Ridai

Ingredients tumble out of the falling and pinballing Stewbot, cluttering the bowl-boat, accompanied by scared then frustrated Stewbot noises. The Ramenooze was watching the spectacle, but now is more focused on something potentially tasty-looking floating towards it! Very exciting news! And thus, the slime happily slurps up the little treat, with additional munching to boot. The next moment, Ramenooze somehow manages to turn even more red than it normally is, there is the sound of a boiling kettle, its eyes grow big and watery, and with a resounding PWIIIIIIIIH! it breathes fire into the air, which also sends it racing through the waters. Quick slurps of water to try and wash out what it just ate, but that only makes it worse as it PWIIIIIIIIH!s another cone of flame. But no no, surely it must get better this time! And the cycle repeats. While dodging what wasabi fire is coming towards them (the kobolds up above are getting bigger marshmallows because of the big gouts of fire), the wasted snacks must be avenged! And little galvanizes kobolds like someone wasting snacks! So one of the Krew is grabbed by a Komrade and passed over to another, who does the same, until each one has done so, the weaponized kobold having picked up speed. Speed it now puts into an echoing SLAP! of the oversized paper fan on Tourna's noggin. This definitely damages the fan more than the Stewbot, but it sure stings! The kobold seem the most surprised that the attack actually worked, and begin to cheer as if they just won a race against all odds. Unfortunately for them, even more fire comes their way as they first (with big eyes) watch Vesper create another bird, and sending it flying. They watch in awe for a moment, before they remember that the last birdy set the Cap'n on fire! A lot of panicky scrambling follows as they try to swing and air-swim out of the way, occasionally crashing into one another. Through sheer dumb luck, two of the Krew bump into each other, sending them bouncing away in opposite directions, and just so managing to evade the bird, which explodes into fireworks behind them. They did it again! Everything is coming up Kobold Krew! The Ramenooze still tries to douse its wasabi'd tongue, lapping at water. Unfortunately, Vesper ends up being too close, and thus getting slapped by the currently very much spicy and on fire tongue, leaving a trail of ooze on his face and glasses, in addition to scalding the elf and worst of all leaving an awful burn in his eyes as if he for some reason had touched his eyes after handling Salamaprika. Santokumaru and Akimbold clash whenever the Ramenooze rockets close to the boat, but the kobold is clearly losing the fight. Covered in sooty spots, his spoon's head now more hanging off fibers than actually being stable, the kobold captain is panting heavily, only by some miracle of sheer force remaining upright. His fedora is now more some black lump hanging off one of his stubby little horns. Santokumaru suggesting he and the kobold may not so different (in their goals), Akimbold fidgets, glancing away. "P-perhaps, b-but I swore to protect the Munchking..." Much like his less than decisive words, Akimbold's spoonwork is starting to falter, no longer targeting the Knivesman, instead trying to hit Eleanora. However, his weapon is by now so wobbly that the business end simply bends out of the way from the air pressure of the attack, making it more a spoon whip at this point. Eleanora, meanwhile, is busy trying to help Tourna gather its ingredients, picking up a familiar shiny. But the boat has not gotten any more steady, and tripping sure does not help. The party watches Eleanora go overboard! But the Ramenooze, still getting catapulted backwards by spicy fire, just happens to intercept her path. The priestess' back lands on the warm ooze, which harmlessly bounces her right back into the bowl-boat, shiny apple still in hand, before the slime rockets away again. With growing frustration and desperation, Akimbold tries to throw his spoon at Vesper's head again, but the heavily damaged weapon simply slips from his hand, leaving him scrambling to catch it. Thus, the attack is aborted in favor of finally catching the spoon before it can drop into the steaming, swirling waters (though not without accidentally bouncing it back into the air a good half dozen times). The Kobold Krew and the kobolds above start cheering for their Cap'n for moral support. Perhaps that is what is keeping the Cap'n on his legs, powered by all of two hit points. Serving 5 Initiative: Chefs of the Round Kobold Krew Chefs of the Round Cap'n Akimbold Chefs of the Round Cap'n Akimbold Chefs of the Round Ramenooze First enemy turn: The Kobold Krew has a run, and they will heroically defend their Cap'n! They can't actually guard him, what with hanging off of ropes, but they can still try to melee attack Vesper! This time, it'll work! Fourth time's the charm! Second enemy turn: Having to do his duty and try to save face, Akimbold tries to take a swing at Tourna, given his Krew already managed to hit the Stewbot. Third enemy turn: And Akimbold tries to once again range-bonk Vesper on the head! Fourth enemy turn: The Ramenooze is still PWIIIIIIIIH!ing fire uncontrollably, and it looks like Tourna is becoming the target of this impromptu, uh, spellcasting. Yes. Clocks: Goal Clock: Rope Budget Cuts ✅✅✅✅✅✅ Serving 4 resolution Tourna uses Alchemy on the Ramenooze, inherent weakness and gained resistance through Guard to Poison canceling each other, inflicting 30 poison damage, putting it into Crisis! The Kobold Krew attacks Tourna with Fan Slap!, melee, targeting Def, and hits for 10 physical damage! Vesper casts Brume de Espelette at the Kobold Krew, but misses. The Ramenooze attacks Vesper with Noodlick, melee, targeting Def, and hits for 20 fire damage! The attack normally inflicts physical damage, however it is currently very spicy indeed. Santokumaru attacks Cap'n Akimbold, and hits his Fire weakness for 24 fire damage! Cap'n Akimbold attacks Eleanora with Swinging Spoon, melee, targeting Def, but misses. Eleanora attacks the Ramenooze with the Blightrock Apple, but misses. Cap'n Akimbold attacks Vesper with Spoonerang, ranged, targeting Def, but misses.

Anya's remark towards him catches Lapis off-guard. Mirth cackles as Mettle muses on the merits of a properly tailored suit. "Wh-what, but it was just an off-chance offer-" he tries to clarify, but his teammate is already shaking her head, the moment has passed, and Lapis gets the sinking feeling that this will be the story going forward once again.

Oh, things took a pleasant turn. Vlad's excitement gave Lapis the opportunity to rather than wrench the vampire's hand open, the leader of JNBS is slipped out of Vlad's grasp painlessly (for grasper and graspee). As Jack is pulled through the air to be safely deposited on Rhys' back, Vlad's Scroll chimes with a message from @CentaureanCreations to @KillerCountChocula, thanking him for his interest in acquiring a Centaurea suit and that a full quotation will be sent to him within the hour. In the meantime, a few choice examples of Lapis' earlier work are included, for "the distinguished, aristocratic gentleman", as proof of Lapis' claim. At the same time, Orchid receives a message with full context about Vlad, his handle, a link to the message sent from the business account, and asking her to please send a full quotation as soon as possible. It would mean an interesting new client for Orchid (whatever she may wish to do with that, could be a simple one-off order, or a diversification of her network of influence), and it would keep a communication channel to Vlad open for Lapis. Elegance is clearly pleased with the turn of events, smile hidden behind her fan. ELEGANCE - Ah, much better. The moment of Lapis' hand moving in a blur ceases before already making his Scroll disappear in his outfit again (when did he even retrieve that?). "I can assure you that you will not regret it, sir." His voice is as reassuring as ever, and with a slight polite bow, Rhys zips all of them away into the distance. Back with JNBS, clean-up as well as treating Jack occur. Jack's remark about calling RACL has Lapis quirk an eyebrow. "Mean?" That's a new one, for him at least. Solstice dodging the question did lead to a look with the unspoken offer to talk later, especially because of the mind control that was involved. There is putting on a brave face for the team and not worrying others. But someone needs to look out for the healers, too. "Robin has to be somewhere deeper inside the mountain. Let's search the building, and if necessary, we can always dig along the ventilation." Even with everyone around him confident about Robin being okay, and his performance at the tournament, Lapis prefers to search for him with at least some sense of urgency. Knowing his team leader is fine is better than simply assuming so.

Sparks and the odd wood chip fly as Gyuuto hits spoon, further battering Cap'n Akimbold's already weakened defenses, but as a testament to his focus, commitment, and sheer will, he remains standing (if breathing heavily and somewhat scorched). Backlit by the rain of glimmering particles before they sizzle and go out in the rising waters, Akimbold hops back onto the Ramenooze, his landing no longer as steady as before. The action briefly stops as Santokumaru asks how the kobolds knew. It's a long stare from several directions. The Ramenooze goes to check why the little kobold on it is being so wobbly. "...There... there is a giant swirl of clouds over the human castle. And Haxenspargilis yelled for the humans to get the Stew of Tiamat. We heard it from here." The surrounding kobolds nod twice in unison as Akimbold narrows his eyes in inquisitive suspicion. He wants to continue, but Vesper files a complaint and seeks to deliver it with proper fisticuffs. And it would have hit, were it nod for the accidentally meddling Ramenooze, which blobbed some of its mass (and face) upwards to quizzically look at Akimbold ("Pwih?"). This just so happened to intercept Vesper's rain of punches with the back of the ooze's... momentary head-equivalent (?), as it also happened to lean to the sides just in time to happen to be in the way of the elven butler seeking to slip around the accidental guardian. The ooze wobbles a lot, but seems to have taken little note of the punches, the nature of the creature dissipating much of the blunt attacks' force. On the upside, the hanging kobold near Vesper tried to do better this time around, once again winding up to fan slap the butler, only to hit nothing but air as Vesper jumps to assault Akimbold. The little scaled creature ends up spinning around its own axis multiple times uncontrollably, switching rotation direction multiple times before it more or less stops again, dizzy swirls in its eyes. Tourna uses the opportunity to climb up one of the ropes the Krew is hanging from, the Krew either too dazed or too busy snacking to care. Up above, the non-Krew audience observes the spectacle, and Tourna does score some nuts and marshmallows, the bunch just munching for a while. Until the Stewbot just starts spinning with a spoon and extreme prejudice! Snacks fly, startled yips are heard, a few kobolds getting bonked on the noggin before one of them kicks Tourna back off the bridge. The little golem collides with the head of one of the hanging Kobold Krewmen, bounces off, hits another hanging kobold with its spoon on the snoot, before finally crash-landing back in the bowl-boat. Up above, a kobold has to be held back as it reaches for its marshmallows that fell down into the swirling waters far below, wide streams of tears gushing from its eyes. But it is too late, the snacks are lost due to the actions of the dastardly stewbot. The kobold will never recover from this tragedy. Until its buddies share some of their snacks. What was the kobold upset about again? Amidst the distracting shenanigans, Akimbold starts again. "Ahem. So the dragon wants the Stew of Tiamat, and then you show up! Coincidence?!" Akimbold holds his stubby thumb and index fingers in the rough shape of a checkmark beneath its snout, once again critically examining the group of opponents from the shade of his crumpled fedora. He takes another swingy swing at Santokumaru, but the Steak Knife Swordman's defenses seem more and more insurmountable by the tarnished and charred spoon, almost falling into the hot waters too because of how wobbly the Krew's ropes are. Eleanora chimes up and Akimbold points the crooked, blackened spoon at her. "AHA! You admit it! You are Haxenspargilis' servants out to attack us! HAVE AT YOU!" And he throws his spoon at the priestess. Sadly, the increasingly less aerodynamic form of the mangled spoon makes its flight path very, very wobbly, sailing past Eleanora. One of the Krew actually sees it coming towards it, quickly stuffing all of its snacks in its mouth before hastily catching the spoon. A muffled "phew", wiping sweat off its brow (it's also awfully hot hanging over steadily rising Ramena water), it throws the spoon back to the Cap'n, who catches it with something approaching panache. The Krewmember earns a thumbs up and feels incredibly proud of itself. Anoter Krewmember starts swinging and doing aerial swimming motions in hopes of moving faster, until it has enough speed to pat the Krewmember of the minute on the back. Serving 4 Initiative: Chefs of the Round Kobold Krew Chefs of the Round Ramenooze Chefs of the Round Cap'n Akimbold Chefs of the Round Cap'n Akimbold First enemy turn: Spurred on by earning a merit from the Cap'n, the Krew redoubles its efforts (for realsies this time), aiming to melee attack Tourna, the Destroyer of Snacks! Second enemy turn: Since the party seems to want to play (that appears to be its interpretation of what Vesper just did), it excitedly floats over to Vesper, winding up an accidental melee attack! Third enemy turn: The enemies have revealed their true colors! Akimbold shall smite them, starting with a melee attack against Eleanora! Fourth enemy turn: And he has not forgotten the assault by the elven butler, who shall get the taste of another ranged attack aimed at the head! This has nothing to do with ignoring the defenses of the Swordsman! Not at all! Lies and slander! Clocks: Goal Clock: Rope Budget Cuts ✅✅✅✅✅✅ Serving 3 resolution Santokumaru attacks Cap'n Akimbold, and hits his Fire weakness for 32 fire damage! The Ramenooze uses the Guard action and covers Cap'n Akimbold. Vesper can't melee attack Cap'n Akimbold due to being covered, so the attack is aimed at the Ramenooze instead. Vesper hits for 7 physical damage due to the Ramenooze Guarding (but it also has a Physical resistance anyway)! Vesper regains the ability to use the Spell action. The Kobold Krew attacks Vesper with Fan Slap!, melee, targeting Def, but misses. Tourna attacks the Kobold Krew with a critical hit for 12 physical damage! The Opportunity is used for Scanning the Ramenooze, revealing a Poison vulnerability! Cap'n Akimbold attacks Santokumaru with Swinging Spoon, melee, targeting Def, but misses. Eleanora uses the Inventory action to use 3 IP for an Elixir, restoring 50 MP! Cap'n Akimbold attacks Eleanora with Spoonerang, ranged, targeting Def, but misses.

Unluckily for them, the attempts to free Jack were unsuccessful, this has become a chase through night time Mistral, and Vlad decided to turn invisible. Well then. Work must proceed on bettering the situation. Lapis starts adapting to Rhys' motions at the drop of the proverbial +21 Expertise (Tailor) hat, to the point of his upper body being basically free of any the shaking inherent in standing on/hanging off of another person, and Rhys likewise feeling an unusually even and well-distributed pressure from Lapis' weight. Anya glimpses what her teammate is doing and the next thing she knows, that single cue was enough to eliminate any difficulties holding on. It is not an entirely new phenomenon, as whenever group assignments happened in class, whatever group Lapis was part of was always completely done with it first and with time to spare. And apparently that sort of team management also extends to motion. At the same time, Lapis's myriad threads are in motion, out to mend Jack's injuries and keep making attempts at freeing him. All that efficiency still leaves mental bandwidth and physical time left over. "Sir, in terms of craftmanship of your attire, it is impressive, however you could do better." A little non sequitur for good measure. ELEGANCE - A vampire lord settling for second-best. They do not make them as they used to. Actions Free Reconfigure to Pull Tight, A Stitch In Time, 4 Range ranks of Proverbial Haystack, 14 ranks of Time Management and Team Management, Quality Control. This means Lapis has Semblance-scaled Quickness 14. Free Perceive Vlad's clothes with Analytical Vision limited to fabrics. Or at least Lapis would if the guy didn't become invisible! Move Stabilize. Take 1 to auto-succeed on Mobility 10 vs DC 10 due to Quickness-Speed-Rank 7 Standard Do many things: Try and disarm Jack out of Vlad's grabby hand with Strength DC 21 (DR 0) N-nat 20?! Give Anya Semblance-scaled Quickness 14 (if possible, do the same to Rhys just for fluff) Heal Jack with Healing 11 20 RP

The Elysium Academy of Culinary Excellence teaches that one should strive for self-improvement every day of one's life, and a part of this is keeping an open mind towards new ways to provide exemplary service. True to these principles and mind focused by Tourna's stew, a beautifully crafted bird springs from Vesper's craft, the proceedings ever so briefly stopping so everyone can observe the occasion. With immaculate elegance, the avian flies to the spoon-wielding kobold captain, who adjusts his fedora and blinks at what he is seeing, the bird turning more and more red, wings ablaze until it becomes a phoenix. Which promptly begins a dive, engulfing the kobold in an explosion of fire! The ramenooze seems hardly bothered, but the same can hardly be said of the smoking Akimbold (much like Santokumaru has become increasingly crispy), who did his best to shield himself with his spoon. Notably weakened, falling onto a knee on the relaxed ramen-slime, he shoots a thoroughly irritated look at the elven butler from beneath his now even blacker hat. Before simply throwing his spoon, bonking Vesper on the head, making it momentarily difficult for him to focus on his newfound craft. The spoon rebounds in a high arc back to Akimbold, but as it does, the captain can only watch the sky burn, courtesy of true Honyakian Knifesmanship channeled through the terrible might of Gyuuto. "I-Inconceivable!" The Ramena Bowl's rising waters and trees are tinted a deep red from the fires of burning falling rope, partially floating in the vortex, as Akimbold catches his spoon with contempt and a shaky hand. "Better to be a false dragon than a dragon's servant!" the kobold snarls, black puffs of soot escaping his snout with every syllable. He points his by now badly charred spoon at Santokumaru and by extension the whole party, the Ramenooze beneath the kobold swaying amidst the moody atmosphere. "I see it is the tall folks' nature to follow your master's example and set fire to your enemies' home, just as you set fire to your nood-" The dancing Ramenooze's large, translucent red tongue slaps Akimbold in the face (and his entire frontside, really), muffling the rest of his words. In the awkward pause, the party hears and sees the kobolds above abandoning their object throwing ways in favor of untying knots of burning ropes before they can set fire to the platforms. That and they really do not feel like standing on bridges that might collapse soon between crazy hoomins throwing knife slashes, lightning, and cutlery. The Krew in charge of swinging around and blowing over the boat are now awkwardly hanging near the boat on the last bits of rope kinda-sorta fastened somewhere above. They appear busy trying to blend into the background or appear like furniture, so close to weapon range of the party, while quietly trying to climb higher and away from the rising waters. Being out of a job momentarily, with the lugging around of crates to the throne room being handled by other kobolds, a few of the small creatures are sitting on the edge of the wooden platforms or return to hammocks, at times holding a stick with improvised marshmallows towards a burning rope. The Ramenooze's tongue retracts, leaving Cap'n Akimbold's front much cleaner, if a little wet, and noticably less harmed. Having been interrupted in his monologue, and also watching the somewhat ghastly display of the party having their lives flash before their eyes (in a way) courtesy of Eleanora, also leaving them much healthier than before... well, this really isn't Akimbold's day. The hanging kobold near Vesper who tried to use his chance to slap the butler with its oversized fan also simply misses and tries to pass it off as fanning air cooling air at the well-mannered elf while whistling inconspicuously. It really doesn't help that the somewhat irate Stewbot resoundingly bonks him on the head. With a spoon no less. The other kobolds gasp. Above someone is handing out assorted nuts to the forming audience. That's it! A line has been crossed! "You have made a powerful enemy today, Soupy False Spoonsage!" Akimbold fumes, shaking his spoon as a bump forms on his head, leaving his hat sitting askew. "Have at you!" Since there are no convenient ropes available nearby, Cap'n Akimbold has to improvise! He leaps onto the head of one of his Krew, the hat-less Krew kobold acting like a cat whose head has just been critically hit by a slice of cheese, before the additional momentum from the swing is used by Akimbold to leap to the next while trying to make a swing-by strike at Tourna. It is an awkward display of dismayed nasal kobold noises as their captain steps on their snouts, and Akimbold acrobatics. But Santokumaru just has to ruin things by blocking every single attack. "Out of my way, Wet Noodle Burner! The honor of the Way of the Spoon has been insulted!" The party can practically see the steam coming out of Akimbold (and his very blackened spoon), who jumps back onto the ramen-slime, stamping his foot, which sends harmless waves through the ooze ("Pwih?"). Serving 3 Initiative: Chefs of the Round Ramenooze Chefs of the Round Kobold Krew Chefs of the Round Cap'n Akimbold Chefs of the Round Cap'n Akimbold First enemy turn: The Ramenooze seems curious about the boat people, especially the shiny one that made other shiny people appear, so it wants to say hello to Eleanora (with an incidental attack)! Second enemy turn: The Kobold Krew, having been reminded of their duty by having been briefly jumped on, are trying to attack Vesper again! Third time's the charm! Third enemy turn: Clearly, the damned Noodle Burner needs to go before the False Spooner can be brought to justice! Cap'n Akimbold prepares to attack Santokumaru! Fourth enemy turn: Speaking of which, the Crazy Curse Girl with her lightning bolts and disturbing ghost healing is just creepy and getting on his nerves! Inverting his spoon, a ranged attack at Eleanora is prepared! Clocks: Goal Clock: Rope Budget Cuts ✅✅✅✅✅✅ OOC Vesper casts Brume de Espelette at Cap'n Akimbold, hitting his Fire weakness for 38 fire damage, putting him into Crisis! Cap'n Akimbold gains multi (2) on all attacks as long as he is in Crisis! Cap'n Akimbold attacks Vesper with Spoonerang, ranged, targeting Def, and hits for 9 physical damage, also preventing the use of the Spell action on Vesper's next turn! Santokumaru's Objective action for Rope Budget Cuts (DL 7 due to approach) succeeds and fills 2 wedges of the Goal Clock, completing it! The Danger Clock We're Sinking! is stopped and removed! Cap'n Akimbold and the Kobold Krew have their die sizes reduced by one step (to a minimum of d6), the Kobold Krew is no longer Flying, and Cap'n Akimbold no longer gets multi (2) on his attacks while in Crisis! The Ramenooze casts Itadakidance on Cap'n Akimbold, recovering 30 HP. Cap'n Akimbold is no longer in Crisis! Eleanora casts Heal on Santokumaru, Tourna, and Vesper, each recovering 40 HP! The Kobold Krew attacks Vesper with Fan Slap!, melee, targeting Def, but misses. Tourna attacks Cap'n Akimbold, and hits for 16 physical damage, putting him back into Crisis! Cap'n Akimbold attacks Tourna with Swinging Spoon, melee, targeting Def. Santokumaru uses Protect, becoming the target instead, and the attack misses against him. Vesper's Spell Mimic skill triggers! Vesper can choose to immediately the following monster spell (Species = Monster): Itadakidance, 10 MP, One Creature, Instantaneous: The target recovers 30 Hit Points (40 if level 20+, 50 if level 40+) and also recovers from one status effect of Vesper's choice.

Things are transpiring very fast as the master vampire snatches Jack. Truth be told, Lapis preference prior to this event would have been to fight alongside Solstice and look for Robin after the fight. Seeing Ben and especially Solstice mind-controlled was a bad feeling for him. Solstice can tell as much. But duty is calling, and that trust in his team (and JNBS) has to continue, for the good of all. So what little time he has, he looks to Solstice: "You all got this. They have you." Threads tie him to Rhys' mass as they shoot out of the ruined building and after the kidnapper. Countless threads are seeking to wrap around Jack and Vlad's hand, to retrieve the former and wrench back the latter's fingers, all while trying to get Jack out of his critical condition. Actions Free Believe in the seamster who believes in the healer. Free Reconfigure to Proverbial Haystack, Spin A Yarn, Bundled Up, Pull Tight, A Stitch In Time Move Become Rhys' ninja scarf made out of ninja. Standard Attack Vlad with Enhanced Range 9 DC 21/21 Affliction (Immobilized+Impaired+Vulnerable > Stunned+Disabled+Defenseless), Linked Strength 11 [to disarm]. Linked Healing 11 to heal Jack. Natural 20 on attack, 19 RP for Jack. EE Standard Do the same again, but heal Rhys. 18 on attack, 7 RP for Rhys.

Lapis Defensery The attack on Lapis gets deflected and he interposes for Nick, resisting the attack.

Before it gets lost, establishing new FACTS from the rerolls as per Lapis Centaurea FACTS Milestone 5, with included Grains of Truth from Milestone 3. FACT #14: Lapis Centaurea is a master exorcist, demons fleeing at the slightest of his touches! (Lapis stepped out of Nick's sled and was lucky enough to detect and end the vampires' influence on Ben in one go when Solstice was kidnapped.) FACT #15: Lapis Centaurea is a vampire hunter, having hunted them down for two years in the Mistralian wilderness, rendering him outright immune to the powers of mere vampiric servants! (Lapis managed to shrug off two vampire spawns' attempts to prevent him from freeing Solstice of being mind-controlled, after Rhys had already taken out two more spawns that would have tried the same.)

Amidst a rain of burning rope pieces, Gyuto is unsheathed, and with it the burning, brutal force the Nakaraba Clan is known to cleave even the toughest cuts of Adamavenison. "Gah! What is this Cooking Intent?!" Cap'n Akimbold, having jumped into the boat, is forced into defense, meeting the avalanche of spinning strikes painting red streaks in the air with his wooden spoon, showers of sparks flying with every parry and landing sizzling in the Ramena waters. Every parry drives the kobold closer to the boat-bowl's edge and blackens his weapon further, until the final strike batters him off the vessel and into the air. The Spoonsage had not been ready for such an assault, his spoon being a bad match in the face of Gyuto's fury. But Akimbold is far from defeated! Landing on and bouncing off the Ramenooze, leaving the creature wobbling and quivering in the rowdy waters ("Pwih!"), the kobold captain launches himself at one of the many ropes, hanging like noodles being lowered into the broth. He practically disappears in the ambient chaos of swinging kobolds, burning ropes, and rushing hot waters, only to emerge in the air right behind Santokumaru ("I have found your dead angle, Knivesman."), hitting him hard in the back with the full force of his swing and spoon! The Steak Knife Swordsman is thrown against the edge of the bowl, but Santokumaru's instincts are honed like his arsenal, granting him a chance to counterattack! Tourna, meanwhile, is meeting the chaos by not caring about it much at all, rather cooking up a storm. The resulting stew is filled with an intricate profile of texture, tastes, and aromas. The moment the party tastes it, they feel their culinary horizons expand, like a regular soup vessel becoming the equivalent of the Ramena Bowl. With the experience comes a flash of insight, and in particular Eleanora feels for but a moment that her mind glimpses the near infinite vastness of Life and Death. Not even the chaos of swinging non-captain-kobolds can ruin the moment, their coordination being unable to match their enthusiasm as they are busier getting their ropes tangled or crashing into each other, leading to their oversized paper fans most providing a nice breeze and helping spread the delicious stew aromas. Unfortunately, Cap'n Akimbold is more successful, as the singed spinning spoon bonks the little Stewbot in the head before ricocheting right back into the air and into the captain's hand, as he stands on the Ramenooze. An adjustment of the gloves, a reflection in the glasses, and the glint of silverware. These are the only warnings prior to Vesper's display of his Elysian butling skills. The sheer surrounding chaos, the objects thrown down at them from above, and the dangerously moving bowl they are standing in makes the task a difficult one. However, one Vesper Douceur is rarely caught unprepared, just as his dedication to his work is beyond question. Thus, silver forks deftly pull upon knots in the network of ropes, while knives cut several important attachment points (and startling a few kobolds nearby, to boot). A number of ropes fall into the water, floating like noodles, and the rope network is showing more slack than before. Today appears to be the day of creatures attempting to forcefully breath fumes in Vesper's direction, however this time, it does not seem to be on purpose. The Ramenooze, enjoying the bath and the massage (read: Cap'n Akimbold using it as a platform), "Pwih~"s a big sigh, sending out a white puffy cloud at the butler. There is little time to react, the butler dedicated to his vital work. Fortunately, the cloud is not of vile, outfit-ruining composition as the belch of the wizardly kobold stack. Unfortunately, the cloud is indeed quite hot, but also extremely spicy, hitting Vesper like a hangry dragon crashing through a throne room wall. The kobolds above the fight are either busy carrying boxes and barrels towards what appears to be the Munchking's throne room, or throwing anything they can get down at the brave party. Honestly, they thought they had the safe, easy job. The silverware suddenly jabbing into the wood near them startled them a little (followed by briefly fighting over who would get to stash the shinies, leading to them just falling back into the party's bowl), but that must have been just a freak accident, there is no way that- "IS DA CRAZY CURSE GIRL!" A shining whirl of blue and black, and an arc of light cracks across the distance and crashes into the poles holding up one of the main rope bridges, sending little kobolds jumping and scurrying to safety before the bridge snaps. Eleanora briefly sees the frayed end of the bridge burning with ghost-fire swing by at nearly eye level, and hanging onto it are two screaming kobolds flapping in the wind, before swinging out of view again. The waters keep rising, as the rain of random objects continues. Anything from random boards and pepper mills to mugs and frying pans begins to clutter the bottom of the party's boat-bowl, while other objects keep hitting the edge, chipping away at it and making it sway dangerously. Serving 2 Initiative: Chefs of the Round Cap'n Akimbold Chefs of the Round Ramenooze Chefs of the Round Kobold Krew Chefs of the Round Cap'n Akimbold We're Sinking! progresses First enemy turn: Cap'n Akimbold has seen Vesper's magnificent silverwarework (even including spoons!), and he does not wish to be outdone! Holding his spoon in a throwing position once more, he aims at Vesper with a ranged attack! Second enemy turn: The Ramenooze continues to have a great time, and it seems to want to thank the little kobold for the massage! Being concentrated ramen essence, this means a healing spell aimed at Akimbold! Third enemy turn: The kobolds are having a good time swinging, but Cap'n Akimbold is watching and they should probably get on the whole blowing the hoomans over thing. They ready a ranged attack at Vesper! Fourth enemy turn: That... that weird little creature is busy cooking instead of fighting! The nerve! Cap'n Akimbold is looking to swing a melee attack at Tourna! Clocks: Danger Clock: We're Sinking! ❎🔲🔲🔲 Goal Clock: Rope Budget Cuts ✅✅✅✅🔲🔲 OOC Santokumaru hits Cap'n Akimbold for 26 fire damage, revealing a Fire Weakness! Cap'n Akimbold attacks Santokumaru with Swinging Spoon, melee, targeting Def, and hits for 19 physical damage, putting him into Crisis! Santokumaru counterattacks for 12 fire damage! Tourna's Alchemy grants the whole party +1 die size to Insight and Willpower until the end of Tourna's Serving 2 turn! The Kobold Krew attacks Tourna with Fan Whoosh!, ranged, targeting MDef, but misses. Vesper's Objective action for Rope Budget Cuts succeeds and fills 1 wedge of the Goal Clock (3/6)! Cap'n Akimbold attacks Tourna with Spoonerang, ranged, targeting Def, and hits for 13 physical damage, also preventing the use of the Spell action on Tourna's next turn! Eleanora's Objective action for Rope Budget Cuts succeeds and fills 1 wedge of the Goal Clock (4/6)! The Ramenooze casts Spicy Breath at Vesper, and hits! Santokumaru uses Protect, taking the hit instead, and takes 18 fire damage! At the end of the round, the We're Sinking! Danger Clock fills by 1 wedge (1/4)! Vesper's Spell Mimic skill triggers! Vesper can choose to immediately the following monster spell (Species = Monster): Spicy Breath, offensive spell, 5 MP, One Creature, Instantaneous: The target suffers [HR + 10] fire damage.

Lapis comes crashing through the ceiling with the ceiling, dark silhouette lined by glowing threads. He lands in a crouch, spreading his arms downwards, the very same motion moving the glowing threads off him and into the surrounding air, like the visualization of a flower's closed petals outlines tipped in glinting needle points. The slightest glimpse of a look of disdain at the assembled "vampires", shared by the mental triumvirate, before the thread-flower blossoms, needles and thread rushing to all of Lapis' allies, but most of all towards Solstice, just as Lapis launches himself forward. The ephemeral implements flow through the auras of Team RACL and JNBS, mending the integrity of their protections, or in Jack's case, beginning to mend the grievous harm done to his body. Rhys' light rushes through the room, casting stark shadows on the dark-blue blur weaving through the falling debris, guided by Mirth. Dark blasts of foul energy from odd angles seeking to foul Lapis' needles and threads, but instead of trying to evade them, he swats them aside, enduring by sheer Mettle. Needles shoot towards one of the creatures holding Solstice, fouled by the master's influence, but it was just a diversion. Lapis's aura-coated fingertips connect with Solstice's scalp, Elegance smirks and lets her fan snap shut, and Solstice regains control over her own body and mind. The fierce demeanor shifts for a moment. "Welcome back. Let's apply what we learned in Professor Wulf's class, shall we?" He smiles to her, before resuming his combat demeanor, needles between his fingers ready to first of all, do harm to the surrounding thugs. Woe upon the enemies that have to face both Solstice's and Lapis' healing at the same time. Actions Free Reconfigure to A Stitch In Time, Saves Nine, Labor of Love, Chakra Stimulation???, You May Feel A Light Prick Standard Attack V4 with Damage DC 26. At the same time, heal all of Lapis' allies with Healing 11 (Shapeable Area, Persistent, Restorative). Free Reconfigure to A Stitch In Time, Saves Nine, Labor of Love, Chakra Stimulation???, You May Feel A Light Prick Standard Attack V4 with Damage DC 26. At the same time, heal all of Lapis' allies with Healing 11 (Shapeable Area, Persistent, Restorative). Free Reconfigure to A Stitch In Time, Saves Nine, Labor of Love, Chakra Stimulation???, You May Feel A Light Prick. Standard Attack V4 with Damage DC 26. At the same time, heal all of Lapis' allies with Healing 11 (Shapeable Area, Persistent, Restorative). Move Routine Treatment to top up Solstice's RP to fully eliminate the Affliction. Attack deflected by a natural 20. Lapis wins the first counter check by winning the tie. Rerolls for auto-success on the second check. Assuming JNBS is PL 10, Solstice receives 25 RP, Anya 2 RP, Rhys 9 RP, Nick 18 RP, Ben 19 RP, Jack 7 RP

Lapis Deflect rolls (V4 DC 24, V10 DC 23) No multiattack for V4, no change vs V10 Fully resists attacks by V4 and V10

Lapis has had problems with fitting into the various shifting team training constellations over the past few months. The class already had its own dynamic, but more importantly, they are teenagers. The only Huntsmen Lapis had worked with until Haven Academy were adults. Team SCCS, occasionally one or two other Huntsmen teams. Additionally, local militia and lower-case hunters, rarely military (there is not the biggest presence out in the vastness of Mistral). Two years of vastly different dynamics, tactics, tendencies, and just generally being around people with much more life experience, and world views colored by that. It takes time to move away from two taxing years, especially when you have not had normal socialization in the regular school system prior to that. Thus, Lapis has been trying his best to fit into the RACL dynamic as lived by Robin and Rhys, something Anya seemed to have adapted to much, much quicker. His teammates seemed to be satisfied with his work so far, which is a big relief, but given how much introspection and analysis of his own actions he has had to do in his life to keep up, he kept noticing that he kept missing beats, trends, of Team RACL. Anya letting them know this was taking too long is one of those missed beats. Despite the fiery disposition of many a Team SCCS member, that Huntsmen team has a steady (if outwardly... and sometimes inwardly chaotic) efficiency to it. Team SCCS would have cleared the building fast, but from top to bottom, as to not be surrounded. Team SCCS is not Team RACL. Team RACL frequently picked the path of most resistance in the past if that was what it took, and came out on top. This partially clashes with those two years out in the Mistralian wilderness. But only partially. The other part instilled into him was that at times, great risks need to be taken, action needs to be taken fast and decisively. And you need to trust your team, just as they must be able to trust you. Lapis worked himself to the bone over and over so Team SCCS could trust in him to get the job as their apprentice done. Solstice and Robin are in great danger. Rhys showed no hesitation to throw himself into the fray. Anya recognized the time to change plans and go faster. So... he should see about building that trust with Team RACL and learn this new way. "Please, allow me," Lapis says to his team, heading into the room, web-like patterns on his clothes beginning to shed light. The floor is already incredibly weakened by Anya's work, so opening it should be easy. But he is not concerned about this floor. A single floor is not fast enough. He wants to go through every floor, rip this refuge wide open. Seven needles, teeny tiny sewing needles made of Aura, are thrown in a rough circle around Lapis, in seemingly random spots. One single needle is held between thumb and index finger, point set against the ground. This is not the expertise of Elegance or Mirth. No, this is Mettle's domain. For his father Cyan does not merely know how to strike well, properly align the blade, and maximize the body's strength and motions for the greatest effect. It is also a question where to strike. And everything has a weakness. Two years of learning how to use his body mechanics to the greatest possible effect, Lapis pushes. And the ground beneath him up until the seven needles simply shatters. And as he falls, seven more needles are thrown, and that one tiny spot in the middle is struck, once again shattering the ground. Again and again, crushing a tunnel through the building, until the bottom is reached. The only pause happens should he come across Solstice, Lapis looking at whatever vampires are assailing her. "There is no place for you to hide. We are coming for you." And the digging continues, should the building go deeper still. Once he has gone as deep as he could, his muscles and threads catapult him through the complex, grabbing Robin and/or Solstice, should he come across them, or at least move to protect them. In any case, any findings of teammates and/or opposition are shouted back up. EE Move Action Spending a Hero Point to Power Stunt Novice Seamster into the following: Burrowing 17 (Speed Rank 3; Area to increase the diameter of the tunnel to Distance Rank -2 x 2 = 12ft) [34pp] Strength 6 (Lifting only) [4pp] Flight 16 (winged) [16pp] Feature (easy lift, the one that lets me pick people up as free action) [1pp] Feature 2 (illuminate his surroundings with light Dust) [2pp] EE Move Move to G14 or so and dig a 12ft diameter tunnel straight down as far as Lapis can go and as long as there any sort of artificial ground beneath him. Should he come Robin and/or Solstice, he will try to run to them, pick them up with Free Lift, and maybe get them out of the hole. If, say, Solstice can't be easily whisked away, Lapis is moving to protect her.

The party follows the path the kobolds ran down, taking them deeper into the increasingly dense Burokori Forest. The thick layers of leaves above barely let any evening light through in the area, and they also walk past several signs with crude handwriting and even cruder spelling. Examples include: GOZ BACK, CURSINK DEMONZ AHED! VERY DANGER FUR HOOMANS! NO KOBOLDZ IN RAMENA BOWL! NO APPLZ! (The party also sees the scrawling of a smiling kobold giving a thumbs up) They also encounter an attempt or two at traps, which might have been able to slow the party down... if they weren't blatantly made for kobold-sized creatures. Thus, for example, a sling that winds itself around Santokumaru's ankle is looking rather silly when it fails to lift the swordsman who dares to be several times heavier than a kobold. The terrible spelling might come the closest to a threat, at least in perhaps making Vesper's eye twitch given how the kobolds did not even manage to keep lines horizontal most of the time, and often ran out of space towards the end and bent words down the side. Finally, they walk through the single opening in the thick wall of tree trunks and branches and twigs, and the brief darkness gives way to the sight of the Ramena Bowl, looking like a large indentation in the forest, the steep incline down right in front of the party. Several thick, tall trees jut out within the area, with several wooden platforms and (frequently rickety-looking) bridges attached to them in a haphazard chaos of construction. Further visual noise is added by a wild, tangled web of ropes between the platforms and bridges. The brown-green wall of wood, vines, and leaves above the earthen edge of the bowl curves up and above, transitioning into the leaf ceiling letting much more light filter through. High up on the opposite end of the Ramena Bowl, you see a wooden building of uneven angles which can partly be blamed on wanting to go bigger than the architectural skill really allows, but that didn't stop the kobolds from doing it anyway. A big sign has been tied above the entrance, in the form of an oblong shape vaguely suggesting a pastry, with a crown on it, and an apple on that. You all head down into the bowl, seeing no nearby way up to the platforms, but there appears to be some form of "elevator" (by way of many, many pulleys) in the back on the ground level. The way down has received some winding wooden steps, which are also woefully short for human-sized feet (but of course Tourna has no difficulties using the wobbly, creaky stairs). Finally reaching earthen flooring again, you see some hustling and bustling far above, kobold voices calling out, but seemingly not about you, as you manage to pick out the term "Bakey Time". This changes, however, once you make your way to the center of the Ramena Bowl, where you see a small round pond (containing curiously warm water) with a crude stone statue in the middle, depicting a kobold with a very large hat and a crown around the central part of the hat. Many ropes are also looped around its armpits, leading up. "Nasty hoomans!" Voices call out above, with one louder, stronger voice shouting: "By Kobold Munchking Sdroodl's command: open the kettle trees!" The party sees kobolds scurry over to the four largest trees in the nature wall of the Ramena Bowl, spaced out relatively evenly from each other. You can see some strange-looking wooden "knots" in a vague swirly pattern, which are promptly hit with clubs and pans. There is a rumble in the ground, then the amplified noise of four vastly oversized tea kettles signaling they are very done with their business while also turning red. Parts of the trees open, and from inside, up from deep inside the earth... shoots boiling water, rapidly beginning to fill the Ramena Bowl! There is no time to make it to the elevator and also hoist yourselves up as you scramble to get out of the way of the oncoming boiling flood. Thinking quickly, you instead jump into what looks like the cross between a boat and an oversized flat-bellied bowl, and none too soon, as the rising levels of water begin to lift your impromptu method of transportation slowly upwards. Unfortunately, the kobolds are not keen on waiting for you to get up on their level. The little lizards scramble about, dragging crates and barrels to the edge, starting to throw just about anything they can find within down at the party, with the vast majority just splashing into the water, but some of it does hit the bowl-boat, making it shake on the whirling waters. More concerning, however, are the kobolds who suddenly come in swinging from ropes attached to belts, swinging giant fans at you, and leaving you unsure whether they want to smack you or blow you over (or both). But it does get worse. Up from above, Santokumaru's Steak Knife Swordsman reflexes trigger, causing him to block a sudden attack by a fedora-wearing, much more serious-looking kobold wielding a wooden spoon that somehow withstands the edge of your knife (and somehow causes sparks to fly, despite there being no magic involved). "A Student of the Blade, I see. I am Akimbold, Captain of Kobold Munchking Sdroodl's guard, protector of the *sigh* Royal Bakey Time. By my Lord's decree, you are to be removed from the royal domain of the Ramena Bowl, and I am to show you that the Spoon is mightier than the Sword. Have at you!" Akimbold launches himself away, with a double backflip no less, landing on the top of a large, red-colored slime that emerged from the rapid waters (complete with a noodle-nest-looking protrusion to the side of its top, and a permanently relaxed/content facial expression going "Pwih~"). Akimbold puts a spread out hand in front of his face, and his spoon dramatically behind his head. The Ramena Bowl Brawl ensues! The Soup Course Has Turned Messy Save Our Souls Serving 1 Initiative: Chefs of the Round Cap'n Akimbold Chefs of the Round Kobold Krew Chefs of the Round Cap'n Akimbold Chefs of the Round Ramenooze We're Sinking! progresses First enemy turn: Cap'n Akimbold seeks to test Santokumaru's mettle with an attack, tensing to indeed have at him! Second enemy turn: The Kobold Krew is missing their swinging mark by a lot, but the one "lucky" kobold is trying to whoosh its fan at the most whooshable Tourna to attack him! Third enemy turn: Cap'n Akimbold, after his first attack, is also eyeing Tourna, flipping his spoon so he is gripping the business end between thumb and index finger, ready to make an attack! Fourth enemy turn: The Ramenooze is having a great bath, thus winding up for a big sigh towards Vesper, the elven butler seeing the accidental beginnings of a monster attack spell! Clocks: Danger Clock: We're Sinking! 🔲🔲🔲🔲 Goal Clock: Rope Budget Cuts ✅✅🔲🔲🔲🔲 OOC Alright, you can decide who currently has the Blightrock Apple before the start of the fight. Santokumaru clutched the initiative roll against all odds with a Critical Success and can choose an Opportunity! That's them Swordsman reflexes! Cap'n Akimbold is an Elite enemy, thus he has double the HP of a regular Soldier enemy of his level, an additional skill, and an additional turn per round. He effectively is in melee range for the group, as the boat and the slime are moving but keep getting close enough to each other, and Akimbold is a very agile kobold who keeps jumping over and back again and, most importantly, keeps swinging about. The Kobold Krew is an enemy mob that collectively make up one Soldier enemy, as with the Kobold Stacks of the last fight. They are currently considered Flying, meaning they can't currently be reached with melee attacks, only with ranged attacks and spells. If they are hit with an element they are weak to, they lose the benefit until the end of the round, making them hang about in melee range while they are trying to get back to swinging with their fans. They also lose the Flying status once they reach Crisis HP (half max HP and below). The Ramenooze is also considered in melee range. There are two Clocks in this fight. The first is the Danger Clock "We're Sinking!", which has four segments and one fills at the end of every round as non-combatant kobolds throw whatever they can get their hands on at the boat. If the Clock fills entirely, you are thrown into the very quite hot Ramena Bowl water. This will do quite a bit of fire damage for everone, but this won't mean "rocks fall, everyone dies", even if everyone should fall unconscious. The other is the Goal Clock "Rope Budget Cuts", which can be filled with the Objective action. This represents fouling up the kobolds' questionable network of ropes and bridges by doing damage to them or tangling it or scaring the kobolds above away so they don't support the swinging kobolds etc. Once it is filled, the We're Sinking! Clock no longer fills and is removed from the fight, the attributes of all kobold kcombatants are treated as one step lower, and something as of yet unknown about Cap'n Akimbold is also prevented. I have no idea how this fight will go. Mid-fight changes may happen. Good luck! Edit: Santokumaru spent the Opportunity on Progress for Rope Budget Cuts, adding two wedges to it!

Initiative rolls for the second Burokori Forest fight Group check 12 vs highest initiative score 15 would normally mean the enemies get first turn. HOWEVER, Santokumaru rolled double sixes and thus a Critical Success, winning initiative and gaining an Opportunity.