Exploration of the crystal forest

The well known eplorer Werner the Old Shark is known for his adventures, some of which he writes into his journals. This one details the exploration of the The crystal forest. While it has been seen from a distance, noone has sailed towards it, because of the cold.

The surroundings:

We sailed around the crystal forest for the first day. While they were hard to spot, there seem to be crystal fish swimming around the formations.
It didn't take us long to realize the sheer size of this place. It seems we had to spend a few days here. But for now, we sailed around until midday, when the sun reflections off the crystals and water became unbearable.
We continued once time was right, until the sun set and got some rest for the mian course.

The initial dip:

Once the first beams of sunlight hit our ship, we sailed onward straight to the centre. One of our crew members found out it's cold out there, so we prepared layers of warm clothes and protected fires to warm up.
The initial cold was fine, but the further we went, the worse it was. While our ship was small enough to not touch the crystals, we had to avoid some of them, which slowed us down.
At the end of the day, we reached what you would call the dead zone. No fish or plants anywhere. The water started to freeze, but not enough to stop us.

The deadly cold:

We spent the night huddled together around a large fire in several layers of fur and continued further in the morning. The combination of the hot sun and unbearable cold was strange. There is no way this place is natural.
Not even a few hours in, we hit the end. The ice became too thick to move further. We couldn't walk on foot without freezing to death either.

We turned our ship around sailed away. The expedition was a partial failure, but I plan to venture out there once more, once we get more suitable equipment.