Lord Vulpuz, Lord of Hellgates

[Grond]

You could divide the various vermin hordes into several groups based on their superstition or religious belief.

1. Highly fanatical and viewing their leader as a living god. The rats of Malkariss come to mind. They essentially viewed Malkariss as a living deity and were fanatically devoted to him. An example of a cult of personality. Kharanjul's horde may have also shown signs of this- although this might have been motivated by a very real fear of him, who unlike Malkariss could easily kill any of his subordinates, rather than being viewed as a living god. The example that comes to mind is how 2 of his sentries jumped into the gorge and thus committed suicide for falling asleep while guarding the passage across the gorge and letting the band of Redwallers cross it. 

2. Highly religious and superstitious- such as the Juskabor and probably other Juska clans to- they are the only ones to believe in a single deity- Vulpuz and are highly superstitious with seers having a high place in society.

3.Superstitious and having a belief in some kind of afterlife but lacking any kind of real "religion". An example would be Gabool's sea rats with the continued and prolific references they make to Hellsgate. They appear to genuinely believe that is where they go after dying.

4. Superstitious and hence believing in some form of the supernatural but not having any real organized religion or belief in an afterlife, an example would be Swartt, Trunn, Korva etc...

5. Not exactly superstitious or religious but placing an inordinate amount of worth and giving near supernatural qualities to a certain object(s) or animal(s). An example would be the Pure Ferrets in Triss and their quest to get the golden paw ring and crown of King Sarengo. Kurda chased after the 3 adders and sailed across the ocean to go after these objects. She believed they were essential for her to be the ruler of Riftgaard. Also Gulo and his horde and the walking stone or the turtle- Gulo chased his brother Askor across the sea to get it. It seems in their culture you could not be the true ruler without having this turtle as the symbol of power.

6. Not superstitious or religious and not believing in anything supernatural. An example would be Badrang or Vizka- they did not reference any afterlife, were not superstitious, and did not attribute magical or supernatural abilities to anything.

[Ashleg]

True there.

Also, as a side note...Vizka. Urgrrrrrrh.

[clunylooney]

I like to think he was the ruler of all the vermin, in a time before salamandastron had a badger lord. He was known to all but was slain, but was remembered for eternity. I like to think he is the one to send the villains dreams of their own demise and things like that, like with Cluny and Gabool and I like to think Vulpuz was the one to whisper to cluny that his nightmares would soon be over. I like to think he was the very first Marlfox and that is why he was in charge, he was basically magic in their eyes and was extremely clever and powerful. I agree he is kind of like martin, but instead of helping his vermin, he was the one to gladly take their souls. That is what I believe.

[clunylooney]

True there.

Also, as a side note...Vizka. Urgrrrrrrh.

What do you mean by that?