Paul Bedwell
Paul Bedwell
Liverpool's docks are among the busiest in Europe. Trade across the Atlantic and to other parts of the world brings the city great wealth, and Paul Bedwell was happy earning a small piece of it for himself, doing what little he could to better the conditions of the workers. As a foreman at the Albert Dock and a union activist, he did his level best to maintain a friendly relationship with management, rather than falling into the traditional adversarial relationship.
Paul's father drummed the idea of a fair day's work for a fair wage into him as a child, prior to his death from consumption. Bedwell walked out of a succession of jobs, much to his mother's despair, until he found one where the management didn't seem to be quite as exploitative as the rest. Once he'd settled in, he tried to make sure things stayed that way. A skilled negotiator and a reasonably astute politician, Paul was able to keep worker/management relations running smoothly. So smoothly, in fact, that he came to the attention of one of the minority investors in the docks, who paid him a visit late one night. The next morning the dock management received a note informing them that Mr. Bedwell was now in the employ of Mr. Therwell, and would be unable to continue in his current role. That evening, Bedwell started learning about the world of the Kindred, a process he's not entirely convinced is going the way he would like.
His sire always treated interaction with other vampires as something that could happen later. For now, he was to concentrate on helping develop his influence over the local shipping industry. After only five years advising his sire on the developing international trade, Bedwell and his coterie, made up of young Kindred from Liverpool, most of whom had some connection with the docks before their Embrace, received a summons from the Prince of Manchester. In a private meeting, the prince informed them that they were leaving for London the following evening, and would be staying there for the foreseeable future. Their job was to sow unrest and distension in the ranks of London's Kindred as best they could, by carrying out the wishes of the prince's childe, who was already in the capital.
Bedwell was to be the public face, seeking admission to the city via Stephen Lenoir, whose penchant for looking after newcomers to the city was well known to Prince Shawlands. The others were to stay hidden, and act against the holdings of London Kindred as and when Bedwell directed them. Within a week, Bedwell was ensconced in London, and desperately trying to find some handle on the swirling currents of local politics. Bedwell and Shawlands' childe, Janet Latimer, are careful to avoid one another as much as possible. Bedwell plays the part of a neonate seeking to find a niche for himself in the rapidly expanding city well, but not too well, to completely avoid suspicion from London's Kindred, including Halesworth and Lenoir.
Latimer and Bedwell now communicate mainly through Lorna Dingwall, the Scots hostage, and Bedwell goes out of his way to make sure that he meets members of his coterie only while well away from other Kindreds' havens or hunting grounds.
Bedwell is a heavy-set man of average height. He dresses in respectable working man's clothes and is rarely seen without his cap. Although he doesn't realize it, he very rarely looks anyone in the eyes, unless he's in deep debate with them, and even then he only does it occasionally. This has the effect of making him seem much less confrontational, despite the strength of his views.
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