#sawney rath

[redwalltournaments]

For this round whoever gets the least amount of votes will be eliminated. The other two will continue to the semi-finals.

[incorrectredwallquotes]

Tagg: I can’t do taxes! My father only taught me three things: gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss.

Nimbalo: Didn’t he also teach you how to kill people?

Tagg: What do you think girlboss means, Nimbalo?!

[mossflower-trails]

The Best Lessons Are Taught With Blood

An unfinished Taggerung piece exploring the time Tagg spent with the Juska Clan and his relationships with them. In this scene, Tagg and Sawney discuss an opportunity for him to prove his mettle.

Rating: T

Words: 1186

Fourteen seasons on, and the Taggerung had yet to take a life.

Of course he had killed before, if all the clams and fish hauled back to their shoreline camp was proof of such proficiency. But it wasn't - not in the eyes of a Juska, at least. Though it proved one's self reliance, it did nothing to prove one's power. Hunting food would never be enough to prevent his adoptive father's growing pressure.

It appeared more frequently between them in the past few weeks. It would linger on the edges of silent lulls in the evening, those times when he and Sawney were sat around their own small fire apart from the rest of the clan, when Grissoul had nodded off still upright with her chin tucked into her scarves, leaving them alone. It would settle in thick discomfort, when the laughter and chatter between father and son trickled away, and when its wake had left prickly self-consciousness skittering across Tagg's neck. Sawney would stretch and sigh and pick food from his fangs, then, as though starting a casual new conversation, the topic would rear its ugly head. It always started with the same signs, and usually, Tagg could dodge out of its way. He would parry a distraction into his father's mind, then the cursed thing would fall to the wayside as some other priority took its place.

On this night, however, while the moon hung low and half-lidded in the night sky, Sawney again stretched and sighed and picked food from his fangs.

"Vallug's seen two Juska'tar fishers in the northern tidepools again today, did I tell y'already?" the stoat said.

"Oh? Don't believe y'have," Tagg replied. He too took the opportunity to stretch and sigh, only to lay back and stare at the moon instead of his father's gaze.

"Aye, awful impolite of 'em, I'd say! Sure got me thinking, should teach 'em some manners about being neighborly, don'tcha think?"

"Juska'tar aren't anything to fret over. We show up with somethin' sharp, pull a scary face, and they'll tuck their tail between their legs. Worked wonders last time."

"Gaw, sure did! Barely had to lift a paw! That's the problem, though. Since we only done that, the sneaky bastards are back at it again. It's 'cos they think we'll keep lettin' 'em off easy. See, they're testin' what they can get away with." Sawney leaned forward from where he sat on a driftwood log and roused the fire's embers with a stick. "Can't let beasts think we're all bark an' no bite, else they start gettin' uppity. D'ye get my meaning, Tagg?"

Tagg wrinkled his snout up towards the moon. His knife found itself twirling mindlessly between fidgety claws. Grissoul remained sound asleep a short distance away, though Tagg sometimes wondered if she was silently eavesdropping.

"Yea, yea, I get what you're saying, da. So we'll send 'em back bloodied and bruised for it this time. We can nick their nets too, they owe us payment for whatever fish they snatched, huh?" The otter feigned amusement. When he turned to look at Sawney though, his father's crinkled eyes peered discerningly through him.

"Heh, a fine idea for certain…but I think we should teach them a lesson that'll really stick," the stoat goaded. "An' don't I always say, the best lessons are taught with blood?"

Tagg's chuckle faded awkwardly as Sawney's brown eyes glinted in the firelight. Taking up the stick again, he fussed with the embers once more.

"Now, c'mere to me, I've an idea that'll lift yer spirits," he snickered. "Tomorrow, hide and wait for our trespassers at the pools afore sun-up…then, when they go out onto the rocks, nab one an' take 'em for a dip in the sea! Juska'tar rats can't swim worth shite, they'll drown fast an' easy. And all the while, their buddy gets to watch helplessly from the shore!" At this, Sawney barked out a rough laugh. "That'll teach 'em, guaranteed! Heheh! Oh, oh, bring the corpse back to me afterwards, I'll show y'how to chop the head and stick it on a pike. Real nice decor to spruce the place up, eh? Call it future poaching deterrent!"

Those keen eyes searched Tagg for a reaction. The otter gave his very best dark sneer.

"Heheh…aye, sounds like a good plan, that'll show 'em!" Even vague agreement felt strange and stilted as it left Tagg's tongue. Sawney on the other hand sighed with audible relief.

"G'wan, g'wan, that's the spirit! I'm glad to hear yer onboard!" His grin was wide and his eyes bright. "So, then it's settled, that's what we'll do."

Tagg didn't respond. He only listened to the distant crash of waves with knots in his guts over what he had just agreed to. The two fell silent again, each mulling their respective thoughts. Their small fire finally smoldered and snuffed itself without Sawney's insistent prodding. It was getting late after all. Even Juska still up chatting or cleaning blades around the main fire had started to tuck in for the night.

After a while, Sawney stood, grumbling a curse at his popping joints. He tugged his cloak tighter around his shoulders and ambled towards his tent.

"I know I been a nag lately, Tagg, but ye'll see," the stoat said quietly as he passed. "Once ye make yer first real kill tomorrow, nobeast will dare think low of ye. Trust me! No need to look so glum." He leaned to tweak his son's ears affectionately, and Tagg swatted him away in mock annoyance.

"Buzzy old fly," the otter laughed. This time the sound came effortlessly.

"Pah! Old, he says. This old fly can still bite ye to hell, watch it," Sawney huffed lazily. "Get some rest so ye can get the jump on them poachers bright 'n early."

"Yea, yea."

"G'night, Tagg."

"G'night, da."

Sawney disappeared into his tent, leaving Tagg alone with the moon and his thoughts.

Bristling anxiety began to find its home inside the otter's chest. He could understand that behind Sawney's recent pressure, there was surely only a father trying to encourage his son. The stoat wanted to see Tagg fit in, and of course Tagg wanted that too. Wandering Juskan eyes and hidden sneers were always stray reminders that he didn't.

Above that, he wanted to make his father proud. The stoat was the only family he knew, one who had done so much for him. Tagg couldn't remember his early days as a pup, but Grissoul had once told him the story of how his father took him in. He had quickly gathered that it was scandalous for the Juska chief. That inspired gratitude within him, but just beneath laid a growing layer of guilt for the debt. To pay it, surely one murderous task shouldn't be too heavy a burden. And maybe once Tagg crested that hill, he would look back and realize it wasn't so scary.

Those reassurances did little to dash away his worries, though. Throughout the night, they instead swelled with the sound of waves crashing over his dreams.

[prowl-autism-extraordinaire]

tagg was supposed to be brutal and merciless and god’s perfect killer. but he wasnt. and when he went to redwall and they recognized who he used to be, in the shape of his face and the birthmark on his hand and the way he spoke- they took his name and they took his knife and they took his tattoos and even his birthmark.

“his real name, his true name, his only name is deyna” his mother says.

skipper gives his knife to the otter fixer.

the otter fixer takes his tattoos and his birthmark.

none of them ask him. none of them know anything about him except that he was one of them for a day- his first day alive- and they think that they have the right.

why didn’t he rage. why did he smile and thank them when he woke up. tagg grew up in a way designed to make him hard and violent and angry. and he is. but that isnt all he is. and the redwallers ignore who he is for who he would have been.

how does he smile when he sees them? how does he stay with them? tagg ran when sawney asked too much of him. why does he stay at redwall?

tagg was violent. he fought gruven and fletch. the juska were all terrified of him. that couldnt all have been from the reputation of taggerung- they watched him grow up. they knew he hadnt killed or tortured before. why were they afraid of him. why werent the redwallers

i cant stop thinking about tagg waking up in the otter fixers hut. his knife is gone. he is unrecognizable to himself. and nobody uses his name. how does he stand it. why doesnt he go with skipper back to redwall and take nimbalo and just leave

[lordgrimwing]

Five Favorite Character Poll tag game

Rules: Make a poll with five of your all time favourite characters and then tag five people to do the same. See which character is everyone's favourite.

Thanks for the tag @thescrapwitch!

Tagging @zannolin, @runawaymun, @thecoolblackwaves, @thesummerestsolstice, and @curufin if you want to do it!

[captainmirefleck]

Vote for your favorite Redwall villain! Not who you think would win in a fight, but who you think is most effective as a villain or who you enjoy the most!

[lostmidnightwriter]

Nimballo's father:*exists*

Me:

[subtleshenanigans]

I rank Redwall Villains’ Ends

Note: this is all my own opinion!! Totally cool if you don’t agree :3

Also, this isn’t criticism! Redwall is my favourite series and I love all the books.

((Some of these have secondary villains included as well))

(Spoilers below cut)

Redwall

Cluny The Scourge: 9/10 classic, terrifying. What killed him? Did the run of the bell hit his spine? The metal hanging bit hit his head? Plus this dude got tricked big time.

Asmodeous: 10/10 Matthias went feral on this dude and beheaded him. Case in point.

Mossflower

Tsarmina: 10/10 she’s so terrified she backs into a deep lake and drowns, just like her nightmares. And they did have a pretty cool fight first.

Mattimeo

Slagar the cruel: 5/10 we got robbed. Little funny he fell back into the hole he escaped from. Possible he was still alive, broken at the bottom, suffocating as they threw stones down. Just felt lackluster to me.

General Ironbeak: 3/10 points docked mostly because it was off screen. Would have loved more description of Stryk tearing him apart.

Mariel of Redwall

Gabool the Wild: 6/10 unlike Slagar, he didn’t fall into the hole, but his own trap killed him. Plus death by scorpion is kinda cool.

Graypatch: 7/10 he got what he deserved and the description of him floating downriver was cool.

Martin The Warrior

Badrang: 7/10 Martin killed him so fair.

Salamandastron

Ferahgo the Assassin: 8/10 pretty neat battle. He heckin’ dead.

Klitch: 6/10 this one solely gets points for the hilarity of his stupidity, and the terrifying description of him subcoming to poison.

Outcast of Redwall

Swartt Sixclaw: 4/10 I’m trying to remember if he was already dead once he got yeeted off the mountain.

The Bellmaker

Urgan Nagru: 7/10 killed by his aesthetic. Chump, but funny, and he took out Finbarr.

Silvamord: 3/10 lowkey barely memorial. Like, idiot, there’s otters. Swimming ain’t gonna save you.

Pearls of Lutra

Emperor Ublaz Madeyes: 8/10 idiot forgot his DEADLY PET SNAKE. But put up a good fight against Martin 2, so. Interesting death.

The Long Patrol

Damug Warfang: 5/10 for Cregga executing him, and he manages to blind her.

The Legend of Luke

Vilu Daskar: 10/10 one of my fav deaths. The terror. The horror. The inevitability as death looms closer, and Luke’s speech.

Martin’s trauma: 8/10 he gets some closure and can have a measure of peace, finally.

Lord Brocktree

Ungatt Trunn: 10/10 my fav death. He doesn’t even die on screen. Gets snapped like a twig, and he’s still alive, just paralyzed until Groddil finds him. And the Fox gets justice; the whole Ungatt drifting out to see while his prophecy is being chanted . . .just. Fantastic. Well done.

Marlfox

Mokkan: 8/10 good for her, throwing the chain and not only hittin her target, but making him relive his nightmare.

His siblings: 6/10 there’s some good ones and some sucky ones.

Taggerung

Sawney Rath: 3/10 CHUMP

Gruven Zann: 6/10 dude needed serious help and has no brain cells, but it was kinda funny how quick he got betrayed. Plus, bonus point for being beheaded.

Triss

Kurda: 6/10 on one hand, she’s a coward and it’s irony she fell on her own weapon. On the other, lackluster.

Plugg Firetail: 7/10 snack.

Loamhedge

Raga Bol: 6/10 *squeaky toy noise*

Karanjul: 6/10 into the abyss for you!

Rakkety Tam

Gulo the Savage: 8/10 beheadings get bonus points, plus Tam yeeted this dude while injured. This dude who’s like five times his weight.

High Rhulain

Riggu Felis: 9/10 repercussion bringing back to the beginning of the book, all in all well done.

Eulalia!

Vizka Longtooth: 2/10 lackluster, both his death and him in general.

Gruntan Kurdley: 8/10 funniest example of someone getting killed by greed. Swan freaking killed him. (Honestly the brown rats finding peace is what redeemed this for me.)

Doomwyte

Korvus Skurr: 7/10 Zaran got justice for her family, so points.

Trugga Buster: 8/10 got what he deserved.

The Sabe Quean

Zwilt the Shade: 10/10 the delicious twist of a grieving wife running him through.

Vilaya: 3/10 like. Idiot.

The Rogue Crew

Razzid Wearat: 8/10 good twist, he doesn’t die getting run through but by gramps cracking his skull. Was neat.

[why-bless-your-heart]

Unrelated to anything, I was thinking about The Taggerung by Brian Jacques (as one does), and how Sawney Rath (who is very superstitious and works closely with his seer) suffered from stomach problems, and how that never really seemed to be explained from a narrative standpoint, and then I remembered suddenly that demonic activity is often accompanied by stomach complaints.

[mathmusicred]

Stupid Deaths (a study of Major Redwall Villains)

Granted, I haven’t read some of these books in a long time, so I used the Redwall wiki quite a bit. Some books were arbitrarily allowed more than one villain.

(Redwall) Cluny the Scourge—killed by a bell

(Mossflower)  Tsarmina Greeneyes—drowned herself running from a half dead mouse;   Ripfang—let a badger hug him

(Mattimeo) Slagar the Cruel—fell down a well

(Mariel of Redwall) Gabool the Wild—killed by pet scorpion

(Salamandasteon) Ferahgo the Assassin—let a badger hug him, thrown off a mountain

(Martin the Warrior) Badrang the Tyrant—killed by a slave (also, shout out to how he nearly died when his swordplay was outmatched by a squirrel with a stick)

(The Bellmaker) Urgan Nagru—killed by the teeth of a skull he wore as a helmet 

(Outcast of Redwall) Swartt Sixclaw—thrown off a mountain by a badger

(Pearls of Lutra) Ublaz Mad Eyes—killed by pet snake

(The Long Patrol) Damug Warfang—fell off a ridge while letting a badger hug him

(Marlfox) Silth—poisoned by own child while trying to poison said child;  Lantur—pushed off a cliff, eaten by a fish;  Mokkan—thrown off a boat, eaten by a fish;   Ziral—a squirrel stole her ax;   Gelltor—challenged a squirrel, but the squirrel had a rock;   Predak—accidentally jumped off a wall;   Vannan—an otter threw a pointy stick;  Ascrod—shot by a blind archer;

(The Legend of Luke) Vilu Daskar—literally tied his mortal enemy to the wheel of his ship. In a storm. By a bunch of big rocks.

(Lord Brocktree) Ungatt Trunn—let a badger hug him, pushed out to sea by an angry fox

(Taggerung) Sawney Rath—an angry lady had a rock

(Triss) King Agarnu—his slaves threw him in the ocean, throne and all;   Princess Kurda—fell on her favorite sword;   Prince Bladd—hit by a falling pot of oatmeal

(Loamhedge) Raga Bol—tried to fight an angry badger (got picked up by the badger, so maybe variation of letting a badger hug him)

(Rakkety Tam) Gulo the Savage—a squirrel had a sharp shield

(High Rhulain) Riggu Felis—he chucked a fancy rock at a bird, and an otter lass chucked it back

(Eulalia) Vizka Longtooth—let a badger hug him

(Doomwyte) Korvus Skurr (a bird)—flew straight into an angry lady who had a sharp pointy thing

(The Sable Quean) Zwilt the Shade—killed by a hostage;   Vilaya—fell on her own poisoned knife (also jumped on by an angry badger, so it may be a variation of letting a badger hug her)

(The Rogue Crew) Razzid Wearat—stabbed by a hedgehog and whacked with a stick

 Alternate titles:

Case Study shows that Angry Badgers Relieve Stress by Hugging Enemies

Three Reasons to Avoid Badgers on Mountains

[incorrectredwallquotes]

Sawney: What did I tell you about lying?

Tagg: To do it more often?

Sawney: Exactly

[fuzzhugs]

Tag - A Redwall Fan-Fiction

Sawney Rath felt a pair of eyes burning a hole in the back of his skull. Those glaring eyes had been following him for most of the morning, ever since he had set out from the tribe’s campground to spend some time in the woodlands, finally getting a chance to step away from the role of chieftain and do some hunting of his own.

Through a series of brief glances, he was able to deduce where his stalker was observing him from. It was a swift creature, nimble as well. It had moved from bushes, to trees, to the reeds lining the nearby stream with nary a sound. Sawney knew where his pursuer was, but he didn’t intend to let the creature know that.

A few minutes later, a subtle change in the sound of the stream informed Sawney the creature had entered the water. Now would be a perfect time to spring a trap.

Kneeling down not too far from the water’s edge, Sawney made it look like he was investigating some tracks left by a grouse.

There was a loud splash and a fearsome roar as a creature waist-high on Sawney barreled into him.

“Gaaaah,” Sawney moaned, feigning agony as he allowed himself to fall to the ground. “Felled by the mightiest hunter of them all. The Taggerung has me in his clutches.”

A brief giggle escaped through the otter-cub’s attempt at a growl as he sat on Sawney’s chest, his mouth spread in a grin which, thanks to the sigils painted on his fur, made him a fierce-looking beast, just as a member of the Juska clans ought to look.

“Another Juska-warrior felled by the Taggerung,” Sawney continued his lament, “but…this warrior knows the Taggerung’s secret weakness.” Lunging up, he began tickling Tagg’s sides.

The Juska otter put up a brave fight at first, but soon fell over in helpless fits of laughter.

“Heeheehee, stoppit Daddy, heehee, I gots you.”

“Yes, you did indeed,” Sawney acknowledged, proud of his growing son. “You’ll be the finest hunter the coastlands have ever seen.”

Tagg sat up and tapped Sawney on the arm. “Now you catch me.” He took off running into the woods.

“Making your old father chase you around? Such impudence,” Sawney laughed as he ran after Tagg.

Sawney could have ended the chase a few moments after it started. His height and the length of his limbs gave him the advantage of speed, but he wanted to test Tagg’s skills at evasion. Though Tagg was still small, he had the youthful energy to make sudden sprints that an older creature would be unable to copy.

Sawney was able to see what Tagg had been learning for the past season. He took advantage of his small size and limber frame to slip through crevices that forced Sawney to backtrack more than once.

At last, he entered a small hidden glade surrounded on three sides by the steep walls of a crag. Tagg was somewhere nearby.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a bush shaking, but there was no wind blowing that could shake it.

“That twitchy rudder is going to get you into trouble,” Sawney thought to himself.

Making a show of looking all over the glade, Sawney moved past the suspicious bush before suddenly lunging toward it and pouncing on…nothing. Sawney’s paws hit only dirt. He looked around, confused at his blunder. Stepping back, he looked around for any sign he had missed. He turned back to look at the other side of the glade again when Tagg erupted from a bush several steps away from where Sawney had been looking.

The impact took Sawney completely by surprise and he fell at full force to the ground, knocking the wind from his lungs.

“I gots you again, Daddy!” Tagg gloated.

“Twice in one day,” Sawney moaned, “I must be out of practice. You were shaking the bush with a stick, weren’t you?”

Tagg nodded. “Vallug taught me how to do it.”

“He certainly taught you well.” Sawney sat up, groaning at the aches in his chest. “How about we go back to camp ya’ little rascal?”

Tagg nodded. “I’m tired. Can you carry me?”

Sawney knelt down and let Tagg climb onto his shoulders. He started the trek homeward.

As they approached the camp, Sawney felt Tagg’s paw brush against one of the tattooed lines along the ridge of his nose.

“Daddy?”

“Yes, Tagg?”

“When does I get to have marks like this instead of paint?”

“In a few seasons. I hurts quite a bit. We want to be sure you’re ready.”

“I can take it,” Tagg declared boldly.

“I’m sure you can, and you’ll be able to take on anything when you’ve grown.”

The pair reached the tent they shared and Sawney placed Tagg down on his bed. The young otter immediately curled up with his blankets and fell asleep.

Sawney smiled and gently stroked Tagg’s fur. “Sleep well, Zann Juskarath Taggerung. Mighty Warrior of the Juskarath. My son.”

[prowl-autism-extraordinaire]

sawney rath calls tagg 'son' as a way to assert power, not out of any kind of familial fondness or paternal feelings. he calls tagg son to remind the juska that he is the one who trained the taggerung, he is the one who the taggerung looks to. hes not taggs father and tagg doesn't consider him a parental figure. its explicitly stated. family isnt taggs motivation, or sawney's approval- predicated on tagg's compliance- would have mattered more.

edit: familial love/approval also doesnt matter to tagg or he wouldve cared more about sawneys approval

[captainmirefleck]

Vote for your favorite Redwall villain! Not who you think would win in a fight, but who you think is most effective as a villain or who you enjoy the most!