Vilaya

Vilaya, also known as the Sable Quean, was a tall, slim female sable and the leader of the Ravagers. On her orders, they kidnapped all sorts of woodlander young ones, including Dibbuns from Redwall Abbey. She had lush, dark brown fur and gleaming, dark almond-shaped eyes. She wore a necklace of venomous adder fangs about her neck, which included a small crystal sheath filled with venom and covered the small knife that it held. With a swipe of the knife, Vilaya could slay her enemy in a matter of moments. Her original plan was to steal Abbey babes so that she could ransom them for control of the Abbey. She gave the kidnapping command to the military Commander of the Ravagers, Zwilt the Shade, who made sure no Ravagers were fooling around. He was one of the few creatures Vilaya allowed into her lair, Althier; the rest of her horde stayed in the Ravager camp which was somewhat far away from Althier. Though Zwilt thought that they could overcome Redwall by force, he still carried out Vilaya's orders, until the Dibbuns managed to escape.

While tracking the missing Dibbuns, Zwilt murdered Vilaya's personal counsellor, Dirva. Once the outraged Vilaya caught up with Zwilt, he had the whole army with him, ready to march to Redwall for battle. Zwilt and the Quean fought, but Zwilt was faster. He stabbed her through her side, and he was about to behead her, as he thought she was already dead, but one of his loyal followers Gliv warned him against it and volunteered to stay behind and bury the body. Once the Ravagers were gone, Gliv helped Vilaya regain her senses and heal the tremendous wound. They vowed to kill Zwilt; Vilaya for obvious reasons, but Gliv because Zwilt ordered the death of her mate, Lugg. Gliv had taken the Quean's tiny venomous dagger so that she wouldn't try anything tricky, but while she was helping to disguise Vilaya as a random Ravager soldier, Vilaya took it from off of Gliv's belt and killed her, as she didn't need Gliv's help anymore.

When Vilaya arrived at Redwall, she went to find Zwilt, who was grappling up the walls with four others. He had left Fallug in charge of the horde. Vilaya decided to go and take charge of the Ravagers once more. She undisguised herself, and came forward. The vermin were terrified, for they were convinced that she had been slain. They believed she was a ghost, especially after she killed Fallug with her knife. While Zwilt was killed inside the Abbey, Vilaya and her appointed captain Grakk pressed the Ravagers forward. That is, until the two warriors, Axtel Sturnclaw and Ambrevina Rockflash, came at them. Ambry came down and finished off the vermin. Vilaya began to run, flanked by Grakk. She killed him, saying that she traveled alone. Axtel and Ambry chased after her, but Axtel stopped because his of injured footpaw. Ambry caught up with Vilaya, and pounced on her, knocking her to the ground. When she turned the Sable Quean over, she discovered that her venomous dagger had broken, the shards pierced through her neck, and the adder-venom entered her bloodstream, killing her.

Trivia

 * "Quean" is derived to mean "a female regarded as being disreputable." "Sable" refers both to a dark color and a marten species.