Mossflower

On a snowy winter’s night in Mossflower, a brave young mouse named Martin the Warrior travels through snowdrifts, seeking shelter. He unknowingly has wandered into the domain of Kotir. In a nearby hovel, a family huddles in their cottage, sharing their meager food supply. Ben and Goody Stickle are the parents of four young hedgehogs. They are soon joined by a mole named Urthclaw. He arrives to announce that soldiers sent by the cruel ruler of Kotir have come out in search of more provisions. The Stickles want to leave but don’t know where to go. Urthclaw produces a map for them: “Scratched on the bark in charcoal was a single word: Corim. Beneath it was a simple picture map showing a route into Mossflower Woods, far from Kotir” (15).

The family decides to brave the storm to escape to the woods. Before they can flee, ferrets and stoats who work for the wildcat warlord Verdauga steal the family’s provisions. After the patrol leaves, the hedgehogs waste no time packing. Looking out the window, Ben spies the soldiers in a fight with a strong mouse brandishing a sword. They eventually subdue him and drag him off to the castle.

Meanwhile, in Kotir castle, a mouse master thief named Gonff is raiding the storeroom for cheese and wine. He makes up happy little songs as he goes along, confident that nobody can ever catch such a clever thief. He slips out of the castle minutes before the patrol escorts Martin the Warrior inside. The soldiers take Martin to Verdauga’s sickroom. The wildcat warlord is old and ailing. He is attended by a pine marten with a physical disability named Ashleg, a vixen healer named Fortunata, the warlord’s mild-mannered son Gingivere, and his fierce daughter, Tsarmina.

Elsewhere in the domain, the Stickle family is making their way to Mossflower Woods when Gonff intercepts them. He is a friend of the Stickles and leads them to a nearby vacant cottage for shelter. Gonff generously shares his pilfered cheese and wine with the family.

Back in the castle, Martin struggles against his captors, but they keep a grip on him as Verdauga questions him. The warlord informs him that it is unlawful for anyone to carry a weapon in Kotir, but Martin refuses to relinquish his father’s rusty old sword. Gingivere suggests that the mouse is a stranger and couldn’t know the laws of the land, so he should go free. Tsarmina wants to kill Martin as a warning to others. Verdauga overrules his children and orders Martin imprisoned for a time, after which he will be freed.

Angry at her father’s edict, Tsarmina snaps Martin’s sword in half and orders the hilt to be hung around his neck as a sign of the warlord’s mercy. Martin vows to kill Tsarmina one day for her brutal behavior. The mouse is then taken to one of the better cells in the dungeon because Verdauga respects his fighting spirit. Martin receives clean straw for bedding and is fed bread and water. Later that night, he is awakened by a commotion in the castle. Martin doesn’t realize it, but Tsarmina has ordered Fortunata to poison her father, and she now pins the blame on Gingivere, who is sent to the dungeons for life.

As spring rolls around, Gonff returns from another successful pantry raid in Kotir when soldiers apprehend him. He is thrown into the same cell as Martin. Gonff isn’t concerned about being imprisoned and assures Martin that they will escape shortly with the help of Gonff’s woodland friends. These are a band of rebels known as the Council of Resistance in Mossflower, or the Corim. They are training an army to overthrow the cruel wildcats and their minions. As the two mice get acquainted, Martin tells his life story. He came from the sea caves in the north, where his father taught him to fight to fend off the sea rat pirates who threatened the local mice. After his father’s death, Martin wandered south before being imprisoned in Kotir.

Immediately after Gonff’s arrest, the Corim begins to plan his escape. The council is led by a badger named Bella of Brockhall, and “also present were the Skipper of otters, Lady Amber the squirrel Chief, Ben Stickle and Billum, a dependable mole [...]. Seated by the fire, Beech the squirrel answered council questions” (44).

While the Corim is making its plans, an old eagle named Argulor returns to his former hunting grounds in Mossflower. Everyone in Kotir hates him, and Tsarmina enjoys shooting arrows at him, which he easily dodges. Since Argulor has never tasted pine marten, he vows one day to capture Ashleg as his prey. When Argulor swoops down on Kotir, and the soldiers are busy battling him, Martin and Gonff receive a message thrown through their prison window. It is wrapped in a small piece of metal intended to help Gonff pick a lock. Written instructions say a party of resistance fighters will cover his escape at dawn. By now, Gonff and Martin have become friends, so Gonff intends to free himself and the mouse warrior.

Three hours before dawn, the rescue party prepares to leave for their rendezvous with Gonff. They are led by Lady Amber and Skipper. In the castle, Gonff picks the cell’s lock and slides back the bolts with Martin’s help. On their way out, Martin speaks briefly with Gingivere and promises to help him someday. The wildcat advises the mice to save themselves quickly.

As they run up the stairs, the mice collide with Tsarmina, Fortunata, and Ashleg. A scuffle ensues as they are chased into a bedchamber. Martin and Gonff create a diversion, wounding Tsarmina in the process, before dashing out. They then find themselves in the soldiers’ mess hall. Yet another uproar occurs, but the mice jump out of an open window and land in a tree. Alerted by all the activity, Argulor hovers nearby, looking for a meal. He seizes on a stoat that is intent on capturing the mice and then flies off with his prey. The woodland attackers pelt the soldiers with arrows and slingshots loaded with pebbles. Then, the squirrels carry the escapees to safety through the tree canopy.

Back at Brockhall, Bella welcomes a contingent of monastic Brothers and Sisters from Loamhedge. They are led by Bella’s old friend, Abbess Germaine. It seems that a great sickness has afflicted the abbey, and the only survivors have now fled to Brockhall, where Bella makes everyone welcome. Elsewhere in the forest, Argulor is digesting his stoat meal. He still vows to eat a pine marten in the near future.