I recently ran the second session of my first Mouse Guard campaign, and I introduced the main villain of the plot that I’m developing. My campaign begins in spring of 1150, just after the Winter War. All of the mice in the patrol are therefore necessarily veterans of that war, with the exception of the tenderpaw. I intend to run this campaign at least through 1152, interacting, if only distantly, with the events of Midnight’s rebellion in first comic series. I’ll note that I haven’t read any of the Black Axe series of comics yet, so I may be contradicting some canon, but I’m not really worried about that. More-so that with any other fantasy RPG setting, I feel comfortable taking the Mouse Territories and making them my own. So, on with the villain and his nefarious plot…
Hashram is a weasel spymaster, who ostensibly serves a tunnel lord by the name of Arthain. His is a name known only to a few mice, most notably Gwendolyn. During the Winter War, Hashram had a number of messages delivered to Gwendolyn, informing her of weasel troop movements and warning her of traps. At first, he did not reveal that he was himself a weasel, but eventually he revealed in one of his messages that he was a mouse sympathizer, as incredible as that sounds. Well, near the end of the war, his messages abruptly ended, and the mysterious Hashram the weasel did not contact Gwendolyn again. Until now.
In truth, Hashram is nothing resembling a “mouse sympathizer.” His interest in helping the Territories defend themselves was entirely self-serving. Hashram, you see, is an incredibly clever weasel, but not exceptionally powerful, militarily or politically. He’s a puppet-master, not a soldier, but he nevertheless has his eye on leadership. He desires nothing more than to usurp the weasel warlord, and take command of his kin. It was for the purpose of embarrassing the current warlord that he sought to give victory to the mice in the Winter War. If the weasels had been triumphant, the existing overlord would have garnered far too much support from the other lords for his victory. In defeat, however, he is vulnerable.
Over the course of my campaign, Hashram will occasionally interact with the Guard, seeking out weakness and dissension, all while posing as an unlikely ally to the mice. Eventually, it will be Hashram who plants the idea of rebellion into the mind of Midnight, and tells him of the Black Axe that causes the weasels so much distress. This will lead Midnight to seek its location, and you know the rest. Stirring up rebellion within the Guard is only one part of Hashram’s plan, however.
In time, he intends to disrupt the Scent Border, permitting large predators into the Territories for a time. He will send disaster after disaster against the Guard, all without lifting a single weapon himself. He remains a “friend” to the Territories. Even if the mice do not wholly trust him, which they never will, since he doesn’t actually move against the Guard himself, they have no reason to suspect that he is the one behind all the troubles lately.
In this last session, Hashram encountered the patrol while searching for Tunnel Lord Arthain’s wedding bracelet, which was to be given to Lady Sedrena, unifying two powerful weasel houses. The bracelet was stolen by a raven who roosts in the Territories, so Arthain dispatched a trio of weasels to retrieve it, led by Hashram. The stumbled across the patrol, and at the insistence of Hashram, the two leaders would parley to avoid unnecessary shedding of blood (after all, both mice and weasels would surely die if it came to blows, regardless the victor). Hashram explained to the patrol leader what they were doing in the territories, and promised to leave as soon as they had recovered the bracelet. Of course, Hashram never expected that proposal to fly, so they eventually came to a compromise, whereby the patrol would escort them to the raven’s nest, and then back to the border.
It turns out, none of the three weasels had the tracking ability or familiarity with the region to find the nest, but fortunately the patrol guard is an expert hunter, so the mice actually did the tracking, while keeping a careful eye on the weasels. Well, after some difficulty, they found the nest, recovered the bracelet, and just as everyone was preparing to leave, one of Hashram’s men drew his blade to strike down the tenderpaw, declaring that they had no further use for them. Hashram, in a flash, drew his own blade and slew his own soldier to save the life of a mouse, much to the shock of his remaining henchmen, as well as the entire patrol. Before departing, he said, “Do me a favor. When you return to Lockhaven, tell Gwendolyn, ‘Hashram has returned.’ See if she doesn’t tell you of me.”
However, none of this was by chance. It was Hashram himself who stole the bracelet and gave it to the raven, so that he would be dispatched into the territories to find it. He intentionally failed to track the raven, so that they would eventually encounter one of the early spring patrols (which one didn’t matter). He told one of his soldiers that they would all kill the mice as soon as the bracelet was retrieved, so that he could kill him and “prove” that he’s an honorable weasel. All of this was to reestablish himself as an ally of the mice, so that he can later contact Gwendolyn and possibly get an audience. Once he does that, he’ll have the ear of all the guardsmice in Lockhaven, where the poison of his words, hidden beneath a mask of concern, could implant the idea of an uprising in the mind of any dissatisfied mouse present.
Gwendolyn, of course, will reject Hashram’s proposal that the Mouse Guard make an incursion into weasel territory. Even assuming it’s not a trap, the Guard isn’t an army. They protect; they do not invade. However, Hashram believes that there may be more sympathetic ears who will hear him out, and he has knowledge of a powerful weapon to impart on any who will approach him.
Thoughts?