choking the continents with their glaciers, and Gethen, like the Gethenians, were always marked by their hostile climate. Hostile perhaps to me, and you, but to its inhabitants they face the ice just like the world, the way it is.

​

There are a handful of different words in their languages, either Karhidish or Orgota, for the various states, textures and appearances of snow. Knowing how to describe nuances on how snow falls, the state of ice, the stride of the white clouds, the float of frozen pieces in the seas and rivers and lakes. In a cruel winter, which usually appears very bright. A light that does not heat up. An icy mirage.

Unlike how it is on Terra, Gethen's rotation axis is almost vertical. Counting thus with few degrees of tilt, when compared to its orbit. But what does this lead to? The seasons of the year that are interspersed here by hemispheres, north and south; in Gethen, they manifest all over the globe at once. So — when in the summer — no matter where you are, it will be summer wherever your powersledge takes you. Until the planet's position changes again, along its revolution. This entails only a decreasing fraction of solar radiation, but enough to disrupt already uncomfortable weather patterns; making the soaked-gray summer, return to the ruthless-white winter.

​