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 north of the agility arena 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 (second house to the 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, however, he is most likely to be found atop the Death Plateau. 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. An even better strategy is to wait until an update, as after an update he will be back in Burthorpe.

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 library in Varrock palace, 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:

N.B. if your water evaporated from your vial in the desert, refill it now!


 * 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 (your toolbelt will not work, use a tinderbox with the fireplace).
 * 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.

Required for completing

 * The Ritual of the Mahjarrat

Trivia

 * The name of the quest "A Tail of Two Cats" is a reference to the Charles Dickens novel, A Tale of Two Cities.
 * One of the scenes in the second cut scene where Bob and Neite are travelling on a flying carpet might be a reference to Aladdin. Another scene shows a reference to the Titanic.
 * After the initial conversation, Bob will start a dialogue similar to Darth Vader's in "The Empire Strikes Back" when he reveals that he is Luke's father.
 * In the story of Robert The Strong it is said he wandered around with a six foot long bow and a cat named "Odysseus".
 * Before Bob is hypnotized, he says "Hey! I'm just this cat, you know?" This is a reference to a repeated line in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: "Zaphod's just zis guy, you know?"
 * 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.

A Tail of Two Cats A Tail of Two Cats A Tail of Two Cats
 * An unlisted music tracks plays during Bob and Neite's adventures.
 * 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."
 * Tail_of_two_cats_glitch.png viewing the final cutscene, a glitch may occur where you will enter dialogue with "Love Cats", who has no chathead and has the same dialogue as Bob.
 * Although R4ng3rno0b889 is a spoof of a user, the name is, infact, invalid as a username can only contain a maximum of 12 characters, whereas this contains 13.