"Why is he named after food?  I do hope he takes after the white variety," Halis sniffs after Gus.  "Much more refined than the green, truly.  Still, if he is being so harassed by the dark that he must run off before a proper conversation, then perhaps we should indeed make haste."  Halis strides off confidently after the cat, not even trying to hide, or be sneaky, or do anything that a smarter adventurer might think to do when walking into a potential ambush.  "Nearly where, my good cat?" he calls out after Gus very loudly.

Syl raises an eyebrow at the speaking cat, but decides to follow it from a careful distance, especially after that look Gus just gave him.

"Del, dear, there is far more to life than just what you can make from it. If you live life purely for the money, you end up not living at all." 

Hayle looked at Gus, a little shocked as he started to speak. "Of course the cat can speak. Well, if anything, this intrigues me more." Ahead, the warehouse didn't seem much of a threat but also didn't seem like a place of great interest either. Hayle briefly checked the alley to ensure she hadn't dropped anything then followed after the cat.

You follow Asparagus into the warehouse. The front room is a small, abandoned office and is full of dust and clutter. Old boxes are piled in corners and covering a half-rotted wooden desk. There is a single door in the back wall with light spilling out from under it.

You carefully approach, watching and listening for any signs of danger. When you open the door you step in to an unexpectedly expansive room with tiered benches lining each of its four walls. Sitting on the benches are hundreds upon hundreds of cats of all colors and sizes. Some wander lazily from bench to bench. Others are busying themselves with the ever-important work of cleaning their coats and putting their fur in proper order. Many sit and lay about in various poses but every single head turns toward you as you enter.

Asparagus sits on a small platform in the middle of the room and calls out, "Greetings friends, and welcome to the Congress of Cats. I am Asparagus Whitesocks, and I am the First Speaker of this House. I ask the House now - do you welcome these outsiders?"

There is mewling and hissing. Asparagus then continues, unabated. "Thank you very much. You all know why you were summoned this evening, but I must explain the situation to our guests. Friends, the Congress of Cats faces a grave crisis, perhaps our most dire to date. You see, our beloved King, Morpholomew the Great, has gone missing and we have been unable to find him."

There is general mewling again at these words.

"According to our immutable laws, if the King of the Cats fails to attend the Congress for three nights running, he is stripped of his title and exiled forever. As I'm sure you can imagine, this would be a disaster of..." He sighs and looks at Syl and Delanra. "...catastrophic proportions. But I must tell you: Tonight is the third night that the King has been absent so the matter is of the utmost urgency."

Even more mewling.

After allowing several moments for the Congress settle back down, he continues again. "We have fruitlessly searched the city high and low for our beloved King. Since we have had no luck at all, the Congress has authorized me to secure the services of a marvelous and talented group of adventurers to assist us. We know that you big people like gold very much so I have a purse here with 20gp which you may have now, and another hidden away with 100gp more if you locate our King before sunrise. Now," he says, adding some weight to the moment. "Will you help us?"

"Ha called it. Back at the inn, didn't I say," Hayle puts on an exaggerated version of her own voice, "daring adventures, slinking across rooftops, evading marauding dogs, hunting backalleys. Maybe no buried treasure, but still, this is a night to remember. Del, we get to help out the Congress of Cats." She lightly hits Delnara on the shoulder and looks to see the reaction of the others.

Halis steps into the room and is instantly overwhelmed by the sea of cats.

"The fur... the colors... the hairballs..." he murmurs aloud in wonder.  To Halis, this place was heaven, for as a Kalashtar he was part spirit himself.  And Halis, tending towards superstition, fully believed that cats were closely linked to the spirit world, if not part-spirit themselves.  Our souls resonate!   Of course, the fact that Asparagus could talk, and that there were hundreds of cats gathered together in almost-humanoid congregation only gave weight to Halis's slightly odd beliefs.  Hearing Hayle and Delnara inadvertently "agree" to help the cats, regardless of motivation, buoyed him to action.  He eagerly dropped to one knee before the speaker and placed a hand over his chest.

 "Oh Speaker of this hallowed house.  I understand your desparation and need for assistance.  It is both a mystery and a tragedy that your King has failed to attend the Congress.  I pledge that I shall do the utmost in my power to locate Morpholomew the Great, and I have no doubt that my companions share in this desire!"  He looks up at first -- force of habit -- before looking down at Gus, eyes flashing solemnly.  "You must tell us all that you know of your King.  Where and when was he last seen?  Had his behavior changed in the recent days before his disappearance, or was he under any sort of threat?"  He looks around at the many cats watching, and relays the rest of his message mentally:

And, forgive my impudence, but we must know of his... aeh... personal situation.  Did your King have a wife, or a mistress or two dozen, or both?  That might also very well be a factor.

Taking in everything around him with his noteworthy powers of perception, Thokk gives voice to the full weight of his insight with his consistent eloquence;
"Lots of kitties."

Syl nods approvingly as Gus' pun. He takes it all in, occasionally glancing at his companions to read their reactions as well. As Halis begins his strange proclamation, Syl raises an eyebrow slightly. He's tried to get used to all the quirks of the group, but some require more effort than others. He does nod and step forward as Halis begins asking all the pertinent questions. "My friend is right - we need to know anything about the King that might help us track him down. Any known enemies, that kind of thing."

After a moment, Syl smiles. "Regardless of how difficult this mystery might be to unravel, I think we would be fe-lyin' if we said we weren't excited and willing to help."

Delanra carefully 'pockets' the valuables from Gorth's cubby hole trying not to touch anything else that might sully her hands before following along with the others, glad to be getting away from the alley at last. As the group enter the warehouse behind Gus, Delanra's immutable features come as close to 'slack-jawed' as any of the group have ever seen. Under her breath she murmurs to herself "I'll have to spend hours trying to get cat hair out of this material, and if one of them even thinks about hacking up a furball in my direction, I'll incinerate the wretched feline."

Listening to Asparagus' speech and his plea for aid, Hayle's seeming eagerness at the prospects and Halis' outright pledge of service, Delanra can only think of how she could be sitting in comfy chair, sipping at a semi-reasonable vintage red and watching a passable play; instead she is surrounded by a bunch of hairy, dim-witted, foolish creatures that are set on finding one single lost cat somewhere in the entire city... and a warehouse full of cats to boot! This was not what she had in mind when she left their table earlier. 

Well, it was too late now to back out without losing some modicum of respect from her fellows, so she might as well try and get this done with as quickly as possible... "Perhaps knowing what your leige lord looks like - beyond the obvius four-legged furry with a tail, and where you think we can look that your plethora of eyes have not already been able to. Perhaps you could also elaborate on what would happen, were your King to be de-throned and exiled? The consequences should give us some clues towards motive."

Delanra takes a moment to scan the assembly. Trying to see if any cats are swishing their tails in displeasure at the group's arrival... (Perception 10

A din of surprisingly comprehensible relief fills the large room at the sound of the group's acceptance of the challenge.

Asparagus perks up and exclaims, "Thank you! I shall accompany you and help as I may. Now, where should we start?"

He begins to sway as the tidal wave of questions washes over him. Shaking his head to clear it, he swishes his tail and clears his throat. A strange sound for a cat to make but you're getting used to it.

"Yes, yes of course. All of this information would clearly be helpful to the investigation. Let me see if I can organize my thoughts and put everything into some sort of cohesive order..." He glares at Syl's rapidly-lowering standards of humor.

"King Morpholomew is..." he begins before being cut off by a beautiful, young Russian grey who gracefully leaps from one of the higher benches into the center of your gathering.

"He is a magnificently large black cat with a glorious, long coat! You can clearly tell on first glance that he is the most distinguished feline you've ever laid eyes upon!" she says. Gus swats a paw at her but she quickly dances out of the way and begins circling the group.

"I apologize for Bombalina's impertinence. She is...excitable." He shoots a look in her direction as she continues weaving between other cats milling about without taking her eyes off of the group.

"As I was saying, much of his time is usually spent in an official capacity, adjudicating disputes between cats and maintaining relations with friends of the cats. Although, he also does his fair share of playing, eating, and sleeping as any respectable cat should. The building in which we now stand is where he typically sleeps..." he says before being cut off once more.

"He goes where he pleases and naps where he will, as any moggy does. The city is his domain!" Bombalina interjects, from between Halis' legs.

Gus hisses and the fur on his back stands up as the smaller grey cat quickly vanishes back into the milling crowd. Taking a deep breath he continues, "We cats don't have 'wives' and 'husbands' as you two-legged folk seem to prefer. There are companions and mates and whatnot but such things are never formalized and remain nebulous as creatures prone to whim and fancy would require. King Morpholomew is beloved by all felines but holds no companion above the rest. As far as enemies, the Rat Boss has been his mortal enemy for many years as well as the Worg Lord."

"But the King recently concluded a treaty with the Worg Lord..." comes the voice of Bombalina as she rubs on Delanra's leg before disappearing back amongst the swirling, knee-high ball pit of fur covering most of the room as the cats go about their business.

Seeming almost to have given up, Asparagus rolls his eyes. "We have searched all the places we would normally expect him to turn up but have had no luck. We hesitate to engage with either of the adversarial factions I mentioned without the King to head the interaction. If you were to inquire with the Rat Boss on our behalf, however..." he trails off suggestively.

You see a blur of movement as Bombalina jumps straight up onto Thokk's shoulder. She says, "But don't forget about the Wayside Oracle! She's got the gift of prophesy and might be able to help. Besides, she's a friend of the cats and is sure to want to see the King returned. I bet she'd be the best first step!"

Gus stares disapprovingly at Bombalina for several moments before slowly looking back to the rest of you.

"Right. So, where would you like to begin?"

Delanra kicks at Bombalina as she finds the cat rubbing at her leg, a heat starting to form in her hand before the grey chances directions and returns to the mingling mass. 

As Gus finishes his explanations and at Bombalina's last addition, Delanra narrows her eyes slightly towards the disruptive cat, "You appear to be the commonly accepted orator for the cat populace Asparagus. Who is Bombalina to be interrupting so, for if she speaks out of turn again, I have no reservations about setting her fur on fire." She glares at the cat perched on Thokk's shoulder, before returning her attantion to Gus and adding "I'd like to understand more about who was involved in this recent treaty, the talks that surround age old emnity are rarely down to an individual and come with many concessions on both sides, anyone involved or affected by that would have as likely some investment in this disappearance as any other."

Pets Bombalina. "So kitty-king have enemies...There be enough worgs for worgs have lord?" 

Halis warms to Bombalina immediately.  "You shan't harm the vessels of the spirits!  Bad luck will come to you in tenfold if you do.  Just look at that fellow we left behind in the alley," Halis scolds Delanra.  Listening intently to the catfight between Asparagus and Bombalina, Halis brightens.  "Well, to me it seems there is only one clear choice.  We must speak to this Wayside Oracle.  In Savras's name, the hand of fate cannot possibly be ignored!  Tell us more about her, if you please."

"While I disapprove of Bombalina's precociousness, she is a cat and cats look after their own. It's unwise to cross any feline, my dear snake woman, but even more so in the center of the Congress," Asparagus says with an edge of warning. "While often friendly, a cat, by nature, is no respecter of persons and tend to only show deference when necessary...much to my chagrin." He gives her a scathing look.

Bombalina hears Halis' rebuke and sniffs haughtily at Delanra.

"As for the worgs," he begins again thoughtfully. "There are indeed enough to warrant a Worg Lord. Those we have within the city are a different breed than you're probably used to seeing on your travels. Considerably smaller but still terrible, brutish creatures with a distinct lack of refinement. The treaty, I expect, will be more of a temporary truce as our beloved King and Ungrulf (that's the Worg Lord's name, by the by) seemed to believe that continued hostilities were detrimental to both sides. Many among the ranks on both sides don't see it that way but we follow our dear leaders' decrees regardless of personal feelings."

At this point, Bombalina has draped herself around the back of Thokk's neck, spanning his wide shoulders as she lazily interjects. "But the Wayside Oracle knows all. Certainly she can tell you where the King is!"

Gus rolls his eyes again. "The King put great store in her wisdom. I'm not sure how limitless her knowledge is, though."

"Well, we'll never know unless we ask her ourselves, now will we?" Halis insists, not very interested in the worg lord, but exceedingly interested in anyone claiming to be a fortune-teller.  "If you please, my good Asparagus, could you tell us more about this Wayside Oracle?  Particularly where to find her?"  He puts on his best face and manners, though he's not entirely sure what constitutes good manners for a collection of cats.  Politeness and not intruding on the feline's mental domain seem to be good starts, though.  "Whatever you think of Bombalina, she, too, wishes the return of your good king.  Would it really be so bad to humor her, and us?  Let us know whatever you have about this Oracle, please."

Persuasion: 11

"So, a tenuous peace with the worgs," Syl rubs his chin. "A mystical seer. What about the rats? Any reason not to think it was them?"

"And if your king does not show, who would take his place? Would the Council of Cats simply dissolve? or is there some system of succession?"  Hayle watched and listened carefully to all that had been said, but so far nothing had stood out to her. All of the options were plausible if you account for talking cats, but none more likely than the others.

"Cats and rats and worgs", Thokk says, and follows it, after some consideration, with, "Oh my."

"The Oracle is a strange and presumptuous individual but otherwise harmless. She usually works Coopers Road down by the river. We have also recently discovered the current nesting place of the Rat Boss. I can lead you to either place. The Worg Lord, however, is transient. He could be napping in any given alley at any point in time," Gus replies to Halis.

Raising an eyebrow at Syl, he answers, "There's never not a reason to think the rats were involved in anything nefarious. Everyone's a suspect until we get our King back."

To Hayle he says, "These are unprecedented events. The removal of the King would throw the Council into disarray and there would, no doubt, be a power struggle that could burry the entire city in chaos. The effects would be felt far beyond the extents of feline kind. Eventually, someone would be elevated to lead but the uncertainties that the process would present could cause unimaginable damage that would be felt for generations."

Glancing at Thokk he smirks and simply replies, "Indeed."

"Now," he concludes. "We have done everything we can so the matter is in your hands. Where would you like to begin?"

"I think it's already quite apparent where I would like to begin, so perhaps it's better for me to state where I don't want to begin:  searching for the Worg Lord.  If time is of the essence, we should hunt down the leads we know how to find first, before spending time searching for one we may have little success coming across.  And if rats are always up to something nefarious, then let us try the more civilized option first.  There's no need to immediately go spoiling for a fight."  Halis crosses his arms and waits.