In the Service of the Guard
An Unsung Hero
All mice in the Territories know of the Mouse Guard, the brave and skilled guardians sworn to defend and support their fellow mice. Whether a mouse views the Guard with earnest admiration or wary suspicion, warm gratitude or cold distrust, everymouse recognizes the guardmice as much from their colored cloaks as their selfless spirit.
Many mice, when they think of the Guard, think of bands of guardmice blazing trails and patrolling between settlements; others think of the stony bastion of Lockhaven, the Guard’s base of operations and home of their Matriarch, Gwendolyn. As for her, she sees the essence of the Guard in each guardmouse who does what is needed without regard for personal cost — or gain.
For the Matriarch to fulfill her duties, she must have eyes and ears all throughout the Territories. Often are the times when a returning patrol reports some vaguely troubling piece of news, but few are the mice who can be spared to investigate: when matters of life and death are more pressing, the needs of the present outweigh the concerns of the future. But the Matriarch is wiser than to ignore those concerns, and so she keeps a handful of high-ranking guardmice — mice who are canny, tough, and trustworthy — who can be dispatched to assess whatever situation is at hand, and provide detailed information directly to her.
For these few, their service to the Guard is hard, lonely, and without acclaim. They typically travel alone and unaided through the harsh wilderness, and are not often at liberty to speak of the reasons behind their missions. Yet these mice and the truths they discover are invaluable to the Matriarch.