The Good Alder Kevan Harthford, Baron of Detroit, Advisor to the Prince, Advocate, Speaker, and Interpreter is a dominant force on the political landscape of Detroit, despite having been in the depths of Topor for the last eight years.  He has accomplished this through the works of his two Stewards, Russel Harlow and Eve, who continue to advance his agenda as Speakers for the Silent despite his Topored state.  While he may not have the reach he once had, his Childre have ensured that his base of power has not wholly eroded during his long sleep.

The Baron was long considered a fierce rival of Prince Dominic Acosta, though any rivalry was fought with diplomacy and information rather than knife or fang.  Despite this, the two often worked in concert in matters of great import to Detroit's First Estate, the Baron serving as a close confidant and advisor of his Prince.  It is an unspoken truth that the Carthian's coup within the city had only been possible when Alder Harthford withdrew his support of the Prince, and it is rumored that Primus Acosta somehow engineered the Baron's Topor in order to remove the distraction from the field.

Given to cold and yet overly flowery language, Harthford is a master of the political doublespeak that is the Hallmark of the First Estate. He is a feared and respected diplomat, having immigrated from the old world to the new sometime near the United State's founding.  He has contacts in every covenant, and friends in every scheme, making him a force to be reckoned with among both his allies and rivals.