Mossflower characters

Appears from the start

A young mouse who walks into Mossflower out of the north, ragged, half-starved and carrying an old sword that belonged to his father, Luke the Warrior. He has been a wanderer for a long time and has learned to fight the hard way. Plain-spoken, obstinate and slow to trust, he wants nothing to do with anyone else's war until the wildcats of Kotir take his sword and put him in their dungeon, at which point their war becomes his.

Also known as Lord of the Thousand Eyes

Appears from the start

An old wildcat warlord who conquered Mossflower long ago and rules it from the fortress of Kotir, taxing the woodlanders for tribute they can barely spare. Once a formidable soldier, he is now visibly ill and rarely leaves his chamber, and his two grown children are already circling the question of who will hold Kotir after him.

Appears from the start

Verdauga's daughter, a powerful young wildcat, quick, violent and utterly without patience. She commands her father's soldiers in the field, despises the woodlanders as vermin to be worked and taxed, and makes no secret of thinking that Kotir is being run far too softly. Her one weakness is a terror of deep water that she will not admit to.

Appears from the start

Verdauga's son and Tsarmina's brother, a wildcat who has no appetite for his family's trade. He argues for leaving the woodlanders alone and would rather Kotir made peace than tribute, which makes him useless to his sister and an obstacle to her plans.

First appears in chapter 3

A plump, irrepressible mouse who calls himself the Prince of Mousethieves, a singer, a mimic and a genuinely gifted burglar who steals mainly from Kotir and mainly for the fun of it. He is in the fortress dungeon when Martin arrives there, and his talent for getting into and out of places he should not be becomes the woodlanders' greatest asset. He treats every crisis as an opportunity for a song.

First appears in chapter 3

A vixen who serves Kotir as its healer and adviser. She is competent, cold and entirely self-interested, and she is willing to be useful to whichever wildcat ends up holding the fortress.

First appears in chapter 3

A pine marten, stiff-legged since an old injury, who serves as one of Kotir's senior officers and advisers. Cautious where his mistress is reckless, he spends much of his effort avoiding blame and avoiding the enormous old eagle who has been trying to eat him for seasons.

First appears in chapter 5

A hedgehog of Mossflower with a family to feed and a farm to work, who has paid Kotir's tribute for years and is close to the end of his patience. He is one of the first woodlanders to shelter escapers from the fortress.

First appears in chapter 6

A badger, the keeper of Brockhall, the great hidden dwelling beneath the roots of Mossflower where the woodlanders meet in secret. Wise, deliberate and widely respected, she is the closest thing the scattered creatures of the wood have to a leader. Her father left Mossflower long ago for a mountain in the west and never returned.

First appears in chapter 6

A young mousemaid of the Mossflower woodlanders, sensible and steady, who helps run the household at Brockhall and keeps the resistance supplied. She takes an immediate and long-suffering interest in Gonff.

First appears in chapter 8

A young mole with a broad country accent, enormous digging claws and complete unflappability. He becomes the third member of Martin and Gonff's company, on the grounds that no journey should be attempted without a mole.

First appears in chapter 8

The leader of Mossflower's moles, a slow-spoken and immovable engineer who understands earth, water and tunnels better than anyone alive. What he can do with a shovel and a season's planning eventually matters more than any weapon the woodlanders own.

First appears in chapter 8

The chieftain of Mossflower's squirrels, a hard-eyed archer who leads her people through the treetops and raids Kotir's patrols from above. She is one of the resistance's three field commanders.

First appears in chapter 8

The chieftain of the otters of the river, cheerful, loud and dangerous with a sling. His crew handles the water and provides much of the muscle in the woodlanders' campaign against the fortress.

First appears in chapter 30

The leader of a tribe of shrews who quarrel constantly and travel the waterways in logboats. His name is the title of whoever leads them. He is met on the road west and proves both a difficult ally and an indispensable one.

First appears in chapter 38

The badger lord of Salamandastron, the fire mountain on the western shore, and Bella's long-vanished father. He is an enormous, scarred fighter and a master smith, and he lives with the certainty of his own fate at the mountain. The hares of the mountain follow him absolutely.

First appears in chapter 48

The leader of a community of mice from the distant abbey of Loamhedge, an elderly, practical and very determined mouse who arrives in Mossflower looking for somewhere her people can settle and build.