Catalyst Castle

Mouse Guard is a series of comic books published bi-monthly since 2006. The creator, writer, and artist for the series is David Petersen. Mouse Guard takes place in a fictional world where humans are absent, and mice have developed a medieval society of their own. They live in well fortified towns and villages built in under rocks or in the hollows of trees. The world is full of dangers for the mice, with the wild, untamed lands between their towns populated by such monsters as snakes and owls. To defend themselves from such predators, the Mouse Guard was formed. These brave warrior mice act as pathfinders and escorts, protecting other mice as they journey between towns.

Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 collects the first six issues of the comic into a single volume. The story begins when three Guardsmice, Saxon, Kenzie and Lieam, go in search of a mouse peddler who attempted a journey alone but never arrived at his destination. This simple search and rescue mission quickly puts them on the trail of a dangerous conspiracy to destroy the Guard.

This series reads like a mix a classic storybook and an epic fantasy novel. While the content is appropriate for all ages, this is not a children’s book. While the main characters are mice, the story presents well developed characters and a fully realized fictional setting. This is a tale of heroics, where it’s easy to root for the good guys. The fact that they are simple mice makes their humanity that much more poignant.

The art is an interesting aspect of this book. The art is well done. It’s not too cartoon-y. The mice have fairly realistic proportions, they just tend to stand on two legs, dress in capes, and wield swords. The illustrations are done in full-color and are beautifully painted. It’s a nice departure from typical comic book art, be it American or manga styles.


Roleplaying
Because of my obsession with roleplaying games, I tend to absorb most material with an eye for what I could take from it and apply to gaming. Here are some ideas from Mouse Guard: Fall 1152.

Mouse Guard Setting: Interrestingly, there is actually an official Mouse Guard RPG available. It uses the system of game mechanics from the Burning Wheel RPG. I own Burning Wheel but have never played it. I’m not sure if I want to buy the official RPG, but it might be interesting to play in the Mouse Guard setting.

The Guard: One of the things that I like about Mouse Guard is the role that the Guard plays as protectors and pathfinders. I think this could be an interesting role for players in any setting. It would work great in just about any fantasy setting, but also in sci-fi as well. The idea of a group of people defending isolated bastions of safety in a dangerous world creates a neat sense of adventure and camaraderie.