Efrafa

Efrafa was a warren that appeared in both books. It was founded by the power hungry and agressive General Woundwort and built around the crossing point of two green bridle paths, one of which was tunnel-like, borded on both sides by brush. Woundwort used his tirless zeal and fear to win the loyalty and control of his followers. Allowing no rabbit to leave, he had to form a strict sysrem as the warren grew. Because he was advised by his Council (another tool to keep Efrafa under strict comtrol) to keep the warren well hidden and small, but would not allow any of the rabbits who lived there to leave, Efrafa soon overcrowded. Woundwort was also advised to keep seperated runs and burrows, none leading to the other to avoid widespread infection if ever the White Blindness were to aflict the warren.

The warren was organized and deeply controlled by the use of Marks. A rabbit would be scarred on different parts of the body that told where they stayed in the warren, with whom they could associate, and when they could siflay.(E.g. A rabbit with a scar in its back leg would stay in the Near Hind Mark, ect.) The Marks were created to keep the number of rabbits above ground smaller to avoid being noticed. Only a certain Mark is allowed above ground to silflay at a given time and they rotated, so that every rabbit got a share of the favored feeding times.

With the Council forcing the warren to keep from expanding, General Woundwort organized Wide Patrols, which are unique to Efrafa and used as an outlet for his desire for power. First led only by Woundwort, he led a group of rabbits to go out and find trouble. They were soon led by trusted officers of the Owsla and sent out to find rabbits to capture and force to join or warrens to conquer. As dangerous as the patrols were, they served the purpose of keeping the numbers down due to high casualties.

Another unique idea of Woundwort's was the Owslafa, a sort of police squad organized by Woundwort as a means of more control.

After the the Watership Down rabbits hatched and executed a plan to steal does from Efrafa which ultimately ended in the defeat of General Woundwort, Efrafa and the Watership Down Warren became a close alliance. Captain Campion became the new Efrafan Chief Rabbit, while Groundsel, an ex-Efrafan officer, left to become the Chief Rabbit of a new warren called Vleflain.

See Also

Efrafa characters