A Tail of Two Cats

Development team

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

Lonely
Begin the quest by talking to Unferth, in the house north of the agility arena in Burthorpe, with a catspeak amulet equipped. Unferth notices your companion and tells you that he had raised a cat too, named Bob; although he ran away a week ago. Offer to help bring back Bob, and he will tell you to talk to Hild, who is more "technologically advanced" and may be helpful.

Cathunt
Enter the second house to the east of Unferth and talk to Hild. Apparently, she is well-versed in cat dialect and also knows about a few secrets contained inside the catspeak amulet. The amulet contains a mechanism inside, which when enchanted using five death runes, creates a device which can be used to narrow down Bob's location in a general direction, anywhere in RuneScape. Provide Hild with the death runes and she will return an enchanted catspeak amulet.

Open the amulet to bring up an interface; it works somewhat like a compass - by default it faces north, so rotate the whiskers to move the arrow direction. When you see the 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.

A good strategy for finding Bob the Cat is to use triangulation. Find the direction of Bob from Hild's house, and then teleport somewhere far, for example, 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. Server updates lead to resetting Bob's location to Burthorpe.

Strong Lineage
After finding Bob, talk to him. He tells you he left because he's smitten by Neite, who refuses to interact with him because she doesn't know about his family. Your cat suggests you talk to Gertrude about Bob's family, as she was the one who handed Bob over to Unferth.

Travel to Varrock and talk to Gertrude. She says that she has no idea about Bob's lineage, as she found him at her doorstep in a basket, although your cat tells you to ask her about a warrior called Robert the Strong. When she fails to remember the name, she directs you to Reldo, in the library in Varrock palace.

Reldo says that Robert the Strong is a forgotten legend from the First Age, and was 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, alongside his sidekick, Odysseus, a black panther.

Go back and speak with Bob. After trying hard to help him remember his past - Odysseus, the dragonkin - your cat reminds you of your adventures in the desert, when you were hypnotized by the Devourer. It says that maybe the Sphinx can help Bob access his lost memories in the same manner.

Memories
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 get a brief summary of what happens. If you choose the brief summary, you won't be offered the option of being teleported to Burthorpe.

During the cutscene, the Sphinx will teleport Bob to Sophanem and hypnotize him. Bob, thinking back on his earliest memories, recalls himself as Robert the Strong. He sees himself looking over at a tower beside Odysseus, followed by a battle between them and a dragonkin; the dragonkin manages to slay the panther and weaken Robert, but is killed by an immensely powerful attack by him.

After the cutscene, the Sphinx teleports 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.

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


 * Tidy house: Make Unferth's bed. This takes one click and is the easiest chore.
 * Warm human: Use some logs on the fireplace and light it.
 * Feed human: Use a bucket of milk and a chocolate cake on the table. Right click your cake! Do not eat it.
 * Tidy human: Use a pair of shears on Unferth a few times to shave his hair.
 * Tend garden: Weed Unferth's patch in the yard just north of the house and plant four potato seeds. You now need to wait about 25 – 35 minutes for them to grow. If this is the only remaining chore, your cat/kitten will alert you when the crops are fully grown.

"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 immediately. As you have promised to take care of Unferth, you must cure him before Bob returns.

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 yourself 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.

Love-cats
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 showing all the adventures Bob takes Neite on, 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.

Rewards



 * 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)
 * Catspeak amulet (e), allowing you to locate Bob.
 * Doctors hat or nurse hat (you can switch by destroying your hat and requesting a new one from the Apothecary)
 * You can talk to Historian Minas in the Varrock Museum to receive 5 kudos.
 * 2 extra spins on the Squeal of Fortune

Required for completing

 * The Ritual of the Mahjarrat

Cultural references

 * The name of the quest "A Tail of Two Cats" is a reference to the Charles Dicken's novel, A Tale of Two Cities.
 * One of the cutscenes shows Bob and Neite travelling on a flying carpet, referencing Aladdin.
 * Another scene shows Bob and Neite recreating the iconic bow scene from Titanic, where he also shouts out "I'm the King of RuneScape".
 * 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.
 * Bob's line before he is hypnotized,"Hey! I'm just this cat, you know?", is a reference to a repeated line in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: "Zaphod's just zis guy, you know?"
 * Bob's line "Love lies not with the eyes, but with the mind, and therefore is the winged Cupid painted blind," is a quotation from Helena's monologue in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Trivia
A Tail of Two Cats A Tail of Two Cats A Tail of Two Cats
 * 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."
 * After 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.