Morning Stars III Notes

Part II

Raphael is challenged by Talzudiel to conquer an Antarctia of a Santron planetary body. They dance it up in some Brazillian clubs for a while, then get on with the mission of getting to the South Pole with their teams. Raphael's team includes Michael and Gabriel. Talzudiel's team includes Daniel and Valandriel. Who gets there first will be declared the winner of the challenge. Both teams take to the challenge with their dog sleds, but both come unstuck along the way. Talzudiel calls Raphael on his mobile and says 'We're stuck in a crevasse.'

'A wuss would use his wings,' replies Raphael.

'Agreed,' said Talzudiel and hung up.

Raphael's team crashes through an ice bridge which collapses and they get stuck in a valley which is impossible to climb. He calls Talzudiel and tells him. Talzudiel says 'A wuss would use his wings.'

'Agreed,' says Raphael.

The focus is on both teams to use their wit and experience to get out of the situations they are both stuck in. When they both finally work together as teams, there is reflection that the individual can do a lot, but when people work together as a team, there is so much more going on. Raphael's team gets to the South pole a bit before Talzudiel's team, as they marched on, and they chat about things after this and both are a little wiser for the experience and a bit more humbled about their brethren.

Raphael's Team gets out of the valley by building an Ice staircase. The snow is too loose to build an igloo blocks staircase, and they try this first, but the ice crumbles. Michael gets inspiration, and uses his gear to carve out a rectangular pit in the dirt he's dug down to and uses the pan they have for cooking and the solar powered heater to melt ice and fill the pit with water. After a few hours, when the pit is full, the water has frozen solid, and it makes a solid ice sheet. They place this at a low point in the valley edge, and after several days work they have built up a stairwell which they can bring the dogs up and escape the valley.

Talzudiel's team are at the bottom of a crevasse, and they try and come up with ways of climbing out, but it's too difficult. Valandriel comes up with the idea of hollowing out deep holes in the ice in a ladder formation where they can fit their hands for gripping but, more importantly, fit their feet into, and this works and while it takes several days of effort, they manage to climb out and then pull the dogs up out of the crevasse by ropes.