The Ashen Company (Berrik, Lotty and Flynn in the urn, carried by a flying Null) are heading north, giving chase after a fleeing Calitrax. It isn't long before they arrive at the empty docks at the edge of the frozen water. A ship (or ships) recently launched from here. A quick scan of the sea ice reveals significant breakage in a Northeastern direction - she had to have gone that way. Flynn asks Null to measure how much snow has fallen in the footprints surrounding the docks to see how much of a head start Sally has. The Ashen Company are all avid meteorologists, so it's super easy for us to figure out that our quarry is hours ahead of us. As Team Urn discusses the wisdom of giving chase in circumstances like this, Null quietly starts flying Northeast. First impressions of the Frigid Deep are that it's fuckin' cold and it’s fuckin' desolate. The sea ice spreads in every direction, interrupted only by the presence of dozens of barren scattered islands and the occasional frozen corpse. Inside, Flynn wonders if they shouldn't seek guidance from a higher power about their predicament. Dang, what was that spell again? Mordecai butts in, reminding Flynn that Limited Wish can give him access to the Commune spell. THAT was it. The Ashen Company hasn't felt very devout lately, especially with the absence of Silas and Cade, but we need answers even if the vibes are off.
Flynn settles in to commune with Lelliana, Goddess of Sea and Storms, whose wheelhouse seems to be the most relevant to our situation. The rest of the Ashen Company silently wonders how Flynn will process the experience of talking to a god. Will it go to his head? The rest of the world falls out of sight for Flynn as he begins the ritual. All he perceives is darkness now, interrupted only by the rolling growl of thunder and the sound of crashing waves. He may ask three questions.
1) If we continue Northeast will we find Calitrax?
The thunder grows louder as flashes of lightning strike. Flynn interprets this as "Yes" or "Likely".
2) Is Calitrax heading towards land?
More thunder and lightning for another "Yes".
3) Can we trust Vi?
The crashing of waves and the low thunder get louder and clearer. The absence of an answer is Lelliana's reply. She is unsure - Trust is a choice, not an attributable trait. The gods are real sticklers for semantics.
The Commune spell ends and Flynn tells Berrik and Lotty what Lelliana relayed to him. We are on the right track and Calitrax is heading towards land. He adds that we maybe shouldn't trust Vi. Null isn't there to defend her sister, she's busy trying not to freeze to death outside as they continue their pursuit.
Yep, for hours now Null has been flying through the windy, icy seascape of the Frigid Deep. This is a different kind of cold, more biting than any they have ever experienced. She flies for a long time, making hourly CON saves with DC's that increase by 5 as the journey continues. Null thinks about the stories told of adventurers that have travelled the frigid deep and never returned, these are relatively unexplored lands and she can understand why as the cold and exhaustion settles in. Despite her determination Null physically can't continue any longer, which kinda works out as Flynn messages her to tell her time was starting to run out on the urn. She scans her surroundings for an island but finds only ice. Flying down, she tests the ice to see if it's safe to land. As soon as she touches the ice it's painfully cold and Null hovers above the ice to let Team Urn know the situation. She is too exhausted and cold to speak, so she taps the urn until Flynn gets in touch.
As they pop out of the urn Berrick casts Oasis but the frozen ice immediately dispells his efforts. He quickly casts his Magnificent Mansion instead and hurries Null inside. Unable to take his urn in to the mansion, Flynn stoneshapes a secure box just outside the door - much to Mordecai's chagrin.
As Null, surrounded by every hot beverage imaginable, warms by the fire the Ashen Co decide to give Null a break on the next leg of the journey. They decide to use the mat of welcoming to nip home for some rugs to make a flying carpet for Berrick - the following day he can fly the urn and still concentrate on keeping Oasis active. Lotty jumps through the door and grabs a couple of old rugs from the villa (insensitively picking the ugliest ones she can find but includes one of Null's favourite rugs in the process). Lotty checks the painting just to see what it says about the location of her friends and spots a carved wooden bird on the kitchen table. She's hit with a pang of sadness and hope as it reminds her of Cade.
Back in the mansion, Lotty drops the rugs and tells her friends about what she found. Berrick sends a message to Cade "I hope you're ok, we found a bird that reminded us of you, sorry we missed you". He receives a reply "Hi Berrick, I took down some necromancers in the area and passed by to say hello".
Once Null has stopped shivering Flynn approaches her, he's unsure about all of her many siblings and how compromised she may be. Null tries to explain that she only has one sibling, the person we know as Vi, and she had a brother who was killed when they were young. Flynn is concerned that Null's memory issues may lead her to imagine more siblings or be vulnerable to the suggestion. Null gets defensive and exasperated with her agency being questioned yet again, but does her best to reassure Flynn. No one is convinced she got through to him this time.
After a night's rest Berrick notices his unseen servants aren't as attentive as normal and finds them bailing out the front door. It seems the sea levels have risen at least 300ft overnight. Immediately thinking of Mordecai, Flynn rushes out the door of the mansion to find the urn and quickly learns reason this body of water is called the frigid deep. If they thought the air was cold and the ice hurt it is nothing compared to the water. Flynn spots the urn but can't swim to it quick enough, so he quickly dimension doors twice in quick succession - once to grab the jar and then again straight up above the water to let the others know what has happened. Berrick manages to do the same taking Null with him above water level where he holds on tight to Null to keep in the air. Lotty is the last to leave and grabs the flying carpet, casts alter self and swims to the surface using the carpet to balance her and Berrick once she's out of the water.
Even though they've only been awake ten minutes the Ashen Company are already cold and exhausted, Lotty, Null & Flynn head inside the jar to rest (once they make an effort to mop up the water Mordecai has created to make a point), realising just a moment too late they're unable to message Berrick as his name is not in the book - oh well, Berrick knows this and will surely be able to find a genius way to communicate.
Berrick sits down, crossed legged, on the flying carpet and casts Oasis on himself and, despite the treacherous circumstances, does his best to relax and make the most of the peace and quiet. As he continues in the direction of the broken ice the Oasis starts to crack, it seems this colder than usual air is effecting the normal durability of the spell. As he casts the spell again, estimating he'll get another hour of use out of the spell. He then spots a vessel in the distance, it's still around 1,000 ft away but they will cross paths soon enough.