Rikka

Rikka was a human Rebel during the years before the assassination of Prophet-Magus Karrudan. She was good with horses and was part of Sarah Ythlim's personal squad. Her weapon of choice was throwing knives. Rikka also had a son named Kennet.

## Characteristic

Rikka had red hair and hazel eyes. Her shoulders were tight, and there was a sort of ingrained fierceness to her expression. Her name was of dwarven origin since she was adopted at a young age into a family of dwarves and also named after the dwarven midwife who saved her mother during birth.

When trying to get into Minetown and passing off as one of the women in the mines, she wore a shapeless peasant dress of drab-dyed homespun, giving her a thick-bodied, perhaps pregnant, aspect. A brown knitted shawl covered her red hair. Her arms were full of twigs, withes and osiers, the raw materials for basket making.

In her arsenal Rikka had special, cutting-edge crossbow arrows - instead of a conventional arrowhead, the tip of the bolt flared out into a concave cutting edge. Pirates used arrows like these to cut riggings on a ship.

## Personality

As a recruiteer for the Rebel cause, Rikka had seen all sorts of mercenaries in her job.She’d learned how to steer them, make them useful for the Rebellion. Rikka also grimly practiced with throwing knives at targets and in hand-to-hand encounters to hone her talents for survival. Kennet had already lost a father - despite the pact she had made with Bruna to care for the boy in case of failure on any mission, Rikka was prepared to do whatever was necessary to ensure her return - that included killing. She saw nothing to celebrate in that, though. How many times had Kennet climbed into her lap, clamoring for some tale of glorious battle and desperate deeds? The more desperate the situation, the less glory Rikka found. Instead, she concentrated instead on telling Kennet the odd tales, the ridiculous adventures.

## History

### Early Life

Rikka and her son Kennet were born in an Atlantis-owned Magestone mine. It was a big place, lots of Magestone - and lots of Magestone poisoning. If it weren’t for the Dwarves, the humans trapped in the pits wouldn’t even have a chance of survival. Rikka's dad died before her mother, also of Magestone poisoning. A Dwarven midwife, Rikka, saved her mother and the child when she was born, and her mother named Rikka after the midwife. When her mother died of Magestone poisoning, Eginhard and his family took her in - his folk have been in the mine for generations already, but he was determined to get his family out. During their years in the Magestone mines, Sigwold, Eginhard's brother, taught Rikka how to fix battle injuries. The dwarves and Rikka almost got away from the mine when she was twelve, but they got caught and had to bide for years. Rikka's husband was another miner - Gared. Two years after they met, Gared died of Magestone poisoning in Rikka's arms.

Sigwold got work as a jeweler when he and Eginhard, along with Rikka, arrived in Khamsin, to the Dwarven Quarter. He was always amazingly good with his hands - it wasn’t long before he had his own workshop. Rikka was apprenticed to him. The law in the Dwarven Quarter was almost non-existant and everyone had to learn to defend themselves - so did Rikka, becoming attuned to throwing knives.

### Rebel Thunder

Someday during 419 Tz, while in a Khamsin tavern Rikka found a good recruit for the Rebel cause - Blaize, a Caeronn ex-soldier. She asked him about his military service, especially interested when she learned that he’d been posted in Atlantis, asking questions about the city in the sky and about Down Town. After some talking, Rikka decided to believe Blaize and introduced him to the Rebel cause, leading him through streets of yellow-gray brick buildings to a warehouse - a Rebel base, in an unprosperous but quiet enough Khamsin neighborhood. It was nighttime by then.

Rikka introduced Blaize to some key members of the Rebellion - Tulwar Windfoot, a shifty-eyed Khamsin folk and Eginhard, Rikka's adopted father. The dwarf Eginhard decided to test Blaize's battle capabilities by pitting him in a practice fight against Tulwar Windfoot of the Galeshi - the fight was to a first blow that in normal circumstances would be deadly - a death-cut. Tulwar fought well but Blaize was able to get the upper hand, winning the duel and joining the Rebels. Blaize's first undercover assignment was getting rosters and listings - troop and patrol movements for the Atlantean garrison in Khamsin from Khamita Castle, the Imperial garrison’s headquarters. He had to get them by tomorrow night.

After Blaize acquired the troop and patrol movements of the Atlantean garrison, Eginhard met him in Khamsin's Warrens, congratulating the Caeronn on his first assignment and complimenting his skills - the dwarf let Blaize rest a bit and instructed Rikka to lead him to the Warrens' bakery, which was an actual bake shop but under the protection of the Rebels - there he was introduced to the Rebel cook Bruna, Rikka's son Kennet and had some food.

Throughout the meal, Blaize watched Rikka with her boy, listening to Kennet’s report of his day - who had come into the shop, how he’d helped Bruna, the boys he had played with, etc. Rikka explained her and Kennet's past to Blaize - how they've been born in a mine under the Atlantean yoke and how Rikka was named after the dwarven midwife who saved her, as well how Eginhard adopted her when her mother died of Magestone poisoning.

### Minetown

Next day, Rikka entered Eginhard’s Warrens office to find him deep in conversation with a worn-looking man in stained riding leathers. Several runners stood nearby, almost quivering with eagerness as the Rebel leader consulted with the newcomer. As they spoke, Eginhard scribbled cryptic notes on scraps of paper and handed them out to runners to bring them to certain men in cahoots with the Rebellion. After a series of these rapid-fire orders, the group seemed to explode from around the desk. When only Rikka was with Eginhard, he explained that the black powder package from Sigwold and Snow was almost here, at Khamsin - after meeting with the forces from Varsfield they were to set to Caero - there they would join Sarah, Valerian, other Rebel leaders and head for Atlantis. Before Rikka left, he told her not to instruct Blaize in what they were carrying.

Blaize meanwhile spent some time bunked with Jorj, a closemouthed Khamsin - all that kept him from going crazy were visits from Rikka. They had talked a little and eaten a couple of meals together. Blaize found it pleasant—if Rikka was a watchful eye, she was a much more attractive one than Jorj. So, when she entered the bunkroom a little before suppertime, Blaize greeted her with a smile. Rikka explained that they were setting off in the morning at they'd better prepare for the trip. Rikka remained aggravatingly vague about their destination. They were going out to meet some people and give them whatever help they needed with a mysterious shipment.

They followed the underground ways to Bruna’s bakeshop, where a veritable feast awaited. Blaize took in the roast fowl, grain salad, greens, fruit, and the steaming round loaf spread out on the table - there was even a jug of wine. Kennet also joined them for the farewell feast. It was while they were eating that he got the hint that this might be a longer - and much more dangerous - journey. While discussing matters at the table, Blaize and Rikka told Kennet that they were going out, which made the little boy riot, making Blaize promise to him that he'll protect his mom - while the two would be out of town, Bruna would take care of the youngster. It was at this moment that the seed of Rebellion inside started sprouting, spurring him further into allying with the Rebel cause - mostly because of his feelings for Rikka, of course.

Eginhard and Rikka were both in shock when they found out that Blaize went off on their own, and, judging by what the locals said, drunk to boot. They were unaware that he was under the effect of Karrudan's spell. They discerned that, perhaps, Blaize went to the Street of Metalworkers to rub the statue of the king's toes - for good luck before gambling some before the journey. Eginhard sent runners around the city looking for Blaize, only to find out that the Caeronn was taken by slave-owners to Minetown. Rikka asked around for anyone who could help rescue Blaize - Jorj, Mikarl and Jon Bowman all declined. Tulwar was the only one to agree to rescue Blaize and also liberate the slaves of Minetown.

Although the mounts were obtained immediately, it was late afternoon before Rikka entered Minetown. She’d had to arrange a rendezvous and time with Eginhard. Then certain supplies had to be purchased, as well as the appropriate costume. Rikka also wound up walking several miles, collecting the necessary props in the despoiled countryside. Last, and most importantly, she had to linger in a stand of brush, waiting for the proper companions to cover her entrance. When the straggling group of women passed her, Rikka joined the end of the parade. Rikka walked through the gateway in the palisade without incident.

After dropping off her load, Rikka made her way to the makeshift central square and the infirmary. There she joined another line. This was the time of day for the women, and there were many ahead of her. Rikka hadn’t eaten since last night, nor had she slept. She probably fit right in with the rest of the ill women. When her turn came to see Graciela, Minetown’s leech, Rikka kept her shawl wrapped around her hair and face until they were alone together in the examining room. The healer’s eyes went wide for a moment when she recognized Rikka - Graciela, the stolid leech-woman, was the Rebellion’s contact in Minetown. Rikka inquired about Blaize's whereabouts in Minetown and upon receiving the needed information from Graciela she devised a plan, but had to wait 'til nighttime to put it in motion. With nightfall Rikka got rid of the baggy, shapeless dress - she kept the shawl, though. It covered her hair and face and presented a familiar silhouette to any guards that might see her. Rikka also shifted the coil of rope she’d worn wrapped around her waist to her shoulder.

She hadn’t wasted her time in the waning daylight - after finding a good spot among the tumbledown houses of the shantytown, she’d timed the sentries on their rounds. After sunset, Rikka let the guards go a few more rounds to get used to the darkness — and to get bored. Then she moved for the ramparts - the spot she and Tulwar agreed upon was a good hundred paces from the fortified gate. She leaned over the sharpened tops of the palisade logs and opened the latch on the covered bull's-eye lantern, once, twice, three times. At the third flash, a night-bird sang in the darkness beyond, Tulwar’s return signal. Rikka unslung the rope, a loop was already fixed in one end. That went over one of the sturdier logs. She crouched to wait - a moment later, Tulwar joined her.

Still crouched, they regathered the rope and were off the wall well before the next guard came by. They made their way among the improvised dwellings, built with whatever the Imperials didn’t want. Rikka knew them well - such constructions had been home to her for more than half her life. She waited until they were well away from the wall before opening the lamp again and blowing out the stub of candle inside. She then passed a hammer and a chisel to Tulwar to break Blaize free - the two then moved through the darkness.

Although Tulwar had done his best to keep the operation as quiet as possible, there was a little noise as the blade clashed against the hammerhead. It was enough to rouse someone two sleepers down from where Blaize lay. Tulwar ducked down as Blaize turned on his side, still pretending to be asleep, to see what was going on. Light flooded the area as a man with a lamp came close. Blaize recognized the head overseer - the drunken man advanced unsteadily, and his eyes certainly weren’t on Blaize - they were on Rikka, who hastily slipped a knife under his ribs, trying to go straight for the heart. The overseer was already dead, but Blaize knew strange things could happen with wounds like these. The overseer tried to shout an alarm, but Blaize was already vaulting up, reaching for the head slavemaster, silencing the fat drunkard as he was dying. Blaize caught the dead weight with his body, fighting to maintain his clumsy hold while making sure the lamp didn’t crash. Rikka joined him, and together they lay the dead man down.

Blaize found the master key on a chain around the dead man’s neck, and the medallion the man had taken earlier that afternoon. The chain was broken - Blaize cursed under his breath. Blaize then gave Rikka the master key and slipped the medallion under his shirt. Rikka and Tulwar made quite a team, working down the line - the Galeshi had awaken each slave with a hand on the mouth, ensuring silence while she undid the leg cuffs - tactically speaking, freeing as many slaves as possible was a clever gambit. Their unpremeditated, improvised attempts to break out would certainly keep the guards and overseers busy while Rikka followed her escape plan. On the other hand, introducing so many random elements might've served to wreck that plan.

By the time the whole coffle had been released, the freed slaves were starting to make noise. Some were already running off. Even Rikka realized it was time to go. A cry of pain awoke the guards - the knot of unchained slaves exploded, some heading for the shantytown, some going for the walls, some just running. Rikka then surprised Blaize by heading along the rim of the pit toward one of the farther sections of the palisade. As they reached the ladder leading to the ramparts, a guard appeared, torch in one hand, spear in the other - Rikka shown her prowess with throwing knives by lodging onein the guard's eye, instantly killing him. Without missing a beat, Rikka, Blaize and Tulwar swarmed up the ladder. Moments later, they were mounted and pounding down the road. Behind them the walls of Minetown were coming alive with torchlight. They had a short talk, in which Tulwar explained why he had come - during the duel, he almost killed Blaize, broke the rules and tattered his honor, but Blaize prevented him from doing so - this was his way of repaying the debt he owned to the Caeronn.

### Road to Caero

After they cleared the zone of devastation around Minetown, Rikka left the Imperial Road, turning onto a barely scratched trail through scrubland. From his glimpses of the stars when there weren’t trees in the way. Rikka continued to take the lead, and Blaize and Tulwar followed her along an intricate series of trackways and back paths. Some of them didn’t seem to be paths at all, just wider spaces between bushes - smuggler's paths. They continued on, sometimes in darkness, sometimes in moonlight, until Rikka reined in her horse.

The trail they were on intersected a larger road. All around them was second-growth forest, with thick underbrush cutting the view to a few yards. Rikka gestured to Tulwar, who gave her a flash of very white teeth, then pursed his lips and let out a low, warbling whistle - the call of a night-bird. A moment later, the recognition signal was returned from the bushes on the opposite side of the road. Rikka gently kicked her mount into a slow walk. Blaize and Tulwar trailed along behind her. A rider emerged from the shadows across the way, and they rode together along the road for a short distance, until what seemed like an impenetrable wall of brush suddenly shifted aside to reveal an opening. This was a larger, better-maintained secret road. There was enough room for people to ride side by side. But they continued on in single file along the shadowy path until they found an open space, a rocky gorge cut in the side of a hill. During the spring rains, it was probably a swift-moving stream. Now it was dry, providing a hiding place for Eginhard’s troop.

There they met up with some familiar faces - Jorj, Mikarl and Eginhard - they all joked around about Blaize's drunken adventure, gambling addiction and the thickness of his skull. Blaize and Eginhard shook hands and started their horses moving. With that silent signal, the cavalcade moved out. When his mount finally came to a stop, Blaize almost fell from the saddle, but Rikka saved him from an awkward situation. They rode out ahead of the others, following the track as it curved up to a vantage point on a hillside.

Eginhard was there on his horse, frowning at the vista below. A pair of larger roads met and crossed, creating an irregular clearing in the midst of another section of scrubland. Strung out along the road paralleling their route was an Imperial mounted patrol, a good dozen men on horseback plus a couple of crossbowmen on the six-legged mechanical Scorpems. The Rebels battled the riders in a skirmish, winning by courtesy of Snow and Sigwold arriving with their Orc friends led by Grugh. Rikka stayed out of the fight, keeping to the horses at the camp.

When the battle was over ,the shrill sound of Tulwar’s Galeshi victory-yell had Blaize hauling his pony around almost in embarrassment as Rikka rode up to the Caeronn. No more Imperials remained astride their horses or Scorpems. The Orcs were already off their lizard-mounts, blades rising and falling to make sure none of the guardsmen were shamming. Snow rode through the Rebel lines, joined by Sigwold. Moments later, Sigwold and Eginhard were reunited, and Sigwold introduced Snow to his dwarven brother.

After the conjoined forces burned the corpses of the fallen, the rhythmic travel began to tell again on Blaize, especially after the last of the battle’s adrenaline ebbed away - Rikka must have sensed his struggle to stay awake and dropped back in the line of march from her father’s side. Joining Blaize, she got him into conversation as they rode along. Just light talk, but it was enough to keep Blaize conscious as his horse jogged away the miles. They traveled on in good spirits and joshing camaraderie. Sigwold directed the caravan off the road and onto a cross country run—probably to avoid the next town and any possible inquiries.

Their route hugged the edge of the hills, until Snow rode back, declaring a halt. Upon seeing the Roa Vizorr nearby, he men cheered, turning their final advance into an impromptu charge. They rode their horses right into the water, the hooves stirring up the bottom silt. The thirsty horses didn’t care, leaning their heads down to drink. When the riders started to join them, Sigwold’s voice cut across the scene, telling the Rebels that they'd have enough time to rest once they set up a camp.

Blaize was one of the few who hadn’t joined the general rush. He’d reined in beside Snow, Sigwold, Tulwar, Eginhard, and Rikka. Now he angled to take his pony a little upstream of the others, where the horse could drink clear water. After allowing a quick drink, he tethered his mount to a tree trunk and joined in the work. The packhorses were unloaded there, and the cargo then covered over with canvas. A couple of tents went up, too, for the leaders and for Rikka. Free at last, Blaize headed away from the developing camp, following the stream above all the activity until he found a section that was blocked by scored rock, forming a shallow pool. After Blaize dwelt in his thoughts for some time, Rikka came along to help Blaize remove the bandage from his head.

When Blaize went ahead to scout, Eginhard and Rikka argued about the Caeronn, the dwarf intending on driving home the point that he'll make a bad husband for Rikka - his daughter was having none of it.  After turning onto the road, the pack train had encountered several deserted townlets. Snow and the others had stopped at some of them, using the wells to water their beasts, sleeping in some of the less tumbledown adobes. Debt and failure had emptied the villages of peasants as their farms had been swallowed up by the growth of estates. This set of half-ruinous buildings, however, turned out to be near a gleaming new manor house. The steward had come out to berate them, waving his staff of office. Besides his dubiously useful sword, the steward had a gaggle of agricultural workers standing well behind him, armed with the usual farm-implement miscellany: sickles, pitchforks, and flails. They didn’t look very confident in their chances of success against the riders. She and the rest of the warriors could go through these farmers like wind scattering wheat chaff.

However, their job was to shepherd a perilous cargo to Caero and beyond, not to pick fights with local landowners while heading in the direction of the Imperial garrison those landowners would call upon. The head steward was unfortunate enough to insult Rikka and a fight between the servants of Master Ramosi's estate and the Rebels almost broke out. Sigwold defused the situation, however, and the pack train lurched into movement. While on the road, Snow, Sigwold, Eginhard, Rikka and Blaize discussed how empty estates like these are made, with Sigwold telling them of Sarah's theory on the Empire's taxation politics that seep all the life off of these estates.

### Burning of Caero

After a skirmish with the Lizard-men during which the Riders lost Mikarl and Blaize's horse, the pack train reached Caero. There, most of the Rebel forces were let off, with Snow and Sigwold additionally staying with the pack train in an abandoned quarry to the south. Eginhard and the rest then met up with Sarah and Valerian, the most prominent members of the Rebellion now assembled in Affrem's inn. They stayed there for two days, and on the second one, Caero was set ablaze by Atlantean forces seeking to weed out the Rebels - Tulwar and Blaize were the one who informed the rest after seeing the immolation start. Valerian’s smile had gone completely feral as he seized Affrem’s head - the innkeeper was the one who ratted out the Rebels to the government. An instant later, Affrem lolled in his chair, a red gorget of blood spreading across his robe from a slit throat. Wiping a knife on the dead man’s linen, Valerian headed for the stairs to get Sarah and Rikka.

The instant she got the news, Sarah was coming down the stairs, pulling a nondescript gray cape around herself. Valerian had also donned the floor-length hooded cloak. Along with smoke, flaming debris were already flying on the breeze, landing all over the neighborhood, setting new fires. Cries of alarm rang out as people’s homes went up. As the fugitives negotiated a kink in the narrow alleyway road, they finally saw why - a three-story house was well ablaze, thick smoke rising from the roof. No bucket brigade could stop the fire’s progress. Despairing wails came from the third floor as well, the window shutters had been thrown open, and a woman stood in the opening, holding two babies in her arms. Flames already flickered behind her, the mother’s voice was raw from smoke, screaming for any help. Sarah Ythlim stopped dead in the passageway, Valerian crashing into her from behind. Sarah was hellbent on rescuing the mother.

The Rebels formed a living ladder - on Blaize's idea - they lasted long enough for the trapped family to make their escape. The desperate construction came apart from the top down. Once the operation was done, Blaize nearly fell flat but Rikka flung her arms around him in exuberance and caught him. After that, they continued running away from the Imperials.

The Rebels’ flight was short-lived - they hardly got a block away down the alley before they ran straight into an Imperial patrol. The guardsmen stood five abreast behind a hedge of spear points - this was no arson squad - these guardsmen had been set out to plug this escape route. They were searching for something - or someone - Sarah, as the Rebels later found out. Fire, meanwhile, cut off the escape route from the back. Two guardsmen came forward to pull the females aside, grabbing their hoods. Sarah’s face and hair were revealed. The one who’d gone for Rikka stepped back, gurgling. Seizing the opportunity, Blaize tore his sword free and charged the line of spears, droppinng to bring himself under the shafts, rolling up to the guardsmen’s legs, and began slashing - he was intent on getting through the line and at the Altem.

The Altem got off one good blast on his brass whistle before Blaize’s blade punctured a lung. Returning whistles came from the distance — other patrols on their way. The pack of Rebels already burst through the gap Blaize had created, Rikka included. Valerian led them on a wildly jinking course through the webwork of alleys. All around them, though, the running Rebels could still hear the whistles - the sound even came from behind them. Smoke grew thick in the constricted passage, and he could see the redness of flames up ahead.

More Imperials came clattering in pursuit — a fresh patrol by the look of it, and they had a live Altem directing the chase. They followed Valerian through another set of zigzags, in the hopes of briefly setting back the pursuers - the alley they ended up in swerved through an almost right-angle turn. When Blaize and Eginhard came round, they found a pair of absolutely blank walls, smoke, and the rest of their party preparing to make a stand. Harolt, Tulwar, and Jon formed a rank across the passage. Harolt, the drover, looked scared, Tulwar looked eager, and Jon looked a little dubious. He’d had to give up his crossbow, leaving him with only a sword. Eginhard grinned wolfishly as he took his place in the line.

Blaize took his place at the far flank against the right-hand wall. They waited long minutes. Valerian’s attempted evasion couldn’t have taken this long for the Imperials to figure out. On the left, Valerian spoke with Eginhard, bringing something out from under his long cloak and putting it in the Dwarf’s arms. In a swirl of black wool, Valerian then joined Sarah and Rikka. They were coming up on another intersection. Rikka and Sarah darted right into a cross-alley. Valerian, his pale hair streaming behind him, went straight.

### Karrudan's Assassination

Rikka then carried Sarah Ythlim out of the city on horseback. Rikka was present during the talk when Sarah, Snow and Sigwold decided how to go about Karrudan's assassination - the decision came to the result that Snow and Sigwold would deliver the black powder cargo to Atlantis and Sarah would stay behind with Rikka. Rikka then helped get Sarah to Venetia, where Themyskis, a Mending Priestess and a friend of Valerian, helped Ythlim get back on her feet before sending her off to Down Town, where Rikka and the rest of the Rebel forces gathered before Karrudan's assassination.

Once the deed was done, an uprising began in Down Town, with the Rebel sympathizers armed with black powder pistols and the rare fuser rifles rallying against Lord Scarbro's forces trying to squash the Rebellion's leaders.

Rikka, along with the rest of Sarah's personal guard made a last stand at the Mills of Circumstance. One end of the open space was packed with Imperials. Scarbro must have committed the bulk of his force to this spearhead, hoping to decapitate the beast of rebellion before it could rear up in full strength. Bereft of leadership from Sarah, Valerian, Eginhard, and Perrin, the uprising would undoubtedly degenerate into a simple riot.

The little knot of Rebel commanders stood behind a horn-shaped earthen breastwork piled up before them. They also had a flag of sorts—a bedsheet painted with a crude symbol. It looked like a shield intersecting a larger, darker circle. The person holding the pole for this improvised banner was **Rikka**. Attempting to shield her and the others from the gathering Imperial might was a thin line of defenders sheltering behind yet another street barricade. They hadn’t gotten their materials from five minutes of hasty pillaging - large barrels and crates had been moved from nearby warehouses. Heavy wagons had been overturned. Maybe some of the big tuns had come from the inn’s cellars. They’d even dug up the paving stones and heaped earth on their rampart, creating a sort of ditch or moat before the wall.

Blaize then joined the fight, having found an empty place on the wall. The battle array before them comprised a spear wall in the middle with clouds of crossbowmen at the flanks. Heavy bolts flew through the air as the flank parties tried to provide cover fire. The return volley from the Rebels was more ragged—but also more deadly. The bowmen had to stand to restring their weapons. The pistol-armed Rebels could remain crouched under cover, barely exposing themselves to fire. They hurt the guardsmen, all but wiping out those with ranged weapons. Their galling fire slowed the spear line. The Rebels bloodied the advancing Imperials, creating gaps in the line, but those gaps were always filled by men from the rear ranks. Occasional blasts of rifle fire kept the mages too far back to make themselves troublesome.

People were running now. A great noise came from the Imperials as they surmounted the wall - part victory cry, part animal snarl. And then Sigwold, armed with an axe and a torch, hurled the axe, not at the enemy, but into the middle of the defenses. The blazing brand followed, landing on a pile of black powder barrels. One had been stove open, leaking a trail of black powder...

There was a sudden hiss, and the world vanished in a sudden, brilliant glare. Before them was a crater, blown deep into the surface of the earth. Around it staggered burned, blind, bleeding, and dismembered Imperials.

The Empire’s war machine had abruptly run out of momentum, and then a storm of lead sleeted into the face of the stunned warriors. Sarah and the others had indeed been holding themselves out—not as a sacrifice, but as bait to tempt Scarbro into committing his forces. The Rebel leaders had also been regathering all the gunslingers they’d sent out to spearhead the uprising. Young men with pistols were massing and moving forward, firing as they went.

The Imperial guardsmen, victory literally blasted out of their hands, tried to stand. They were the best-trained, steadiest human warriors in the Land, but human flesh can only take so much. As the withering fire continued, the Imperial ranks wavered, then disintegrated. Still firing into the running fugitives, the Rebels cheered a sight few had ever seen—an Imperial warhost in full retreat. The gunfire slackened, but voices rose in harsh argument. Some of the more hotheaded Rebels screamed for pursuit, eager to settle some more scores with the fleeing guardsmen, but Valerian stopped them before they ran to their death.

Sarah then made a big speech, congratulating the Rebel forces in Down Town and proclaiming the start of Black Powder Rebellion. Then Blaize crashed into Eginhard, doing the same thing. The Dwarf looked singed and bloody and his eyes were full of tears. Eginhard incquired about his brother, with Blaize telling that Sigwold sacrificed himself by torching the black powder barrels and winning the day. Perrin was also supposed to light them but he died on the way from the inn.

When Blaize heard Rikka's voice behind him, in spite of bruises and scrapes, he embraced her fiercely. Blaize rested his cheek on Rikka’s red hair, which smelled strongly of black powder residue. They remained clasped together, silently contemplating a most uncertain future. At least they would face it together.

***Black Powder Rebels***
 Major characters

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Rebel Thunder (Bill McCay), Prologue
2. ↑ Rebel Thunder (Bill McCay), Chapter 3
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Rebel Thunder (Bill McCay), Chapter 8
4. ↑ Rebel Thunder (Bill McCay), Chapter 5
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Rebel Thunder (Bill McCay), Chapter 11
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Rebel Thunder (Bill McCay), Chapter 10
7. ↑ Rebel Thunder (Bill McCay), Chapter 6
8. ↑ Rebel Thunder (Bill McCay), Chapter 7
9. ↑ Rebel Thunder (Bill McCay), Chapter 8
10. ↑ Rebel Thunder (Bill McCay), Chapter 9
11. ↑ Rebel Thunder (Bill McCay), Chapter 12
12. ↑ Rebel Thunder (Bill McCay), Chapter 15