Strawberry, Board 3

[battleshipmod]

The kitchen of the Fraise Lounge is so steamy that at first you don't notice it getting darker and thicker. But when the flow of dishes stops and your voice runs hoarse, you realize you can barely see.

"Hello?" you call, fumbling toward where you think the door is. "Stray? Dwayne?"

"Right here!" the octopus booms cheerfully. You can just see his huge red head in the light filtering through the kitchen window. "Your songs were so rockin' that I just had to build a fog machine for proper atmosphere!"

You suppose that's a positive review.

You make your way outside, where the fog is just as thick. "Careful," comes Runner's voice as winding tendrils form a fence to guide you. "Don't step in the golems."

Avoiding the mud, you nearly stumble over the wheelbarrow. "Oh, hello!" calls Professor Zzt, his sparks winking and glimmering faintly. "You found some wonderful things! These scrolls make it clear that French fry plants came to this continent hundreds of years earlier than previously supposed!"

"That's great," you wheeze. "Do you know how to send us home?"

"Home? What do you mean?"

"We're not supposed to be in this game," you explain. "Some kind of goblin machinery dropped us into it. We want to get back out."

"Goblins! Fascinating!" The tiny professor alights on your hand. Fortunately the occasional spark that lands on your skin only stings a little. "Tell me more."

So you tell him all of it, how you went from simple seafaring to serious adventuring, first as opponents and then as companions and friends.

Zzt listens intently. He pulls an ancient scroll from the wheelbarrow, licks the end of a French fry, and starts writing, muttering to himself. When you finish your tale, he frowns down at his notes. Then he peers at the scroll itself and brightens. "That's it!" he cries. "Look!"

"I can't see it," you tell him.

"It's a diagram for just the sort of machine that might do the trick!" A shower of sparks falls as he flutters his wings in excitement. "It might even be buried here!"

You really should have seen that coming. But with this fog, Dwayne and all his cousins could be stampeding towards you and you wouldn't see them coming.

Anyway, if this machine can send you home, you're much more excited to go looking for it. There's a noisy clatter and someone shouts that they found the shovels. "Pass me one!" you call. "Let's get digging!"

Strawberry Board 3 Grid and List of Goals

Strawberry Collection | Prompt Collection (AO3) | Prompt Collection (Automagic App)

( Board 3 Rules )

The first team to uncover every machine component will win the 2025 round of Battleship Exchange! The remaining teams will continue competing until one claims second place.

Grape, Board 3

[battleshipmod]

The octopus is finally satisfied, keeping itself busy with all the items thrown its way. Or at least you haven’t seen it bothering the chefs or the resting shoulder dragons. The dinner rush has slowed and surely it must be time for you to clock off for the day. What you can’t believe is that it has only been a day. Maybe time works differently in this world.

You’re about to go and find the woman and ask about pay (you did overhear the cooks talking about being paid in grapes and you hope that’s just their slang), but when you step outside the mist is even thicker than before. Also this doesn’t smell as good.

“Don’t you know anything!” The woman again. It’s like she’s everywhere all at once. “How could you think it’s a good idea to give all that to an octopus? Don’t you know they can’t help themselves from building! Now it’s got a whole fog machine going!”

You wander your way through the thick mist, stumbling over something you are certain is one of those teapots you uncovered, until another voice heralds from the mist.

“You need to keep digging!” The voice of the professor. “There are so many more things to find, but you’re close, I can feel it. And have you tasted this donut flavored tea? Absolutely dee-licious if I do say so myself.”

Well, it’s not like you can do much else with all the fog. After some more wandering, you almost literally stumble across your shovels, and take them in hand.

“Oh, and one more thing!” The Professor calls. “I heard you were looking to go home? I have it on good authority you can, well, you can make your own contraption to get all the way back to the real world. It’s just a matter of finding all the bits and bobs. I’m sure I saw a diagram or the like in one of the octopus’s books.”

Grape Board 3 Grid and List of Goals

Grape Collection | Prompt Collection (AO3) | Prompt Collection (Automagic App)

( Board 3 Rules )

The first team to uncover every machine component will win the 2025 round of Battleship Exchange! The remaining teams will continue competing until one claims second place.