A Tail of Two Cats

Development team

 * Developer: Jonathan S
 * Graphics: Neil R
 * Quality Assurance: Adam D
 * QuestHelp: Samir A
 * Audio: Ian T

Finding Bob
Start the quest by talking to Unferth in the house south of the anvils and east of the games room in Burthorpe. (You need to be wearing your Catspeak amulet at this point or you will not be able to complete the dialogue to start the quest.) Offer to help, and he will tell you to talk to Hild (she's just north-east of Unferth's house), who is more "technologically advanced". She will enchant your catspeak amulet, but needs five death runes for the enchantment. You can now right-click and open it to find Bob's location. It works somewhat like a compass - when facing north, rotate the whiskers to move the arrow direction and point it in the right direction. When you see the central cat's eyes light up, go in that direction to find Bob. He can be anywhere in RuneScape. Fortunately, Bob is displayed with a yellow NPC dot on the map, unlike penguin spies.

A good strategy for finding Bob the Jagex Cat is to use triangulation. Find the direction Bob is from Hild's house in Burthorpe, and then tele somewhere far away, like Varrock or Rimmington. Find which direction Bob is from there, and by tracing the two directions from where they started to where they cross, you will have a pretty good idea where Bob is.

Known locations
A few places where Bob might be found during this quest include:


 * North of Burthorpe Castle. (directly north, where the troll area is after you run past the rock throwers, not recommended to try to speak to him here.) He may also be at Death Plateau, the most southeastern corner of it.
 * Just inside Burthorpe Castle.
 * Near the Paterdomus, west of Canifis.
 * In Draynor Manor, north of the manor but within the gates.
 * In the farm house west of the cabbage field at Draynor Village.
 * In Wise Old Man's house in Draynor Village.
 * East of Draynor Manor near the stepping stones shortcut.
 * South of the Mining Guild in Falador.
 * The building with the anvil in Seers' Village.
 * South of the Monastery near Edgeville.
 * In the small building east of White Wolf Mountain (in the bedroom).
 * In Varrock near the anvil just south of the west bank or behind the grand exchange/castle
 * On the first floor of Lumbridge Castle.
 * The fletching store in Catherby.
 * Outside the Legends' Guild.
 * In the Outlaw Camp between Edgeville and the Grand Exchange.
 * On the docks south of Catherby.
 * Around Lucien's house and the Edgeville canoe station.
 * Around Port Sarim.
 * In the Piscatoris Hunter area.
 * The Exam Centre near the Dig Site.
 * Goblin village.
 * On west side of White Wolf Mountain.
 * Inside Party Pete's Mansion.
 * In the church in Ardougne.
 * East of Draynor Manor, outside the gate, but on Draynor Manor side of the river lum (over the stepping stones from Champion's Guild.)
 * Near the Lumberyard east of Varrock.
 * In the Crafting Guild.
 * Near the mine west of Falador.
 * In a house, south-west of the Taverley herblore store.
 * The Chaos Temple north-west of Goblin Village.

Researching Bob's Past
After finding Bob, talk to him. He will tell you that he's in love with Neite, but she has no idea what his origins are so she's not interested in him. Talk to Gertrude about Bob's family. During the conversation your cat will tell you to research a warrior called Robert the Strong. In the Varrock library, talk to Reldo. He will tell you that Robert the Strong was much taller and stronger than any other man of his time. His longbow was six feet tall, and he fought immortal monsters known as the Dragonkin. He fought alongside Odysseus, a black panther.

Go back and talk with Bob. He won't believe your (cat's) theory. Your cat will recommend discussing the situation with the Sphinx.

Getting Help
Talk to the Sphinx in Sophanem. Ask her for help, and after a bit, you'll have the option to view a 5 minute cutscene or just get a brief summary of what happened. It is recommended to skip the cutscene as a bug may occur where you can lose your cat (temporarily). During the cutscene, the Sphinx will teleport Bob to Sophanem and hypnotize him. He will say that he really was Robert the Strong and he will tell a story where Robert fought a dragonkin. The Sphinx will teleport Neite to Bob, who will be impressed and fall in love with him. Bob will tell you to keep his owner busy by doing his chores, and you will be given the option to teleport back to Sophanem, or directly to Burthorpe. Note that if you choose the brief summary, you won't have the option of teleporting.




 * The bug that takes away your cat is only temporary. Your cat will just return to you the next time you log in.

Bob's List
Go back to Unferth's house in Burthorpe and do these chores:


 * Tidy house: Make Unferth's bed. This takes one mouse click and is the easiest chore.
 * Warm human: Use some logs on the fireplace and light it with your tinderbox.
 * Feed human: Use a bucket of milk and a chocolate cake on the table. A recipe for the cake can be found in the bookshelf. Right click your cake! Do not eat it.
 * Tidy human: Use a pair of shears on Unferth. This will take a few seconds.
 * Tend garden: Weed Unferth's patch (in the yard just north of the house), plant four potato seeds and wait about 24 – 34 minutes for them to grow. (If you attempt to water or put compost on the farming patch, you will get a message, "This soil is very rich and does not need compost") Since this is not a normal allotment patch, and the Examine message does not mention the health of the plants, it seems likely that these plants cannot become diseased. Hint: if this is the only remaining chore, and you keep your cat/kitten with you, it will alert you of when the crops are done by telling you every chore is complete.

"Sickness"
After you've done the chores, talk to Unferth again. He'll tell you that he's very ill and must see a doctor or a nurse. Talk to the Apothecary in Varrock. He will tell you that Unferth is a hypochondriac, thinking that he's sick all the time even though he really has been tested for illnesses and it's all in his head. The Apothecary suggests you disguise as a doctor or nurse, and "treat" Unferth with a placebo drug. Holding nothing in your hands, wear a doctors hat or nurse hat (provided by the Apothecary) and some white robes (such as Desert robes, or if you have completed Biohazard, a doctor's gown would work, but you will still need desert robe bottom bought from Shantay) and bring a vial of water to Unferth. He'll believe that the vial contains a miracle potion to cure anything, and his imaginary illness will clear up.

Finishing
Using your catspeak amulet, find Bob again and talk to him. He may have moved to another of the other locations mentioned above. You'll see a cutscene (do not click around during the cutscene or you'll exit out and have to find bob again) about all of the journeys he went on with Neite, including a magic carpet ride in Sophanem, a conversation between Bob and the King Black Dragon (a player spoof known as R4ng3rno0b889 also tries to attack the dragon, but the dragon kills him instantly), and a journey on the fishing trawler ship.

Warning: If at any time during the cutscene, you try to interact with it (i.e. trying to pick up the bones of the dead ranger) you will be sent back to Burthorpe and you will have to find Bob again and start the cutscene over.

After the cutscene, talk to Unferth to get a present from Bob.

Reward



 * 2 Quest points
 * A mysterious present containing
 * 2 Antique lamps granting 2500 experience each in a skill above level 30
 * Mouse toy (functions as a fun weapon at the duel arena)
 * Doctors hat or nurse hat (you can switch by destroying your hat and requesting a new one from the Apothecary)
 * Catspeak amulet (e), allowing you to locate Bob.
 * You can talk to Historian Minas in the Varrock Museum to receive 5 kudos.

Trivia

 * In a part you give Unferth a vial of water claiming its medicine. This is a reference to the Placebo method and to homeopathy.
 * The name of the quest "A Tail of Two Cats" is a reference to the Charles Dickens novel, A Tale of Two Cities. It has been suggested that the quest may have originally been called "A tail of Two Kitties", but that Jagex changed it due to the fact that it involves cats, not kittens.


 * After you find him, Bob says, "Hey! I'm just this cat you know," a quote "Hay! Zaphad is just this guy you know!" from Zaphod Beeblebrox's privet brain care Gage Halfrount of the book, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.


 * One of the scenes in the second cut scene where Bob and Neite are travelling on a flying carpet might be a spin-off of the famous Disney scene in Aladdin, where Aladdin and Jasmin travel romantically by flying carpet.
 * One of the scenes in the second cut scene shows a spoof scene of the movie Titanic. Also, if this part of the cutscene is seen in HD, you will see your character "standing" on the sail of the mast on the boat Bob and Neite are on. The glitch can still occur.
 * If you talk to Unferth after the quest,he will say that his spleen is acting up again,despite the 'miracle cure'.


 * Unferth's statement that Bob only comes on Mondays could be a slight reference to Garfield's hatred of said day of the week.


 * During this quest, when you talk to Gertrude she mentions "a rumour about some death runes". This is because you can sell a full-grown cat in west Ardougne for 100 death runes.


 * This is one of the few quests that allows you to skip a cutscene, due to its long duration (5 minutes 20 seconds).


 * In the story of Robert The Strong it is said he wandered around with a six foot long bow and a cat named "Odysseus". In the Odyssey, Odysseus the Greek hero was said to wield a six foot long bow.


 * Hild seems to be wearing a gnome amulet, glarial's amulet or the crystal amulet.


 * During the first cut scene, the Dragonkin appears to be casting a spell similar to Fire Wave.


 * The ship Bob and Neite appear to be on in the second cutscene looks like the Fishing Trawler.


 * If you examine the potato plant in Unferth's garden, it reads: You say potato, I say Poh-Tar-To, which is a reference to the song 'Let's Call The Whole Thing Off'.


 * The bug that takes away your cat is only temporary. Your cat will just return to you the next time you log in.


 * Bob says "Love lies not with the eyes but with the mind, and therefore is the winged Cupid painted blind," which is a quotation from Helena's monologue in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream (Act I, Scene i, lines 234-235 (though the actual line is "Love looks not…").


 * The King Black Dragon is shown having an intelligent conversation with Bob, using proper grammar, however, the King Black Dragon's heads, when stuffed and mounted on a wall in a Player Owned House, do not have intelligent speech, but instead speak in a goblin-like manner, it may also be that for the King Black Dragon to communicate fluently it requires all of the heads to be connected through the spinal column. A possibility is that the King Black Dragon is able to converse with Bob intelligently as they are both animals.


 * Upon the completion of this quest, one's Adventurer's Log will read: "The simple task of looking for Bob got a little more complex. It seems that Bob may - or may not - have been Robert the Strong, a fearsome hero of years past."
 * If you try to log out after watching the cutscene and teleporting to Unferth's house you will get a message that reads, "You need to wait a few moments before you can log out."
 * Unferth has hair when you do the chores, but is bald at the beginning.
 * Unferth was a character from the Epic Poem Beowulf.


 * Unferth references Monday, but the days of the week in RuneScape, as seen in The Chosen Commander, are named after the Seven Priestly Warriors, and Monday does not exist. However, it is stated by the H.A.M. guard in the quest that those are the old calendar days.
 * When your cat/kitten alerts you that you should check your farming patch, it will leave your inventory to do so, even if in a location where you normally could not drop your pet, such as the Sorceress' Garden.
 * Whilst speaking to Unferth when the chores are done and your cat is outside your player will still turn to talk to it although it is not there.
 * After the quest, when using shears on Unferth, he says "Hey, leave me alone!"
 * Unferths examine info "Nice but dim." refers to Harry Enfield show character Tim nice but dim.

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