Interlude: Alf Gappen Was Here

In the frozen hills of Rhuv, the Sigrunsgjalfi Children’s Home sits silent beneath a sky of unfamiliar stars. No lights glow in the windows and no signs of celebration mark the coming of Alf Gappen’s Day. Yet in the stillness, a single sleeping child hums a quiet tune that carries impossibly far across the snow. Three spirits hear it and cross the tundra to a place stripped of joy, determined to bring warmth and wonder.