The fisherman Toben pauses in the midst of eating and regretfully tells his sightless wife that he must go out. She voices her concerns saying that he has never had to go out any of the other times but he tells her that because things are out of balance, he has to go. He asks her to sing for him. After leaving the house, he makes his way to the shingle beach of the barren southern shore of Malaz Isle where he finds his skiff covered in ice. He lays his hands on it and the ice melts, then turns to steam. Toben sets off, chanting an ancient song whilst advancing outward into the rough waters of the Strait of Storms. Malaz is only a dark distant line, he turns his skiff and faces the stern, the bow to the south. Facing north, he ignores the storm front advancing from the south and continues t