Rosie Baker

15

Rosie is a baker both by name and by trade. Her striking good looks, her stout, chubby figure, warm smile and charming personality make her the object of many a man’s affections. She is truly a talented baker who sells her wares for reasonable prices, but men come to her shop just for a chance to talk to her. With that in mind, perhaps she can be forgiven for being a bit vain and rather coquettish in her interactions. She enjoys the attention she gets from men, but is still waiting for a man she deems worthy to be her husband. With her popularity and success in her work, she’s determined not to settle. She’s conscious of the fact, however, that most men would be shocked by her secret: she’s a part of Revenant Cor’s gang of highwaywomen. She’s known on the highways as “Jollux Jill.”

Bess McKennitt

11

Sweet and warm-hearted Elisabeth “Bess” McKennit runs the Loch-and-Key Inn. Her father, Byron, is alcoholic and her mother, Lyra has poor business sense. This leaves Bess doing most of the work of running the inn alone. She is engaged to a wealthy businessman named Jules Cavendish. Bess is one of the few people who knows that Walter is secretly a highwayman, part of a gang who robs other thieves to redistribute their ill-gotten gains among the needy. Walter loves Bess for her competency and courage. Indeed, Bess needs to be courageous as Jules’ enemies would threaten her to find out information about her fiancé.

Brutus Hartshorn

25

Brutus Hartshorn is a wealthy businessman who’s been corrupted by greed, a foil to fellow businessman Jules Cavendish’s brave and generous nature. Brutus Hartshorn has been withholding wages from his employees and pays no mind to their working conditions. This has made him and his cronies the target of Revenant Cor’s gang of highwaywomen.

Cornelias

10

Cornelias Wilberforce is more than just Jules Cavendish’s butler. Cornelias, who prefers going by his first name, is his master’s best friend and confidant, often joining him in heists and robberies, as well as the distribution of goods to the poor. Cornelias would protect Jules with his life. At 60 years old, Cornelias has a strength and energy which surpass many men half his age, and won’t back down from defending his home and his master.

Captain Havelock

12

Captain Marinus Havelock is a pirate feared the throughout the Great Ocean. He has a reputation for being utterly ruthless, but it’s questionable how many of the stories about him are exaggerated. In the country of Sigmundr, Captain Havelock was born to a woman of the streets whose absent husband was a sailor of dubious character. After his mother passed away, Havelock lived as a street urchin for some time until his mother’s husband found him and took him into his circle of miscreants. Havelock’s commanding presence, leadership abilities and willingness to take risks soon landed him a position of captain over a pirate fleet. After many years of pillaging the ships of his native country, King Erik of Sigmundr promised to pardon Captain Havelock if he would agree to target navy ships from the land of Bahira as a privateer. Havelock’s fleet has weakened over the years. King Erik has gone back on his word and refuses to pardon Havelock, who is now in a desperate situation.

The Highwayman

44

Axel Scrievener is known on the highways as “Jack Steelfox.” He’s a gentleman thief and an essential part of a gang of highwaymen who steal from criminals and those with ill-gotten wealth to distribute among the poor and needy à la Robin Hood. Axel Scrievener is an educated man of means with a successful business venture, he’s able to provide for his associates without taking any stolen money for himself. He’s also a brilliant engineer and inventor. Talkier, “if male thou art, Look to thy purse; if female, to thy heart.”

Captain Gearhart

49

Aaron Gearhart is a former pirate who has retired wealthy. He used to captain a fleet which included both airships and ocean-going galleons. Captain Gearhart’s left leg is amputated at the knee and he walks with a crutch. He puts on a tough, calloused persona, but secretly feels self-conscious about his age and disability. His wife, Nancy, died 10 years ago, childless. He’s very lonely and feels like an old has-been. Despite how he feels about himself, he’s something of a town folk hero. Captain Gearhart is a rough, old-fashioned man, but he abides by a certain code of chivalry, and he has a sense of humor which makes him generally well-liked in the community. Children especially like him. He has a good voice, and for fun he enjoys singing old shanties and telling stories.

The Highwaywoman

10

Lady Cordelia Hastings (née Ferris) was left an orphan at the age of 2 and brought to live at an abbey’s orphanage, her parents having been killed in a robbery gone wrong. The orphanage had a wealthy benefactor, Lord Raphael Hastings, who met Cordelia when she’d become a young woman and took a liking to her spirited nature. They were happily married for a short time before Lord Hastings sadly died of a heart condition. In his will, he left her everything. Heartbroken, she decided to return to the abbey, but on the road she was waylaid by highwaymen. After successfully defending herself, Lady Cordelia Hastings decided to dedicate her life to protecting others. Disguising herself, Cordelia came to be known on the highways as “Revenant Cor” seeking out criminals to steal their ill-gotten gains and distribute their wealth among the needy.

Philippa Jasti

10

Philippa Jasti is the wife of the local village minister, Reverend Samuel Jasti. Only her loving, supportive husband knows her secret: she’s a member of Revenant Cor’s gang of highwaywomen who steal from those with ill-gotten wealth and distribute their bounty among the poor and needy. At age 60, she’s the oldest of the gang and is a sort of mother-figure to the other highwaywomen. Philippa and Samuel have three children and 5 grandchildren, all of whom would probably be horrified if they knew what Philippa did in secret. Known on the highways as “Philip Cut-Purse,” the local church would indeed he shocked to learn where Philippa’s tithe comes from!