The Redwall Experience was a promotional website launched at the end of November 2009 by Penguin in an effort to repackage the Redwall series for new readers and to promote The Sable Quean.
It was featured on the back of the paperback edition of The Rogue Crew, and taken offline around 2019 - 2020.
Activities[]
The Redwall Experience hosted an interactive flash library of the Redwall series books, which included a plot summary and excerpt for each one; a biography of Brian Jacques; a Redwall Hero quiz; the Redwall Rescue Decoder Game, and a promotional trailer for The Sable Quean.
It also linked to the Redwall Wiki.
Redwall Rescue Decoder Game[]
The Redwall Rescue Decoder Game featured word puzzles where different letters had to be deciphered. Each level featured one question, however each time it was played, the questions randomly changed.
Level 1: Uncover the Vermin[]
- Q: Who is the Quean's chief henchman?
- A: Zwilt the Shade
- Q: Vilaya has a secret weapon, figure out what it is to protect yourself!
- A: A knife in a crystal sheath with drops of adder venom at its tip
- Q: Decode and memorize this saying from the Salamandastron hares.
- A: The only good vermin is a dead one.
- Q: Be prepared to recognize Zwilt by this description.
- A: Zwilt was lean, wiry and tall. He wore a snakeskin belt with a broadsword.
- Q: You might hear Zwilt say this before he attacks you.
- A: No beast has ever bested Zwilt the Shade, so you'll die!
- Prize: Lord Brocktree wallpaper
Level 2: Discover the Evil Plot[]
- Q: There is a tapestry in the Abbey that can provide mysterious help. What does it depict?
- A: Martin the Warrior, the founder of Redwall Abbey, a heroic mouse resting upon his sword.
- Q: Why is Vilaya determined to keep her hideout secret?
- A: Althier is my own secret place. Nobeast must know of Althier-all my plans hinge upon it!
- Q: The fighting Guosim are a part of the force defending the Abbey. What does Guosim mean?
- A: Guerilla Union of Shrews in Mossflower
- Q: What does Corim mean?
- A: Council of Resistance in Mossflower
- Q: Martin speaks in a dream to Abbess Marjoram about where the Dibbuns are being held. What does he say?
- A: Corim Althier.
- Prize: A PDF sample of The Redwall Cookbook
Level 3: Rescue the Dibbuns[]
- Q: What is one way the Dibbuns might be able to escape?
- A: Digging a tunnel, seeing as we can't fight our way out the front entrance, we'll dig out the back!
- Q: What is the plan to rescue the Dibbuns?
- A: We attack from the entrance and find the little ones, mopping up any vermin on the way.
- Q: What kind of vermin contingent imprisons the Dibbuns at Althier?
- A: I've counted a score or more different ones. Rats, ferrets, weasels.
- Q: What could Dibbuns use to dig an escape tunnel?
- A: Flib took several spoons that were strongly made and a fork carved from thick fox bone.
- Prize: A PDF sample from Redwall: The Graphic Novel
Level 4: Defend Redwall Abbey[]
- Q: Decode a battle message of encouragement from Diggs
- A: Give em blood and vinegar
- Q: You have intercepted the enemy creating a secret weapon. What is it?
- A: Work was progressing on the battering ram made from an oak trunk.
- Q: Buckler sent an emergency missive from the field about enemy movements.
- A: We nearly ran into the Ravagers, headed for Redwall. We've got to get back to the Abbey!
- Q: Buckler sent this secret message about defending the walls of Redwall.
- A: Spread every beast the length of this west wall, and send six to watch the other walltops.
- Q: Decode this message from Oakheart about defending the Abbey.
- A: Set up poles with cloaks and hoods, like defenders, all well armed.
- Prize: A PDF sample from A Redwall Winter's Tale
Level 5: Celebrate the Victory[]
- Q: You are invited to a victory feast! Decode the description of the event.
- A: The table linen was spread upon the orchard grass. Lanterns hung ready to be lit by evening.
- Q: Abbess Marjoram has one last message for you, the victor of Redwall Abbey!
- A: Welcome to Redwall Abbey, my friends, both old and new! You are all free to live here.
- Q: Lord Brang from Salamandastron wants to award you a Blademaster's Medal. What does it look like?
- A: A picture of a paw holding aloft a sword, with the word 'Blademaster' engraved beneath it.
- Q: Decode this popular Mossflower saying about Redwall's famous feasts.
- A: There is no better food than Abbey food, and no better Abbey than Redwall to serve it.
- Q: You defeated the enemy! Decode this message about the end of the battle.
- A: The once-fearsome army of Ravagers was defeated. They scattered and stumbled off.
The final prize was a trailer for The Sable Quean, as well as this message from Brian Jacques:
Queen is the title bestowed on a female Ruler, but Quean is a very old term. It means a female who is cruel, arrogant, and wayward. From the carnivorous vermin, stoats, weasels, polecats etc, I chose the Sable, a creature allied to Marten. A vicious predator, and a born killer. Also, Sable is the poetic, and heraldic colour, black. The Sable Quean, I toyed with a name which might conjure up a villainess, and discovered Vilaya, with the accent on the last syllable. Vilay..ya! she and her aide, Zwilt the Shade, come to Mossflower, having recruited a vermin army. Zwilt is big, strong, and sinister, an expert swordbeast, a male Sable known for his stealth. However, he is no match for the smaller Vilaya. She is brainier, and more deadly than Zwilt, or any who serve under her. Zwilt cannot comprehend his Quean's schemes, for a bloodless conquest of Redwall, but he fears and obeys her.
So who can stop the Sable Quean and her ruthless assistant? This is where the Long Patrol hare warrior, Buckler Kordyne enters our story. Buckler's desire is to become a Blademaster of Salamandastron. By chance, it becomes his task, along with his tubby friend, Subaltern Diggs, to defend Redwall Abbey, and its inhabitants from enslavement.
During his adventures, Buckler encounters many new friends, and various foes. I will not give away any more of the twists and turns in this tale. I enjoyed writing this episode in Redwall Saga, I hope you will too. Short intriguing titles are good, I took pleasure in creating this particular one. Sable Quean!
-Brian Jacques
Faces of The Redwall Experience[]
