2023-01-20

Riswynn, Darvin, and Brom approached the house, as it was being boarded-up from the inside.  After Brom called out in a friendly and disarming way, the hammering went silent.  What resulted was a semi awkward conversation through the boarded-up window.  They learned that the couple (Hank and Melissa) have a son named Belly.  Belly and his cat Scratches were playing in some ruins the other day.  The son came back, wearing a tiara.  Then things "got weird".  Cats started showing up, and "taking over people".  The town has gone crazy and made their son (Belly) mayor.  Now, the cats have taken over almost everyone, including their daughter, Sandra!  Sandra was playing with a cat out front, and wanted to be let into the house.  Two more cats showed up, and Sandra wanted in, with her cat and the two extras.  Sandra wants her parents to have cats, so they’ll be safe.  Her parents do NOT want that.  The group told the couple to let Sandra in, and then headed off to see the mayor.  (The couple called out "No, we're scared!").  On the way to the mayor, Darvin took the collar off of Bean, (the cat who originally found you in the wilderness.). Darvin asked Bean to instruct the hivemind, but Bean claimed not to be in charge.  Instead, Bean jumped up on Darvin's shoulder, and instructed Darvin to convey him to the mayor's office.  On the way, the party picked up a trail of cats, who were keyed in on the bucket of milk Riswynn was carrying.  The cats were disappointed that Riswynn didn’t spill a drop 😦  Getting to the mayor’s office, all the jobs on the job board were replaced with requests for milk.  There were cat’s hanging out on the hitching post.  There was a cat door cut into the town hall (the building where the mayor’s office is).  Brom walked in, the group in tow, leaving the trail of hopeful milk hungry cats waiting patiently outside.

The man in the pinstripe suit was missing.  In his place, was a chubby orange cat, wearing a tiara, sitting at the desk.  On a stool, next to the cat, (presumably Scratches) was Belly.  You recognized Belly as the nephew (and sometimes employee) of Elmar Barthen, owner of Barthen’s Provisions.  Belly shot up, and ran over to give Brom a hug, in that weird little kid way.  Dialog ensued.  Three days ago, Belly and Scratches were playing in the ruins, where they found a tiara!  They took turns wearing it and playing.  On the way back home, Scratches had the tiara on when they heard a rustle in the woods.  They noticed that everything had gone too quiet.  They saw something watching them.  A monster stepped out of the forest.  It looked like “gooey bubbles and ropes.”  It stared at Belly really hard, and Belly’s head started to hurt.  Then, Scratches jumped in front of Belly and drove the monster off.  They hurried home, feeling watched the whole time.  “The monster may have friends!” Belly informed you, “Scratches kept me safe on the way home.”  Once back in town, all the cats started showing up.  Each one came up to Scratches, and nodded, then ran off.  Suddenly, everyone in town had a cat.  Then the people made Belly mayor!  The old mayor ran away.  Since then, animals of all kinds (elk, deer, coyote, wolves, even a bear!) have been coming out of the woods, and menacing the people.  Every time, the cats jump in and either scare off the animals, or in some cases, kill them.  The cats are protecting the humans!

That’s what you know so far.  You haven’t asked too many questions yet, but Riswynn did offer to trade her hard-won bucket of milk (which Belly and Scratches are very excited about!) for the tiara.  We’ll pick things up with Riswynn making a persuasion check 🙂