"In the beginning, the world was an endless sea, with vast marshlands in the ocean. There was no firm ground to stand on, only a swamp that swallowed everything... In the chaos of the swamp and the sea, there was the same chaos in the thunderous, lightning-filled thunderclouds... And the first Heavenly Divine of creation, Kotan Kar Kamuy, the 'Creator of the World, Heavenly Divine,' was born amidst the endless thunderclouds!…"
Snowflakes fluttered down not from the sky but were swept up by the roaring north wind from the undulating mountains and hills. The snow on the Kamchatka Peninsula remained year-round, draping the mountain forests in silver. The sky was a pure blue and white, so dazzling in the reflection of the snow that it was almost blinding. The sea was an even more brilliant icy expanse, devoid of any dust or grayish-yellow, let alone gray-brown marshland.
