What Lies Beyond the Walls is a Redwall fanfic written by abstow89. Unlike its source material, this fanfic doesn't revolve around Redwall at all, and instead takes place in Mossflower and its neighboring regions. And unlike its source material, Mossflower isn't painted as being a peaceful, great place to live, but a Crapsack World that's cruel to its inhabitants. The story doesn't shy away from revealing the gritty, harsh conditions of Mossflower, and the series centers around different groups trying to survive in their environment.
The story mostly centers around two different factions. The first group consists of a battalion of Long Patrol hares led by Urthquake the Tough, a Badger Lord who despises vermin and is willing to do whatever it takes to rid the world of evil, even if his methods are questionable, or downright horrific.
The second group consists of a horde of vermin corsairs led by Kurwin the Flayer, a "washed-up" aging pirate who wants to control Mossflower and live in a world where vermin don't have to be afraid of beasts like Urthquake and his allies. But like Urthquake, his means of achieving said goal are not without question.
Along with the story's dark themes is its Grey-and-Gray Morality, as the Long Patrol are not above slaughtering vermin even when they pose no threat, and they rarely question Urthquake's orders, even if they know his orders are morally wrong. And while Kurwin's crew consists of rapists, murderers, and sadists, some (if not many) corsairs are Affably Evil, Punch-Clock Villains, or even Anti-Villains who have their own rules they don't break.
The fanfic is not for kids, as it is filled with Gorn, Family-Unfriendly Violence, Family-Unfriendly Death, and various implied (or blatant) sexual situations. And swearing. Lots and lots of swearing.
Book I: The Two Factions, can be read here
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Book II: Betrayal, can be read here.
This fanfic contains examples of:
- Abusive Parents:
- Log-a-Log Brugo, who physically and sexually abused Benrath throughout his life.
- Razzik's step-mother, who raped him while he was still suffering from a hangover.
- Agonizing Stomach Wound: Despite his Hero Killer status, Angus Renhym is gravely wounded with a simple, well-timed arrow to his stomach, and Sanjoy impaling him only once in his abdomen with her rapier.
- An Aesop: Chapter 29 shows that drinking will not help you cope with grief, stress, or any form of PTSD. If anything, it'll only make it worse.
- Alas, Poor Villain:
- Longfang. Just when the rat was finally starting to realize all the wrong he was doing and that his enemies weren't so different from him, he's abruptly killed.
- Clemson, the Butt-Monkey in Blackheart's army. Even if he was aware of what kind of monster Blackheart was, he was nowhere near as evil as him. He ends up dying a very ignominious death, sobbing and hiding inside a slave compound while the slaves are mocking how much of a coward he is. And then one of them steals his dagger when his back is turned and mercilessly stabs him in the back multiple times.
- Always Chaotic Evil: Zig-zagged as the author deconstructs it with the vermin...but plays it dead straight with the lizards.
- Anti-Hero: Urthquake, and several of the Long Patrol hares.
- Anti-Villain:
- Arguably Kurwin, as he appears to be more like an old man who wants to achieve peace for vermin like him, as opposed to most Redwall villains who backstab each other and/or are bloodthirsty monsters who only care about causing as much chaos as possible.
- Stinkfoot. Not only is he Affably Evil, but chapter 12 reveals his tragic backstory about how he lost his family, and that he only joined Kurwin's crew because they were nice to him, and because Kurwin treats his crew members well.
- Anyone Can Die: To the point where anyone who isn't a "main" character is treated as a Mauve Shirt, or even a Red Shirt.
- Arc Villain:
- Blackheart for the first part of Book I.
- Angus Renhym for the first chunk of Book II.
- Ass Shove: In chapter 32, Benrath shoves several pine cones, along with a spear, up Jurlick's ass.
- Asshole Victim:
- Attempted Rape: On Tegast, of all characters. The only reason why his rapist didn't succeed was because Tegast managed to stab the would-be rapist in the groin.
- Big Bad Duumvirate: As of chapter 31, Log-a-Log has teamed up with Krassak Ralfur in his quest to ravage everything in his path.
- Big Badass Battle Sequence:
- The battle at Blackheart's fortress is one long, uninterrupted, epic, gore-filled fight between the Long Patrol and Blackheart's minions.
- While not as long as the example above, the battle between Kurwin's corsairs and the Mossflower Squirrel Brigade in chapter 14 is still quite long, bloody, and thoroughly detailed.
- The Red Sand tribe's invasion of Tearmann lasted a full two chapters before it was over, and left dozens of casualties.
- Bottomless Quivers: Averted. Chapter 38 shows Bloodbrain making his own arrows with branches, presumably because he was running low and Kurwin's crew couldn't spare any more.
- Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: This little exchange from the end of chapter 4:Ferrin Rord: (after drinking seaweed grog) "GAH!! Could they make this slop anymore disgusting?! Wot the hell did they put in it?!"Fleckle Mard: "Oh, the usual. Some crushed seaweed, bit of water, deadly poison, some salt...hmm, what else..."Ferrin Rord: "Um...wo-wot was that third thing?"
- Break the Cutie:
- Tegast, one of the few characters who isn't even remotely evil. His entire family is slain in the first chapter he appears in, forcing him to wander around Mossflower alone as he attempts to find another group or family to join.
- Stinkfoot was broken before the story even started. Chapter 12 reveals that he was just a regular stoat with a loving wife and child. Then bandits kill his son, his wife leaves him, and Stinkfoot ends up going insane and suffering from depression. It got to a point where he tried to kill himself, but was fortunately saved by Kurwin and his crew.
- Breath Weapon: Justified with Gila the Putrid, who is clearly a Gila monster judging by his appearance. His breath is so toxic he can disorient his victims and make them vomit just by exhaling in their faces.
- Breather Episode:
- With the exception of the lizard orgy at the beginning of chapter 18, and Darktail's Near-Rape Experience with Rowgat, chapters 17, 18, and 19 are nothing more than the Long Patrol relaxing, eating, talking, going through Character Development, and enjoying themselves in the peaceful community of Tearmann.
- Subverted with chapter 20. What starts as a calm, albeit sex-filled engagement between various Long Patrol members and Tearmannians suddenly turns into a tribe of vermin breaching the community and killing a few characters as they begin their assault.
- Subverted again with chapter 29. At first, the chapter seems like another Day in the Limelight segment focusing on flashbacks. But then it ends with Ishlin dying, presumably from poisoned wine.
- Chapter 37 is simply about Tegast's group talking, finding vittles, discovering a new line of defense, and finding a bird who could help them draw the horde of lizards away from them.
- Chapter 38 is mostly about Kurwin giving new orders to members of his crew after talking to Bloodbrain. The chapter also focuses on Sharkbait and Jaleen's "relationship," and Glud exposing Dirtfoot and Muslar's mutiny to Kurwin and Traegar.
- Bring My Brown Pants:
- Razzik pees himself after Krassak threatens to chop his body into pieces and feed them to him.
- Blackheart pisses his shorts after he finds out that Urthquake and the Long Patrol are about to breach his fortress.
- Plaskin reveals to Razzik that this actually saved his life in the past. Plaskin soiled himself so badly while hiding in some bushes that the beasts trying to kill him avoided the very bush he was hiding in because it smelled so horrible.
- Dirtfoot wets himself in chapter 40 after everyone finds out that he killed Ishlin and tried to kill Kurwin.
- Bury Your Gays: The chapter that confirms that Longfang is homosexual is also the chapter he ends up dying in.
- Camping a Crapper: Jadden is attacked and killed by Angus Renhym while he's defecating beside a tree.
- Caught with Your Pants Down: Longfang, who gets "interrupted" by Dead-Eye in his cabin while he's masturbating.
- Chef of Iron: The mole chef Meklarn. Bonus points for fending off vermin using nothing but a frying pan and rolling pin.
- Cliffhanger: Book I ends with the Monitors discovering the Guosim's location, with Log-a-Log oblivious to the approaching threat, Glud choosing to side with Muslar and Dirtfoot to overthrow Kurwin, Watson, Fenson, and Hollis figuring out that Urthquake killed Sergeant Issarck, Russell Galedeep implying that he plans on hunting down Kurwin himself, and Major Fenson questioning his loyalty to Urthquake as the badger's sanity worsens.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Done off-screen to Chester Nuttooth, courtesty of Flikk and Kurwin the Flayer.
- Combat Pragmatist: Traegar, who isn't afraid of fighting dirty or using everything around him to his advantage.Traegar: "I don't fight fair, Cap'n. I fight smart."
- Cruel and Unusual Death:
- The poor mouse slave who was the victim of the head crusher Blackheart used on him.
- Nelldyne, who's punched in the face so hard by Urthquake that his teeth fly out and his left eyeball pops out of its socket.
- Trilden, who has his throat ripped out by Urthquake's bare paw.
- Urthquake's family, all of whom were butchered by a group of vermin. To go into more detail, his son, Conwyn, had his head sliced in half, and his killers toyed with his exposed brain. His daughter, Marlene, had her eyes cut out, shortly before a ferret stabbed her multiple times. And his wife, Eleanor, had her limbs hacked off shortly before the leader of the vermin group thrust a rapier into her vagina and left her to bleed out.
- Ozgin, combined with a Rasputinian Death. She's stabbed twice in the stomach, stabbed just above the kidney, stabbed several times in the anus, has one of her paws sliced off, is stabbed several times in the groin, and is finally finished off with a Slashed Throat.
- Darker and Edgier: Very much so. Graphic deaths are all around, several characters are swearing incessantly, the main characters are constantly thrust into grim situations, the amount of deaths compared to the original series is much higher, and even when a battle is won, some of the survivors are upset over friends they have lost.
- A Day in the Limelight:
- Stanno in chapter 9.
- Stinkfoot in chapter 12.
- This seems to be one of the central aspects of Book II, as the chapters are slowly starting to reveal some of the characters' backstories or even having an entire chapter focus on just one or two characters.
- Death of a Child: The author seems to enjoy this trope.
- The first chapter has Urthquake killing a pregnant ferret.
- Chapter 3 has the death of Danik, a young rat who was "barely eight seasons (years) old."
- Chapter 9 has the death of another pregnant creature and her unborn baby.
- Chapter 21 kills off Eve, Genfley, and Morrvin.
- A Death in the Limelight:
- Longfang in chapter 13.
- Ishlin in chapter 29.
- Tike Bonson in chapter 35.
- Death by Irony: Ishlin is a chronic drinker who believes that alcohol will help him cope with stress and keep the Grim Reaper at bay. He dies from drinking alcohol tainted with poison.
- Decoy Protagonist: The first few paragraphs in the story center around a famous squirrel warrior named Broddigan Quarles, and the author gives a brief Infodump about his background and where he stands in life. And then a random weasel sneaks up behind him while he's sleeping, slashes his throat, and steals all his food, and the character is forgotten about entirely.
- Defeat Means Friendship: Benrath decides to make amends with Jurlick in chapter 23 after beating him to a pulp in chapter 16. They're Vitriolic Best Buds, but it's an improvement to how they used to treat each other.
- Depraved Homosexual: Rowgat. So much so that he even has his own "slave" in chapter 15.
- Dirty Coward: Blackheart.
- Disney Villain Death: Blackheart, who's tossed from the top of his fortress onto a pile of large, jagged rocks.
- Disproportionate Retribution:
- After Jaleen rudely refuses candied chestnuts to Sharkbait, the stoat responds by pouncing on her and nearly choking her to death.
- When Clemson tries to advise Blackheart to stop being so brutal, Blackheart responds by slicing his ear off.
- After Log-a-Log Brugo catches his son and his friend laughing at him for shitting himself in his sleep, he punishes his son by beating him mercilessly and by breaking his friend's neck.
- After being humiliated by Benrath in front of his friends, Jurlick retaliates by killing Benrath's friends and manipulating Rowgat and several monitor lizards into gang-raping him. And then he pisses on his face.
- The Dog Bites Back:
- After being verbally and physically abused by Ferrin Rord one too many times, Fleckle Mard finally poisons him and takes control of his tribe.
- After being constantly teased by Jurlick, Benrath delivers a well-deserved No-Holds-Barred Beatdown to him.
- Double Standard Rape: Female on Male: Same as below, as shown in chapter 28 between Razzik and his step-mother. It seems as though the author doesn't have any form of rape, regardless of the gender, Played for Laughs.
- Double Standard: Rape, Male on Male: Averted throughout. Anytime someone is raped or there's Attempted Rape, it's never Played for Laughs, and any of the victims involved are mentally damaged from the experience.
- The Dragon:
- Traegar for Kurwin.
- Fleckle for Ferrin Rord. Until he kills him, that is.
- Trilden for Blackheart, although he's smarter, stronger, and much more courageous than his leader.
- Dragon Ascendant: Invoked in chapter 4 with Fleckle Mard, who's persuaded into killing Ferrin Rord by Kurwin the Flayer and ends up becoming the new leader of the Juska tribe.
- Enemy Civil War: Chapter 40 shows that Krassak's lizards and the Guosim are already struggling to work with each other, with Log-a-Log in particular plotting to overthrow Krassak's army.
- Establishing Character Moment: Done dozens of times, since the series has a large cast.
- In his first appearance, Traegar meticulously approaches a squirrel warrior and then coldly slashes his throat while he's sleeping.
- Kurwin is first seen as a drunken, exhausted, and ambitious "evil" ferret who longs to rule Mossflower in hopes of bringing respect to vermin all around.
- Urthquake kills a relatively harmless and pregnant ferret while she's begging for her life, even going as far as to calling her unborn child a curse. He then justifies the killing to a young soldier by saying that he killed her to prevent another Big Bad like Cluny the Scourge from being born.
- Krassak takes much pleasure in tormenting Razzik, even going as far as telling him about the time he starved a rat and then fed him his own flesh until he choked to death.
- Blowhorn wakes up several vermin around him by farting, thinking his Toilet Humour is actually funny.
- Razzik wets himself and then pleads for his life after Krassak threatens to brutally slay him.
- Bloodbrain tries to kill a young hedgehog for no reason, and then gets irritated at Traegar when he stops him from doing so.
- Rowgat gropes Razzik's bottom, shortly before commenting that he has "a lovely arze" and that he enjoys rats with "meat on their bonez."
- Blackheart gleefully tortures a mouse to death with a head crusher all to convince a slave to hand over a dagger he stole. And then he eviscerates said slave right after promising him he won't suffer the same fate as the mouse.
- Stinkfoot speaks up for Razzik and defends him in chapter 2 while all the other vermin around him are abrasive and/or suspicious of his survival.
- Jurlick constantly teases Benrath and makes lewd comments about his homosexual tendencies, and is then humiliated by Clannin when he pounces on him, leading to Jurlick whimpering and crying for help.
- Log-a-Log Brugo is constantly laughing, talking loudly, drinking, and persuading Urthquake and Kurwin to fight each other while meeting both of them behind each other's backs.
- Sheeka is first seen performing a strange ritual dance in order to see the future. A few moments later, it's revealed that she's a fake, and that she only did it to con a few Juskamard members out of their vittles.
- Gila the Putrid lifts a rat off the ground and exhales his foul breath in his face. He waits until the rats starts to puke before biting him and then taunting the rat's friend by telling him that he just poisoned him and that he's going to die a horrible death soon.
- Establishing Series Moment:
- The first character introduced to the series is abruptly killed off and forgotten about just when it looked like he was going to be the main protagonist.
- A pregnant ferret is chopped in half. Goodbye Infant Immortality!
- The first chapter focuses more on Kurwin the Flayer and Traegar, rather than Urthquake and the Long Patrol.
- Kurwin has a dire plan set in motion—one that directly impacts the Long Patrol's storyline.
- Some of the deaths in the first chapter are described in graphic detail.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Several members of Kurwin's crew truly care about each other or used to have loved ones who were killed or snatched away from them in their past.
- Even Evil Has Standards: A lot of villainous characters seem to have their own morals on certain subjects. Stinkfoot, for one, is not fond of rapists and has never participated in such act. Kurwin the Flayer is fully aware of the kind of beast Blackheart is and refused to partner with him, despite knowing Blackheart's army would strengthen his army's numbers.
- Exact Words:
- In chapter 21, Drulra and Jamey demand Angus to let go of Eve and to drop his dagger. He does both. And then he takes out another knife and throws it into Eve's head.
- In chapter 38, Glud tells Dirtfoot that he's not a traitor. And he proves it by immediately selling out Dirtfoot and Muslar to Kurwin, who are traitors.
- Excrement Statement: After Benrath beats Jurlick to a pulp, he decides to humiliate him even further by defecating into his mouth.
- Eye Scream: How Dead-Eye dies, courtesy of an arrow.
- Fan Disservice:
- The lizard orgy in chapter 18. Lizards soiling themselves, lizards having sex while smothered in blood, lizards having sex while smothered in bile, and it's all top off with Rowgat nearly raping Darktail. And then licking his anus.
- Chapter 20 shows the smelly, dirty, scruffy Lakler not only urinating on a hedgehog, but also shows the hedgehog masturbating because she was aroused by it.
- In the same chapter, there's Elonv sodomizing an otter. After he reaches his climax, he starts coughing up blood all over the otter, and it's revealed that someone threw a knife into his neck.
- Fanservice:
- The sex scene between Slipfoot and Longfang.
- Chapter 20 has a few scenes, namely Urthquake getting into a threesome with two otters, Sergeant Issarck briefly having sex with an otter, and
Floswirth having sex with a female sergeant.
- Fantastic Racism: Like the original series, a lot of vermin aren't fond of goodbeasts and woodlanders, and vice versa. Justified, and even averted in both cases, as some characters have backstories where vermin are despicable and evil to other vermin, and woodlanders are despicable and evil to other goodbeasts (most notably with Ozgin, who was raped by her former captain).
- Fat Slob: Log-a-Log Brugo. He's an obese shrew who eats messily, belches and farts nonchalantly, and seems fond of getting so drunk that he involuntarily pisses or shits himself in his sleep.
- A Father to His Men: Kurwin, while murderous and tough at times, is extremely affable and understanding towards his own crew, to the point where he welcomed Longfang onto his ship with open arms and introduced him to everyone after he passed a small "test."
- Formula-Breaking Episode: Chapter 34 is a Whole Episode Flashback focusing on Angus Renhym that doesn't intertwine with any of the other subplots until the very end.
- Four Lines, All Waiting: There are currently three (at one point it was five) different subplots going on at the same time, and so far none of them have significantly impacted each other. When the story first started, each chapter would frequently hop from subplot to subplot, but as of Book II, most chapters only focus entirely on one subplot and disregard the other two. Whether this hurts or helps the story is still debatable.
- Gasshole: Blowhorn.
- Gorn: If someone dies a brutal death, expect the author to describe it in horrific detail.
- Grey-and-Gray Morality: One of the story's central themes. Urthquake and the Long Patrol are the "heroes" of the story, but some of them (Urthquake included) are callous Jerkasses who are not above Kicking the Dog. Nevertheless, a majority of them still care about each other and, for the most part, are fighting for justice. Kurwin and his band of corsairs are the "villains" of the story, but some of them (Kurwin included) are kind-hearted Punch Clock Villains who care deeply for one another and are not above Petting the Dog. Nevertheless, a majority of them are still evil and want to take over Mossflower, and they won't hesitate to follow Kurwin's orders and kill anyone in their way.
- Happily Failed Suicide: Stinkfoot reveals in chapter 12 that he tried to drown himself after being alone for so long and losing his sanity. Whether or not he's "happy" that he failed is still up for debate.
- Hate Sink: Most of the characters, even the villainous ones, tend to have some sympathetic backstory or some redeeming quality. But there are a few characters who fall under this trope.
- Blackheart is a sadistic, ruthless slaver who rapes and kills his slaves for his own amusement and even abuses his own soldiers for miniscule reasons.
- Jurlick is a homophobic Jerk Jock who constantly teases Benrath for not being a proper leader and for being gay. Book II only worsens this when he murders his only friends and manipulates several monitor lizards into raping Benrath for petty payback.
- Log-a-Log Brugo started off as a Manipulative Bastard, but immediately soared into this territory when it's revealed that he's a pedophile who murdered Benrath's parents and raped him throughout his life. And then he kills his Lancer and teams up with Krassak's horde, determined to take over Mossflower.
- Angus Renhym is a sadistic mercenary who mutilates his victims and relishes every moment of it. He's also responsible for the deaths of several members of the Long Patrol and even murdered his parents at a very young age just to see what it would feel like.
- Hero Killer: Angus Renhym. By the end of Book I, he's killed Ozgin, Corporal Enston Tekwyn, Lieutenant Harstow, and possibly a few soldiers from Tearmann. And in Book II, he kills Jadden, Errol, and even Tike Bonson before he finally meets his demise.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: Dead-Eye and Longfang. A rather bizarre case, since Longfang actually is gay, but Dead-Eye isn't.
- Hypocrite: Thoroughly deconstructed multiple times.
- After Urthquake kills a mouse who may or may not have been impregnated by vermin, several hares point out how ruthless and cold-hearted the badger is. Urthquake immediately reminds them that no one (except for Tike) had any problem with Urthquake murdering a pregnant ferret, simply because of her species.
- Stinkfoot gets called a hypocrite twice in chapter 12. When Sharkbait suggests that Stinkfoot kill himself so he'll finally be at peace, Stinkfoot points out how stupid Sharkbait sounds, despite the fact Sharkbait was merely using Stinkfoot's logic. Later, Pillard calls Stinkfoot a hypocrite when he confesses that he hates rapists and callous murderers, yet never prevents any of Kurwin's crew from committing said acts.
- Hollywood Tactics: Urthquake's plan for taking down Blackheart's fortress was to charge right inside after breaking down the main gate, and for the Shadows to cover them from the walls with bows and arrows. As a result, he ends up losing more hares than anticipated, including Saron, Sergeant Oflal, and the Crowslayer's second in command. The Shadows even end up killing a few hares from friendly fire because the fortress became too crowded too quickly.
- I'm a Humanitarian: Just like the source material, most (if not all) of the monitor lizards are cannibals.
- Improbable Infant Survival: Borderline non-existent. The only notable child character still alive is Kleewyn, a background Tearmannian character.
- Jerkass
- From the Long Patrol, there's Morson and Frenquil Langrove.
- From Kurwin's group of corsairs, there's Dirtfoot and especially Bloodeye.
- Jurlick, the homophobic shrew from the Guosim who constantly bullies Benrath.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Stanno Langrove. He's much more pleasant that his brother and sister, but he still tends to inadvertently piss other beasts off with his mouth.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Jurlick. He slowly starts to make peace with Benrath and turns into his new Vitriolic Best Bud, but it turns out that he was just faking his friendship so he could get Benrath to lower his guard. And then he gets back at him in the worst way possible.
- Karmic Death: Angus Renhym enjoyed torturing and mutilating his victims as violently as possible. Just before he perishes, Urthquake and several hares stab, impale, and slash at his body multiple times. Then Urthquake finishes him off by gouging out his eyeballs, crushing his skull, and ripping off his jaw.
- Killed Mid-Sentence:
- Dead-Eye in chapter 4.
- Angus Renhym in chapter 36.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Done very humorously by Morson in chapter 27. He damn near breaks it.Morson: "Ohhhhhhhhh, now I get it! This is all jus’ like one big story, right? This is the part of the story where one of the main characters tries to bond with the arsehole side character in hopes of becomin’ his new buddy, right? This is the part of the story where the arsehole side character spills his guts an’ you all find out his tragic backstory, right? An’ then suddenly, he breaks down blubberin’ like a babe, an’ they hug each other, act like they’ve been mates fer life!"
- Lovable Coward: Razzik.
- Masturbation Means Sexual Frustration: Stanno masturbates out of frustration and loneliness, due to the fact that he hasn't seen (or mated with) his wife in so long.
- Mauve Shirt: They're all over the place. And they're constantly rotating due to the story's high death rate.
- Mood Whiplash: Done constantly in chapter 20, which flip-flops between drama, Fanservice, Character Development, more Fanservice, comedy, and then suddenly ends with some of the characters getting killed.
- No Dead Body Poops: Given the amount of realism in the story, this is usually averted.
- One of the rats slain by the Long Patrol in chapter 3 wets his pants shortly after getting an arrow to the back.
- Played for Laughs in chapter 9, where Elonv complains about the stench of a rat's corpse whose bowels had recently loosened.
- Defied in chapter 8. Sergeant Oflal makes his entire squad urinate before the battle at Blackheart's fortress so none of them will "defile themselves" if they die.
- Nobody Poops: Averted on various occasions.
- Nominal Importance: Averted. Several characters are given first and last names, and a few even have their rank stated. But many of these characters end up dying anyway and don't impact the story or the characters whatsoever.
- Non-Mammal Mammaries: Averted. The anatomy of the lizards (for the most part) is pretty accurate. Both males and females have cloacas, the reptiles have no nipples or breasts, their waste comes out of the cloaca only, and the males have two penises which only come out when they reproduce or become aroused.
- Off with His Head!: It happens fairly often.
- Jadden is decapitated by Angus Renhym. He even goes as far as to use his severed head as a weapon to knock out Tike and Honward.
- Kurwin finishes off Dirtfoot by lopping his head off
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Blowhorn, for the most part, is just a flatulent Plucky Comic Relief character. Up until chapter 15, where he confides to Razzik that the recent deaths of all his friends is starting to get to him and that he fears no one will miss him when he dies.
- Orcus on His Throne: Log-a-Log, who spends most of his time gaining weight inside his personal hut while persuading various factions to go out and kill each other. Now that he's come across Krassak though, he's ready to get off his throne.
- Out with a Bang: Done literally with Elonv, who's killed immediately after he has an orgasm.
- Parental Incest: Between Benrath and Log-a-Log Brugo, the latter of whom raped Benrath repeatedly.
- Pet the Dog: In chapter 2, Traegar not only frees a young hedgehog who was captured by a trio of reptiles, but he also stops Bloodbrain from killing him as he begins to run away.
- The Pigpen:
- Besides the vermin and their trademark unhygienic nature, there's Lakler from the Long Patrol, who smells just as bad as they do.
- Downplayed with Urthquake. While he doesn't smell terrible, he doesn't bathe very often and sweats a lot. Tessa even flat-out told him he stinks in chapter 20, most likely for this reason.
- Plot Armor:
Word of God admitted at the end of Book I that Tegast would survive Book II, if not be on the few characters who lives to the end of the series. - Potty Failure:
- Blowhorn soils himself in chapter 12 twice, and it's implied that he shat himself the second time because he wanted to enjoy doing it.
- A drunken monitor shits himself at the beginning of chapter 18.
- Done twice in chapter 19. First, Morrvin accidentally soils himself from farting too hard, and immediately after that, Kleewyn wets himself from laughing too hard at Morrvin crapping his trousers. Justified in both cases, as Morrvin had ingested way too many prunes and milk, and Kleewyn had consumed too much cordial.
- Discussed in chapter 18 when Eve asks Urthquake why he doesn't wear trousers anymore.
- Benrath reveals in chapter 31 that Log-a-Log has a very bad habit of overeating, getting drunk, and then shitting himself in his sleep. Not only does this happen in a flashback, but it's also briefly mentioned that Log-a-Log wet himself during the present too.
- Rape as Backstory: Urthquake. After a group of vermin threaten to rape and kill his family, he offers himself to them and agrees not to put up a fight. The vermin then proceeded to rape Urthquake several times right in front of his family—and then they murdered them anyway.
- Rasputinian Death:
- Ozgin. See Cruel and Unusual Death above.
- Angus Renhym. See Karmic Death above.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
- Razzik, of all characters, finally gets Bloodeye to shut his mouth after brutally chewing him out at the kind of beast he really is.
- Bloodbrain thoroughly chews out Kurwin in chapter 38, criticizing every single decision he's made since the story began, and that his reckless actions are costing the lives of his crew members.
- Red Herring: Book II of the story hinted multiple times that Honward was going to die. So when Chapter 35 came along, and the story made it very clear he was going to die, his best friend Tike Bonson ends up dying instead.
- Reptiles Are Abhorrent: There hasn't been a single lizard mentioned in the story so far that isn't either crazy, cannibalistic, sadistic, or downright evil.
- Sacrificial Lamb: There's a lot of minor deaths spread out in the story, but a few of them do impact the characters and/or plot in the long run:
- Broddigan Quarles in the first chapter. His death made it very clear that even the so-called "protagonists" are very expendable, and that death can strike quickly to any character.
- Dead-Eye for the corsairs' story arc. His death kicked off Longfang's subplot in chapter 13.
- Saron and Sergeant Oflal for the Long Patrol's story arc. Their deaths showed that even the Mauve Shirts are important characters—even if they aren't important to the readers. Both of their deaths kicked off Lillen and Captain Becker's character development.
- Barlo Arvack's death made it very clear that Log-a-Log is not the Anti-Hero he claims to be, and that he will backstab or kill even his closest allies if it'll prolong his life.
- While Jurlick's death hardly impacted any character, besides Benrath, it brought Tegast, Grustur, Benrath, and Darktail together as a team. His death also heightened Tegast and his crew's level of danger, as Log-a-Log used Jurlick's death to justify his son being a traitor, thus giving him permission to instruct the Guosim to hunt him down and kill him.
- Sacrificial Lion:
- Longfang is the first major character in the series to die. His death signified that, even if you have a personal connection to a few characters, and even if you're finally starting to go through Character Development, you can still be killed very easily in a major battle.
- While Ishlin wasn't necessarily a main character, his death affected Kurwin's captains very hard, and it kicked off the subplot involving a traitor who's trying to murder Kurwin the Flayer and possibly take over his crew.
- Tike Bonson. Unlike the previous examples, Tike was a main character with plenty of screentime and development, and plenty of connections with several other characters. His brutal death at the paws of Angus Renhym rendered Honward catatonic and it showed that even the nicest creatures who have good intentions and only want what's best for the world can be killed.
- Safe Zone Hope Spot: Tearmann is clearly meant to represent a smaller version of Redwall without any borders. Which makes it very easy for the Red Sand tribe to infiltrate the community at night.
- Ship Tease: Between Becker and Saron, up until the latter was killed in chapter 8. However, it's hinted more than once that Becker and Lillen may end up in a relationship, as the two have started to bond more closely and have had a few touchy-feely scenes together.
- Shoot the Shaggy Dog: Longfang's story arc in general. After learning about his brief history with Kurwin's pirates, Longfang spends all of chapter 13 trying to figure out who he is, and if he still wants to be a pirate. Throughout the whole chapter, Longfang slowly becomes aware that all the beasts he's killed have names, faces, families, and are no different than he is. He doesn't take this well, and nearly has a mental breakdown, confused as to what he should do with his life. Before Longfang can make any decisions that'll impact his future, he gets four arrows to the back and dies.
- Shout-Out: Chapter 34 is named "Green Is Not a Creative Color".
- Shown Their Work:
- After exhaling in a rat's face and making him vomit, Gila bites the rat while all his minions boast about how powerful his breath is. Gila says a moment later that it's actually his bite that's deadly, not his breath. This is a true statement of Gila monsters, and a common myth was that Gila monsters had breath so toxic that it could kill.
- Hollis Brennly reveals in chapter 17 that the reason why everyone calls him Stink Mouth is because he eats pellets. In real life, rabbits and hares eat pellets as well for the sake of digestion and absorbing nutrients and vitamins—which is why Hollis eats them in the first place.
- Lizards do in fact have two penises called a hemipenes, as shown in chapter 18 during the orgy at the beginning.
- Smug Snake:
- Blackheart, big time. Considering he's an Expy of Badrang, this is no surprise.
- Jurlick. He's all bark and no bite, as demonstrated in chapters 5 and 16 where he belittles Benrath several times, but devolves into a cowardly, blubbering mess when Clannin and Benrath physically trounce him with very little effort.
- The Starscream: Dirtfoot and Muslar, both of whom want Kurwin dead so they can go back to their typical pirate ways.
- The Stoic: Most notably Bloodbrain.
- Straight Gay:
- Slipfoot and Longfang.
- Benrath Brugo.
- That Came Out Wrong: This little gem from chapter 11, when Grustur is explaining why he doesn't want to live alone in a mole's home.Grustur: "An', well, next thing you know, yer insane and livin' in a stinky-ass hole."(Beat)Grustur: "Wait. That didn't come out right."Tegast: "I think it did."
- Throw the Dog a Bone: After the slaughter of his family, wandering around for several days, and nearly being killed by Gila and his lizards, Tegast finally finds Grustur, a watervole who offers shelter and is willing to help him find a new tribe to join.
- Toilet Humour:
- Anything involving Blowhorn.
- Shortly after the giant feast at Tearmann in chapter 19, many of the characters start farting nonstop to relieve the pressure in their stomachs.
- Tegast's method of waking up Grustur in chapter 24? Sitting on his face and ripping a huge fart.
- Villainous Breakdown:
- Blackheart. The second he hears Urthquake banging on the gate of his fortress, he promptly wets himself and hides in his longhouse. And just before he dies, he starts blubbering for Urthquake to spare him. He doesn't.
- Done twice with Angus. After the war ends and his leader tells him to go home, Angus, upset that he can no longer continue killing beasts, breaks down sobbing and proceeds to slaughter his leader, along with the rest of his team. Later on, a religious rat questions Angus' behavior to the point where Angus is rendered completely silent.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Becker and Saron, who constantly tease and bicker with each other like a married couple. Which makes it all the more upsetting for Becker when Saron dies, since he never apologized for all the annoying things he did and said to her.
- The Voiceless: Dusk.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Way too many examples to list, given the nature of the story. The most egregious case is Bilgin, Kurwin's steersrat. Who died in a flashback in chapter 13. Off-screen.
- Wham Episode:
- Chapter 20: While the Long Patrol is sleeping or fornicating with the Tearmannians, a dangerous tribe of vermin sneak into Tearmann and mercilessly beginning their attack on the peaceful community when they're most vulnerable, killing Elonv and Ozgin in the process.
- Chapter 21: As the Red Sand tribe continues their assault, Sergeant Issarck uses the opportunity to try and kill Urthquake. He fails, and after Urthquake kills him, he suffers a mental breakdown before going under a vicious case of the Bloodwrath.
- Chapter 23: Russell Galedeep is the reason why the Red Sand tribe attacked Tearmann. He pretended to befriend Lady Sesslyn, then tried to kill her and all of her tribe members in their sleep. He failed, and Lady Sesslyn returned to Tearmann to exact her revenge.
- Chapter 24: Krassak Ralfur and his lizards find out about Log-a-Log and the Guosim and intend to find and kill them all. Glud decides to betray Kurwin and sides with Dirtfoot and Muslar in their plans to kill him. And Major Fenson, Watson, and Lieutenant Hollis find out that Urthquake killed Sergeant Issarck, and Watson is fully prepared to put Urthquake down if he ends up losing his sanity completely.
- Chapter 31: Krassak Ralfur finally reaches the Guosim, and Log-a-Log personally talks to the monitor in a desperate attempt to save himself. After a brief conversation, Log-a-Log pulls a full-on Face–Heel Turn, kills his Lancer, and proceeds to partner up with Krassak and his lizards. We then find out via flashbacks that Log-a-Log murdered Benrath's real parents and adopted him, where he spent all of Benrath's life physically and sexually abusing him. Meanwhile, Jurlick exacts his revenge on Benrath by convincing Rowgat and many lizards to gang-rape him.
- Chapter 35: After capturing Honward and Tike, and questioning them about who should live or die, Angus walks over to Honward, ready to murder him. Then he abruptly changes his mind and kills Tike instead while Honward watches, sending him into Despair Event Horizon.
- Wham Line: Near the end of chapter 35:Angus: "That’s exactly why I’m going to kill your friend instead."
- What the Hell, Hero?: Sanjoy, Clannin, and Needles are all horrified when Urthquake slays an innocent slave who had been impregnated by vermin just to kill her unborn baby, who would've inevitably been a cross between a mouse and a vermin. Urthquake just ignores them before calling them all hypocrites, since they were perfectly fine with him killing a pregnant ferret, even though she was defenseless and pleading for her life.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: After finally getting a chance to relax, eat, and even have sex in peace, the Long Patrol has their fun ruined at the end of Chapter 20 when the Red Sand tribe attacks Tearmann.
- You Need a Breath Mint:
- Several characters have brought up the fact that Dead-Eye has horrible breath.
- Traegar in the first chapter, who munches on wild ramsons to disguise the smell of his breath from Kurwin.
- Almost every character who has run into a monitor lizard (and lived) have mentioned how foul their breath is.
- Kurwin the Flayer, whose breath smells like "fish guts simmering in rat shit," according to Longfang.
- Gila the Putrid, whose breath is so foul that he uses it as a weapon and can make his victims vomit with just one whiff.
- Lieutenant Hollis Brennly's nickname is "Stink Mouth," for obvious reasons. Justified though, as Hollis regularly eats pellets.
- Ishlin. After he asks Sheeka if she has strong potions, she holds her nose and tells him her potions aren't strong enough to "give his breath a better fragrance."
- Angus Renhym. After he gets close to a ferret in chapter 34, the ferret plugs his nose and tells him to back away because his breath is "making him a bit woozy."
