We know what we saw, and we know that it very well saved our lives. It was really and truly Wintress. It could have been no other.

Just because you don't see it does not mean that it doesn't exist. I believe Wintress is a real living creature, and that it is simply rare with a small population, living in regions where no person dare go."