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.

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.

Brutus Hartshorn

17

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.

Axel Scrievener

12

A man of many talents and eclectic tastes, Captain Axel Scrievener is something of a mentor as well as a brother-in-arms to highwayman Jules Cavendish. Axel is a former privateer who fell in with Revenant Cor’s gang. Turning from his selfish ways, he continued exploring the world, this time in the pursuit of knowledge and adventure. Axel is a genius with a penchant for engineering. He collects ideas for new technology from around the world and invents devices. He’s quite an expert at making functioning prosthetics for amputees or people born missing limbs. Axel is known as being a bit of a ladies’ man. He’s a chivalrous gentleman, but an incorrigible flirt. Few women are entirely immune to his silver tongue and debonair bearing.

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 Highwayman

41

Jules Cavendish 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. Jules Cavendish 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. Talkier, “if male thou art, Look to thy purse; if female, to thy heart.”

Philippa Jasti

9

Philippa Jasti is the wife of the local village minister, Reverend Aadish 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 Aadish 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!

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.

Beatrice Ashby

4

Beatrice Ashby is an orphan left in the charge of her traditional aristocratic uncle, Lord Rutherford, who discourages her from “unladylike pursuits” such as higher education. Beatrice has a very sweet and gentle disposition and enjoys traditional crafts such as needlework, but has a hidden spirited side which longs for adventure. When Lord Rutherford is unaware, Grace sneaks out dressed in men’s clothes to roam the forests with Revenant Cor’s gang of vigilante highwaywomen who target those with ill-gotten wealth to distribute among the needy. Because of her pretty face and dimpled smile, she’s known on the highways as “Angel Eyes.”