Martin: I Understand That Red Sandstone Is The Native Rock Of Mossflower, But Why Dyou Want To Use It

martin: i understand that red sandstone is the native rock of mossflower, but why d’you want to use it to build redwall abbey, abbess?

abbess germaine: this way we won’t have to wash the vermin blood off the walls after a battle

martin: what

abbess germaine:

nothing will remind you that eating is good and okay like fantasy books will. “and that night in the valley they brought out the best plum cake and sweet cream, trout and turnips roasted over the fire, mead and goatsmilk and fresh cold water from the spring-“ and it’s like yeah dude you’re absolutely right. then sometimes it’s like “as he slept that night in the woods, he sorely missed the valley, where they brought out the best plum cake-“ and it’s like man that sucks i’ll have some seconds in his honor

Redwall in the Redwood Canopy

Okay so I listen to a podcast called Completely Arbortrary, where the hosts pick a different tree to talk about every week (they could not have made a podcast more up my alley if they tried).

Recently, they did back-to-back episodes about two of my favorite tree species: the Giant sequoia and the Coastal redwoods. These trees, along with the Dawn redwood, are all related and are all super cool, but Coastal redwoods have a special place for me cause they are an absolute badass of a tree.

Coastal redwoods are incredible. They are one of most resilient and durable trees out there (they survive fires like nobody’s business and will resprout or grow from like…a literal stump).

And they get TALL. Like REALLY TALL. To the point that the redwood canopy is its own ecosystem that consists of species that have lived up there for their entire lives. Like they never touch the ground. They literally just exist in what is essentially a permanent treehouse ecosystem. There’s even plant life in there that grows out of the these nutrient rich soil mats in the branches. The redwood branches catch the falling tree debris, which eventually breaks down into these spongy soil mats (with the help of your friendly neighborhood fungal associates and other decomposers). These arboreal soil mats support communities of fungi species, ferns, and even other trees.

Anyways getting to the point here. One of the hosts suggested this would be an excellent setting for a “Redwall” style adventure, and then these happened.

Bonus sketches of the characters

(Their designs are based on a Humbolt flying squirrel and a wandering salamander).

Martin and co: Hey dude you can come with us, but you need to stop doing weird shit.

Folgrim:

“I’ve grieved and shed tears, long and loud, for my departed loved ones. Don’t be ashamed to weep; ‘tis right to grieve. Tears are only water, and flowers, trees and fruit cannot grow without water. But there must be sunlight also. A wounded heart will heal in time, and when it does, the memory and love of our lost ones is sealed inside to comfort us.”

(The Taggerung by Brian Jacques, page 59, my italics)

I only noticed this quote when I started my latest reread of this book and it’s reminding me a lot of Tolkien’s “I will not say ‘do not weep’“