Mossflower

Tsarmina is a wildcat and the daughter of the warlord Verdauga. She is prone to moments of rage and is greedy by nature. Although a formidable fighter, she is impatient to inherit the throne and orchestrates her father’s death. Her greed prevents her from sharing Kotir with her brother, and she imprisons him for life. No matter how much Tsarmina possesses, she always wants more. Her greed leads her to exploit everyone and everything around her.

The queen keeps the best food and accommodations for herself while rationing goods to her troops. She wants to use the woodlanders as enslaved laborers to farm the fields and desires to extend her rule over the entirety of Mossflower Woods. Tsarmina’s ego also causes her to underestimate the competition. She believes the woodlanders are no match for her army and thinks a mouse as small as Martin can’t beat her in battle. She is wrong on both counts. Tsarmina is unnaturally afraid of water, and her worst fears are realized when she accidentally drowns herself.

Bella is a badger, the largest woodland creature in the world of Mossflower. Her physical size and strength are matched by her wisdom. She is the de facto leader of the Corim—the Council of Resistance in Mossflower. She is also the mistress of the immense burrow known as Brockhall, which becomes the sanctuary for all woodland creatures fleeing Tsarmina’s tyranny.

Bella herself is a strategist rather than a warrior. She doesn’t feel equal to the task of defeating Tsarmina and asks Martin to bring back her questing father, Boar. Throughout the story, Bella learns to play to her own strengths rather than relying on a hero to save the woodland. Even though Martin returns to fulfill that role, Bella and the Abbess do most of the preliminary planning that leads to victory.

The Abbess is an elderly mouse who leads a group of Brothers and Sisters devoted to healing and charity. She is an old friend of Bella’s and frequently acts as the badger’s second-in-command. Like Bella, Germaine doesn’t fight in the front lines. Rather, she heals the injured and nurses the sick among the woodland population. At frequent points in the novel, she stresses the value of peace and insists that all deaths, whether of friend or foe, should be avoided. By the end of the story, Germaine succeeds in healing Martin’s serious injuries. She also begins planning the construction of Redwall Abbey, which features prominently in the entire Redwall series.

Gonff is a young mouse with an irrepressible personality. He considers himself a master thief who can pick any lock. Despite his thieving ways, he keeps on good terms with all the woodlanders and frequently shares the food he steals from Kotir with those in need. Gonff becomes Martin’s loyal ally and accompanies him on his quest to Salamandastron.

Gonff also becomes smitten with a young mouse in Germaine’s retinue, who is named Columbine. Upon his return from the quest, he marries Columbine and settles down to raise a family near the new Redwall Abbey.

Amber is the leader of the squirrels and commands a brigade of archers. She is a deadly shot with a bow and arrow and kills many enemies from the treetops in Mossflower. Together with Skipper, she leads many of the attacks and counterattacks against the Kotir soldiers. Less of a strategist than either Bella or Germaine, Amber prefers action. On at least one occasion, she launches an assault against the direct orders of the Corim. She and her archers help win the battle of Kotir and ensure peace for the woodlanders.

Skipper is the leader of the river otters, and his speech resembles that of a ship captain. His followers use slingshots loaded with rocks to bring down their enemies. Like Amber, Skipper prefers action over talk and is ready to join battle whenever the enemy presents itself. He is fearless and loyal to his friends, managing to rescue Martin and Gonff when they get into trouble.

Despite his name, Boar is a badger and Bella’s father. His size makes him a redoubtable warrior in the woodlands. Like all the males in his family, Boar undertakes a quest to the far-off land of Salamandastron but never returns. Bella is convinced that if her father had remained in Mossflower, the wildcats would never have overrun Kotir and oppressed the local population. Despite Bella’s entreaties, Boar never returns. Instead, he forges a new weapon for Martin and meets his end in a battle with the sea rat, Ripfang. Boar knows his fate ahead of time because a wall carving in his chamber depicts many of the events that befall him and his friends.

Fortunata is a vixen and a follower of Tsarmina. A healer by trade, she slips poison into Verdauga’s medicine and kills him on the orders of Tsarmina. She is sneaky and clever, preferring to use underhanded means to defeat her enemies. Fortunata also frequently jockeys for Tsarmina’s favor by trying to discredit the others in the queen’s inner circle. While on a spy mission for Tsarmina, Fortunata gets her just comeuppance when the woodlanders kill her.

Gingivere is Tsarmina’s gentle brother. He prefers peace to war. After Tsarmina orchestrates Verdauga’s poisoning, she pins the blame on Gingivere and has him imprisoned for life. Rather than seeking revenge against his sister, Gingivere befriends the woodlanders and helps their cause. After he is freed, he flees Kotir, finds a mate, and becomes a peaceful farmer. Gingivere offers his farm as a refuge for any woodlanders who seek sanctuary.

Verdauga is a wildcat warlord and the father of Tsarmina and Gingivere. It was he who first claimed Kotir and settled there with his army. He also began the practice of exploiting the local woodlanders by making them provide food for his troops. Despite his violent ways, Verdauga is an astute judge of character. When he first meets Martin, he recognizes and respects the mouse’s warlike spirit. At the story’s beginning, he is already ailing and soon succumbs to Fortunata’s poison, leaving his vicious daughter to rule unhampered.

Columbine is a pretty mouse who is a follower of Abbess Germaine. She quickly attracts the attention of Gonff, who falls in love with her. Like the rest of the mice from Loamhedge, Columbine isn’t a warrior. She is adept at healing and the domestic arts, preferring to feed the woodlander army and nurse the sick and wounded. Columbine is also clever. She proves to be a shrewd negotiator when convincing Chibb to spy for the Corim. Columbine first notices that it might be possible to flood Kotir by diverting the river water. By the end of the story, Columbine marries Gonff and settles down in a cottage near Redwall Abbey to raise a family.

Dinny is a young mole who becomes the companion of Martin and Gonff when they make their journey to Salamandastron. Like all the moles and other earth dwellers, he speaks in an almost unintelligible country dialect. Despite his youth and small size, Dinny is a good digger. His excavation skills are used at several points in the story to get his friends out of tight spots. He and his fellow moles provide the excavation expertise that ends up destroying Kotir.

Chibb is a robin who frequently acts as a spy for the woodlanders. His small size allows him to fly into Kotir unnoticed by its inhabitants. He carries messages to Gingivere in prison and overhears Tsarmina’s conversations, which he reports to the Corim. Chibb is pompous and self-important. In exchange for his many services, he expects to be paid. Because he is fond of candied chestnuts, the woodlanders keep him well supplied with his favorite treat.

Argulor is an old eagle who has only recently returned to Mossflower. His eyesight and hearing aren’t good, but he is still a formidable predator and manages to swoop down and catch some of Tsarmina’s soldiers unawares. Though he frequently dines on stoat, he longs to eat a pine marten. There is only one in the vicinity, and he wears a red cloak. Tsarmina fools Argulor into thinking that Bane is a marten once he dons this cloak. When Argulor attacks Bane and flies off with him, the latter stabs Argulor and kills him.