Mara

Mara was a female Badger Mother of Redwall Abbey. Orphaned as a youth, she was adopted by the Badger Lord of Salamandastron, Urthstripe the Strong, who called her "Browneye" as a pet name while she was an infant. Mara constantly fought with Urthstripe, feeling that he was too strict and overbearing. Her best friend was a young hare, Pikkle Ffolger.

Mara befriended the weasel Klitch, son of the warlord Ferahgo the Assassin, and his comrade, Goffa, while wandering not far from Salamandastron. She invited the pair back to the mountain as her guests.

Urthstripe, incredulous and disgusted by the vermin, ordered them taken away; a distraught Mara departed with them, as did Pikkle. But Klitch almost led them into a trap, intending to turn them over to his father Ferahgo, believing that Mara and Pikkle knew where an alleged badger treasure of Salamandastron was hidden. However, Urthstripe sent Sapwood and Oxeye to follow them, and Sapwood rescued the pair from Klitch's ploy.

Shortly after, Mara and Pikkle encountered the lizard Swinkee after they had taken up temporary residence in his cave and accidentally broken off his tail. Angered, Swinkee pretended to lead them home to Salamandastron, but turned them over to the Toad King Glagweb as "foodslaves", where they would be consumed by a tribe of toads in exchange for provisions. While held captive in the toads' pit, they met Nordo, son of the Log-a-Log of the Guosssom, and waited for the shrews to rescue them.

They joined with the Guosssom and traveled across the Big Inland Lake to the island at its center to reclaim the Blackstone that was the symbol of Log-a-Log's authority. Along the way, they encountered the Deepcoiler, a legendary water-dwelling monster. Panicked by the creature, many shrews tried to replace Log-a-Log with Tubgutt and paddle back to the mainland. However, Mara intervened on the side of Log-a-Log and ended the mutiny.

After evading the Deepcoiler and reaching the island, Mara, Pikkle, and the Guosssom encountered the albino badger Urthwyte, his grandmother Loambudd, and his squirrel guardian, Ashnin. Mara explained to them that she was returning to Salamandastron to aid Urthstripe against Ferahgo, and told Loambudd all she knew of the Badger Lord when asked. Realizing that the mountain would need all the help it could get, Ashnin, Loambudd, and Urthwyte decided to accompany Mara. Along with Samkim, Arula, and the Guosssom tribe of Alfoh the Elder, they traveled to Salamandastron. By the time they reached the battle, it was very nearly over. At its end, Mara found Urthstripe dead, having clutched Ferahgo to his chest after jumping from the top of the mountain. She realized then that she wished she had been able to add one more title to his credit, father.

With Urthwyte installed as Urthstripe's successor, Mara traveled to Redwall Abbey with Samkim and Arula and took up the mantle of Badger Mother of Redwall, the first since Mellus' death many seasons earlier.