The Urthblood Saga: Difference between revisions
Rescuing 15 sources and tagging 0 as dead.) #IABot (v2.0.8
m (Dai-Guard moved page The Urthblood Saga (Fanfic) to The Urthblood Saga over redirect: Remove TVT Namespaces from title) |
(Rescuing 15 sources and tagging 0 as dead.) #IABot (v2.0.8) |
||
| (4 intermediate revisions by 3 users not shown) | |||
Line 2:
{{quote|"He was called Urthblood, and his armor shone as red as his name..."|Opening line of The Crimson Badger´}}
During a great feastday, the [[Funny Animal|beasts]] inhabiting [[Redwall|Redwall Abbey]] are stirred from their reveries by the thunderous cry of Urthblood, a grim, emotionless badgerlord of Salamandastron dressed in [[Exactly What It Says
Thus begins
The saga develops and examines ideas never touched upon in the official Redwall novels, and ditches their strict [[Black and White Morality]] for a [[Grey and Grey Morality|complex moral conflict]] that constantly forces the reader to reevaluate who's side he should be on and who is good or evil. It starts simple enough, but soon turns into a complex, multifaceted epic involving [[
Sadly, the story is [[Dead Fic|not yet finished.]] By the time the final chapter of The Shrew War was published in the spring of 2004, the popularity of the Redwall books and the ROC was beginning to wane. Since then, partly due to personal issues and due to the lesser chance of exposure to new readers, the author has yet to write the third novel, leaving the series with a massive [[Cliff Hanger]]. That may change now, however; the story is being published on [http://www.fanfiction.net/ Fanfiction.net] for the first time, gaining new attention and fans, and if enough people want to see the saga continue, that might just happen! So head over there if you have any interest in [[Redwall]], [[Furry Fandom|furry/anthropomorphic fiction]], or just [[So Cool Its Awesome|fantastic stories]] in general; you won't get disappointed.
Note: The saga is so far composed of two novels. The novels in turn are composed of seperate parts, or "books" of several chapters each, and they are published on the site in those parts. The Crimson Badger is composed of [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6788438/1/The_Crimson_Badger_Book_I_The_Warlord Book I: The Warlord], [https://web.archive.org/web/20120422203336/http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6821027/1/The_Crimson_Badger_Book_II_Armies Book II: Armies], [https://web.archive.org/web/20120422203525/http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6865628/1/The_Crimson_Badger_Book_III_Journeys Book III: Journeys] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20120422205336/http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6947288/1/The_Crimson_Badger_Book_IV_Fire_on_the_Mountain Book IV: Fire on the Mountain]. In addition, there's a [[Bonus Material|series of outtakes]] from an early version of TCB called [https://web.archive.org/web/20120422203457/http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7032661/1/The_Continuing_Adventures_of_Martin_the_Turd The Continuing Adventures of Martin the Turd], that takes place about [[What Could Have Been|half a generation after Mattimeo]], [https://web.archive.org/web/20120422203508/http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7073186/1/The_Obligation The Obligation], the first story the author posted on the web, [https://web.archive.org/web/20120422205437/http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7076532/1/Highwing_A_Sparras_Tale Highwing: A Sparra's Tale], a [[
{{tropelist}}
* [[Acquired Poison Immunity]]: Urthblood has made himself pretty much immune to poisons, and it's hinted though not outright stated that he did it through this method. One of the captains recall an incident when a ferret in his army tried to poison him with a rigged knife in order to take it over for himself. The badger simply stood up, pulled out the knife, had the ferret dragged out in front of the other soldiers and [[Cruel and Unusual Death|forced him to eat the knife...]]
* [[Action Girl]]: Mina, the Gawtrybe squirrel lady, who's a master of the [[The Archer|bow and arrow]] to the point of [[Improbable Aiming Skills]].
* [[
* [[Ambadassador]]: At his [[Jumped At the Call|own insistence]], Winokur is sent by the abbey as a representative to try and get Urthblood and Urthfist to settle their conflict peacefully.
* [[An Arm and
* [[Atlantis Is Boring]]: Wonderfully [[Averted Trope|averted]] when Winokur, a river otter who at first feels a great deal of trepidation at the prospect, decides to take a swim in the sea by the side of Salamandastron. The chapter goes into a great deal of [[Incredibly Lame Pun|depth]] about all the wonders of the underwater world, with [[Scenery Porn|lavish descriptions]] of the countless varieties of ocean life.
* [[Ax Crazy]]: Wolfrum certainly comes across as this. So does Urthfist, to an extent.
* [[Back-to-Back Badasses]]: Jans and Broggen, due to being [[Chained Heat|chained together]] at the wrist, pretty much always have to fight back to back, and they're some of Urthblood's best soldiers.
* [[Bat Deduction]]: From a quick look the sword that Snoga took of the corpse of a slain slaver fox, Urthblood deduces that it's a searat sword, that the foxes have traded it for their recently captured slaves, that they would have made the exchange with the rats at a nearby river, and how long ago this would've taken place.
Line 28:
* [[Boisterous Bruiser]]: Montybank is fearsome warrior, but fun-loving, brash and outgoing.
* [[Cain and Abel]]: Urthfist, Urthblood's younger brother who've taken over as lord of Salamandastron while he's been away on his campaigns to unite the lands, considers his brother his mortal enemy. He has [[Prophecy Twist|interpreted the prophecy]] to mean that it is ''Urthblood'' who's the true threat that will descend upon the world, and that the powers of fate have turned him wholly evil; he considers him taking vermin under arms as [[Fantastic Racism|proof of this]]. The Crimson Badger largely revolves around their conflict.
* [[Carnivore Confusion]]: The series inherits this from the official novels, and discusses it occasionally. In a scene where Urthblood's vermin captains are allowed into Redwall for the first time, it is admitted that the soldiers have been allowed to kill and eat birds on occasion, and Montybank makes a jab of vermin eating other furred beasts, though his comment is mostly just prejudice as they regard that as cannibalism as much as the Redwallers do. And of course, like in the official series, no-one has any problems with eating [[No Cartoon Fish|fish and shrimps.]]
* [[Chained Heat]]: Jans and Broggen, a mouse and a stoat who are soldiers of Urthblood, are a rare ''willing'' example of this. Broggen's [[The Alcoholic|alcoholism]] caused trouble for him in his early campaigning days when he soured relations between the badger and the locals he was trying to impress during a drunken binge, and he punished him by [[Quicksand Sucks|throwing him into a bog.]] Jans felt pity for him and saved him against his master's orders, who then declared that he would be responsible for the stoats behaviour for the rest of his life. To better keep an eye on his charge, he had a length of chain forged around their wrists, which they've been carrying ''for years''. Despite their situation, they've learned to [[Back-to-Back Badasses|work perfectly as a team]], and are one of the most effective soldiers in Urthblood's army.
** After Smallert's accidental killing of Speeg and wounding of Cyrus, this trope comes into play in more traditional fashion, as Machus decides to chain him together with Hanchett, whom Urthblood has asked the Redwallers to keep at the abbey for ten days, in order to prevent the hare from escaping. This turns out to save Smallert's life, as he's kept from being executed while chained to the hare for a couple of days, enough time for Cyrus to re-awaken and forgive the weasel, and the Redwallers to adopt him into the abbey
* [[Combat Medic]]: The swordfoxes, in addition to being one of Urthblood's [[Badass Army|best troopers]], double as healers for the army.
* [[Commander Contrarian]]: Snoga, the shrew who insists that he should be in command of the Guosim, acts like this to everything that both Log-a-Log and Urthblood does or says.
* [[Consummate Liar]]: Urthblood is ''not'' forthcoming either about the details of his prophecy or his true aims and methods, and is more than willing to bend the truth or [[Blatant Lies|outright lie]] to both enemies and allies in order to achieve his goals, and shows [[I Did What I Had to Do|little to no remorse in doing so.]] The first obvious example in the story is his claim that he didn't know about his brother's [[Cain and Abel|hatred for him]] until he met with a [[Hair-Raising Hare|Long Patrol hare]] who tried to kill him on sight after arriving at Redwall. This is despite that several chapters earlier, he is seen giving orders to [[Everythings Better With Bunnies|Browder]] to travel to Salamandastron to lure Urthfist out with a story of him conquering Redwall, in order to take the mountain for himself.
** Browder himself is very skilled at lying when he puts his mind to it, perfectly succeeding in getting Urthfist and most his Long Patrol out of Salamandastron. He doesn't seem to consider himself one however, maintaning that he is simply an [[Implausible Deniability|actor telling a particular kind of story.]]
* [[Contrived Coincidence]]: [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]]. The fox Machus carries a sword that is an almost exact replica of the sword of Martin, which Urthblood forged for him in the Northlands despite never having seen the latter. Urthblood speculates that Boar the Fighter. the badgerlord who crafted the original sword, may have been present [[Spirit Advisor|in spirit]] and guided him when he made it.
* [[Cool Boat]]: The fish-shaped searat submarine, complete with a propeller and periscope.
* [[Dark and Troubled Past]]: Plenty of the soldiers in Urthblood's army has this as their background, having been recruited from various slaver gangs and pillaging hordes. Urthblood's own past also turns out to not have been squeaky clean either.
* [[Darker and Edgier]]: The series as a whole is [[Darker and Edgier]] than the official novels, and The Shrew War is noticably [[Darker and Edgier]] than The Crimson Badger.
* [[Death Ray]]: [[Discussed Trope|Discussed.]] Early in TCB, Urthblood speculates that it may be possible to build a device of giant lenses and mirrors that would focus sunlight to such a degree that it would be possible to [[Kill It
* [[Defeat Means Friendship]]: Most of Urthblood's vermin troops (see [[Heel Race Turn]] below) come from former pillaging hordes and slaver bands that he defeated and whose leaders he killed, offering the survivors a chance to join his army instead.
* [[Disproportionate Retribution]]: During his early days in the army, Broggen and his close friend Brigger had an [[The Alcoholic|had an overactive fondess for spirits]], and when finding a large cask of wine they drank themselves into a crazed stupor, wandering around terrifying the local beasts and destroying much of the trust that Urthblood had hoped to win in the region. While their actions were indeed damaging and stupid, Urthblood's punishment for them consists of ''[[Quicksand Sucks|throwing them into a bog for them to drown.]]'' Brigger died in the bog, while Broggen was just barely saved by the mouse Jans, leading to their [[Chained Heat|unusual predicament.]] Curiously, despite Urthblood killing his best friend, Broggen apparently [[Easily Forgiven|bears no real ill-will towards him.]]
** After being [[Minor Injury Overreaction|accidentally and lightly pricked on the rump]] by the soft spikes of the young hedgehog Droge, Wolfrum is ready to draw blood from him with his sword, and when Balla interferes, he's comes close to lopping one of her ears of. Fortunately, Machus [[Oh Crap|interferes]] before he has a chance to do so.
* [[Doing It for
* [[Dreaming of Things to Come]]: Urthblood apparently receives some of his [[Fate and Prophecy Tropes|prophetic visions]] through dreams. Of course, his first instance of this in the story, where he claims he's found out about his brother's enmity for him, is a [[Blatant Lies|patent lie]] as he has already prepared for war with him for a long time.
* [[Dude Magnet]]: Lady Mina, the squirrel archer who follows Urthblood's army to Redwall as an envoy, is immediately courted by most of the male squirrels of the abbey, including Alexander, it's chief archer.
* [[Easy Logistics]]: Semi-averted. Urthblood's troops are mostly stated to forage for their food, as well as receiving supplies from farms and settlements in the Northlands that he controls. He also regularly holds councils with his captains to discuss the supply of weaponry, food, clothing etc.
* [[Enhanced Interrogation Techniques]]: Urthblood has [[Anti-Hero|no qualms]] about using these methods to gather the information he wants from captured enemies. In some cases, like when dealing with captured [[Arch Enemy|searats]], it's implied that he's willing to go all the way into [[Cold-Blooded Torture|outright torture.]]
* [[Evil Former Friend]]: It is revealed that in his early days of campaigning, {{spoiler|Urthblood saved Tratton, his later nemesis, from a shipwreck, sailed with him for a number of months and even cleared the way for him to rise as the king of the searats.}} He [[Hand Wave|hand waves]] this as being necessary because he foresaw him as a future enemy, but the exact nature of their early relationship is kept ''very'' diffuse...
* [[Eye Scream]]: {{spoiler|Major Safford}} takes an arrow through the eye, courtesy of Alexander, as he's about to slay Winokur at the Battle of Salamandastron.
Line 55:
* [[Funny Animal]] / [[Furry Fandom]]: [[Captain Obvious|Naturally]], considering the [[Redwall|series]] it's based on.
* [[Gadgeteer Genius]]: Lorr the bankvole, with a sprinkling of [[Absent-Minded Professor]].
* [[Government in Exile]]: Urthfist and his Long Patrol hares briefly become this after Urthblood conquers Salamandastron while they're at Redwall.
* [[Hair-Trigger Temper]]: In [[Red Oni, Blue Oni|contrast]] to [[The Stoic|his brother]], Urthfist occasionally (read: all the time) comes across as a walking time-bomb. His Long Patrol subordinates basically have to restrain him on several occasions to prevent him from going berserk on someone being rude/voicing an opinion contrary to his own/[[Fantastic Racism|being a fox, weasel or rat.]]
* [[Heel Race Turn]]: One of the [[Central Theme|main themes]] of the saga. Early in The Crimson Badger, it's revealed that Urthblood has taken rats, foxes, ferrets and weasels and other traditional [[
* [[Heroic BSOD]]: Happens to Smallert when he realized that he's mortally wounded Cyrus in his rageful attempt to get revenge on Wolfrum for lopping off his ear.
* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]: {{spoiler|Jans}} [[Taking the Bullet|throwing himself in front of the spear]] meant for {{spoiler|Broggen}} during the final battle.
* [[I Just Want to Be Badass]]: Cyril, the young bellringer mouse, wants to be a warrior, and is spurred on by the appearance of Urthblood. The other inhabitants of the abbey are not impressed by this.
* [[I Kiss Your Foot]]: Smallert to Vanessa, out of gratitude once he realizes the Redwallers [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|have forgiven him for his wounding of Cyrus and are going to adopt him into Redwall, sparing him from execution at the hands of Machus.]]
* [[In Vino Veritas]]: The Redwallers invite some of Urthblood's captains for a private gathering in order to hear their thoughts about their master when he's not around, during which they uncork a bottle of blackberry brandy and encourage them to help themselves, in order to loosen their tongues. It works quite well, but leaves Vanessa with a [[Hangover Sensitivity|splitting headache the morning after]].
* [[Instant Sedation]]: Urthblood's forces employ a knockout gas called Flitchaye gas, after a savage weasel tribe they got it from, in the form of a clay cannisters containing two liquid extracts that mix together when they're shattered, producing a white vapor that almost instantly puts anyone breathing it in to sleep. {{spoiler|This proves essential to him since it allows him to [[Storm the Castle|capture Salamandastron]] in a covert raid without losing a single one of his otters or killing any of the guarding Long Patrol hares.}}
* [[Jumped At the Call]]: After learning that Urthblood's army is travelling to Salamandastron to confront Urthfist, Cyril decides to sneak out of Redwall, dress as a soldier and come with them, [[What an Idiot!|despite not having any combat experience or fighting skills]]. Subverted, quite fortunately, since he's immidiately found out and [[Refused
* [[Living Lie Detector]]: As a result of his [[Seers|prophetic powers]], Urthblood is able to detect whether someone is telling the truth or not almost flawlessy, and is even able to engage in limited [[Telepathy|mind reading]] to gauge the general character and trustworthiness of his target.
* [[Look Behind You!]]: Balla does this twice with Wolfrum during her confrontation with him after he's been pricked by her nephew Droge. First she tells him that Machus is right behind him to distract him when she hits him in the stomach with her staff. During the resulting fight, when Wolfrum has gotten the upper paw over her and is about to extract a bloody vengeance, she does so again, prompting him to mock her for thinking that he'll fall for it twice. Only this time, [[Oh Crap|Machus really is right behind him...]]
* [[Lost in Translation]]: In-universe example. An old nursery rhyme that is popular with the abbey children was originally a poem describing the effects a seer has on the [[Psychic Block Defense|time he lives in.]]
* [[Made of Iron]]: Due to a combination of [[Bio Augmentation|medical]] and [[Alchemy Is Magic|alchemical]] treatments, his status as being [[The Chosen One|chosen by fate]], and just general [[Badass|badassery]], Urthblood is able to shrug off wounds that would kill most other beasts.
* [[Motive Rant]]: While Urthblood is usually content to just do what he feels is necessary without others understanding him, he does give a few of these throughout the saga.
* [[Never My Fault]]: Aside from his [[Hair-Trigger Temper|violent temper]] and general [[Jerkass|unpleasantness]] to those around him, this is the major flaw of Wolfrum, a rat in Urthblood's army. He's apparently utterly unable to understand that he's done anything wrong or take any responsibility for the bad things that happens to others because of him, even when he's thrown a fellow soldier to be killed by Smallert, and done the same to young Cyrus, who just barely survives the wound he receives.
* [[Noble Bigot]]: Many characters in the series could be classified like this, due to their general opinion of the vermin species; because of their history of conflict with them, they have a very hard time accepting and welcoming rats, foxes and stoats into their midst. Over the course of the series, most [[Character Development|gradually learn]] to be more tolerant and even manage to count individual vermin as friends, but it takes quite some time, and some never truly get over their old prejudices.
** The Long Patrol hares embody this especially, since their hatred of vermin is stronger than most, while still being good guys. With their master Urthfist, however, there's very little emphasis on "Noble" and very strong emphasis on [[Fantastic Racism|"Bigot"]]
* [[No, Mr. Bond, I Expect You to Dine]]: A heroic example ([[Anti-Hero|more or less]]): Urthblood invites Colonel Clewiston, the lead hare of the Long Patrol {{spoiler|who've been taken captive after his takeover of Salamandastron,}} to dinner to try to persuade him to switch loyalties from Urthfist to him. It goes about as well as you'd expect.
* [[Parental Neglect]]: A very mild example with Winokur the otter's father, Warnokur. When [[Missing Mom|his mother died]] shortly after his birth, Warnokur left his son at the abbey and spends most of his days travelling, only visiting his son a couple of days each season. [[Subverted Trope|He's still a very warm and kind dad]] whenever they get together however, and is treated sympathetically, not to mention that the other characters often [[Calling the Old Man Out|call him out]] on his irresponsibility.
* [[Playful Otter]]: Montybank.
Line 80:
* [[Schizo-Tech]]: The series introduces several unusually advanced devices as the series go on, mostly due to efforts by Urthblood and Tratton to keep a [[Lensman Arms Race|technological edge]] over each other. The first we see are an [[Cool Boat|iron submarine]] built by the searats, and a [[Instant Sedation|knockout gas]] used by the badgerlord's forces.
* [[Screw Destiny]]: Urthblood does what he does partly to avert the coming crisis, or at least to weather it.
* [[Secret Path]]: It is revealed that there is one through the mountains that seperate the Western Plains, and Redwall, from Salamandastron. This becomes important for several events in The Crimson Badger.
* [[Self-Made Orphan]]: There is a sympathetic example of this in Machus. After he and his clan was saved from being wiped out by searats by the interference of Urthblood, he killed his father, who was the leader of the clan, when he refused to allow him to join the badger's nascent army. However, he's deeply remorseful about it, it is established [[Dark and Troubled Past|as a shameful sin of his past]], and Urthblood [[Hand Wave|brushes it off]] by saying that his father was an [[Offstage Villainy|evil beast]] who would probably have [[Offing the Offspring|killed his own son]] rather than lose him to the badger.
* [[Shades of Conflict]]: The series examplifies several shades during its run.
** [[White and Gray Morality]]: The general shade of the conflict between the Redwallers, who are for the most part truly good and striving to do what's right, and Urthfist and the Long Patrol (and to a lesser extent Urthblood and his forces) who are also convinced they're doing what's right, but are decidedly more willing to use more [[Shoot the Dog|questionable means]] in their struggle.
** [[Grey and Gray Morality]]: The conflict between Urthblood and Urthfist.
* [[Shoot the Dog]]: Urthblood has no problem with this trope if he believes it's for [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|the greater good.]] The earliest clear-cut example is when he chooses to execute the captured searats from the submarine, apparently after having applied some brutal [[Cold-Blooded Torture|"interogations"]] on them first. He justifies it to Winokur, by whose Redwall standards such acts would be appalling, by claiming that they would only have caused more trouble and misery if they were set free, that they would have slowed them down too much if they'd brought them with them to Salamandastron, that the Guosim they'd stolen their children from would have done the same if they were handed over to them, and that by gazing deeply into their eyes, he [[Mind Probe|could see]] that their souls were completely beyond redemption. While his reasons in this case does appear to have merit, it's always left ambiguous whether he's telling the truth or doing these things out of simple convenience.
* [[Shout-Out]]: The sandal that hangs by the tapestry along with the sword of Martin is a reference to "Highwing: A Sparra's Tale", an earlier story of the author that takes place within the same continuity.
** The searats' fish-shaped submarine that Urthblood discovers is possibly a shout-out to the [[Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea|Nautilus.]]
** The title of the fourth book of TCB comes from a song by the [[Grateful Dead]].
* [[Sibling Yin-Yang]]: Cyril and Cyrus have some of this, with [[Red Oni, Blue Oni|Cyril being more headstrong and eager for adventure and resenting his place as a bellringer at Redwall, while his younger brother is more calm, gentle and accepting of his status.]] Despite their differences however, they deeply love and care for each other, [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|and demonstrate it several times in the series.]]
** Urthblood and Urthfist are a darker version of this trope, Urthblood being [[The Stoic|cold and calculating]] and Urthfist [[Hair-Trigger Temper|being hot-blooded and short-tempered.]] And unlike Cyril and Cyrus, [[Cain and Abel|they're mortal enemies.]]
* [[Slave Liberation]]: Type A. Urthblood's forces rescues Log-a-Log's son and a number of other beasts who are aboard the searat [[Cool Boat|submarine]], by throwing their [[Instant Sedation|Flitchaye gas]] down the hatch.
* [[Sociopathic Soldier]]: Wolfrum is so [[Jerkass|rude]], [[Hair-Trigger Temper|aggressive]] and [[Disproportionate Retribution|violent]] that it's a wonder he's [[Fridge Logic|allowed to serve in Urthblood's army at all]].
Line 96:
* [[Storming the Castle|Storming The Mountain]]/[[All Your Base Are Belong to Us|All Your Mountain Are Belong To Us]]: {{spoiler|Urthblood does this to Salamandastron via his otters sneaking up on the mountain and throwing in their canisters of [[Instant Sedation|Flitchaye gas]] to put the guarding hares, who are stationed there while Urthfist is trying to meet his brother in battle at Redwall, to sleep.}} Which trope you regard it as depends largely on [[Grey and Gray Morality|which side in their conflict you're on.]]
* [[Tears of Joy]]: Despite Cyril's earlier insistence that [[Real Men Don't Cry|real warriors don't cry]], he openly weeps with joy at seeing his younger brother recover from his grievous wounds. Smallert's eyes also brim over when he finds out that the Redwallers have convinced Machus to let him live, and will adopt him into the abbey.
* [[The Archer]]: This is Alex and his Forest Patrol's role at Redwall, and Mina and the Gawtrybe's in Urthblood's army.
* [[The Mole]] / [[Reverse Mole]]: [[I Thought It Meant|No, not the moles]] Urthblood employs as his [[The Engineer|Tunnel and Trencher Corps.]] Browder, a woodlands hare and [[The Power of Acting|travelling thespian]] that he employs as a spy and infiltrator, and uses to lure Urthfist out of Salamandastron by having him claim that he's put Redwall under siege. [[Your Mileage May Vary|YMMV]] on which type of mole he is, [[Alternate Character Interpretation|depending on which badgerlord you view as the "bad" one]], and in any event Browder himself is not a bad creature.
** Halpryn and Klystra briefly become this when the Long Patrol unknowingly hire them to spy on Urthblood, their own master. Nothing comes of it though.
* [[The Siege]]: Urthfist threatens to put Redwall under this in order to flush out the vermin troops inside, but is eventually talked out of it.
* [[The Sleepless]]: Urthblood, apparently.
* [[The Southpaw]]: [[Subverted Trope|Subverted]] with Broggen, who's actually right-pawed, but since the manacle to his chain is bound around it, [[The Determinator|he's trained himself to fight with his left paw.]]
* [[The Squad]]: Urthfist regularly sends out squads of three Long Patrol hares to [[Army Scout|scout out]] the regions around Salamandastron, both to be alerted of searats and his brother. There is a special squad consisting of only a single hare called [[Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep"|Traveller]], whose role is to go father afield to spy on Urthblood and his army.
* [[The Stoic]]: Urthblood. The number of times he shows any strong emotion in the series can be counted almost literally on one paw.
* [[Training the Peaceful Villagers|Training The Peaceful Abbeydwellers]]: Not exactly a straight example, since the Redwallers are already good fighters and knowledgable about how to defend their abbey. However, they have lived in peace for so long that their standards have become rather laxed, and Urthblood reminds them of this and introduces changes to their security that they wouldn't have thought of otherwise.
* [[Treasure Room]]: Salamandastron is revealed to have a magnificient one underneath the throne room were Urthblood first carved his prophecy.
* [[
* [[Uncleanliness Is Next to Ungodliness]]: This trope was in effect with most of the vermin in the official series, and it's [[Discussed Trope|discussed]] here. It's mentioned a couple of times that ever since joining Urthblood's army, the vermin have to take regular baths and look after their hygiene, which many of them apparently didn't do before. Despite this, the woodlanders often make comments about them being more "dirty" than they are; whether this is just friendly jabs, prejudice or actually true is unclear.
* [[Unfortunate Names]]: Of the "Rhyming Names" variety; one of Urthblood's captains is called Perrett... the Ferret.
Line 116:
[[Category:The Urthblood Saga]]
[[Category:Fanfic]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Urthblood Saga, The}}
| |||