Aelfred Mawkre

History

Aelfred is the lord of the manor of Mawkre, a small manor towards the eastern end of Swaledale. He is indolent and self-indulgent, and thinks of nothing beyond his own pleasure. Almost nothing, at any rate. Since his initiation into the Richmond coven ten years ago, he has also thought about spreading the corruption. While he does not have the energy and ambition necessary to turn Swaledale into a hotbed of diabolism, he can keep an eye on the other lords, and encourage them to behave in ways better suited to Hell than Heaven.

His father indulged him as a child, and could afford to do so, since he was a fine administrator, with the energy and attention to detail necessary. As Aelfred grew up, he became somewhat disappointed in him, as he did not grow up to be the sort of lord that he would have wanted. At the very end of his life, he realised that he was probably at fault, and he died unhappy. Aelfred eagerly entered on to his inheritance, and began squandering it in riotous living. Soon he was short of funds, and at that point Geoffrey stepped in, offering him more money, and encouraging his dissipation in certain directions.

Soon, Aelfred would have women dragged up from the village to entertain him at his feasts, and they would dance naked before being raped. He would choose villagers, and hunt them through the forest around his manor, laughing at their terror and even toying with them. And then Geoffrey revealed that, in order to avoid instant exposure, poverty, disgrace and probable execution, he had to sell his soul to the devil and join the coven. Aelfred joined, and now he invites other lords from the valley to his entertainments. He has had the local benefices filled with men who are indulgent and not too well-up on Church requirements. He holds great feasts every month, to which all the important folk of the valley are invited, and at which he gauges their responses to his indulgence and cruelty. If they seem responsive, he invites them to his weekly feasts, at which unwilling dancers perform, and their husbands are tormented for his pleasure.

Description and Stats

Aelfred is tall, with an overly florid face. He is rather overweight, but he still has the height to carry it off. He normally wears extremely fine clothes, with gold and silver thread worked through them, and carries a flask of fine wine, from which he drinks at frequent intervals. Jewelled rings sparkle on his fingers. There is something faintly repulsive about him, but he can still be the convivial host.

Str 0 Stm +1

Int -1 Per +3

Prs 0 Com +1

Dex -2 Qik -3

He has Folk Ken 5, and various skills relating to feasting, such as drinking and etiquette, at high levels. He can hunt without falling off his horse, but that is about it. He has no demonic powers as gifts: he does little for the coven, and the money that he gets is sufficient. His money chest is an infernal item: �10 appear there every Friday, and this money is used to finance his riotous living.

Plans, Weaknesses, and Evidence

Aelfred does not have any very definite plans. He wants to ensure that the lords around him in the valley are amenable to his activities, and also to the plans that Geoffrey has for the area. He is keeping an eye on the lords, and their potential heirs, and grooming those boys whom he thinks are most likely to fall into his way of life. He will then pass on the information to Geoffrey, who will see to the messy details of ensuring their succession to the lordships. Aelfred is not aware that there are any higher levels of demonic power above Geoffrey, and if he knew about the plot to control Britain, he would actually be quite frightened, and might betray the group, especially if he could be guaranteed some sort of protection from Hell.

Aelfred is almost all weaknesses, which makes it very difficult to stop his plans. The lordlings who attend his feasts do so from their own weaknesses, and so the only way to stop them is to strengthen their resolve in some way. Of course, the flip side is that he is not going to be any sort of direct threat to the covenant.

There are plenty of people who are aware of Aelfred's bad behaviour, and, given protection, they might well go to the King's justices with their complaints. Of course, any complaint that has to go through Geoffrey is doomed, so that the only way is to find one of the Justices on Eyre, and appeal to him. It is also easy to spy on the feasts, and discover what goes on there, and Aelfred's frequent journeys to Richmond can also be traced. Following him will, ultimately, allow the characters to find the diabolists' meeting place.

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