Seth Petty

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Seth Petty
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Name Mr Seth Petty
Race Human
Age
Occupation
Physical appearance Heavy, grubby
Residence The Chalk
Death
Parents
Relatives
Children Amber Petty
Marital Status Married to Molly Petty
Appearances
Books I Shall Wear Midnight
Cameos


Seth Petty (Usually addressed as Mister Petty) is the father of Amber Petty. He is described by Tiffany Aching's father as being good at those jobs requiring brawn and endurance but relatively little brain. Seth is, in fact, exactly the sort of man who would wholly justify Moist von Lipwig's description of the out-of-town drovers' pub in Ankh-Morpork, the Butcher's Eagle.

By occupation (and perhaps default) he is a drover, responsible for leading flocks and herds of the Chalk's sheep and cattle to Ankh-Morpork, where the usual processing in the Shambles leads to the butchers' shops being adequately stocked. His work as what can only be described as a pedestrian cowboy keeps him away for long periods of time, during which Amber's mother tended to... host travellers passing through the village. This left Seth with a certain amount of doubt as to the exact parentage of Amber. If he had known either way, perhaps he would not be so filled with rage - Men with limited cognitive power can only get so introspective before the doubt expresses itself through the fist and boot.

Mr Aching said Seth used to be a nice boy - It was just that his father would "lay into (him) just for looking at him in a funny way". It seems he taught his son a lasting lesson: He would grow up into a large, strong man, and use this strength to regularly beat his wife.

When Amber became visibly pregnant by her tailor boyfriend - a man despised by Seth as being in a lady's profession - too much ale and introspection at the Scouring Fair founds its way out via his fists. In the family barn, he beats her so badly that she lost the baby, his future grandson. Too much for the town to bear, the informal orchesta convened to play the rough music for him. Tiffany Aching saved him from it; she administered a witch's judgement all of her own, then told him to leave and never return. Even when cornered he tried to fight, but was finally convinced to leave (quickly) by a sample of his daughter's pain.

Despite the warnings, he came back. Filled with remorse, Mr Petty returned to the barn where his grandson had died, making a bouquet of nettles and lighting a candle (in a very flammable building) for the baby. He then attempted to hang himself from the rafters. The Nac Mac Feegle cut him down.

Mrs Petty took him back, much to Tiffany's dismay, but Amber was taken to stay with the Feegles in the mound. The locals promised to keep a close eye on the Pettys. He was last seen at Roland and Letitia's wedding, looking clean but sheepish by his wife's side.

Annotations

  • Mr Petty is described to be three times Tiffany's weight.