Araceli and Iptix find themselves in the frozen wasteland of the Sorcas Islands, most of the landscape now covered in ice after Noktis woke the ancient ice drake to help him conquer the archipelago. And though many would deem the Islands too dangerous based on that description alone, to Iptix, the idea of such a large amount of magically frozen land led only to hasty preparations for the journey and endless attempts to persuade his childhood friend to accompany him  Araceli eventually caved, knowing that his friend was likely to accidentally fall off a cliff while investigating the snow without supervision. Araceli's presence provided Iptix with a much-needed voice of reason, demanding that they set up camp first before running off into the frozen wilderness. And so the expedition began.