Inns

[rachel25]

yeah Rusvul does have a thing with airships 

[General Ironbeak]

As you mentioned in the sentence you cited, The Shade, they also mention Farm Houses, which were pretty much retconned out of the series after book two. So I don't doubt that this was just a case of early installment weirdness.

[Rusvul]

are there airships in Redwall   

There should be.

[Ungatt Trunn]

are there airships in Redwall   

There should be.

Hmm, not too sure about that.

[Kitsune]

are there airships in Redwall   

There should be.

Hmm, not too sure about that.

[The Skarzs]

are there airships in Redwall   

There should be.

Hmm, not too sure about that.

Wot?

[rachel25]

wot, wot. 

[SilentSam]

Inns probably are not very crowded in Mossflower, unless some gang like Cluny's army came to one.

[LT Sandpaw]

Why couldn't there be inns everywhere.

Well to have an inn you need creatures to come to your inn. so if there are villages and settlements such as Noonvale then why couldn't there be inns.

Mostly inns would probably be run by woodlanders because its says that vermin were typically too lazy to set up farms or personal businesses.

[Søren]

Inns probably are not very crowded in Mossflower, unless some gang like Cluny's army came to one.

If Cluny's army came to the Inn, there wouldn't be an Inn when they left.

[SilentSam]

Inns probably are not very crowded in Mossflower, unless some gang like Cluny's army came to one.

If Cluny's army came to the Inn, there wouldn't be an Inn when they left.

lol, true

[Jack the Quick]

If they had inns, they would have towns. If they had towns, they would have cities. And they had neither. So they wouldn't ave really existed because BJ wasn't really a prof. writer so he overlooked a lot of things, just focusing on Redwall itself, mostly.

[The Grey Coincidence]

Not to sidetrack the conversation or anything...
BJ is a proffesional writer in that his stories were published by a publiscist and everything- he is proffesional. How good he is at worldbuilding can be debated, but there is a lot that goes under 'proffesional writer' to be honest.

Ahem, as for inns. Has anyone considered that there's no need for them? First off, the Mossflower region doesn't seem to have a currency. So what would you pay an inn with? Secondly is the fact that most woodlanders seem to have this thing called hospitality. I imagine the Redwall world is very different from our own due to these two reasons.

For one thing a lot of people only went to cities to trade... but what's the point if you can and do grow everything in your own garden? There's no currency in Mossflower and you can't put a price on vittles- so no need to make inns. No incentive.

Now I imagine there are inns in the world of Redwall- Southwards is a kingdom and likely has some sort of currency though I know nothing on this subject.

... I feel like my thoughts are a bit all over the place.

[The Skarzs]

Good points, Grey.

Necessity is the mother of invention. Thus, if there is no need, there is nothing missing.

However, maybe we can look into the possibility of an inn in Mossflower, and what challenges that might bring up. First, like you  said, Grey, there is no currency. So people staying would have to pay with work, or bartering and trading of some kind, or the innkeeper would house them out of charity.
The keeper would probably grow his own food, but to provide for more than just him or herself, they would need help. That help could come as way of payment by patrons, or there would need to be dedicated helpers.
There is also the probability of distasteful, and possibly dangerous, customers. This could be a real deterrent for people trying to make public housing, especially without a form of government to help keep crime down.

Overall, it would be a serious undertaking for anyone to try to set up an inn and be successful.

[Tungro]

I just remembered that vermin inns where mentioned on Samptera