Gwen Allenbrand is the daughter of Tomas Allenbrand, a small merchant in Naumkaeg who dealt in tool iron and basic trade goods. Years ago, artificial price fixing and restricted shipments tied to the Anhault Charter Company drove his shop into ruin. Tomas took loans, sold at a loss, and ultimately lost everything. Gwen was old enough to understand the contracts and ledgers behind the collapse. She grew up not hating trade, but hating corruption disguised as trade. Elgis met Gwen at a minor noble’s salon where she publicly dismantled a Council adviser’s defense of trade stabilization policies. He courted her for nearly a year, drawn first to her intellect and conviction. Over time, Gwen gained informal followers among dockworkers, clerks, displaced merchants, and minor scholars. Though she never formally founded an organization, people began referring to her supporters as the Gemfire Gang. Gwen always wears a bright red ruby amulet. Publicly, it is said to contain ember powder pellets that can be crushed and thrown to ignite her enemies. She dismisses this as rumor. In truth, the amulet is a concealed weapon capable of releasing magical ember charges. The ruby itself was the last valuable piece her father kept before losing his shop, and she wears it as both reminder and warning. Gwen was arrested on charges of sedition, theft of sealed Council correspondence, and conspiracy to destabilize trade routes. She was in fact guilty of stealing the documents. The documents proved that members of the Great Council and the Anhault Charter Company were deliberately restricting iron shipments to manipulate prices and weaken certain regions. Garth Lankshire was involved. Gwen intended to expose the corruption publicly. Elgis knew she stole the documents and intended to reveal them. He believed her motives were just and did not think she intended bloodshed, though he knew upheaval would follow. He orchestrated her escape Hobnail Prison by manipulating guard schedules and transfer records. He never admitted his involvement. With his father’s bribes and influence, Elgis was formally found innocent, although most doubted his innocence, as even paid off nobles love to gossip. Before freeing her, Elgis made Gwen promise to exile herself and abandon her plan to expose the corruption, in order to protect his father’s reputation. She agreed. However, after her escape, she told Elgis that his dishonor split her heart in two, because he chose to preserve corruption rather than confront it. She called a wound she thought would never heal. She kept her promise and went into exile, location unknown. Elgis later confessed privately to Garth that he had helped her escape and that she had agreed to exile and end her crusade, ensuring the corruption would remain secret. Garth was furious that Elgis risked the family name for what he dismissed as another passing affair. He banished Elgis from the estate and cut him off from the Lankshire wealth and protection. The Gemfire Gang continues operating in Hollin. They claim to act according to Gwen’s distant guidance and target corrupt trade practices. With Gwen’s notorious escape from Hobnail Prison, the Gemfire Gang won favor from many Hobnail gang members, forming an unspoken alliance. It is unclear whether Gwen truly directs them or whether her followers invoke her name on their own. Elgis does not know where she is and has not attempted to reconnect with her, although he still thinks about her endlessly, even when he lays with other women in what seem to be futile attempts to forget her.