ALICE

Biography
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Biography

“Begin at the beginning and go on ‘till you come to the end; then stop.”

Alice Pleasance was born the daughter of some obscure nobleman in Oxfordshire in the reign of Queen Victoria. From the very beginning she was a bit of an odd child, “away with the fairies” as her teachers so frequently described her. She would doodle on the margins of her notebook during lessons and spend entire evenings reading fairy tales in her family’s library.

Her attention was always caught by medieval stories. Valiant knights and beautiful princesses, slaying some fearsome beast or overcoming impossible odds in the name of chivalry. But Alice never wanted to be a princess, like the other girls. She wanted to be the knight.

And then, she found Wonderland.

“Oh, you can’t help that. We’re all mad here.”

Endless rabbit holes, shrinking potions, talking woodland creatures, a vanishing cat. A smoking caterpillar, flamingo croquet bats, a moralizing Duchess and an angry Queen. Nothing in Wonderland made sense but that’s what made it wonderful to Alice. Even if she struggled and at times despaired through it, she would always look back fondly upon that adventure.

Next came the Land of the Looking Glass. Red and white queens, contradicting brothers and more poetry than she cared to hear, this proved more harrowing than Wonderland. But she got to be Queen, even if for one day. Even as she awoke from the dream, she would never quite forget it.

“Who in the world am I? Ah, that’s the great puzzle.”

Alice, even in the real world, went on to have a most unusual life. Uninterested with the trappings of noble ladies, standing pretty and not saying very much to get the best husband possible, she moved to London and began to write. She unwound the mad memories from her head into captivating stories, growing quite a large readership - an achievement for any woman at the time, but especially at her young age.

Respected as she was, she still had that odd air about her. That sort of wandering look as she tuned out of a conversation. Always away with the fairies, she was, always back in Wonderland.

And then, one day, during a walk in the park, she spotted a white rabbit. It stood out like a sore thumb on the green grass, and particularly so because it wore a blue coat and carried a golden pocket watch. With her heart beating faster in her chest, she followed it into a rabbit hole at the base of a tree.

“Curiouser and curiouser.”

Wonderland, once again. But something was wrong. A land of overwhelming red, resembling the medieval castles and towns she had much fantasized about in her childhood and on the pages of her books. The White Rabbit had not passed her by pure chance. No; she had been summoned back here.

The Queen of Hearts was dead. The Red Queen, dominant across the land. The White Queen, subjugated and driven to submission. Somehow, someway, the Red Queen had found a way into Wonderland and taken her forces to conquer it. Perhaps she was searching for Alice, wanting revenge after mistreatment years prior.

But Alice was not a warrior. What could she do? She was only an author, but she could learn to fight. So thus Alice spent a much longer time in Wonderland; training with the White Knights, learning the way of battle. She took to swordsmanship much faster than anyone expected. Perhaps it was meant for her.

“Off with her head!”

And one day, the training was over. Wielding an enchanted blade from the White Queen, she led an assault on the Red Queen’s castle. Her forces fought bravely, and Alice won the day. She would be Queen once more.

Or so the story should have ended, if not for a last twist, right at the curtain call. The White Queen’s sword was not enchanted at all, but cursed. The blood she had spilled with it rusted its edge, turned it an ugly bronze. Without it, the White Queen was able to dispose of her, sending her through a rabbit hole, exiled from Wonderland.

But where had this lead? The place she came out of was neither Wonderland or London. No, a much stranger land she was stuck in, nothing to her name but a rusted blade. The rabbit hole was closed; the only way was forward.

So Alice continued, traveling as a knight errant through the strange lands she encountered. Perhaps if she helped people, she could restore the magic in this blade. And, perhaps, the next rabbit hole would lead her to the way home.

White Sword: The sword given to her by the White Queen upon her return to Wonderland. Powerful at the outset, it has rusted from the Queen’s curse upon it. However, it seems to gain some of its old strength back when protecting the innocent - and Alice suspects there might be greater power hidden in the blade still.

Looking Glass Shield: A steel shield. The front is covered with a large shard of glass, the very same Alice stepped through to reach the Looking Glass Land. Any projectile thrown into it will be sent to parts unknown.

White Armour: A set of medieval armour made by the White Queen’s Army, but tailored to fit her much different frame. Whilst it has no special properties, it is quite durable, and surprisingly lightweight.

Anglo-Saxon Bag: A bag from the couriers of the White King. It resembles a simple knapsack, but it is impossibly large inside. Alice is quite sure that if someone fell in, they would never come out.

White Rabbit’s Stopwatch: A stopwatch given to Alice by the White Rabbit. It has no special properties, but she always has the feeling she’s late for something when she checks the time.

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