Dirz the Maul was a ferret from The Coming of a Stoat who ruled a horde of rat that attacked Salamandastron. After the Battle of the Valley outside the mountain, Dirz ambushed Wenzel Lavender and Thornclaw Braveheart's special group of hare archers, dueling Wenzel and Thorn throughout his complex base under the abandoned Bat Mountain. After briefly knocking Thorn unconscious, Martin the Warrior's spirit aided him to awaken just in time to see Wenzel getting stabbed by Dirz. Thornclaw attacked Dirz again, cleaving his double-bladed sword in half, but Dirz used one side to attack Thorn, whose sabre was broken, and the Maul punched Thorn, pushing him into a pit. Thorn grabbed a snag of rock, and after a period of staring at Dirz, managed to jump up, grab Lavender's fallen Zweihander, and cut