It's a chapel.  At least you think it is.  If it is, no one's worshipped here in quite some time.

You are laying on what you assume is a pew.  It feels cold and wooden under your back.  You have trouble sitting up.  Someone's tied your hands behind your back.  The rope seems to run down to a knot that's binding your ankles together.  You are gagged.  Whatever they gagged you with, it tastes like it hasn't been laundered in decades.

You are on the front pew.  There's an dias right ahead of you.  A statue of a robed woman with both hands raised stands on it. The statue has been defaced.  Someone took a chisel to her facial features.  Looks like they broke off her left hand.  Two braziers are lit on either side of the statue, and they light up the room.  The whole room reeks.  Like cat piss or something.

You hear a noise beside you and turn, still collecting your muzzy headed thoughts.  Beside you is a woman, tied up just like you...

Cassandre and Breya, you are both bound by the wrists and ankles.  Both are gagged.  If you look at the map in the Adventurer's Almanac, Braker Estate First Floor, you are in room 6 if you would like an idea of the layout.

You are both on the front western pew.

Best get those ropes off.  Just saying

A litany of curses played forth in Breya's head, but she resisted the urge to yell them because the gag was even more filthy than others she'd been subjected to.

Obviously she didn't know what all had happened, but it didn't matter.  Breya was not one to ask a lot of questions, she was one to act.  And it was time to act, because whoever had put her here had made a mistake.  Rope alone didn't hold prisoners.  Chains and shackles?  Sure, that did the trick, but even then any sensible person doubled those up or also placed the victim in a cage or cell.  She'd been a prisoner long enough she knew what worked and what didn't.

She shifted.  Pressing her palms together, she began to alternate between sliding them back and forth against one another, and pressing up and back with her shoulders, extending her elbows as far as possible while flexing up as high as possible.  If anyone was here watching them it'd be obvious what she was doing and it'd be easy to stop her, but whoever put them here didn't take that precaution.  Or had lapsed in it.

She went to work with her ankles too.  She didn't have as much leverage, but she kept splaying her legs.  That side probably wouldn't break, but given how nasty this gag was and how bad this place smelled, it wasn't impossible that this rope had dry rot and was likely to break anywhere.

Either way, it was going to take a while, but if no one bothered her, she'd brute force her way out eventually.  At the moment she didn't appear to have anything but time anyway.

OOC:  So, there's no real penalty for failing the roll to Break the rope, so Breya is just going to take however long it takes to do so and Take 20 and see if that works.  That would give her a 24 to Break it.

 Cassandre regained consciousness to the sound of someone straining, huffing and puffing behind her. This obviously got her worried, and she slowly swiveled to face whatever horrible creature was at work in her back. Then she saw the woman behind her. The sight was at once reassuring -she was not under immediate threat- and worrying -someone had captured two gorgeous women for who knew what designs.

 She mumbled something to catch the other woman's attention, but she seemed busy. Instead she relaxed and tried to be one with the moment, ignore any external stimulus, and try to reach the consciousness of her best friend in this world -her cat.

 Athena was a male black cat, the ominous type, that spooked even rational people and made the superstitious shiver. He couldn't be far. All she remembered was being knocked out in a bank of fog... surely he had been able to follow her to this location.
 "Help!" she conveyed through this mental link that connected them, if only with the most basic of emotions. He would be here any time now, and his wicked teeth would make short work of the ropes around her wrists and ankles.

 Until then, she focused on the location. Where was she? A chapel of some denomination... she couldn't quite place the mutilated statued of the goddess in the transept. She tried to identify the stone type, the masonry work, the timber species and the carpentry style. Surely something around there would betray where she was -if not why she was here.

---

Cassandre rolled 28 using 1d20+8.  knowledge (whichever applies!)
Cassandre rolled 15 using 1d20+10.  perception

In reply to Cassandre Lagrene (msg # 3):

You don't have to wait long Cassandre.  Athena slinks up, purring.  He seemed to have been hanging around, waiting for you to get up.  He starts to work on the rope around your writsts.

It takes much less time than you anticipated Breya.  You get enough slack to soon make a good effort.  The ropes aren't top quality either.  You snap through them just about the same time that other woman's cat nibbles enough on the knot to loosen her ropes as well.

You both soon manage to get your hands free.

Cassandre, the temple looks like it was a private shrine.  You aren't sure to what god per se.  The statue isn't of a goddess.  It seems to be a saint perhaps.  Maybe Saint Giselle, a patron of widows who have lost husbands to the sea.  Unsurprisingly, she's rather popular along the Red Tide Coast.

The room is obviously no longer used for religious purposes.  No accouterments for rites or prayer books are visible.  The braziers are lit with regular charcoal.  No incense.  There are several coils of rope near the door.  And signs of dried blood.  Whatever they...whoever "they" are...were planning to do to you, they had done to others before now.  You guess someone tied the two of you up and left you here while they prepared...whatever they are planning.

Both of you can hear from the doors to the south the sound of...cats?  Kittie type cats. Meow meow meow.  Lots of meowing.   Like a ton.

Athena growls towards the door.  Cassandre, whether Athena gets along well with other cats or not, he does not seem fond of the kitties on the other side of that door.

I will let the two of you introduce yourselves to one another.

Questions?

By the way, I would have given you a bonus on your roll for the detailed description of what you were doing Breya.  Also liked the "two beautiful women" Cass.  Thanks for nice first posts from you both.  Looking forward to it.

Breya had meant to free herself and then figure out how to free the other captive, but that hadn't been necessary.  She was pleased with her hope that the rope might be dry rotted in places.  She got rid of that nasty gag before doing anything else.

She examined the room quickly, looking for enemies.  Or maybe their equipment.  Or clothes.  No, they were dressed.  Armor?

"So, guessin' if you're in the same position as I was, you're not with... whoever put us here.  But I'm also guessin' something is awry for our captors, because that was a half fast job, doesn't seem like a logical followup to an elaborate kidnapping."

She flexed her arms to make sure she wasn't hurt, at least not yet.  She continued taking stock of the room.  It's not that Breya needed weapons to fight per se, but she was going to avail herself of everything.

"Normally I'm a little more chatty, but we need to find anything in this room that might be beneficial and get out of here before they come back, whoever... they were.  Apparently our captor is a cat farmer.  Let's hope there's a bushel of tuna or some catnip in here huh?"

She looked also at the pews, were they bolted in?  If they really were just cats, Breya wondered if she could shove one out and use it to cross what might be a sea of cats, then drag one out in front of that, and keep alternating.  But that also sounded really dumb.

"Name's Breya."  She didn't elaborate further.  "I hope you traded height for brains Shortstack, because from where I sit up here this whole thing is pear shaped.  I'm looking around, but unless I can knock that statue over and find a door underneath it, I am thinking the only way out is through those cats, and that is going to reek."

FWIW, Breya is an even six feet tall.  She is a big girl.

 Cassandre let the cat chew through her ties, making short work of the worn out hemp. She sits up on the pew and rubs her wrists, still perusing the room, looking to the ceiling for potential escape routes.
 "Good boy, Apollo, very good. I'm glad you're not a stupid scorpion now."

 She looked up to Breya as she uncurled to her full height, towering over her own tiny frame. Just under four feet, she did not quite belong to the realm of halflings and gnomes, but was certainly shorter than most adult one would meet.
 "Bonjour, I'm Cassandre and not I'm not with them -whoever they be. This could have been an elaborate plot and one of us is actually the villain, mind you!" she said with enthusiasm, but then her smile dropped and one quirky eyebrow rose.
 "But I see that you're not, and I know that I'm not, so we're good," she added in what was meant to be reassuring.

 "I have brains aplenty, I promise," the little woman asserted. There was something about her it hard to take at face value -her childlike features, grotesque horns, unsteady bearing... take a pick.

 "Here is my pearl of wisdom for now: you seem a fierce one, you can handle a clowder of stray. I'll be right behind you, with Apollo." She indicated the black cat that was purring at her feet.
 "I promise he's not one of them," she quickly added with a forced smile.
 "Shall we begone before they come back with whatever tools of torture they have in store? I have a feeling we're going to be good friends," she added and indicated the door with a hopeful wave.

---

 I've renamed the cat Apollo, cause he's a he.
 I'll try and use consistent coloured text whenever possible, but I often post from my phone and tend to skip it - I'll edit afterwards when I can.

Breya:

If they really were just cats, Breya wondered if she could shove one out and use it to cross what might be a sea of cats, then drag one out in front of that, and keep alternating.  But that also sounded really dumb.

 I thought for a second you wanted to use a cat to walk across other cats :D
This message was last edited by the player at 09:57, Wed 02 Mar 2022.

"Half Fast" seems to be a good description of your captors.  They left your things piled up on the back pew.

There doesn't seem to be any other way out of the room.  The doors to the south seems to be your only option.

The doors aren't locked.  Peeking out of them reveals Area 5 on the Braker Estate map in the Adventurer's Almanac.  You are in room 6 looking out at it what must have once been a courtyard.  It's open to the floor above and overhead, a broken skylight opens to the sky.

In the center of the courtyard is a raised platform with a fountain on it.  The fountain isn't working. If it did, that might help the smell.

The courtyard is stuffed with cats.  Not just 10.  Not just 20.  An even fifty might not be out of the question.

They are slinking around, being cat like.  Moving among them is a squat, heavy woman in a garishly bright orange and lavender robe embroidered with cat like figures all over it.  She has shockingly red hair which she's somehow managed to updo so it stands like a spike off the top of her head.

She has a bucket in one hand and is reaching into it, throwing out some rather bloody looking meat.

"Oh Mr. Snugglepuffs! Aren't you a handsome fellow today?"

The cat in question jumps on the lump of meat...which may actually be a spleen...and starts to dig in.

"Pooperbottoms!  Are you gonna give momma nose boops later?  Yes you is!  Yes you is!"

Pooperbottoms gets what is either a tongue or a...well.  You don't want to think about it.

"Momma" stops and sits on the edge of the fountain.

"All my lil snuggly wugglies!  Who wants fresh kittles?  You can have some if you love Momma!  And you do? Don'tcha? DON'TCHA?  Cos if you don't Momma's jus' gonna cry and cry!"

Crap.  Crap.  Crap.  Crap. Crap.  Crap. Crappity Crap Covered Crap on a Crappy Cracker.

"Oh that can't be good Shortstack."  Breya whispered.  "That haircut is criminal enough, but I'm pretty sure we were brought here as catfood.  They didn't think we'd be alive long enough to get out of the ropes."

Breya whispered as she fastened on the weird gauntlet weapon, or rather, started to before thinking better of it.  That old lady was creepy as hell.  She checked her other personal effects, figuring she might need them about ten seconds ago.

"All right I can think of two plays here Cass.   One is to lie in wait and turn that into an ambush.  Normally that can work pretty good, if you get someone who's not expecting you to put them in a choke into a choke.  Don't like that idea, if that really is a weird old broad, and she might not be, she might just send the cats in to get me.  This room doesn't really lend itself to a counter ambush, even if we hid behind that statue.

"The other idea, which is also dumb, may have a fifty percent survival rate.  I can go out there and run my mouth and try to bum rush the witch.  Probably get torn to ribbons before I ever get to her weird face to punch it, but it'd be a hell of a distraction and you're small, you might be able to find a way out.  Better than both of us being catfood."

 Cassandre looked to the surreal scene with a frown. She listened to Breya and nodded pensively... part of her was trying to understand what the situation was. Was there an appropriate social interaction available? Evidently not.

 She winced when the tall woman jumped to the catfood conclusion, and mumbled:
"Maybe not... think it through, surely there are easier lumps of meat about... no there has to be a reason we're here..."

 As Breya desribed their options, the diminutive wizard grabbed her stuff, limited as it was, and wondered: where's my goat? The thought that her faithful beast of burden had been turned to cat snacks made her shiver.

 Before the tall warrior was through with describing the plan, she mumbled: "I have a good feeling about this. Follow me."

 She slid through the door slightly ajar, and walked stealthily along the wall to the nearest door, and opened it.

---

 Cass used her intuition roll on a stealth check (total 28) and opens the door to area 3
 Ha! I just read the other thread after posting this, I love the idea of us leaving through the NW door while they walk in through the NE one!
This message was last edited by the player at 10:40, Fri 04 Mar 2022.

In reply to Cassandre Lagrene (msg # 10):

It actually gets funnier than that Cassandre.  The "northeast" in the other thread was a typo.  They are actually at the northwest door.

But before we deal with that...

You glide along the wall like cheap wine running down a bum's throat Cassandre.  The crazy cat lady seems to be preoccupied with one of her little "snookums" named Mr. Sunshiny Widdums and his unwillingness to give snuggles.

Breya, if you are following along, will need a stealth check please.

And both of you:  please give me a Perception check

Thanks

Breya shrugged.  Her idea could be used as a contingency plan, as she doubted her tall arse was going to cross without being noticed, distraction or not.

She'd done stranger things and gotten away with them though.

lol let's see how this goes

22:01, Today: Breya rolled 7 using 1d20-1.  Perception.

22:01, Today: Breya rolled 2 using 1d20+1.  Stealth.

laughing so hard right now

Even as she glided silently along the wall, Cassandre felt an urge to pause briefly as she thought she heard something.
She turned to Breya, indicated for her to lay low and pressed a finger against her lips.

Cassandre Lagrene rolled 16 using 1d20+10.  Perception
Hahahaha are you trying to get us into a fight with the whole cast of cats??