General Sir Arthur Halesworth
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Appearance: Halesworth is the very image of a Victorian general: strong, broad and upright with a full, yet well trimmed mustache and beard. His dress is never less than impeccable when he's in company. When he's on duty as Anne's sheriff, which is most of the time, he dresses in his military uniform. The rest of the time, especially if he's hunting or just walking the streets of the city he has come to love (finding it an adequate substitute for his passion for India's less civilized regions) he dresses in smart but discreet modern fashions or rough street clothes, depending on this mood.
Background: Arthur Halesworth was the second son of a minor aristocratic family in rural Suffolk. Faced with little chance of inheriting the family estate, he joined the army to serve queen and country overseas. After a spell as a captain in Africa, he rapidly rose through the ranks, eventually reaching the rank of general, and earning knighthood for his efforts in helping suppress uprisings in India.
The general bought a small property on the edge of Blackheath in South-East London for his occasional visits back to England. Most of the time, however, he spent in India. He and groups of fellow officers would enjoy their leave exploring the country that they had helped pacify, climbing its mountains and exploring its wilder regions. At times, he considered asking his father for a greater stipend so he could quit the army and become an explorer for a while. However, his pride prevented him from doing so and he instead chose to save more of his pay to that end.
Halesworth never had the chance to fulfill that dream. One night, while walking on Blackheath and debating whether to accept a posting back to Africa, he had the distinct impression that he was being followed. He made briskly back for Blackheath Village, hoping to force his pursuer to reveal himself. That's the last memory he has of his mortal life.
Halesworth recovered his wits deep in the Suffolk countryside, drinking a drunken farmhand dry. His initial nights were hard. He had been a man of discipline and control, and now each night he struggled with a monster inside him that demanded blood. His survival instincts were strong, though, and he slowly began to adapt to unlife as a vampire.
For over three years he roamed the wilds of Suffolk, preying on the unwary and trying to reassert his old military discipline in himself. Finally, he succeeded, and shortly afterward his sire, Haedde, returned and took him back to London. She explained that she had seen in Halesworth a combination of the discipline and etiquette needed to survive in the city coupled with a love of the wilderness and ability to flourish there that would make him an ideal Gangrel voice in London's political structure. After a short period of tutoring him in the ways of Camarilla society, Halesworth's sire introduced him to the Kindred of the city and left him with instructions to do his best to make London's vampire society what he would wish it to be.
As the childe of an elder Gangrel who rarely spent any time in London, Halesworth was treated with a surprising amount of respect for one so newly Embraced. He took to the politics of the London Camarilla easily, finding it quite reminiscent of the officer's club in India. When he wasn't building his position, he would explore the city in a way he had never bothered to when still breathing. Seeing the slums and clubs of the city through the eyes of an animal was just as rewarding as exploring the wilds of India. Over the next few years, he came to appreciate just how much the laws of tooth and claw held sway even in the underbelly of this, the greatest city of the world.
On Mithras's return, the previous sheriff of the city quit, partially out of loyalty to Valerius and partially out of a sense of self-preservation, and left London to visit her sire. Mithras asked Anne which of London's Kindred knew the city best, and she didn't hesitate before recommending Halesworth. Halesworth surprised them both by suggesting that London was now too big to be adequately covered by a single sheriff, and he made the appointment of a second sheriff a condition of his acceptance. It was granted.
In the decades since, Halesworth has brought to his duties as sheriff a military precision and brutal efficiency that has made him an invaluable asset to Lady Anne. He has an almost paternal interest in his junior sheriff Juliet Parr, leading some to suspect that he hides a regret that he never married or had children. After decades of working together, the two decided to split their responsibilities, with Halesworth focusing on the rapidly expanding part of London south of the Thames, and Parr confining her work to areas north of the river.
Personality: Many Kindred new to London mistake the General for a Ventrue, such is his insistence on proper etiquette and behavior. This is just the result of his time in the army, though. Underneath, he yearns to explore the streets, squares and parks of the city. He is never happier than when he is stalking his night's prey, be it mortal or errant Kindred, through the city.
