Archimedes greeted the first of them--Bacchus--with a comfortable nod. The news that Bacchus hadn't, in fact, visited Cepheus yet was met with little more than a whisker twitch, betraying nothing of the rat's internal thoughts. However, the ghost of paint very faintly visible in a ring around one eye might have been a distraction against that, regardless--he'd spent nearly an hour washing in the river, but Deli's masterpiece still lingered to the very scrutinizing eye.
"Ahh, you met Mossie-? Very good. I'm glad to hear that you get along--I look forward to seeing what you create together."
Gatto was met with a dip of Archimedes' head too, and a warm welcome in turn: "Hello, Gatto. I'm quite glad to see that you've made it."
And so it went, one by one: a nod and a "Excellent to see you here, Mossie. I hope you found Bacchus good company," and a "Ahh, hello, Deli. I trust your travel was uneventful." And lastly, to The Piano, after its final echoes had faded: "And The Piano. A fitting entrance. That, gentlemen, is music." (Admittedly there were more than 'gentlemen' here, but Archimedes seemed to include them all in this.)
Then he cleared his throat, sitting high atop the head of the still-unnamed Golden Charger.
"It is good to have you all here. Allow me to introduce you all first--I promise I will be brief. This is Mossie," and of course, he gestured to each in turn. "Mossie is experimenting with hallucinations induced via magic and substances one might find lying around the caves. And this--is Bacchus. Bacchus intends to leave a lasting legacy, and holds skills with growing plants, with the possibility of aligning his work to Mossie's. And Deli--is an artist, with paint as well as--was it fungus, Deli..? The Piano here is a musician, and formidable and intelligent both--and Gatto is a Champion of the old era. Both will make powerful allies for our work--and, I trust, good friends."
He cleared his throat again, passing paws through whiskers in that habitual cleaning-face-while-thinking motion, then continued.
"We are all here because our interests hopefully align. I will repeat my goals briefly: to make us indispensable to the rest of the caves. Others will seek us out, fear and respect us, and wish us to survive if only for their own benefit. We will provide services none others do, and discretion, so that when anyone needs something--they come to us. Our numbers must grow a little. It must be clear that we are not to be crossed--and that others cannot do without us. Toxins, hallucinogens intended for recreational and other purposes... Dangerous items retrieved, Lessers collected or enemies destroyed--all for a cost. The cost of living gemstones, food, rare goods, services in turn."
Summary finished, he looked around at each of them in turn. They seemed a likely lot, he thought--and it was good that they worked so well together in terms of abilities. One with plant, one with fungus, one with Lessers and the like, but otherwise with the same skills and goals--that was good. "If all of you are willing I would deem us The Organization, and move on to the next topics. That is, where to meet--and my suggestion is here;" and he gestured around at the alcoves. It was good, he thought, that The Piano at least was behind him on this. "It is close to Cepheus, so we will have access to the Palace and fertile land--but quiet and secretive enough that we can hide our work and ourselves as needed. But that is on the table for discussion, as are rules--if any of you have lines you do not wish to cross. In addition, where and how we might begin... or anything else you would like to bring up..?"
Introductions and introduction were complete: now it was up to the rest of them to help mould this new group as they saw fit.