Bedelia was a potent vampire of the Malkavian clan, and the power behind the throne in the city of Atlanta. She assisted Justicar Baylor in securing Camarilla hold over the region during the 1800's.
Biography
Bedelia was embraced in Brighton, England in 1760. She eventually made passage to America with her sire and settled in Boston for a time. After conquering her freedom from her sire (to whom she referred to as 'quarrelsome'), she moved to the American South with one of her 'boys' - a Ventrue named Herbert. The young Ventrue introduced her to the Southern Lords and helped her to get their permission to dwell in Atlanta, where her political insight helped shape the course of the American Civil War.
This Malkavian elder claims she doesn't have a head for politics; she simply understands the value of manners. Still she guided her childe J. Benison Hodge well from time to time, but mostly stays out of his way in matters of kindred rule - although she occasionally has a request for him. This requests are treated as a command by the Prince of Atlanta (he knows better than to turn down his Aunt Bedelia).
If she wanted, she could easily assume power in the city, but she enjoys playing the weak, powerless elderly woman, often claiming she is still weak from her last torpor. Bedelia attends gatherings with a lace shawl, often pushed around in a wheelchair by a ghoul servant. She often 'dozes off' in conversations with people she doesn't like or wishes to insult.
Thus she became the elder of the four Harpies of Atlanta, and every Saturday she used to play bridge with Marlene, Hannah and Eleanor to discuss the doings of kindred in the city. She is always put in a place of respect and honor at the Prince's house, and wise kindred pay court to her - and although she rarely speaks of these doings, a negative vote cast by Bedelia nearly always means that the other three Harpies fall in agreeement.
Eventually she grew weary of existence and instructed her childe to seal her body in a crypt hidden in Atlanta. Her heart had broken with the burning of her beautiful city in 1917, and she claimed that only the balm of time could soothe it. Her fate remains unknown after the Sabbat siege that took the city from the Camarilla in 1999.
V20 Timeline
| “ | She grew weary of her long existence,” he said. “Her heart was broken when her city burned in 1916,” he said. [snarl] Damn you, Benison! Damn you to hell! | ” |
| — Silverson after he found a coffin containing a staked Bedellia in a haven of the former Prince of Atlanta | ||
Silverson with Beckett's help found and awakened Bedelia because "Aunt Bedelia might just be what the Camarilla needs right now." While New Orleans is a destabilized but nominally Camarilla city, it's ruled by a weak Prince backed by an emerging mini-sect of disparate Kindred united by their religious devotion to Vodou. Bedelia could counter the magic of the fledgling sect, and if she proves powerful and stable enough the Camarilla might well offer her the position of Prince of New Orleans outright. The trick is persuading her to exchange her beloved Atlanta for soggy, swampy New Orleans. If the elder has her druthers, she’ll raise up an army of the Restless Dead and go to war against the Atlanta Sabbat, despite the near-certainty of her defeat and the likely collapse of the Masquerade.
Appearance
Bedelia is an ancient woman with long white hair, and, although her face is heart-shaped and may have once been beautiful, the Embrace and old age was not kind. She prefers to wear long dresses, especially made of wool as she used to wear in the 1800's.
Character Sheet
Aunt Bedelia[1]
Sire: Alabaster
Nature: Caregiver
Demeanor: Curmudgeon
Generation: 6th
Embrace: 1760
Apparent Age: 80′s
Physical: Strength 4, Dexterity 2, Stamina 1
Social: Charisma 2, Manipulation 5, Appearance 1
Mental: Perception 4, Intelligence 3, Wits 3
Talents: Brawl 2, Empathy 4, Leadership 4, Subterfuge 4
Skills: Crafts (Repair) 1, Etiquette 4, Melee 3, Performance (Acting, Music) 4
Knowledges: Investigation 2, Law 1, Linguistics 1, Politics 1
Disciplines: Auspex 5, Celerity 1, Dominate 4, Obfuscate 3, Potence 1, Presence 4
Backgrounds: Herd 3, Status 5
Virtues: Conscience 2, Self-Control 4, Courage 5
Morality: Humanity 4
Willpower: 8
Derangements: Hypochondriac, Psychosis (overprotective caretaker), Psychosis (murders women who wear white shoes after labor Day).
Bedelia's madness as an overprotective caretaker manifests when she falls in love with men and then becomes their "mother" figure, trying to rule their lives in order to "protect" them. She only becomes violent when her "boy" doesn't do as she asks; then she brutally destroys them. She often speaks of her temper in the third person. Bedelia also becomes psychopathic when she sees a woman wearing white shoes after Labor Day. These women are found in the wood with the aforementioned white shoes as a permanent part of their anatomy. She is also a bit of a hypochondriac, pretending to be crippled although she can walk perfectly well. For the most part, however, Bedelia is completely rational and good-natured.
NOTE: Bedelia does not fear death, as a result she can perceive wraiths.
References
- ↑ WTO: Necropolis: Atlanta, p. 113, 114