Cat and Mouse in Partnership
This is the second in a new series adapting elements from each of the Grimm's Fairy Tales for Cairn in order of their KHM numbers. Second is Cat and Mouse in Partnership (KHM2).
I'll admit readily this was not a story I had ever heard of before starting this project—and frankly, I'm not sure I like it that much. In the story, a cat and a mouse agree to live together and store a pot of fat at the church to use for food in winter. Over the year though, the cat sneaks again and again to the church under the guise of christenings for her various godchildren, and slowly eats through the fat. When winter comes and the mouse starts asking questions, she eats him too.
For this adaptation, I'd like to give the mouse a chance of surviving the story, so we'll start in the middle of it. The mouse has suspicions of the cat and is looking for help in investigating the situation. If he sees able looking folk passing by their house (a hole in the wall of a building in town) he will jump up onto the shoulder of one of them and begin whispering about the situation—his arrangement with the cat and his suspicions that the cat is eating through the fat. In return for help, he will offer to do some spying or other mischief in return, since he's a sneaky mouse. The cat may be followed to the church and observed eating the fat, but it won't be easy, as she is very careful and watchful. As a complication, we'll also add a crooked priest who is embezzling donations to the church and is wary of anyone who comes in trying to snoop around.
Cat
1 HP, 8 STR, 14 DEX, 6 WIL, Bite (d6)
- Orange and white cat growing fat with constant snacking
- Careful while sneaking to steal fat from the church, and frequently stops to look for tails. Will go somewhere else if she thinks she is being followed.
- Will try to run rather than fight unless cornered with no options
Crooked Priest
8 HP, 10 STR, 10 DEX, 8 WIL, Staff (d6), Filch spellbook
- Think, lanky man with a shaven head and immaculate robes
- Talks slowly to give himself more time to think of lies
- Constantly stealing offerings and anything else he can get his hands on and terrified he will be found out. Suspicious of anyone snooping around his church