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History |
Alice Ferrengetti was born the daughter of a Midwestern-born
businessman and his doting and intelligent Southern wife. They
raised her to be able to think, which included being sang to nightly,
read to quite often, and always treated like an intelligent being
rather than a gibbering baby. As a result, she grew up with a
very keen eye, a love of books and music, and a sharp mind.
During her younger childhood, about the age of seven, Alice was given
a copy of The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland, and, from that
moment on, she was addicted. She became enamored with the main
character, even to the point of hero worship. She was given a
stuffed rabbit for her eighth birthday, and a full Alice in Wonderland
doll set that same Christmas. Truly, the works of Lewis Carroll
had become as much a part of her life as her family, which said a lot,
considering the loving environment she grew up in. A part of her
wished that she, too, could go off on the adventures of Alice Carroll.
(It should be noted here that it is widely believed that Ms. Carroll
based her work on her young daughter, and so that was the last name
many, including Alice, gave to the young heroine.)
For her 13th birthday, Alice received what had to be the gift of her
life; a beautiful blue dress, very similar to that worn by most of the
Alice illustrations most people know, as well as the cartoon movie
character. But even this could not prepare her for the discovery
she made early that summer. A new video game, simply titled
"American McGee's Alice." Her parents wouldn't let her have it,
due to some of the violent content, but one of her friends got it, and
both the girls became almost obsessed with beating the game.
Though, with their summer activities, they never managed to finish
it... not before tragedy befell young Alice that August.
It was almost surreal, how much it was like the opening of the game...
though there was no snow outside, she noticed. But there was the
fire, which started closest to her room, but seemed to spread, without
reason, towards her parents' room. She ran to them, trying to
save them, but all she could see was flame, and all she could hear
over the roar of the fire was her parents' frantic screams for her to
get out... and, after that, only screams of pain and death.
Horrified, shocked, but still carrying within her those last commands,
she ran out of the house, into the night, her only possessions were
the Alice-like party dress she had been daydreaming wearing, and her
stuffed rabbit. It was night... another difference she noticed,
idly, in the back of her mind. But all of this was forgotten by
the appearance of a very tall, very dapper, and very COLD looking man
before her. His name was Chris Keether, a 19th Century
businessman turned Malkavian Antitribu in the latter part of that
century.
Sensing the growing dementia within the young girl, he quickly
Embraced her... but could do no more before a small group of Camarilla
Brujah came upon the scene, and took it upon themselves to beat the
ever-living shit out of this Sabbat interloper. The fight raged
on, and during it, the house fell on both groups, incinerating them
without survivor. Without survivor... except for Alice, who had
sped away at Celerity speeds, trying to get away from this scene, and
make some sense out of the world around her. Instinctively
hiding from the sun, the game came back into her mind... and the next
night, Alice Ferengetti was truly dead.
Only Alice Carroll remained.
In her mind, she knew what had happened... sort of. Five years
after the events in Alice in Wonderland, a fire had raged
within her home, and had killed her family. And had killed her.
She was dead, but only in body... her spirit had been transported into
some sort of undead form, which could only truly exist for long in one
place. Wonderland. She would wander back in forth between
both realms, Earth, and Wonderland... though a twisted, dark, and
despair-filled version of it. When she was in the real world,
she would walk in the night, interacting with people as if she were
still alive. And sometimes, at random, she would slip into the
sunlight-filled world of Wonderland (for yes, it was daylight in the
Wonderland of her mind), fighting with card-guards, banshees, and
dodging the occasional visit by the Jabberwocky... all representations
of real life people, within her own mind. Early on, she
discovered a great knife (a large kitchen blade), which she realized
was the Vorpal Knife, and discovered how effective it was for killing
card-guards. She also discovered, that same day (for it was in
Wonderland that she did all of this) that the meta-essence of the
creatures she killed in Wonderland was the only thing that could
sustain her (AKA the blood of people she fought with, and killed,
within her Wonderland-state of being).
Now, Alice has wandered far from home, making her way to what in the
mortal world is Brentford North. But, in the world of
Wonderland, it is Queensland... where she must eventually hunt down
and face the Queen of Hearts, so that she might save Wonderland... and
save herself.
A few notes that must bee taken into consideration.
1. Alice has a state of dementia which changes back and forth at
random. She can be, at one moment, seeing the night world of the
real world, and everyone within it as they truly are. But then,
suddenly, her perception can change, and she will be in the sunlit
world of Wonderland, where everyone is represented with either one of
the diminutive inhabitants (similar to those in the video game), or
those friends (or foes, sometimes) of the actual book story.
Oddly enough, these changes from the original story to the video game
and back again are very random, with no noticeable seam or
transition... her mind simply grabs what it perceives as the best
representation of the person, and runs with it.
2. Her daytime hiding places vary, usually some abandoned building,
or, if she can find it, an old tomb within the cemetery. She
knows she is dead, though she does not understand what she TRULY is.
3. Alice's emotional state also varies. When her mind latches
onto the book world, she is very happy and chipper. When it is
the video game world she is in, she is very cold, detached, and
sarcastic. And, when in the real world, she is a frightened 13
year old girl again, trying to survive around people who are, unlike
her, mostly still alive.
4. She can only feed when she is in Wonderland, because she doesn't
understand that it is blood she drinks... she thinks it is the
meta-essence she feeds on, as in the video game. Remaining in
the real world too long would eventually cause her to go into blood
frenzy, from a desperate lack of blood in her system for not feeding.
And, in her mind, she only feeds off of the "meta-essence" of the evil
creatures she fights.
5. Somewhere, Alice has learned to speak with a British accent.
Anyone from England will know it is not right, but others might be
easily fooled. This is instinctive and she doesn't know she is
doing it... but she also doesn't know she's NOT British.
6. Empathy Specialty: "Reading the Eyes." Alice has learned from
years of practice to sense how someone is feeling by just looking at
them. It isn't just in the eyes, but the entire body.. but Alice
would explain it as "The eyes are the windows to the souls."
7. Animal Ken Specialty: "Rapport with Cats." Alice has, for as
long as she can remember, a rapport with cats. They just love
her, and she loves them. It has gotten to the point, now, to
where she actually has befriended a very large number of cats
throughout the city, many of which have become her ghouls.
8. Melee Specialty: "The Vorpal Knife." There is no Vorpal
Knife. The blad Alice uses so well is actually nothing more than
a large kitchen knife.
9. Lore: "Alice in Wonderland." If it's ever even been said,
posted, or anything else about Alice, then she had a working knowledge
of it.
10. Herd 5. Alice has a very large number of cat ghouls.
To explain ghouling them in her mind, she saw each as the Cheshire
Cat, needing a bit of her meta-essence... which she gladly gave.
He then promised to give her some of his own if she needed it.
This happened many times, and, eventually, she had DOZENS of them.
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