Brockhall

[Tam and Martin]

Have you read Triss, Sam?

[Hickory]

They said in Lord Brocktree that he came from Brockhall, through  I haven't read in a while.

[nuncle Gabe]

In the Sable Quean, Vilaya claims Brockhall and names it Althier(the lair.) Mostly it is wrecked, and the entrance is lost and destroyed. So sad.

[The Skarzs]

After the events in Triss, I feel it would have made sense for the Redwallers to take some care over the historic site. . . Heh, if they had, the Sable Quean might not have gotten so much power. I mean, it's a massive place, and while it was dilapidated and aged, the moles could have done some of their magnificent work and gotten it into a place where creatures could go for whatever reason.

[Banya]

They said in Lord Brocktree that he came from Brockhall, through  I haven't read in a while.

Right, but Lord Brocktree was Bella's grandfather.  He left Brockhall to his young son Boar during the time of Lord Brocktree, and later Boar the Fighter followed his father to become the next ruler of Salamandastron.  His daughter Bella ruled Brockhall with her husband Barkstripe, who was killed in the first Corim rebellion against Kotir.  Their young son Sunflash ran away from Brockhall after his father was killed and Bella presumed he was dead during the events of Mossflower, until reunited with him in Outcast of Redwall.  By this time, Bella is living in the Abbey.  Why she chose to make her home inside the Abbey, though, is curious.  After Kotir fell a time of peace fell over Mossflower, in which the Abbey was constructed, which lasted (presumably) the several generations are known to have passed between the events of Legend of Luke (books 1 and 3) and Outcast of Redwall.  She would have been safe living outside of the Abbey and visiting her friends on occasion, and while it makes sense that she would have wanted to live out her elderly days at the Abbey, it would likewise make sense had Brockhall been kept up by her fellow Abbeybeasts by her request or out of respect for her and Brockhall's role in the Abbey's history (though we don't know that is wasn't).  It is unsurprising that in the countless generations that pass between Outcast and Triss (which is practically the entire Medieval age, as pre-Outcast is correlates strongly with a sort of Dark Ages and post-Triss becomes increasingly Renaissance), the location of Brockhall is forgotten and care of it ends.

After the events in Triss, I feel it would have made sense for the Redwallers to take some care over the historic site. . . Heh, if they had, the Sable Quean might not have gotten so much power. I mean, it's a massive place, and while it was dilapidated and aged, the moles could have done some of their magnificent work and gotten it into a place where creatures could go for whatever reason.

I very much agree with this.  Though a sense of how much time passes between Triss and Sable Quean is not given, care of Brockhall would have given the Abbeybeasts a great and safe place for Mossflower excursions, and might have enabled them to keep it hidden or protected from Vilaya.

[The Skarzs]

It never mentioned Brockhall in Legend of Luke, which is odd because that is where they would most likely have taken up residence when the abbey was being built, and it wouldn't be natural for everyone to just up and leave a place they are so familiar and comfortable with as Brockhall.

[Banya]

I mention Legend of Luke because books 1 and 3 happen so closely after the events of Mossflower (I presume 4 or 8 seasons after the fall of Kotir) that it seemed sensible to pay attention only to the larger gap of time between Legend of Luke and Outcast.  I seem to recall (though it's been some time, so fact-check me) a mention in Mossflower that with the addition of the mice from Loamhedge and the freed slaves from the Bloodwake, the population living within Brockhall had grown too large to be comfortably accommodated, and Abbess Germaine's idea for Redwall was as a new Abbey for her mice as well as a home and place of peace for those who had suffered in slavery or lived spread across Mossflower Woods before Tsarmina's rule.  It is surprising, though, that Brockhall becomes so quickly forgotten, considering its value to Bella, its enormous role in freeing Mossflower, and ultimately its role the creation of Redwall.

[Hickory]

Actually, the Abbess Germaine showed Columbine here Abbey blueprints before the additional Bloodwake/Wuddship slave army, so she already had plans written up before arriving at Mossflower. Brockhall's overpopulation may have caused some of it, but Germaine had her own ideas.

[The Skarzs]

Don't forget that there was also Moledeep and the otter holts for the woodlanders to live in in addition to Brockhall. Besides, after the eviction of the vermin from the area, settling in the forest wouldn't be too difficult, so "overpopulation" wouldn't have been much of an issue.

[clunylooney]

I've always wondered something...

Why did Bella leave Brockhall and take up residency at Redwall Abbey?  Sure all of her 'friends' went there per se, but Brockhall was an ancestral home of the Badger Lords of Mossflower- that's kind of like a kick in the teeth to years of tradition.... It would be like the Queen of England shunning Windsor Castle or even Balmoral.  I also find it interesting that no other "Redwall" book uses Brockhall post Mossflower.  I mean you think they would have stumbled upon it at some point...

What are your thoughts?

WHAT? They metion Brockhall many times after that. Having it as a huge roll in Triss and The Sable Quean.

Remember it said Cluny attacked Brockhall some time ago in Redwall? Bella must have escaped to Redwall.

Ummmmmmmmmmmm. What?