Character Sheet for Sopworth Raould Thunderfoot
Nickname(s)
Crankyworth Curmudgeon, Uncle Thunder
Species
European Hare(Lepus europaeus)
Age
Born October 12, 5578. Died January 10, 5645(Age 67)
Character Description
General Thunderfoot was the fourteenth general to command the Long Patrol Hares of Salamandastron. He was promoted to general on June 21, 5637 after the signing of the 'Mossflower/Salamandastron Contract of Transference', which gave the sitting abbot/abbess of Redwall direct control of the Long Patrol. He took his new position in stride and maintained very orderly and militaristic conduct among the Long Patrol hares. He was feared, but highly respected by all. He was loved by his soldiers in the way one loves a drill sergeant who whipped them into shape.
General Thunderfoot was a presence anywhere he went. A booming voice and an imposing figure adorned with medals. He wielded an officer's saber and was not afraid to draw it under any circumstances, even if just getting someone's attention. He was a military man and respected the chain of command, but would stand up to Badger Lord Hammerfist whom he felt was thick-headed barbarian.
Thunderfoot oversaw a rise to power of the Long Patrol that Mossflower Country hadn't seen since the days of Badger Lady Cregga Roseyes. He increased the staffing and built new forts throughout the land. In his eyes, the Long Patrol had become soft in these times of peace and lack of threats from vermin hoards. Mossflower woodlanders became used to, but a little weary of, the increasing presence of smartly dressed well armed Long Patrol Hares. Most of this was done during Thunderfoot's time as a colonel at Salamandastron. By this time, the Long Patrol was near 1500 warriors strong.
After the eruption of Mt. Salamandastron in early 5637, Abbot Josiah welcomed all those displaced to relocate in and around Redwall Abbey. The logistics of feeding and housing so many hares made further the need for them to pursue missions far and wide. General Thunderfoot felt an immediate kinship with Abbot Josiah. They were both old school and talked of the glory days of quests, warriors, heroes, and villains. The abbot saw the general as a new force of morality that could be extended over Mossflower Country. Neither of them liked how 'vermin' species were becoming viewed less as potential troublemakers and more as just ordinary woodlanders. The rat city of Blaggot becoming an economic force, Marl becoming a center for ideas and culture, and the Badgerlord Hammerfist's own brother employing rats, stoats, and weasels to work in his factories. It was disgusting. Mossflower's past chaos had an order to it, there were 'goodbeasts' and 'vemine'. The entire purpose of the Long Patrol was built on this idea.
General Thunderfoot was less of a philosopher and more of a soldier. He'd prefer the questions of morals be pondered by the abbey dwellers. After all, wasn't that their job? He was a hare of action, of 'yes sah!' and 'mission accomplished'. He was a strategist and a military tactician. But changes would force themselves onto him whether he liked it or not.
It started in Winter of 5640 with the death of Abbot Josiah and succession of Father Abbot Serney. Serney's socially liberal values and practices clashed greatly with Sopworth's. But he also saw how beloved and admired the new Father Abbot was. The general thought it best to relocate his officer's quarters to a structure outside the abbey grounds among his Long Patrol.
Four years later, Rat Queen Guivderin arrived with her entourage from far away Dugroznik, warning of impending invasion by a Siberian Wolf, General Niskoff. General Thunderfoot took the threat seriously, and was more than happy to lead his Long Patrol against these invaders. However, since the queen and her entourage were rats, no matter how pleasant they were, Thunderfoot didn't trust them and ordered most Long Patrol hares to remain in and near Redwall Abbey.
General Thunderfoot experienced a crushing defeat. The Siberians were not a hoard, but a fully integrated standing army of all species. Their leader, a true general, not a warlord, wordlessly handed terms of surrender to Thunderfoot.
Personality
Sopworth Thunderfoot is task oriented and thinks tactfully. He looks for structure, order, and means of achieving it. He is somewhat impatient and will likely take charge if he does not see things being accomplished. Truthful and direct, he says what he means and doesn't beat around the bush. He doesn't lie, but will withhold information if it suits the outcome of a situation.
A born leader, but not a politician. Believes in loyalty. Has respect for a chain of command, but has difficulty being lower than second-in-command.
Does not show soft emotions such as compassion, sorrow, or fear. He does have a sense of humor, and it's often at the expense of other officers. If he's laughing at you, he likes you.
Resistant to changes of accepted norms.
Likes/Dislikes
Like most Long Patrol Hares, Sopworth loves food. He will happily gorge himself at a Redwall feast and get jolly drunk on ale. He loves his Long Patrol and all his loyal soldiers and the life that comes with it.
Sopworth enjoys leisure time with the abbey dibbuns(cubs). He is known to them as Uncle Thunder for his loud voice and louder belches. He'll go on pretend campaigns with them around the abbey grounds.
Has a disdain for weakness and soft emotions, believes these things are for females and children. Seriously, if you're a Long Patrol hare, do not let this guy see you cry unless it's over a fallen fellow soldier or the death of your dear old mother. Disloyalty or disobedience will also incur a wrath you'll never forget.
Background/History
Sopworth Raould Thunderfoot was born October 12, 5578 in Salamandastron, Mossflower to Hortense and Heatherpettle Thunderfoot. His father, Hortense, was a soldier in the Long Patrol, reaching rank of Sergeant. His mother, when not a homemaker, was a non-commissioned Long Patrol runner. Young Sopworth loved everything military. He made toy Long Patrol soldiers out of sticks as a cub. He received an official Long Patrol field knife for his 7th birthday. He used it to carve toy soldiers out of driftwood. He and other hare cubs would reenact battles on the beach adjacent to Mt. Salamandastron.
Sopworth entered the Long Patrol Cadet Corps at age 13. There he learned the deeper history, ranks, field survival, and combat methods needed to join the real Long Patrol. And on his 18th birthday, he did just that. Private Thunderfoot excelled as a new recruit. He quickly achieved rank of corporal. This was a time of slow expansion for the Long Patrol. Most missions involved patrolling, guarding, and dealing with the occasional troublesome vermin gangs harassing travelers and woodlanders.
During his time in the lower ranks, Thunderfoot couldn't help but cringe at how his fellow Long Patrol hares dropped their discipline once away from Salamandastron. He grew up reading of the glorious old campagnes and the images of the stoic hare in the face of giant vermin hordes. Despite the growing numbers, his Long Patrol was shadow of its former days. Sopworth exacted his discipline on those serving under him, earning him the nickname Crankyworth Curmudgeon. But during a deadly encounter with a local warlord and his well armed group of bandits, he showed his talents. He knew his unit's strengths and weaknesses, and tactfully lead his outnumbered troops to a victory in difficult terrain. Thunderfoot and his unit returned to Salamandastron with the captured warlord along with a dozen hoardbeasts. He received medals and a promotion to rank of Captain.
The Long Patrol was Sopworth's life. He rarely engaged in romance and never married. He reached the rank of colonel at age 35. Only the sitting badgerlord held a higher position, making Thunderfoot the leader of the Long Patrol. It was during the next 30 years that he expanded its reach and influence.
In Spring of 5630, Colonel Thunderfoot received strange orders. "Flea plague struck Marl, Marlfoxes pleading for assistance with keeping order." Thinking it could be a trap, Thunderfoot and 700 hares departed immediately. Their entry to Marl was a thing of nightmares. 700 hares wearing plague masks, clad in armor and heavily armed. Instead of a trap, they found a population of frightened, sick creatures. Marlfox Queen Shelkka, only in her twenties, was up to her elbows in sick and dying subjects. Thunderfoot appealed to his healers and those of Redwall for assistance. Marl was eventually saved, but Mossflower was changing. Thunderfoot was changed too, he wanted to deny it, but he couldn't. He had a new friend, Marlfox Queen Shelkka. They maintained a written correspondence that occasionally took on a romantic tone. Sopworth kept it private until his deathbed.
14 years later, General Sopworth Thunderfoot lead the charge against the Siberians. The Siberians loosed a volley of giant arrows, killing all badgers present and dozens of hares. As Sopworth raised his saber, an arrow struck it, breaking the blade in two. The deflected arrow severed Sopworth's right patellar and fibular collateral ligaments. He would never walk unassisted again.
Upon returning to Redwall. Thunderfoot pondered his defeat. The Siberian's integrated army had momentarily confused his Long Patrol. They paused, thinking they were fighting friends, the Siberians used that chance and won. In a heartfelt letter to his successor, Cornelius Longstride, Thunderfoot urged him to be the renaissance hare that he could never be.
Thunderfoot died of sepsis due to continuous infection of his right leg shortly before an attempted amputation.
Relatives/Family
Father: Hortense Thunderfoot, deceased.
Mother: Heatherpettle Thunderfoot, deceased.
Various cousins, some in the Long Patrol, others not. He didn't maintain much of a relationship with them.
World/Setting
Set on planet Earth approximately 50,000 years in the future. All of my Redwall OCs are depicted as they were in the year 5645(Year Zero was when time measurements switched from seasons to years.), the year of the Rendezvous of the Six Armies. Most of Chucky's world is stone aged to medieval at this time, with some increasing industrialization. The most modern cities have technology equivalent to that of Ancient Rome. Worldwide ocean travel exists with celestial navigation, although it is a risky undertaking.
Sopworth Thunderfoot is from Salamandastron. The ancestral home to badgerlords and hares is a frequent setting in most of the Redwall books. It is described as an extinct volcano on the shore of the Western Sea, and just south of the mouth of the River Moss.
In Sopworth's time, the industrial city of Salamandastron straddles the mouth of the River Moss. Water power is used in various methods of manufacturing and forging. A large bridge joins the north and south halves of the city. As the River Moss was a frequent method of invasion to Mossflower Country, this bridge acts as a barrier and can be lowered to block any ship from entering or leaving.
Sopworth Thunderfoot was 58 when the assumed extinct Mt. Salamandastron eruputed, destroying the millennia-old home of the Long Patrol. The city of Salamandastron remained intact and continues to flourish under Badgerlord Paulvo the Savvy. Most badgers and the Long Patrol relocated to the forest surrounding Redwall Abbey. This was the start of what would become Mossflower City. Most Redwall stories take place in Mossflower Country. For the purpose of crossover with Chucky's world, Mossflower is what most of Western Europe is known as. Mossflower Proper, covers the Iberian Peninsula. Redwall Abbey sits near what we know as Valladolid, Spain.(yes, I know there are some holes in my geography, but just go with it.) And although this area experiences a semiarid Mediterranean Climate in our time, in Thunderfoot's time, the climate has cooled and Mossflower experiences a climate similar to the rest of Western Europe.
Mossflower Country has no centralized government, just a common language of Mossflorian. It is a collections of kingdoms, species based tribal communities, communal settlements like Redwall Abbey and Mt. Salamandastron, and a few true cities like Southsward and Marl. Its history is that of survival and tribal warfare. Small kingdoms under a feudal system run by a lord or chieftain would trade or fight with each other for better land and resources. Larger communities grew in places where farming was done on a large scale. Redwall Abbey was built between early 4109 and 4129. It became known throughout the regions as a place of sanctuary, and a place of riches. The Redwall book series does a good job of explaining life in Mossflower over the next thousand years or so.
Mossflower began seeing changes in past centuries. Free markets began forming allowing creatures to make a living with their own skills. The quickest change was the sudden lack of 'vermin hordes'. Rats, weasels, stoats, foxes, and other 'vermin' no longer needed to join hordes for survival. The rat city of Blaggot, fox city of Marl, and northern coast trade port of Coltswart where such places. Relations between creatures and kingdoms softened. Internal trade and travel grew, and Mossflower felt smaller.
Most agree that the 5637 eruption of Mt. Salamandastron ended the era of 'Old Mossflower' for good. The displaced Long Patrol became the new horde for a short time. Then a new enemy approached from the east, not set on riches, but on empire building. 'Goodbeast' and 'vermin' alike cowered as the Long Patrol's first attack was efficiently cut down. Was this new invader unstoppable? Can Mossflower put their past permanently behind them and become a nation that fights together. General Sopworth Thunderfoot couldn't do it, but he believes his successor and the rest of Mossflower can.
Body
Sopworth stands an imposing 6 feet 4 inches tall, not including ears. He walks with confidence, his large chest puffed out, ears tall and straight. Large strong forepaws and big feet appropriate to his last name. His fur is standard to that of a European Hare, although it has dulled and gained grey highlights with age. He has bushy white eyebrows, long white whiskers, and bushy sideburns almost connecting to a mustache.
Sopworth's eyes are the rusty reddish brown of his species.
Clothing
You will almost never see General Sopworth out of his Long Patrol Officer's uniform. A green general's coat adorned with medals, tassels on the shoulders. Off white trousers held with a belt and held taut by his leather calf/footwear.
Accessories
Medals, as stated above. A thick leather belt over the outside of his officer's coat with pouches. Inside one of those pouches are...don't tell anyone....his reading glasses. And of course, his weapon of choice, a fine officer's saber.
