Episode 14: "Winter's Howl."

"Winter's Howl" (TALx14) is the 14th Episode of The Adventurer's League.

Regrouping, our The Adventurer's League settle a deal with Commander Wellerwall and the Murkan Army. But what will happen after landing in the mysterious and frozen tundra of Rutha?

## **Synopsis.**

Having entered The Crater facility, Malchar, Engel, and Tellan remained in the provided living quarters supplied by Commander Wallerwell of the Murkan Army.

### **Regrouping.**

Back on the surface in West Edge, Burr was approached by two Murkan Military Police who escorted her to The Crater where she was caught up on the current situation. Reuniting with her friends, the group took a read over the local paper that had been delivered, discovering that the events of the previous day had made national news, with the whole event being classified as a "Terrorist Scare" by the Magnamalus Metro.

### **The Art of The Trade.**

Commander Wellerwall returned to the living quarters along with Secretary of Defense Hudson and Dr. Weaver, a defected Ruthan scientist who was here in Murka following the Frozen War in a similar bunker near Sea-Addled. Wellerwall explained that she had discussed the previous deal with Sec-def Hudson who agreed to their terms; Malchar would get a brief look at The Mote of Chaos, view some of the more notable experiments happening at The Crater, and have an Army Paladin escort them to Rutha, on the conditions that he and his group travel to Rutha and destroy one of the Ruthan Construct Facilities. Malchar and his group agreed and Dr. Weaver led them off to view the experiments.

### **Blinded, with Science!**

Touring the experiments happening in The Crater, Dr. Weaver showed off the various advancements in weapons technology thanks to the collaboration with the arcanists at Eisenstadt and the materials recovered from the island of Palladis such as pule rifles, pulse grenades, and advanced power armors as well as enhanced individuals, the formula for which was stolen and gotten into Redbrand hands. The last stop on the tour before the Mote of Chaos was an airship being retrofitted with Spelljammer technology.

### **The Orb Ponders Back.**

Finally getting to view the Mote of Chaos, Malchar sat before it and decided to meditate on it, letting himself connect with the chaotic energy within. After a bit of time, Malchar began to hear from whatever lies beyond it, hearing conversations in strange languages, the sounds of vicious lightning storms, and what can only be described as mountains crashing into each other. After presenting his Hundred-Sided Stone of Chance to the Mote, the stone began to levitate and vibrate violently, becoming a more purified version of itself. Dr. Weaver left Malchar to do his brief inspection while recorded every second of this event with incredible detail. After Malchar relayed what he had heard, Dr. Weaver became ponderous and rushed off to check his former notes as the group were presented with their Murkan Army uniforms and an escort to Hangar 18, a massive facility for housing airships.

### **Ready for Take-Off.**

Arriving at Hangar 18, the group met back with Commander Wallerwell and their Paladin escort; Paladin Mornwalker who greeted them and gave Engel a satchel containing powerful explosives for use on the facility. Climbing aboard the sleek ship known as "Big Eye 6" the crew took off for Rutha which would take them around 3 hours, thanks to the airships, nearly 3,000 mph top speed. Asking to jump, Paladin Mornwalker equipped the crew with Jump Packs, simple belts that allow a casting of Feather Fall to slow one's descent. Having Big Eye 6 slow its speed gave the group enough time to jump out and into the frozen wasteland of Rutha, landing on its snowy grounds with Burr landing in a rather deep snowdrift.

### **Remember, No Ruthan.**

Approaching the facility,  the group spotted a small airship containing a large number of constructs, seemingly in standby on one of the docks. Entering into the first room via a broken lock, Malchar started the first fight against three unwary Ruthan soldiers who were dispatched by the group which suffered losses thanks to Burr, Engel, and Paladin Mornwalker, with the one that attempted to flee brutally beaten by Burr after a quick thinking Hold Person from Malchar. Continuing to sneak through the facility, Engel placed some of the explosive charges as they progressed, setting up the explosive finale.

### **In Too Deep?**

After killing two more Ruthan by throwing them into the smelting chamber and combo paralyzing and beating respectively, the group opened the door to the other end of the facility, revealing around 40 constructs in stand-by mode, while several Ruthan soldiers stood watch as more were being created.

What happens next, only time will tell.