Edmund Dedlock

[Edmund Dedlock]

Character Sheet Player Profile
    Name: Clare
    Email: turnocknrg1989@gmail.com
    Age: 30
    How you found us: Internet browsing
    What is your background and experience in roleplaying: Have worked on a few historical/real life boards for a few years now but Restoration/late Stuart British history is my favourite period and something I studied at University.
    What themes do you wish to explore in our game: Politics; humour; romance; ambition
    What makes you excited to do in our game: Work with other talented writers in creating a Restoration world
    What are you NOT looking for in our game: I'm very open at present!
     
    Character Profile  
    Character Name: Edmund Dedlock
    Title: Lord Banwell
    Estate Name: Axbridge Court
    Nationality: English
    Age: 30
    Gender: Male
    Eye Colour: Blue
    Hair Colour: Dark brown 
    Avatar: Martin Freeman
     
The First Impression & Physical Appearance 

Edmund is 5'7 and, in appearance and initial mannerisms, is very much an average male of the upper classes. He adopts an air of superiority and walks with an affected strut. If you had to pick one defining initial feature, however, it would be his hair. Unlike many at present who are adopting the French fashion for periwigs, he retains a full head of luscious, long, chestnut curls and these he treats with an almost feminine (and obsessive) level of care to the point where it can be easily ridiculed. Frequent washing, use of perfumes and oils on it - some of the best courtesans lavish less love on their locks. With Edmund aesthetics are of paramount importance. He enjoys fine clothes and wastes a large amount of money on attempting to keep up with fashion. Some might call him a peacock. They would probably be right!     

Personality

Edmund would like to think that he is, and will be, a politician of great skill, gravity and historical importance. Observed dispassionately, this is unlikely, at best. One unkind but apt way to describe him would be "nice, but dim". He is well meaning. At times he has an almost puppy-dog, boyish enthusiasm for novelty, mischief and fun. He is not ignorant and is not stupid but, thus far in life, he has not had to, or felt the need to, apply himself. He is therefore a dilettante at best when it comes to greater affairs and taxing situations. Perhaps with the right mentoring he could flourish. Instead, he prefers to take the easy way out of things. He has been known to lie rather than deal with awkward situations. He is ambitious but, as his ability does not necessarily match his vision, he can be grumpy, unsettled, bitter and bitchy to those whose success he watches. He is a bit of a "good time guy" and you would be hard pressed to find a more affable companion for an evening at the theatre or drinking, smoking and playing cards, or even perhaps an evening at the stews of Covent Garden. His love of aesthetics translates easily into a love of pleasure. Beautiful ladies and men with a passion for debauchery will find him a boon companion.
     
Wealth Level :
    

Average
     
Housing:

St Marks
     
Benefits, Challenges

Benefits

Baron (+1) - he is the heir to the Earl of Winscombe and, as such, carries the courtesy title of Baron Banwell.

Fashionable (+1) - he lives to be a trend setter and is something of a peacock, his style can border on the outrageous.

Challenges

Son with a living father (-1) - his father, the third Earl of Winscombe, is very much alive. His father despairs of his son and would see him well married and embarking on a sensible court career instead of dandifying. The result is an ongoing feud with Winscombe holding the purse strings (NOTE - perfectly happy for Mods to play Winscombe and make life as difficult as they like for Edmund!).

In debt (-1) - requiring his father to pay his way and so often fighting with him, Edmund has racked up considerable debts in his dandyish ways and this looks set to only get worse unless he can find a way out of this.

Bad at hard work (-0.5) - pathologically lazy, although he is not a fool, he finds it almost impossible to apply himself to complex work and would rather fob it off or avoid doing it. This would make things very difficult if he was put in a position of responsibility.
     

Origin/Background

Edmund Dedlock was born on 29 May 1648, and thus shares a birthday with Charles II. He was born at the family seat of Axbridge Court, Somerset, a former monastery bought by his ancestors during the Dissolution and later converted into a modest country estate. His father, Robert Dedlock (born 1623) is the third Earl of Winscombe. The Dedlock family first appear in the annals of history during the reign of Henry VII when their first named member, Richard Dedlock, became a Sergeant at Law and, in this capacity, made a respectable fortune sufficient to elevate himself and his offspring to the position of gentry. His sons and grandsons invested their wealth in trade and, in particular, sugar plantations in the Caribbean (including, more recently following its conquest, estates on Jamaica bought by the Third Earl). In this capacity they own a large number of slaves and a lot of the family's wealth is generated by their suffering, something which Edmund and his family try to ignore. The family was ennobled in the early days of James I after giving the new Scotch monarch a suitable gift to "look kindly on them".

Edmund's mother, Eleanor Dedlock (nee Clarence), came from a small, local Somerset gentry family and died in 1668. Throughout Edmund's childhood she was a stand-offish figure who lacked a maternal streak. He remembers her sadly with a sense of loss, not necessarily for her but more for the loss of a chance at a real, maternal relationship in his life. Such lack of childhood attention is probably a cause of his later "acting out". The couple had had three sons before the birth of Edmund, all of whom had died within days or weeks of their birth. Edmund was their first child to survive the perils of childhood and, as eldest son, is the heir to the cantankerous Earl of Winscombe and bears the courtesy title of Lord Banwell. He has a younger brother, Thomas (born 1656) and an unmarried sister, Eleanor (born 1657).

Edmund's childhood was unexceptional. Privately  tutored at home, more time was spent escaping lessons and running wild in the country rather than at study. His tutors, picked by his austere, pedantic, scholarly father, were the opposite of what the boy needed. They did not try and make learning fun or attempt to tailor what was taught to their charge's personal interests. This has filled Edmund with a lifelong aversion to learning and hard work.

In 1669, aged 19, his father decided that it was necessary to improve his son's education by funding an "educational" trip through Europe. Stops included Paris, Turin, Milan, Rome, Naples and finally Venice. It is safe to say that, during this time, Edmund learned little of historical or cultural merit. He did, however, learn many life lessons. Such as how to haggle with and deal with women of easy virtue; how to appreciate fine wine and, more importantly, handle a hangover. He learned the best ways to secure credit and then avoid debt collectors. He also learned a lot from the fantastically gaudy fashions of Venice - the exuberant colours, fabrics and accompaniments. The travel allowance provided was soon dissipated on whores, drink, gambling and fine clothes. Having racked up considerable debts, an appeal for a loan to his father was met with paternal fury and resulted in Edmund having to essentially flee Venice incognito to avoid his creditors.

He returned to England in 1672 and found himself at a loose end. Returning to Axbridge Court, he took up the easy lifestyle of a country squire - hunting, drinking and attending the small, local functions of the local gentry and nobility. His father attempted to find a course for his son, considering buying him a commission in a regiment, hoping that a taste of military life might straighten the lad up and give him some purpose. Edmund was violently opposed to this and the rift between father and son widened. To this day his father retains his threat to attempt to force his son into the army by closing the purse strings. Attempts to find him a bride, preferably with money, were met with equal scorn by Edmund. He was quite happy consorting with his lower class local, rural concubines and had no desire to settle down to matrimonial respectability. He knows he cannot escape this forever. Funnily enough he would actually like to get married, just not to someone of his father's choosing. A popular member of the local social scene, he does very well at "people skills" which is something which, if he applied himself, he could perhaps put to good use. Instead, it continued as him being simply just a "jolly good fellow." 

Fortunately for him, his early 1670 years were remarkably free given that his father spent a large amount of time in London, attending the Lords or to the social circuit of the capital (or to meetings with his estate and business managers). His presence was felt through a regular stream of overbearing, angry letters speedily sent to the family estate. Finally, by early 1678, Earl Winscombe had had enough of hearing the stories of his wastrel heir and his lazy ways. He summoned Edmund to London where he intends to have him come to some sort of good or -failing that - at least have him under his censorious paternal eye. As the threat was accompanied by the promise that his allowance would be stopped if he did not agree, Edmund had little choice but to dutifully and filially travel to London.
     
    Goals

(1) Escape the tyranny of his father - either through natural ways (succession to the title) or, more immediately, through finding some sort of financial means of escaping his current monetary dependency which allows father to dictate to son.

(2) Continue his debauched ways - he wants to find fun, adventure and sport!

(3) He would like to find some means of advancing his "career" if only because he thinks it is his right as an eventual peer of the realm.

(4) A flirtation and perhaps more? A wife not of his father's choosing would be ideal!

Edited October 2, 2019 by Edmund Dedlock

[Defiance]

Welcome to Age of Intrigue, your Character Sheet has been ACCEPTED!

 

Please make sure you check our timeline and note that your arrival will be on WEDNESDAY the 6th!