A Heart Grown Cold

is the one hundred thirteenth episode of the second campaign of Critical Role.

Previously on Critical Role
So, last we left off: The Mighty Nein, upon realizing that an old friend of theirs seemed to be trudging his way northward in a similar direction...

You gathered your materials, you finished up your business as quickly as you could, hastened your plans underneath Lady Vess DeRogna, and made your journey to the northern tip of the Greying Wildlands, to the village of Palebank Village, acquired passage on the Midnight Hammer, an icebreaker ship heading to Eiselcross, and began to work your way across the dangerous Frozen Depths that lay between there and your target location. ''A few days at sea have been a little rough at first go. Some unlucky rolls and some unfortunate challenges found their way your direction, including here on what I believe is the fifth day of your journey, a massive crackling ice storm began to blow its way into your path. As people on the ship began to batten down to prepare for it, Caduceus, you picked up some sort of strange clicking sound that seemed to be sourceless from the outside of the boat. There you watched as these massive crustacean-like creatures began to claw back onto the top of the ship, similar to creatures that you all have seen in the past. After having a brief skirmish with them, seemingly getting the upper hand of this, a familiar humanoid creature with a split jaw and somewhat aquatic appearance clambered up the opposite side of the ship, reached out and shattered the amber necklace that Caleb keeps carefully on his person. In doing so, the contents of it spilling out of its solidified dimensional space, including the Cloven Crystal, the last key to Uk'otoa’s unleashing. In the middle of this chaos, Fjord, you glance over to notice that rising over the edge of the ship is none other than Captain Avantika, paler than you recall, her chest and torso currently encased in jagged ice, her breath giving off this mist, as she looks to you with cold, faintly glowing eyes and a wicked grin, her neck somewhat off kilter, and seems to be inviting this reunion.''

Part I
Beau is still grappled by one of the incapacitated chuuls and unable to break free but stuns it thanks to Caduceus's Bane. Meanwhile, Fjord runs over to where the Cloven Crystal lies and uses Channel Divinity to create a Marine Layer. Avantika follows him and even with disadvantage, immediately finds the crystal at his feet and picks it up. A toad-like, summoned demon creature climbs aboard, wounds Caleb heavily, and disappears, followed by an additional chuul joining the fight.

Caleb uses his Stormrider Boots for the first time to fly around the back of the ship within zapping range of two of the enemy, hitting them for nine lightning damage each, then hovers over Fjord's Marine Layer fogbank and casts Fly on himself, but the deep scion mage hits him with a critical Witch Bolt, bringing him close to unconsciousness and ending Fly.

As the fight continues, Beau finishes off the chuul holding her and rushes down to join Fjord and Avantika. Fjord succeeds at Commanding Avantika to drop the cloven crystal at her feet. Caduceus kills a chuul. Low on hit points and surrounded by enemies, Caleb Polymorphs into a T. Rex and heads toward the deep scion mage, eventually managing to bite him. Avantika picks up the orb, putting it in a pocket, and her Thunderwave knocks Veth overboard after Fjord's attempted Couterspell fails. Jester kills the chuul near Yasha, and another creature is taken out by a crewman firing one of the ship's ballistae.

Avantika, wounded and increasingly without living allies, looks around saying, "I got what I came for," and Dimension Doors away with the Cloven Crystal, leaving the Mighty Nein alone on the deck of the ship to easily finish off the remaining enemy and contemplate their next step.

Part II
"So, where we left off: In the middle of this unexpected, chaotic battle on the top of the Midnight Hammer'' icebreaker ship in the Frigid Depths north of the Greying Wildlands, you were all unexpectedly ambushed by Captain Avantika, back from the grave, now currently even further empowered and focused by her patron, Uk'otoa, long abandoned by Fjord Stone, and seeking the final orb that would unlock, unseal, and release Uk'otoa from his prison. In the middle of this battle, you tore through the various crawling chuul creatures that were coming your way from the ocean below, the crustaceans. You turned into a T. rex and swallowed the mage companion to Avantika. The demonic creature, the swimming strange frog individual that was tethered in some way to Avantika, called through, seems to have vanished with some of the damage that she had taken recently, no longer held in this domain by her concentration. But, she did manage to grab the orb and, with a small bow, vanish from sight facing in a somewhat southwest direction from where the ship is currently heading. What would you like to do?"''

The Mighty Nein

 * Beauregard Lionett
 * Caduceus Clay
 * Caleb Widogast
 * Frumpkin
 * Fjord
 * Jester Lavorre
 * Veth Brenatto
 * Yasha Nydoorin

Returning

 * Avantika
 * Captain Kem Liard
 * Lady Vess DeRogna

Quotations
Marisha: You're having a Keyleth moment. I'm so proud of you. Thanks, Fjord.
 * Travis: (after his Channel Divinity: Marine Layer prevents the rest of the Nein seeing within it) That's my fault. So, you know, we're all in this together.

Trivia

 * Matt revealed that the encounter with Avantika had been randomly determined by Travis's dice roll of a natural one on a d10 in the previous episode.