Ranger’s Apprentice: Redwall style

[Booklover]

So, those of you who are also on the Ranger's Apprentice forum may (or may not) have noticed my post about a fanfic I'm thinking of doing about RA, but rewritten Redwall style, in the world of Redwall. Although the actual fanfic (when I write it) will be fine for anybody to read, this post is mostly to discuss how it will be adapted, which means that you really need to have read RA to understand what we're talking about. This post is also on the RA forum, on the Redwall page.

I've been thinking (don't even think (don't even) about quoting RA at me for using that word) about rewriting Ruins of Gorlan (and all the RA books, and then the other series if I can) but Redwall style. So Redmont as Redwall, Castle Araluen as Salamandastron, therefore Duncan, Cassandra and Horace will be badgers, with Duncan as Badger Lord instead of king. And Baron Arald will (autocorrect keeps giving will a capital letter) be the Abbot and probably a mouse? The Long Patrol will be equivalent to the knights, and because of a past war, they accept all species, not just hares. The Rangers are a division of the Long Patrol and are extremely secretive (basically Rangers). So I've got the Araluen place equivalents sorted out, but I'm wondering what species each character would be, and also how other countries fit in. I've got some ideas.

Will: a squirrel, definitely. Which means Alyss also has to be a squirrel, but that fits with her character anyway.
Halt: probably a shrew? Fits in with his history, and he's also small, and gruff. The fact that he gets seasick can be explained. Lady Pauline may have to be a shrew as well, if Halt was.
Horace, Evanlyn, Duncan and Maddie (if I even get that far): badgers, as explained.
Gilan and Jenny: Jenny likes food, Gilan is a warrior, they can be hares. And Gilan's background fits in as well.
George: a mouse, becomes Redwall Recorder.
Malcolm: an owl, or maybe a fox?

Tug I'm not sure about. Should I have horses that they ride (Ranger horses as special because of their intelligence and ability to talk), or not? Should I change the Ranger horses into some sort of birds? Thing is, is it really like Redwall if they have horses, but is it really like Ranger's Apprentice if they don't have horses?
Skandians: sea rats. However, that makes it difficult for Hal to be half-Araluen. Otters could work for that, but then they don't really fit in with the good/evil distinction in Redwall.
The Northlands are Picta, that's obvious. Southsward for Celtica, maybe (is Southsward a separate island or joined to the main Mossflower area?). With a lot of moles to fit in with the mining. Countries further away are quite easy, but how does Hibernia work with all the islands to the west? Morgorath's base is the Loamhedge area, probably. Though I don't know where exactly Southsward is in relation to that.
Species for other countries I'm not sure about. Should they be the normal Redwall creatures, or species native to the country they're based on?

There's also the problem with differences in weapons and developments. In Redwall, they use slings, camouflage, triangular sails, and other things that either aren't common in RA, or aren't invented at all. Or are invented partway through, or used only by certain groups. Although in the early (chronological, that is) books, they seem to be maybe equivalent to our 12th century, same as RA seems to be, but the Long Patrol throughout seems a bit ahead of that, and in the later books everything become more advanced. I was thinking of setting my fanfic after the end of the series, and referring to things from the books, such as Martin. So I'd probably have to change some things from either Redwall or RA.

There are some changes from Redwall that I'll have to make, such as putting things in years to make working out journey times and so on easier. I don't particularly want Halt to be banished for four seasons, which is too much by Redwall standards, or one season, which doesn't really work with the journey time. Seasons will be referred to, but their lifespan is a normal human span of years (or not, if they die young).

Also, Redwall mostly refers to the series, unless it obviously means the place.

[Jarky Thistlebrush]

This sounds really cool! When do you think you'll be ready to start writing it?

[Sebias of Redwall]

Just in case you've forgotten this, thought I'd bump the topic back up. You should totally write this! (Or have you actually started already?)

[Booklover]

You could write it, if you want.