Linoleus Rakkan
Linoleus Rakkan is a Dominion Freeblade[1b] who was born of a political marriage[1c] between Baroness Hawthorn Astair-Rakkan of House Stryder and Sir Selkar Fang of House Rau.[1f]
History
By being born from a union of the two rival Houses, Rakkan became a member of The Lists Nobles. Due to the ancient rituals that bound Stryder and Rau together, only members of The Lists could be chosen to become Dominion's High Monarch, who commands both Houses. However, a Nobles' initial place within The Lists, depends on the points they receive for the status of their parent's bloodlines. Unfortunately for Rakkan, his father's bloodline was of low-status and filled with nothing but squires and skirmishers who piloted nothing but the Knight Armiger Jester. None had been able to rise from their low-status and Rakkan was further burdened with the stigma of Selkar Fang's father being an off-worlder. The noble would later inherit the Jester[1c] after Sir Fang was killed in the Battle of Blazing Heaven, while saving High Monarch Lucien Yavarius-Khau's life[1h]. Rakkan would then pilot the Armiger when he came of age and was assigned the Sacristan Tannah Gwynne to maintain the Jester. However while he now had a Knight of his own, Rakkan was still far from The Lists high-ranking nobles and sought to change this.[1a]
Rakkan would do so, by following Dominion's rituals, that allow The Lists' nobles to increase their point standings, by besting other List nobles in tournament duels. The winner of such fights would not only increase their points, but also be allowed to claim the loser's Knight as their own. The practice was frowned upon, though, and those nobles that did so, were forever marked with a social stigma. Rakkan was determined to do so, however, and challenged his fellow List noble Mauvec Kawe to a duel. It was not easy to arrange, as the Jester was much smaller than Sir Kawe's Knight Gallant Typhoon's Teeth and it had been centuries since a similar fight took place. Rakkan succeeded in ensuring the duel took place, but in the end he was defeated by Kawe, despite initially having the upper hand. In the fight's aftermath, Rakkan met with his Sacristan Gwynne, as she began repairing the damaged Jester. As they talked, though, an assassin appeared and fired a las weapon at them. Gwynne tackled Rakkan out of the path of the lasfire, but they were struck several times before the assassin then made his escape.[1a]
While both Rakkan and Gwynne survived the attack[1b], they were each left with permanent injuries. Rakkan's spine was severed, leaving him unable to move his legs[1c], and Gwynne's memory banks were shattered, causing the Sacristan to lose the memories of her life before the attack occurred[1d]. Due to his injuries, Rakkan now needed augmetic braces or crutches to walk, and he angrily suspected that Dominion's High Monarch Lucien Yavarius-Khau. The young noble called the High Monarch an insane senile tyrant, who likely ordered the assassination due to Rakkan's attempt to defeat Sir Kawe and claim his Knight Gallant. Or he suspected, to prevent his mother's bloodline from becoming too powerful, as she now commanded House Stryder[1c]. Word of Rakkan's rantings, however, began to spread and soon reached the High Monarch's ears. While there was no proof Yavarius-Khau had been behind the assassination attempt, Rakkan's mother, Baroness Hawthorn Astair-Rakkan of House Stryder, smuggled the noble, Gwynne and the Jester off-world, so he could become a Freeblade. While this forfeited Rakkan's standing within The Lists, the Baroness ensured her son was safe from any further attempts on his life. For his part, Rakkan denounced his Homeworld and both its Houses, before he began serving the Imperium as a Freeblade.[1e]
Sources
