Rhia Gill

Rhia Gill in 1230 AW

**Rhia Gill**, commonly known by her nickname **Silencer**, is a Crestian noble, bounty hunter, assassin, and criminal who acts as a major officer in the Dogs of Whitecrest, as well as the right hand of Sebastiaan Kenven. She became famous for her hunt for Floris Gill, her estranged brother turned terrorist.

After close cooperation with the Dogs, the unlikely alliance managed to track down and kill Floris Gill, as well as wipe out the Great Orchestra entirely. Ultimately, Rhia chose not to return to the Western Districts, instead joining the Dogs soon after, who gave her the nickname Silencer, though some also call her Lady Gill.

## Biography

### Early Life

Born in 1186 AW to Fabian and Margaret Gill, Rhia grew up in absolute luxury. Her father, the Head of the League of Whitecrest, had complete control over the City-State and she spent her early childhood in the League's Palace. Rhia was too young to understand what happened during the Purge of Whitecrest in 1193 AW and was largely confused as to the disappearance of her brother Floris.

She had a fascination with the League of Whitecrest's mercenaries, though she favoured the Second Army's more rowdy mercenaries over the elite First Army. She would often sneak out and beg various mercenary captains to train her, some of which would humour her. While she wasn't exactly a natural, the young Rhia showed a remarkable willingness to learn and improve.

In 1200 AW, Floris Gill, presumed dead, committed the Temple District Massacre alongside his Great Orchestra, the largest terrorist attack in Crestian history. Rhia had learned the truth regarding her brother and the Purge, yet had expected him to be dead, much like the rest of the Gill Family.

In the wake of the attack, she intensified her combat training, picking up a unique fighting style where she would wield two swords and two pistols at the same time, allowing her to quickly swap between melee and ranged when necessary.

### Second Purge and Manhunt

In 1203 AW, when on a regular shopping trip, Rhia's mother Margaret and her two older sisters, Hannah and Hope, were ambushed by the Great Orchestra and executed in the street by Floris himself. The news shocked both herself and Fabian Gill, who prepared to destroy the Great Orchestra for good. The enraged Fabian hastily threw together an attack force mainly consisting of the First Army and launched the Second Purge of Whitecrest, attacking the Eastern Districts, targetting both the Orchestra and the Syndicate.

Rhia Gill snuck into the Eastern Districts during the chaos as well, starting her own manhunt for Floris while merely fifteen years old. She approached the Dogs of Whitecrest, the most violent gang in the Syndicate, for aid. Sebastiaan Kenven, the current boss of the Dogs, was astonished at the daughter of his greatest enemy walking into the Dog Pit but recognized the fighting lust in her eyes. Subsequently, she was spared from being killed by the other Dogs.

Kenven had opposed Floris Gill and the Orchestra from joining the Syndicate since their first appearance and had frequently skirmished with them in the past despite being allies on paper. In the wake of the Second Purge, the Syndicate's leader Edmond Heyer had been captured and imprisoned by the League of Whitecrest. As a result, nothing was stopping the Dogs from attacking the Orchestra, and Kenven launched a full-scale attack on them, sparking the Dog-Orchestral War. He enlisted Rhia as a scout, tasking her with finding Orchestra safehouses and reporting their locations back to him to be attacked.

However, Rhia sought a more hands-on approach. While she happily reported the hideouts for groups too big to take out on her own, she didn't shy away from small units of Orchestra members, who she would ambush and kill on her own. During this period between 1203 and 1206 AW, she would also run into Floris twice, injuring him both times yet failing to deliver a killing blow. Rhia Gill did get her hands on Kenneth Heiway in late 1205 AW, killing Floris' second-in-command. She is credited with tracking down and killing roughly two dozen Orchestra members on her own.

With pressure mounting against the Orchestra due to nearly the entire Syndicate being at war with them, it was only a matter of time for them to collapse. Melody Rowen, the de-facto leader of the Orchestra's moderate elements, broke off and formed the Redcloaks. The Redcloaks were eager to take down Floris Gill, and ratted out the location of every single Orchestral safehouse in the Eastern Districts, earning them much-needed protection from the Red Serfs in return.

With his Orchestra as good as collapsed, Floris Gill rallied the few dozen men he still had and, ironically, fled to the safer Western Districts. Ultimately, it was Rhia Gill who tracked Floris down to his very last safe house. While she could hardly take on two dozen fighters at once, she did inform Kenven a final time. Soon after, the Dogs stormed this position with Kenven leading the charge, killing Floris and destroying the Orchestra.

### Dogs of Whitecrest and Present Day

In the wake of the assault, Sebastiaan Kenven approached Rhia with Floris' head in a sack, offering it to her. Floris had earned himself the largest bounty in Crestian history in the wake of the Temple District Massacre, and Kenven offered Rhia to claim it. While he had expected Rhia to return to the Western Districts and her father, she refused. She had the head burned alongside the rest of Floris' body and requested to join the Dogs instead. While it raised some eyebrows among the Dogs, Kenven happily agreed.

Whereas the membership raised eyebrows in the Eastern Districts, it caused a political storm in the Western Districts. When word reached Fabian Gill that his last living family member had turned against him, too, he quietly retreated to his chambers. Having already spiralled into a depression in the wake of the murders of Margaret, Hannah, and Hope in 1203 AW, Rhia's defection and Floris' death pushed him over the edge. He climbed through the window in his room in the League's Palace and jumped, killing himself. Fabian would be succeeded by Armin Oligel as the Gill Family's vast mercantile empire was taken over by the Oligels. However, Fabian, while deeply unpopular, was a unifying force for the League, which severely weakened in the wake of his death.

While the League's influence took a nosedive, Rhia soared through the ranks of the Dogs of Whitecrest due to her reputation in the Eastern Districts, skill in combat, and close ties to Kenven. She rapidly became one of the Dogs' most influential officers, though not all other gangs agreed with having a Gill in a position of power. These critiques were ignored by Sebastiaan Kenven. It is during this time that her Dogs-given nickname, Silencer, became used more than her real name.

She was present during the Syndicate's invasion of the Western Districts in 1215 AW, leading a small group of Dogs in the Military District. Ultimately, Armin Oligel called upon the Republic of Fühlgart out of sheer desperation, who invaded the City-State soon after. Albert Schmied and the Fühlgartian Second Army drove back the Syndicate and put the city under military rule. However, Edmond Heyer had been liberated from Greihill Keep during the battle, and the Republicans soon after abandoned the Eastern Districts due to constant ambushes and skirmishes against Albert Schmied's forces, some of which were carried out by Rhia.

During the lull in the War for Whitecrest between 1215 and 1228 AW, Sebastiaan Kenven sought to professionalise the Dogs. He implemented new training and military organisations, turning the Dogs from ineffective brutes to organised paramilitaries. During this time, he tasked Rhia with organising a more clandestine-natured group. She spent this period training an effective unit of spies, saboteurs, and backline skirmishers that rivalled the Crestian Shadowfangs in their efficiency. Subsequently, Kenven made her the unofficial spymaster of the Dogs of Whitecrest.

When Jan Luftschwert died in 1227 AW, it sparked the Second Fühlgartian Civil War. His successor and brother, Ulfric Luftschwert, recalled the majority of the Republic's forces deployed on foreign soil, including those in Whitecrest. Subsequently, the severely weakened League of Whitecrest under Armin Oligel was left to fend for themselves. Easily outnumbered and more effective in combat than ever, the Syndicate stormed the Western Districts a second time. Armin Oligel, seeing the writing on the wall, tried to flee the city on a ship but was assassinated by Rhia in the closing days of the War for Whitecrest.

With the Syndicate victorious and with Edmond Heyer officially in charge of the City-State, the Western Districts were divided among the various gangs that made up the criminal alliance. The Dogs of Whitecrest received control over the Old District which Kenven granted to Feathers, a Half-Harpy officer previously in charge of the day-to-day runnings of the Dogs' territory in the Common District. With the position vacant, he appointed Rhia as Underboss of the Common District, a post she holds to this day.

## Career

City-State of Whitecrest

* Bounty Hunter (1203 AW-1206 AW)
* Dogs of Whitecrest
	+ Member (1206 AW)
	+ Officer (1206 AW-)
	+ Underboss of the Common District (1228 AW-)

## Military Career

* War for Whitecrest
	+ Battle of the Western Districts - Defeat
	+ Battle of the Eastern Districts - Stalemate
	+ Fall of Whitecrest - Victory

## Personality

At first glance, Rhia Gill is cold, calculating, and extremely wary of other people. While this might be the case when it comes to strangers and enemies, she is reportedly a remarkably kind soul towards her friends and allies. The brutal nature of the Dogs of Whitecrest makes her a bit of a misfit when it comes to this, though she is generally well-liked by its members.

## Relationships

* Sebastiaan Kenven - What started as a deal with-the-devil business relationships has bloomed into a great friendship and mentorship. These two are inseparable.
* "Feathers" - A fellow officer of the Dogs, Rhia and Feathers get along well.
* "Dumbass" - Sebastiaan's bodyguard and friend. While Rhia has tried to befriend him, Dumbass distrusts her for being a Gill even to this day.