Mother Ketton

Mother Ketton is a faerie cat said to live in the northern Dales. She appears to be a house cat with white fur and red ears, but her eyes burn with green light, and she stands as high as a man's waist at the shoulder. She enters villages without fear, although she will not walk on holy ground, and she flees the sound of church bells. During the day, she is no bigger than a normal cat, but the wise will recognise her by the fire in her eyes, and be respectful.

Her purposes are as much a mystery as those of any other cat, but she will reward those who show her respect and punish those who ill-treat her or her children. Her rewards and punishments both take the form of kittens, deposited at the door of a house overnight. Failing to take in and care for these youngsters is a sure way of attracting Mother Ketton's wrath, and she may exact it personally. A kitten granted as a reward will thrive on the scraps that no-one can eat, and will keep a house completely free of vermin, including human vermin who come to steal. Those granted as punishment will demand the best food, and will attack the members of the household, as well as wrecking the furniture and fittings. Those who treat such a cat sufficiently well may be able to appease Mother Ketton's wrath, in which case she will come in the night and take her offspring with her. The kittens grow up to be the size of normal cats, and have the white fur and red ears of their mother. Their eyes, however, are blue, and do not burn.

A punishing cat that is ill-treated will, at length, leave the household, taking a child with it as its price. Sometimes bones are found near the house, but oftentimes the child completely disappears. A reward cat that is ill-treated will simply leave one night, never to be seen again. If it is well-treated, it will stay as long as the person who earned the reward lives, and, on their death, it will scream, and leave the house through a window, taking the corpse's shadow with it. Some priests say that the cats are demons and that they take the souls of their former dupes, but the common folk know better: the masters are taken to Arcadia where they enjoy eternal feasting in the court of the Cats.

None of Mother Ketton's kits die, and when she is truly angry she will summon the host of the balecats, and descend on a household or castle, leaving nothing alive behind her. Only the power of the church can protect one singled out for such treatment, and this protection must never be removed, or she will descend. The booncats, on the other hand, will assist her if it becomes necessary to help one of her friends in great extremity.