Baliss was a feared, blind male adder who was rumored to be a descendant of Asmodeus Poisonteeth. Although he was unable to see, his other senses such as smell and hearing were quite intuitive. Korvus Skurr made a pact with Baliss to instill fear into the Redwallers, sending some of his toads and reptiles to be eaten by the adder. Baliss was to go to the Abbey as an ambassador of Skurr and frighten the beasts inside; in return, he was to have every reptile and amphibian in Skurr's domain to eat. Everything went wrong, however, when Baliss encountered Corksnout Spikkle; unaware of the snake, the hedgehog was attempting to throw the body of a dead raven into a ditch when Baliss struck. Unfortunately, the blind adder confused the scents of hedgehog and raven and missed his strike; instead of