Tsarmina Greeneyes
Tsarmina Greeneyes was a deranged female wildcat ruler of Mossflower Woods. She was the daughter of Lord Verdauga, sister of Gingivere, niece of Ungatt Trunn, and the granddaughter of King Mortspear. Tsarmina was wicked, cruel, mentally unbalanced, deathly afraid of water, and hyper-intelligent. She broke the Sword of Martin the Warrior and demanded his execution when he was brought before her father for criminal judgment. Martin then vowed to slay her one day, which she unwisely chose not to take seriously.
Tsarmina employed Fortunata to murder her ill father, who poisoned him. She blamed the death on her hapless brother, subsequently imprisoned him in Kotir's dungeons, and usurped the throne, styling herself as queen.
Secure as the new monarch of Mossflower, Tsarmina reigned from Kotir with an iron claw, determined to enslave the resident woodlanders and quash any rebellion against her. As ruler and commander of the Thousand Eye Army, Tsarmina's main title was Queen of the Thousand Eyes. Her other titles included Queen of Mossflower, Lady of the Thousand Eyes, Slayer of Enemies, Ruler of Kotir, Conqueror of all Creatures, Tsarmina the Ruthless, and Tsarmina the Magnificent, as she rejected any title involving her father's name.
She waged a long war against the Corim, who fought back with guerrilla tactics. She frequently experienced frightening dreams of drowning in water, by far her greatest fear after she took the throne. Tsarmina tried to kill Argulor whenever she had the chance, but the eagle always flew out of range of her bow and arrow. She later allied with the mercenary Bane, who was traveling through Mossflower with his band. When Tsarmina discovered that Bane intended to conquer Kotir for himself, she tricked him into his own death by using him as bait for Argulor and eliminated two enemies at once.
The final blow to her tyranny arrived when the woodlander revolutionaries flooded Kotir with the River Moss, taking advantage of Tsarmina's severe aquaphobia. The fortress was toppled through a concerted assault by the Corim, during which the rebels used a ballista to pound it into rubble. Believing that her brother Gingivere, who had escaped his cruel confinement, was plotting against her, Tsarmina experienced mental instability, anxiety, and paranoia. Her most loyal general, Brogg, constructed a makeshift boat out of a table, forging an escape route for the two of them before the fortress collapsed completely, but Tsarmina chose to abandon Brogg instead.
As Tsarmina fled the fortress' debris, Martin the Warrior engaged her in combat. Tsarmina proved to be a ferocious opponent for Martin and even destroyed his armor with her claws, but after a long and grueling battle, she was eventually pushed back, deep into the lake. Her crippling fear of water, combined with her accumulated wounds and apparent inability to swim, caused her to drown just like in her dreams.
The Thousand Eye Army was subsequently disbanded, permanently ending her influence in Mossflower.
In The Lost Legends of Redwall: The Scout Tsarmina is mentioned by Robin Springhunter as he is discussing the history of the Winsome Wraith with Sophia Ryemaid. She is also mentioned by Pickerel Starthistle when he asks Sophia to recover Gingivere's journal.
In Caverns of Kotir, Tsarmina physically appears as an antagonist in Kotir, and Gillig must search her living quarters.
Trivia
[edit]- Tsarmina's name is a play on words involving the Russian title for a female ruler, "Tsarina", and the word "mean". "The name is based on Tsarina, with a 'mean' streak in the middle, I liked the hissing-cat-like quality of it." - Brian Jacques, (Redwall.org's Ask Brian, Volume 2)
- In Redwall, Abbot Mortimer tells Matthias that Martin the Warrior slew a wildcat enemy he faced with his sword. Tsarmina was revealed to be this villain in the next book, and while the pair engage in a protracted battle where Martin inflicted much sword damage, her death was retconned to drowning. When asked "In Redwall it says that Martin killed Tsarmina, but in Mossflower it says that she drowned. What really happened?", Jacques replied "He defeated her in the water, so probably both are true." (Ask Brian, Volume 4)