Alice arrived in Arden when she was seven and a half. She was walking next to a rather bumbling, white-haired man in armour at the time. He had disheveled white hair, pale blue eyes, and the most untidy armour you have ever seen. His horse had the most uncanny resemblance to a wooden horse, and the man kept falling off it despite the fact that it seemed incredibly placid and well-behaved. Alice lived in Arden for some years after that, with whichever of her foster-siblings were around. She was quite sociable and happy to play with the others, but she did have a tendency to get distracted from time to time by things like white rose bushes, caterpillars, small rabbits in the undergrowth, even reflections of sunlight on the water of the streams in Arden.

She was happiest when making up stories or playing pretend games, at which she excelled. She enjoyed the more physical training involved in living in Arden, but somehow lacked the total dedication to become a good huntress or woods-woman. She is competent, because Uncle  Julian would not tolerate anything else, but she is not driven to excellence in this area. She does enjoy riding, and had a favourite pony, a black skittish creature who has grown with her until he is a black horse just right for Alice's adult build. Alice has explained to you more than once that the horse's name is called White Knight, that the horse's name is actually Stream Leaper, but that the horse is called Fire Eyes.

She started learning to play chess, and she could be quite good at it except that she usually starts talking to the chess pieces and seems to be waiting for them to talk back. That means that she stops paying attention to the game, at which point it's very easy to beat her. She does not seem to mind, and at times continues to move the pieces in ways that are not exactly consonant with the rules of chess.

Alice has spent the later part of her education in an Earth-like Shadow, studying some branch of physics to do with waves and particles. She becomes even less understandable than normal when she starts talking about her post-grad research, but she is quite enthusiastic about it.

Alice is quite tall and slender, with very long, very straight, very glossy dark brown hair, fine features, high cheekbones, hazel eyes. She favours white and rich, bright shades of pink.

She is also fond of writing and collecting poetry.

Jewel

Twinkle, twinkle, little shard,
life is cruel, death is hard.
Through the Throne Room air you fly,
Spear the Red King in the eye.
Twinkle, twinkle, little shard,
death is cruel, life is hard.

Scathach

How does the warrior demoness
Polish her shining mail
Removing all the gore and mess
From every golden scale

How gleefully she seems to grin
How swift extend her claws
And breathe your souls's sweet odour in
Her gently smiling jaws

Amberwocky

'Twas gloomfall, and the skeevy Brand
Did breme and Trumpdrop in the Red,
Which relatives were in his hand,
And which were better dead.

("skeevy": a portmanteau word meaning scheming and devious viz. Orun hiKharsan of the clan of the Hall of Stone)
("breme": a portmanteau word meaning to brood and scheme)
("Trumpdrop": to eavesdrop by Trump, of course)

Father Mandor

"You are old, Father Mandor," young Alice said,
"And your hair has become very white;
Yet you power up mirrors till you're nearly dead -
Do you think, at your age, it is right?"

"In my youth," the White Tiger declared to its child,
"I tried giving birth to a daughter;
But on further reflection she seemed somewhat wild,
And never would do what she oughta."

Young Hothead

Speak Thari to your little Bleys
Don't mind him when he teases
For he has many charming ways
And countless cunning wheezes

Chorus: Wow! wow! wow!

Just watch fair Bleys as he reclines
And in his bathtub lazes
While he assiduously refines
His latest mental mazes!

Chorus: Wow! wow! wow!

Last edited 26 August 2003