16-years-old orphan Nab lives since birth on a huge ship, which is at the same time a factory and permanent home to several thousand people. For violating the rules, he is banished and put ashore in the Duluong Islands, a harsh place where winter is hard to survive. But thanks to the discovery of gold deposits, Eskimos live there with adventurers, criminals, and local hunters. The only law that rules here is the law of the strongest. The town is called Rosentaal and the plains beyond are full of packs of wolves. Nab leaves the ship with a box of locksmith tools and sarcophagus containing a mysterious living mummy of an Eskimo whose future and destiny will become a mission of duty for Nab.