Another dot in the white

The Sanctuary Peninsula is truly Antarctica’s last stand, but it’s merely a fraction of the entire story, a dot on the white canvas that is this shrinking liveable continent. Focusing solely on it blinds us to the other territories, other scattered remnants where life still holds on in Antarctica’s death grip. There are over 100 patches of mossy tundra, each more than 100 km², yet none are like the Sanctuary Peninsula. In these desolate pockets, only a handful vertebrates remain, with ottofoxes and the banchisaraptors being the only fully terrestrial inhabitants. Beyond them? Nothing but icy silence.

One such patch, the Ponti Archipelago, emerged from the sea millions of years ago, rising from the ashes of a long-dead volcanic arc. These islands should have been lost to the oceans, but the relentless cold and lowering sea levels carved a bridge to the frozen mainland, allowing the flow of life. Being an almost predator-free haven, the archipelago now serves as a vital breeding ground for reefsurfers, its shallow waters teeming with life. The nitrogenic input given by resting marine animals and the presence of some wandering vertebrate creates a small heaven even for frost tolerant herbaceous and cushion plants and some insects and springtails. Here, frost-tolerant species cling to existence: some are ancient endemisms, others were brought more recently from the wind and the wandering creatures of the Sanctuary Peninsula.
But the islands of the Ponti Archipelago harbor mysteries. How far do they stretch into the uncharted north? Though they remain mostly ice-free during summer, the advancing ice and the dropping seas continue to birth new islands, shrouded in thick layers of uncertainty. At least 50 islands have been identified, but what else waits in the shadows? Is there truly nothing more than moss, plants, and the occasional wandering predator? 

Or maybe… maybe we’re not seeing the full picture. Something is out there. Waiting. Watching. Something we cannot yet understand. Something new. 

The ice is not all that claims Antarctica. Something else is coming... or perhaps it has already arrived.

...but what? Or who?

E̴̡̙͎̰̰͈̅͒͌̐ͅŖ̴̡͙̤̩̯̜͙͍͍̩̗̭̐̈̈́͐̽̊̀̿͌̄̏O̷͎̘̥̓͋̿̓̍̈̍͌̕͝͝ͅR̵̹̲̲͈͕̥̟̎̽̽̍̏Ŗ̵̡̡̡̦͈̻͍̺͒͊ͅ ̵͕͖̪̩̬̥̝̖͍̥̰̲̺̭̦̈́̍̀̇͐̋͘c̶̢̪͉͎͖̤͎̮̣̞̰̙͎̐́̀̉̈̒̄̏̊͋̏̕͝ơ̶̢̨̘̣͍̩̫̩͚̩͓̣͔̞̌͌͋̏͊̈͌͜͠n̷̖̯̅̏̍̔̃̆̌̋̄́̓͋̕̚͠f̴͎̦͖̼̱̦̗͈̗̏̐̿̑̇̆͘l̶̡̯̮̲̬̺̥͍̦̀͌͛̑̍̂̓̇̿̔͜͝i̷̡̖̺͓̬̠͉̦̹̹̝͎͊̐̈́̏̉̾͂̎̅̂͘̚c̴̗̘͓̖͒̉̒͌̽͛́̕̕͠ͅṱ̶̣̞̼̲̘̯͚̪̠̻͂͒̓͐̊̓̅̊̚ù̵͉̞̞͚͖̬͍̄͊̇͂̐̈̀̈́̈̚̕̚ą̵̫̺̪̥̺̮͇̫͙̯̟͎̙͊͌̈͊̂̎̆́̋̚̚ͅļ̶̛̜̜͇̖̻̠͍̃̊̇̈́́̀͆̂́̀ ̴̨̡̜̠̗̖̤̖̘̤̋͛̌́̍͛p̴̲̤̺̻̪͇͙̞̤̒̓̈̾̾̾̏̊̀͝ŕ̶̖̞͇̻̺͉̟̻̗̾̈́̓̃̏͐͝ͅͅǫ̴̡̟͕̹̤̟̊̎̚m̴̲͂̅̈p̶̧̛̼̟͍͖̠͕̼̝͎͙̩̼͖̎̆̏̽̓̏͛́͝ͅt̸̮͔̫̗̣̟̺̏͋̈̊̽́͐͋̈́̆̓̚̚͝s̵̢̡͓̪͙̄̐̉͗̋̈̂̉̉̊͋̓͝:̷̨̛͙̭̳̜̞̠̤͈̤̗͇͍̞̍̒̇͑̍̿̆̇̀̓͘̚ ̵̠̮͛n̴̢̖̱̭͕̝̼̫̳̘̔͂̋͐͜ơ̶̢͓͉̫̤̞͖̬͈͕̗͇͑͑̽́̒ ̷̛͔̏̃̈́̓̋̈́͛̓̒̇̇͘͠c̸̨̮̥̦̲̠̳̓̈́̆ó̸͉̲͙̥̦̜̳̫͙̌͆̇̎͛͜n̷̢̨̡̩͚̖̮̫͔̘̯̂͐̏̏ẗ̶̼͉̈̍͆́̕͠ͅi̵̢͖̼̼̲̿͂̎́́̆̓̑̄͗̕͘͜͠ņ̷̞̗̖͓̫̹̺̦̞̌̇̈́̍͌͊͂́̅̈́̒͊͗̈͝ë̶̢̛̛̳͇̦̥̺͈̙̌̈̑͋͗͂̈́́̅̉́͜͝ͅṋ̵͂̈͌̑́̂̆̚͜͠t̴͙͙̼͓͍̍͗͌͆͘ ̸̫̺͎͚̮̰̜͈͙̗̦͉͔̄̿̀̎̋̇͜͠ͅf̸̦̹͕̠̣̯͑̋o̶̡͈̲͈͔͋̓̊̑̾͊̑̓̐̿̎̈́̎͝ų̶̢̙̼̫̥̗̫̻̰̐̌̓́̀́͐̃̆̀͑͑͘n̴͎̉͑̊̇͐̀̆̇͋͑̉͗̕͠͝d̵̨͍̥̼̲͍̻̙̬̘̰̘̋̓͛͆̊̾͌̕͠ͅͅ