An enormously fat stoat with plaited fur and a pair of large wooden clogs, Captain Tramun Josiah Cuttlefish Clogg, known simply as Cap'n Clogg, was the corsair captain of the Seascarab. He was reputed to be clever, despite his clumsy appearance, though at times he had lapses which got him into trouble. At one time, Badrang the Tyrant, another pirate, sailed the same territory as Clogg and the two of them shared treasure. However, Badrang gave up piracy and did fairly well for himself as a horde leader, leaving Clogg rather envious and determined to take his "share" of Badrang's loot.
Clogg sailed the high seas with his crew until he came upon Badrang's fortress, Fort Marshank. Clogg and his crew tried to overthrow Badrang, but they were swiftly routed and forced to leave. Clogg continued to attack the fort in various ways. When it became clear that he could not breach the walls, neither by force, a battering ram, or with a spy, he signed an uneasy peace treaty and alliance with Badrang, and waited for a chance to betray him. Though the treaty stated that Clogg's crew was allowed to billet in Marshank, the pirates remained out of reach in a camp on the coast, which irked Badrang considerably.
It did not take long for relations to sour again, and Clogg schemed to have Oilback assassinate Badrang. This plan failed when Oilback mistakenly killed Gurrad, who had been carrying a flask of poisoned grog intended for Clogg; Oilback inadvertently killed himself by drinking it before he returned to Clogg's camp. This inadvertently saved Clogg's life, but Clogg was unable to appreciate this, since his most hated enemy was still alive.
The remaining slaves of Marshank escaped with the help of Brome and Keyla. A furious Badrang immediately led his entire horde after the slaves. Clogg took advantage of Marshank's abandonment, and quickly entered the fort with the crew, claiming it for himself and locking Badrang out. However, he forgot to block the tunnel the slaves had used to escape, and Badrang's horde simply reentered through that. After this display of stupidity, the entirety of Clogg's crew, tired of the whole business, defected to Badrang's horde, leaving Clogg alone.
Badrang decided not to slay his enemy, but instead humiliated him by making him the only slave left in Marshank. Clogg did as he was told, making up for his shame by insulting and jibing Badrang, always maintaining that one day he would be burying Badrang in a deep grave. During the Battle of Marshank and the smaller battles leading up to it, Clogg's primary task was to dig graves for slain horde members. The monotony of the task, on top of the obsession with burying Badrang someday, slowly caused Clogg to lose his sanity.
Clogg spent the final part of the Battle of Marshank in a secret hiding place he had devised, thus escaping harm. He and Wulpp were the only members of his crew to survive the war. He was last heard talking to the corpses of the slain vermin after the Fur and Freedom Fighters had left Marshank. His finale fate was unknown.
Trivia
- Tramun Clogg is known to be Brian Jacques' favorite villain.
- Tramun's name is inspired by American publicist Chris Turman, who focused on getting Brian Jacques programs in schools.
- Clogg was the first primary Redwall villain not to die, and one of the few major villains not to die during the course of their book.