The Dauntless Temperance Campaigner

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"She has an agenda for London, and all the lands around London, for that matter: clean living, virtue, and tea."

The Dauntless Temperance Campaigner is a fierce but grandmotherly activists, who advocates for social causes and morals improvements.

Description

The Campaigner is a member of Sophia's club. Though she isn't a Monster-Hunter herself, she attends for the tea and conversation. She leads the club's relief efforts. She has strong moral convictions and has the chops to back it up. She can hold her own in an arm-wrestling match against The Bishop of Southwark.

She has a deep affinity for animals, particularly Cats, and dislikes seeing them in captivity. She is known to purchase caged animals simply to free them. She also passionately opposes “Pass the Cat,” a game where creatures—often cats—are boxed up and passed around.

She also lends her respectable image to promoting products from reputable producers—provided they align with her moral standards. If an advertiser or product falls short, they will be met with swift condemnation. Her activism extends to staging protests outside establishments she believes harm the moral health of London.

She visits the sick throughout the city, offering them hearty potato soup for their convalescence. On occasion, she attends poetry readings in Veilgarden, where she loudly voices her opinions. She is particularly critical of poetry that includes pagan elements, excessive alcohol references, or poor rhyming.

Despite her commitment to rehabilitating criminals, she faces personal conflicts. She once dined with a Tomb-Colonist, only to discover he had once been a notorious hedonist who led others—her niece included—astray. Though he had reformed, she could not bring herself to forgive him.

She was also a close friend of the late March, a member of The Calendar Council, before they ordered his assasination. It was she who found his body.

Mayoral Campaign

"A fixture among London's social reformers, she has a plethora of worthy causes, all of which she is passionately devoted to. Her slogan is 'Teatime for London.'"

In the year 1895, the Campaigner announced her candidacy for the Mayoral election of London. Her platform included: improved conditions and greater rights for London’s workers, debtors, and tenants, establishment of "houses of respite and healing" to aid addicts and the impoverished, advocacy for London's assorted animals, crackdown on Spirifage, and finally increased tea drinking. Her campaign was supported by reformed poets, well-meaning members of Society, and deacons and deaconesses of the Church, all rallying under her emerald banners. Claymen also rallied behind her, recognizing her past advocacy on their behalf. Supporters received a bearskin hat that they later wore as statement pieces at the theatre.

However, her campaign also revealed tensions. Revolutionaries sought favors from her, only to be rebuffed. She still held a grudge against them for the murder of her friend and fellow temperance advocate, John Cassell.

Her campaign headquarters were housed in the Guildhall of the Humble Order of Mudlarkers and Steeplejacks, a modest tenement on the edge of Spite. There, she detailed plans to waylay honey-dealers and buy out Prisoner's Honey, though she soon found herself overwhelmed by the sheer volume of illicit substance acquired. With no alternative, she dumped it all down a "honey-well."

Her grandson, Chuffy McAvoy-Dauntless, a tearaway member of the Young Stags, supported her efforts despite their differences. He and his fellow Young Stags guarded the honey-well and later helped her set up a picnic at The Fruits of the Zee Festival.

As the election progressed, she gradually lost influence—losing elite support and facing scrutiny over the honey-well incident. Still, she marched through London’s streets with her head held high, determined to bring about change.

Ultimately, she and The Implacable Detective lost the Election to Feducci. Yet, undeterred by defeat, the Dauntless Temperance Campaigner immediately set out on a new campaign.

Historical Inspirations

The temperance movement in the United Kingdom emerged in the early 19th century as a response to widespread alcohol consumption and its associated social problems, including poverty, domestic violence, and public disorder. Initially, the movement promoted moderation, but over time, many advocates pushed for total abstinence, or "teetotalism." Organizations such as the National Temperance League, established in 1856, played a pivotal role in promoting these ideals.

Women were instrumental in the temperance movement, often linking the fight against alcohol to broader social reforms. Figures like Lady Henry Somerset championed both temperance and women's rights. The Dauntless Temperance Campaigner's friend and fellow activist, John Cassell, was a prominent temperance advocate and publisher. Cassell used his platform to promote temperance and educate the working class. Additionally, the Campaigner's focus on animal welfare aligns with the broader humanitarian concerns of the period, paralleling activists like Thomas Bywater Smithies, who campaigned for both temperance and animal welfare.