eachdraidh | video, open to both courts (action if you are at the barrel)

[ Alice has been at the Barrel for a few weeks now. No one's asked her to cook and clean, but it's been a bit of an engraved habit brought over from her time in London. It's only through getting children's clothing and interacting with the nearby town that it's been plaguing the back of her mind. Unlike the last time she's popped on the lockets back in December, Alice looks healthier, but she is still pretty thin.

As usual. And as usual, her white rabbit is sitting there beside her, munching away at a bowl of food. She's not good at public speaking. ]

Hello.

These may be strange times to open a dialogue about this subject while both of our courts prepare for another skirmish. There are plenty of natives here of various ages who have been hit the most by war, especially children. I used to be the maidservant of an orphanage back in Whitechapel London.

[ Her face only flashes with a hint of pain when she mentions it. ]

Houndsditch Home for Wayward Youth—if you heard of it. And the children there came from similar backgrounds, that they were all traumatized and lost family either by sickness, death, or murder. These children are often overlooked, sometimes they are swept up by those with ill intentions and treated even worse. But they are still children and they still have pieces of their innocence left.

I may not have the resources nor the... capacity right now to replicate that orphanage, but I still want to help the youngest natives here have the smallest comforts like food or clothing. I've only had a handful of opportunities in Redgate and the Station to make good on my word and clearly I need the additional hands.

In addition to natives being sent away from the path of war, I hope that there can be a way to provide resources for them or find them the appropriate care somewhere down the line. I know that it is silly to think of such a thing when all the adults in this world are preparing for battle, but they are so young and they deserve so much more while they are being guided to safety.

But if I were to oversee these things, I reserve the right to be very picky. The children I cared for weren't even spared from the cruelty of adults, even the proprietor of that orphanage.

Surely my friends will be thrilled if I focused my attention on children rather than them. I know they must tire of my nagging.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It can become the top priority for a few, at the least. It should if the people here have hearts at all.

[Sorry Alice, he can't fathom how a doctor could be a bad thing.]

No, I have never heard of it, have you any idea when it was in operation? I lived only until 1885, which may be the issue, though I suspect our times are not so dissimilar?

[He frowns.] I can't imagine why any would turn you away. I admit it is a brief acquaintance, yet you seem to me to be incredibly hardworking and kind. Precisely what any should look for in an employee. It makes your misfortune all the worse...that is no place at all for a young woman to be forced to retreat.

Not everyone has hearts. [ She cannot help but quietly correct. ] It would be naive to think otherwise. Cruelty and bloodlust exists on both sides.

[ Flattery won't get anyone anywhere, as far as she's concerned. The comments of her being hardworking get a small scoff. Alice will always think so lowly of herself. ]

I am 19 years old, unmarried, and without a family and an estate. There wouldn't be anything but becoming a maidservant, lest I be out on the streets in Whitechapel, doing who knows what.

[ Prostitution, much like the other women around her age with severe addictions. Even they're bonier than Alice and that's nothing to brag about. Yet, even with that, the chances of anyone taking a former asylum patient are even slimmer. ]

I wish I could say when Houndsditch opened up; it had to be for a little over decade, I am not sure. But it was ten years ago for you -- 1875. Moorsgate Station is complete and nothing has changed since then. It's still a rat's nest and I wouldn't dream of stepping out at night nor let children out in the streets to play during the day.

[Pointless, blind cruelty and bloodlust. Something he's far too aware of, yes. Still, he can hope for the best from all people.]

You are wise not to take that route, such lives are bound to be cut too terribly short by just that cruelty inherent in so many, or else disease, or any other fact of such overt poverty... [He presses his lips together in thought.] Still, that some better household would deny honest work to one in need who is so willing is simply terrible. If it is 1875, then I suppose I was not so familiar with the area at the time, perhaps the building has closed by that time. Regardless, the offer may be of little use, but, if you should ever return, go to the house of Mr. Utterson of Gaunt Street. He is a trustworthy fellow, between him and myself we could come up with some better housing and position for you.

... A generous offer, but I would have to decline.

[ How soon, she thinks, would she rather work in another stuffy mansion than to end up back in Whitechapel like that. It wouldn't be such a big deal if it wasn't another man offering her work again. Had this been a woman, Alice wouldn't be so leery. ]

Truthfully? I would much rather stay here in Drabwurld than end up in that god-forsaken rat hole. What I did was certainly meager and hard work, but here? Here I have more respect than independence, much like a man. Whitechapel is certainly no Oxford.

[ Biased! Then again, her father was the dean of the university. ]

So it may have closed -- that doesn't surprise me. The children would have been sent to other orphanages or some would run away. I wish I could say I was surprised.

[ And that pains her more than it should. ]

Truly, one of the greatest accomplishments of the modern world and of this world is that equality of the sexes. One would think in our time, the rule of a queen might do more to lessen the gap, and yet, it is not so. One cannot blame you for preferring the Drabwurld, surely for a great many reasons.

If only the same could be said for those children.

It will take more than Her Majesty Queen Victoria to abolish old mindsets no matter how strong he is.

[ She tries what she can not to seethe at the thought. ] Blame the man who was supposed to help them. Though, in retrospect, for them to be sent off to other orphanages... it would be better for them.

[ She hopes. ]

Ah. One who would abuse his power, is it? I do not voice such strong opinions with any ease, it is something which tends to be best kept to oneself. Yet there is nothing so detestable as the abuse of power, to harm or torment those without.

[A pause.] Do you mind my asking what he did? ...Of course, if you would rather not think on it, then please do not.

More or less. The worst sort of man.

[ She's so glad that he's dead, too. He will always be the core reason why Alice has taken to be so violent in battle. ]

I would rather not, sir. I will say that he is dead and that matters. I do not speak of the acts he committed other than the world would be better off without him.

I understand. I am glad to hear it, a man like that should never have lived to begin with. No wonder then, that the orphanage should close, if he is gone. I shall pray the children do not end up on the streets themselves.

[Backtracking, though, he smiles.] I am no 'sir', however! Dr. Henry Jekyll, it's a pleasure to meet you, miss...?

[At least with her time period, it's safe to give his real name. Thinking it less worrying than Berserker would be.]

[ It doesn't matter what type of doctor they are, Alice will always be a little nervous around them. ]

A doctor? [ Maybe a medical doctor would be less of a worry, she's not sure. ] Well, a pleasure, doctor. My name is Alice Liddell.

[He nods, offering a smile.] Miss Liddell. That's right. If your children need any such help, do call upon me. I can offer medicines and supplies to use as you will as well.

[ Neutral. She can do a neutral face. Alice gives a small nod. ]

I shall keep it in mind, Dr. Jekyll, thank you.

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