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!