Ferahgo the Assassin was a tall, lean male weasel and ruler of the Southwest Lands for a period. He was the father of Klitch. Physically, he had sparkling, alluring blue eyes and a charming smile, but he never joked. His characteristic weapons were knives, and he was very adept at throwing them with deadly accuracy, as well as using them for skinning. He wore a broad belt with diagonal crossbelts across his chest, as well as a short kilt of animal skins. His secondary weapon was a mace and chain, which he used in single-pawed combat against Urthstripe the Strong.
When Ferahgo was young and had a small gang of vermin under his command, he agreed to speak peacefully with Urthound and Urthrun, a pair of badgers that lived in the Southwest Lands and resisted the weasel's attempted reign. When they fell for his cool demeanor and bright blue eyes, however, he slew them both, leaving their two sons, Urthstripe and Urthwyte, as orphans. Rather than murder the infant badgers, Ferahgo left them to die in the oncoming winter (an oversight that led to his untimely demise seasons later). Ferahgo wore a golden medallion around his neck that he took from the two badger parents that he constantly looked at to remind him of his goal.
Many seasons later, the adult Ferahgo and his son Klitch had gained a tremendous horde. He decided to march north toward the mountain Salamandastron in order to obtain the legendary badger treasure that he had heard the mountain guarded. Filled with a lust for wealth, Ferahgo dispatched Klitch and his crony, a ferret named Goffa, to infiltrate the mountain and survey the possibilities. With time, Ferahgo found himself in a full-scale war against Urthstripe and his Long Patrol.
Ferahgo's relationship with his son Klitch was one of the more complicated vermin familial situations. It is best described as an uneasy balance of protective teacher/student and rivalry, in which they constantly insulted and tried to best each other. However, Klitch was the spitting image of his father in both appearance and intellect, and Ferahgo was secretly quite proud of his son, allowing him a certain amount of control over the horde and strategy.
Among the various strategies employed against the mountain fortress, Ferahgo attempted burrowing through the mountain's walls and sending Farran the Poisoner to poison the food and water of the mountain. The weasel commander's most trusted vermin officers included Migroo the stoat, Dethbrush the fox, and Badtooth the stoat. He called the members of his army Corpsemakers.
During the war against Urthstripe, Ferahgo sustained considerable injury from boiling water, which was poured down a tunnel that he was helping to dig. After a quick recovery, he survived an attempt on his life from Forgrin and Raptail, members of his own horde, who sought to usurp control while its leader was weakened. Afterwards, he came to be one of the only vermin commanders, along with Ungatt Trunn, to ever secure Salamandastron, if only for a short time.
When reinforcements arrived in the form of Urthwyte, Mara, Samkim, the Guosssom, and others, the tides were quickly turned. The battle was ended when Urthstripe, fatally wounded and berserk with the Bloodwrath, crushed Ferahgo against him and jumped from the top of the mountain, killing them both. Ferahgo's Corpsemakers were slain down to almost the last creature.
In Taggerung, Sawney Rath mentions Ferahgo as one of the vermin warlords whose forces had been defeated with the aid of Redwallers, namely Samkim and Arula.
Trivia
- Tribes of Redwall Badgers mistakenly identifies Ferahgo as a ferret rather than a weasel.
- Ferahgo is the only weasel main villain in the series.
- In the back of the Firebird addition of Salamandastron, Ferahgo's name is misspelt as "Ferhago" in the summary.