Nicat Brightluck's page

I completely understand, Dragoncat. I had wondered about whether this might be coming, and I sort of share the sentiment. It's tough to keep up the pace after more than five years of play (though that is something to be proud of!), and I think exploring the many rooms of Foxglove Manor just slowed our pace even further.

It's been a pleasure to play with you all, and I think I'll take this opportunity to bow out as well. Nicat has now had at least two Runelords games end at about this stage, and I'm going to take it as a sign. I also just last night started a real-life run of War for the Crown with some friends, so I'll scratch my AP itch that way.

See everyone around the boards, or at a con somewhere!

"I don't much like the idea of rushing into whatever's ahead," Nicat responds. "You know me, Conner, I'm the thoughtful, cautious type. Let's just make our way down the hall, maybe peek around the corner? One thing we know for sure, there's some ghouls waiting for us that way."

"Ha! More ugly things trying their luck against us!" Nicat cries out, laughing aloud as he slips his bow from his shoulder, "We've got 'em for sure!"

Standard action Inspire Courage (round 1/17 today) for +2 to attack, damage, fear saves. Move action to draw bow.

Spellcraft on pickaxe: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 17

Nicat studies the fancy pickaxe a moment, then lifts his eyes to focus on his friends - and notices that everyone else is focused on a great, big ball of fire rolling down the hallway! "Whoah, you weren't kidding, sis!" he exclaims, as Eostre torches the mold. "Glad you waited until I was out of there to do that!"

Once he can get Conner's attention, Nicat holds out the pick to him and says, "Here you go, hope you get some use out of the thing. Seems kind of heavy to me..." For some reason, he's grinning a bit as he says this.

It's a +1 heavy pick. See? It's heavy. Sorry, Nicat thought it was funny.

He waits a moment for the smoke to clear, then says, "So, I guess we go this way, where the mold was, now that the way is clear?"

Sorry you had to bot me, DM Cat. Didn’t realize anyone was waiting on Nicat, and then I got busy. That was some fairly entertaining botting though, even if you had Nicat speak Canadian!

Nicat rolls his eyes at Conner and his apparent fascination with pickaxes, before moving into the chamber with the horrid mold. Keeping his back against the wall and moving carefully to keep as much distance between himself and the spore-flinging horror, Nicat gets to the pickaxes. He scans them for the presence of magic, then collects the shiny-looking one and any others that radiate magic, carrying them carefully back and dumping them at Conner’s feet.

Not sure if you need any sort of check, but I’ll throw in a roll.

1d20 ⇒ 20 Whether that’s a Reflex save or an Acrobatics check, it’s +11. And a pretty solid roll.

Got it, thanks.

Nicat addresses the group, squaring his shoulders and doing his best to look every bit the stalwart - though small - adventuring hero, "Going near this could really hurt us, and be pretty gross. I say we bravely look to see if there's another way around. We might be able to destroy it with fire, but we'd have to get pretty close to it to do that, the way the hallway turns. Let's try the next passage."

Made us another nice arrow to indicate where I think we'll go next.

Knowledge (dungeoneering): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16

"Ick! That stuff is gross!" Nicat cries out when he sees the yellow mold. "Don't you know what it is, Sis? Just look at it, it's mold, and it's yellow - so it's yellow mold! It's really bad for you, and it's flammable, which I always thought was strange - but it means we could destroy it with fire. Anyway, we shouldn't go near it."

DM Cat - do I understand correctly that we have to actually go into it to disturb it and set off the spores?

"Okay, sounds good to me," Nicat whispers back.

I drew an arrow on the map pointing at the route I think Eostre means, since the passages are a bit amorphous. Let me know if you meant something else.

With a nod to Conner, Nicat moves slowly and quietly back the way they’ve come, gesturing to his friends to come along.

If we’re going to fight that thing, we can do it later, after we’ve dealt with Foxglove.

Will be skiing Saturday through Monday, unlikely to be able to post. Please bot me as necessary.

Knowledge (religion): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 4 = 15
Perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (7) + 12 = 19

Nicat stares in horror at the awful creature hanging from the ceiling for a long moment, but then his attention is caught by something else in the room. Holding a finger to his lips for quiet - though he's sure a giant bat can hear anything it wants - he points past the bat, down a tight passage, to where he sees something shining in the darkness.

Waving his hands to get his companions' attention, he then looks around the room as if searching for something, shrugs to indicate that he can't find it, and then pantomimes walking away. His friends scratch their heads a bit, but ultimately come to understand his message is "Iesha isn't here, let's go back the way we came."

Take 10 on Bluff for a 17, to convey the message above.

At the bottom of the stairs, Nicat looks around, trying to guess where Iesha might have gone. He points at the various passages and mutters something - perhaps a spell, or a children's game? - that begins with "Eeny meeny miney mo..." and goes on for a surprisingly long time. When he finishes his incantation, he points at the newer-looking tunnel to the west and says, "Let's go that way, it's where Desna has pointed me."

DM - I've lined us up in formation to start going into the tunnel I mean, just in case my post didn't make it clear.

I wholeheartedly approve of your decision on the haunts, DM Cat! I was never a big fan before, but then I played through way too many of them in Carrion Crown and I'm done with them. I think the way you've hit fast-forward on this part of the AP has worked very well.

As to the dungeon crawl aspect, if we were all at a table, you could just point at all the places on the map that didn't really result in anything, give some quick descriptions, and achieve a similar fast-forward in a few minutes - PbP just takes a different approach, and I'm glad you took it.

In short - ain't no need to confess when you did us all a favor!

"Uh, guys? Is Conner okay?" Nicat asks. "He looks like he's being attacked, but I don't see anything here to attack him."

Gritting his teeth, Nicat takes a few steps toward the injured warrior and lays a hand on one of his wounds, to see if the blood is real or an illusion. At the same time, he waves a hand through the air, feeling for magic.

Cast detect magic and interact with the illusion to try to disbelieve it?

Will: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15

Wow, a bunch of us checking in on a Saturday night, that's great!

The regret in his tone now tinged with a rich mixture of foreboding and plain old fear, Nicat says, "You see what, Conner? That's weird, why don't the rest of us see it?"

Hearing Eostre's theorizing, the halfling shakes his head and says, "Yeah, I don't understand it any better after hearing that, but I agree, we gotta push on."

Perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (8) + 12 = 20

"You mean that stink of rotten flesh?" Nicat asks Eostre. "Yeah, I noticed that too, Sis. The smell got really strong for a second there, then faded away. And I have to say, this descent into a place of rot and death feels awfully familiar - and I'm not talking about the Vinder family cellar."

His tone full of regret, he continues, "I guess if we're following her, we're following her, right? I am not looking forward to this."

"I'm with Ekan and Conner, we should take the books," Nicat offers. He then turns his gaze to the door Iesha has gone through. With a visible effort to make himself say it, he adds, "Seems we should probably follow her, huh? Make sure she kills whatever horror she's after."

As the rats lead him and his friends through the old manor, Nicat racks his brains to recall a tale he's heard, "I know there was a story about somebody and a bunch of rats, maybe in a village called Hamlet, or Hamlir maybe? And he played a little horn-pipe and...someone led someone somewhere? Did he follow the rats or lead the rats? I wish I could remember, because either we're reliving an old story, or we're totally mixing up an old story."

He gives up on his effort to remember when the rats actually get them to the key, remarking, "Well, these rats are definitely too smart to be led around by someone playing a tune. They're kind of scary smart, I'm glad they're helping us, not trying to stop us! Anyway, I think we can probably carry twenty coins with us, Eostre, while we take the key to Iesha. From what we've seen of this place, we may be leaving in a hurry, and I'd like to spend as little time here as possible." He scoops up the platinum coins and drops them into his belt pouch, then says, "How about we open that door for Iesha, and then keep our distance while she sorts out her feelings?"

I’m still around, though I’m on an extended work trip and don’t have much time to post. I’d be interested in continuing this game for sure, but I have had mixed experiences with recruiting new GM’s and I’m not sure I’d want to do that.

It's okay with me to hit the pause button for a bit. I'll likely have more time to post over the holidays rather than less, but I'll also have plenty of other stuff to do.

DM Cat - just to be clear, we've searched the whole basement and not found a key, right? I posted about searching room B28 and didn't see a response to that. I assume you're just fast-forwarding so we don't have to post about searching each room, let us know if there was anything of note anywhere else in the basement, would you?

With a shrug, Nicat says, "I guess we head upstairs and keep looking. I hope our friend stays downstairs at that door, though."

If we're done in the basement, let's go to the main level and start at B5, then go up numerically from there.

"Right, key!" Nicat says, moving quickly after Eostre. "We'll find the key, you wait right there!"

Once out of the narrow hallway, he looks around, asking himself, "Okay, where would a key be? Does that hall go to the wine cellar, so it'd be down here in the kitchen somewhere? Or is it some secret chamber of the master of the house, so it'd be hidden in a grand bedroom upstairs, with a red silk ribbon through it?"

Turning to his friends, he says, "I've got no idea where to look for the key! Unless you guys know, or can come up with a better way to guess, I say we start right here where we are and work our way up. I bet Desna will smile on us and we'll find it quick!"

Unless someone has a better idea, Nicat walks over to the door to room B28 and waits for his friends to join him, then checks it out.

I've got a work trip for the first three weeks of December, and my partner's 50th birthday happening the day after I get back and I have done no planning whatsoever for any of it. And her family is invading us uninvited. So my emotions contain both terror and dread.

But Thanksgiving should be nice - we have our local grocery store do most of our cooking, and we spend the day on the beach with friends and then come home and heat stuff up for dinner, so it's usually very mellow.

DM Cat - with Evelyn dropping out of the game, how should we handle her presence in this part of the adventure? Can one of us just bot her as we explore the house and find Aldern and so on, and then when it makes more sense in the story, she can leave us?

In spite of all that is going on around him, at Eostre's words, Nicat's mind wanders back to the large rat in Shayliss' basement, the feeling of triumph as he killed it before it could hurt her, her sweet, soft skin as she held him close afterward, her torn garment and gently smiling mouth...and her fearsome father's heavy boots coming down the stairs. Giving his head a shake, Nicat says, "Right, let's keep after her. Did you say something about a jinx, Conner? Desna smiles down on me, even in this basement, we'll be fine."

Though if Desna really smiled on me in that moment, Mr. Vinder would have been off at the market, giving someone else a mean look...

"Makes a horrible sort of sense to me," Nicat says grimly, moving along after Iesha.

Very sorry to hear it, Evelyn! It’s been great having you in the game, perhaps we’ll meet at a Pathfinder table somewhere someday.

Will: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17 +2 vs fear, which seems likely here

Nicat winces at the scream, but manages to keep his head. Seeing Eostre rolling about on the floor, Nicat lays a calming hand on her and says, "Easy there, sis, she's not hurting us! I think she's just a bit...upset."

I'll be on a long work trip Oct 9-28. I'll still have internet access, but will have limited time to post and will be in a very different time zone. Bot me as needed.

As Evelyn tugs on him, Nicat keeps his grip on the door and pulls it closed as he is himself pulled out of the room.

"I don't know what you guys are saying," he says quietly, "but this place gives me the creeps."

Well, that wasn't creepy, Evelyn!

Nicat keeps a hand on the doorknob, even pulling it closed by an inch or two, while waiting to see what Evelyn can tell him about the sad but scary girl in the lonely room.

"Okay, okay, we're not looking at you," Nicat responds, doing his best to not look as he says it. This is creeeeeepy, he thinks to himself, but she's not attacking us with those claws of hers, so that's good.

"I'm Nicat," he continues, trying to keep his tone bright. "Can you tell me why you're crying? What's wrong?"

Waving his friends forward, Nicat waits until they’ve joined him, then slowly pushes the door open and sends his glowing lights inside. He puts the most reassuring grin he can muster on his face, and hopes that Conner isn’t glowering over his shoulder at whoever is crying inside.

"Again with the locked door..." Nicat mutters in frustration. "Is this a horrid beast locked in by someone, or someone who's terrified and is trying to keep horrid beasts locked out?" he wonders aloud.

Raising his voice a little, he says, "Hello in there! I know you're scared, but my friends and I don't mean you any harm. I'm going to try to open the door, and we can get you out of this place safely! Don't attack me, okay?"

Take 10 on Diplomacy for a 21, then try to open door again.

Str check: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 2 = 20 Tee hee! If that worked, he is going to be completely insufferable.

Okay, Conner, that was funny.

Nicat swallows loudly once more, responding, "Right...Desna smiles on me, right? This'll be fine!" He takes a few steps forward, trying to keep his tone bright as he says, "What could go wrong?" He waggles his fingers to send the balls of light to the far end of the hall, to light up the door with the crying behind it as much as possible, then moves up and opens it.

I moved everybody up a bit on the map, but moved Nicat up even more...

Without even answering Eostre, Nicat mutters, "This place is creepy..." As if he hasn't heard the dwarf, or perhaps as if he's too focused on how creepy this room is to pay attention to anything else, he wiggles his fingers and quickly conjures a quartet of dancing lights, sending them zooming around the room to light up the darkest corners.

Swallowing loudly, he says, "Gulp! Guess we should check out the last door on the right, eh? Where that crying is coming from? Uh, Conner?"

Nicat flexes his small, yet somehow broad, shoulders and exults, with a huge grin on his face, "Got it! Just needed someone strong enough to do the job!" He then puts a shushing finger to his lips and says, "Shhhh, everyone! We have to be quiet!"

With a nudge on Conner's hip, the ebullient halfling, still grinning madly at his accomplishment with the door, says, "Lead the way, big fellow!"

Tee hee!

Nicat braces against the door, then gives a series of shoves, hoping his lower angle on the door will be effective.

Str check: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 2 = 12
Str check: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21

I suggest Conner do the same, if my 21 isn't good enough, to see if it's possible to open the door. Alternately, GM Cat, if it's impossible for us to open the door this way, you could let us know so we don't spend more time posting about it.

Can I suggest that Conner just make a bunch of checks, since we’ll presumably get it eventually? We have been rolling pretty poorly.

I think we all are. Everyone but Ekan has posted in the last week or so, even with site hiccups, and Ekan's player has posted in other games recently.

I survived, but if that outage was all 'maintenance' then I'm going to call the car accident I was in years ago a 'repair opportunity.'

It probably won't matter, as the Paizo site is rarely up these days, but I'll be at a local con this weekend and won't be posting much.

"Nope," Nicat responds, "I'd get in even more trouble if I had some of those." With a tip of his head towards Conner, he adds, "But we've got a big, strong doorman right here. Conner, care to get us past this door?"

Aid with Str check, if needed: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 = 15

Based on the layout of the floor and the fact that we're trying to get upstairs, I say we head for the door where I've drawn a yellow arrow. Seems like a reasonable guess, architecturally.

Nicat moves up the stairs behind Ekan, saying quietly, "I guess we need to keep going up..."

He gestures to the others to catch up, and waves Conner ahead of him.

Would like to think we'd all stick together and move in a rational marching order. Or, we can let the monk get eaten, and then the halfling right behind him can be dessert.

"Wait a minute!" Nicat exclaims. "Now I smell something burning, but only after I cast that spell! I wonder if it's from using magic, or from detecting it? Eostre, were you detecting magic?"

He scratches his head a moment, then says, "Here's a way we can test it." He makes a series of arcane gestures, pauses and sniffs. Then he repeats the process, pointing at Ekan partway through.

Will cast mage hand, just to see if casting any spell allows me to smell the burning, or if it's specific to detect magic. Then I'll cast message on Ekan, to see if he smells it. If there doesn't seem to be a harmful effect, I'll put message on everyone, so we can communicate quietly if we need to.

Can I take 10 for a 22?

Got it, thanks.

Nicat gestures to the staircase curving up to the south and says, "Let's go that way! Uh, after Conner goes that way. And let's be careful of that maybe-not-dead monster!"

Just in case, Nicat waves a hand in the direction of the manticore, looking for the presence of magic.

Cast detect magic.

All - I am so sorry to have been absent! I wasn't getting new post notifications and I thought the game had just stalled, then I checked out of curiosity and saw lots of new posts!

Perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (1) + 12 = 13

"I don't hear or smell anything," Nicat offers, "but I'm totally with Conner on not assuming that monster is dead."

He looks at Ekan, sees the seriousness in the monk's face, and says, "But if there's someone crying, and they're upstairs, we should take a look. That's how we found Katarina and her mother at the farm."

DM Cat - any stairs in sight? Doesn't look like it on the map, but there's something south of the B3 label that might be stairs.

"Hey, gang, let's check out this ruin and well first, then head up to the house," Nicat suggests. "I'd hate to have some surprise lurking behind us because we didn't take a look."

Tapping a finger to his temple, he adds, "Always thinking, I am." He then strides into the ruined foundation and heads over to the well, remembering to keep his eyes a little bit open for surprises.

Perception if needed: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (19) + 12 = 31