Armidale cats

The felines of Armidale are unnaturally intelligent, but clearly still just cats. They use their intelligence to avoid danger, find food, and communicate with each other. Psychically gifted Mages have determined that the cats share a 'intelligence cloud', which becomes larger for each cat in the general area. Cats appear able to undertake incredible feats of thinking/calculation by subconsciously accessing this phenomenon.

Other Feline entities of note in Armidale:

• The Lady Bast - Some sort of incarnation of the Egyptian goddess Bast resides in the dreams of Armidale. She took a Mage as her consort, who has since vanished without a trace. A statue of her resides at the Meeting Place.

• Cats in hats - A cat wearing a cat-sized mailman's hat was seen using the secret entrance to the concillium in June 2013, delivering a poorly-written, vaguely-threatening, poem to the the Mage Lazarus.

• Casper - The familiar of the former Hierarch, The Forge, this shadow spirit is far more dangerous than he appears. Rumours of selling human children to other spirits, murder and torture of humans follow this creature. He also claims to be a herald for The Lady Bast and has ensured protection for some mages in Armidale.

• The Contractor - Carter's non-identical twin brother. A sociopathic cat-shapechanger who works for hire out of Scarlet's Web.

• Phantom - A faerie-cat who can construct wonders from thin air, as long as you're not looking.

• When Cats Fly - It is rumored that up to 10 cats that live at the meeting place have the ability to fly?