A Bit About You
Your Name ∙ Amity
Contact Information ∙ AIM - JuxtaposedMinds@gmail.com
Time Zone ∙ UTC/GMT +11
How You Found Us ∙ Word of mouth
Introductions
Character’s Name ∙ Alice Bailey
Age ∙ 21
Birthdate ∙ Midwinter
Gender ∙ Female
Residing ∙ Upmarket. She rents a two storey shop in the Upmarket district. The shop resides on the bottom floor and there is a small attic apartment on the top floor. By small, I mean open plan bedroom, lounge area, kitchen, and a separate privy. There is a courtyard out the back, which allows her to grow some supplies for the shop, though it is only big enough for pots, not a full size garden. She manages to accommodate for the size of both the shop and the living quarters by being completely organized.
Character Type ∙ Merchant class, though only inherited from her parents.
Occupation ∙ Healer. Alice has recently graduated from the university school for Healing. Because she is a new graduate, she is a little inexperienced, not to mention a little nervous about being out on her own. But, she is incredibly keen, and excited about running her own business. It is still very much a fledgling business.
Mindset
SexualOrientation∙Hetrosexual
Gift ∙ Alice has a moderate healing Gift (on a scale of 1-100 with Numair being 100, she is around the 40 area). Because she’s been schooled by the University she has excellent control over her Gift. While her Gift is good for healing, she struggles to cast even the smallest of wards because they cause her gift to deplete quickly. She is fairly apt at casting charms, especially charms associated with healing and health, and she can create and sustain light with no problems at all. Her Gift is a light violet colour.
Overall Personality ∙ Alice is somewhere between strong and fragile. Her strength manifests, not through physical strength, though, she is stronger than what she looks and what she realises, but through mental toughness. She has a tendency to hold herself at an emotional distance from other people. It is most evident in the fact that she tends to keep her emotions close to her chest, especially around people that she does not know well. She is very self-disciplined when it comes to emotions.
She has always been a person who does not talk about how she feels, and that is not likely to change in any way. She is initially reserved and reticent in general interactions with people. It makes her a good listener, but a little awkward to interact with upon first meetings. When around someone familiar - family member or friend – she is less awkward and more open and at ease in conversation. Little things tend to change; her body language becomes less distant and closed, her voice and facial features soften, she smiles more, and she is less guarded with her emotions.
She does actually form really strong attachments to people. When she makes friends, she makes friends for life. With one exception; she is big on loyalty, which makes it harder when the people closest to her betray her loyalty. She can be quite unforgiving in those circumstances, borne from the fact that, while she may not show it, it really does break her heart. She makes a wonderful friend, with a habit of trying to protect and look after her friends and family, even at her own risk. She is a little complicated in this regard. She has the need to protect the people that she loves, with very little capability to do so physically, but she also has this intrinsic need to be protected and cared for.
She has a huge heart, but she doesn't wear it on her sleeve. And, it is conditional. She is the kind of women who will bring a hungry kitten in from the cold, feed it, warm it and care for it for as long as it lets her, but if it was a hungry human, with a gambling problem who is not doing anything to help themselves she will walk away. She is a strong supporter of people looking after themselves and having the will power and determination to do so.
She is quite proud of the fact that she is largely independent, with her own business, making her own money and her own decisions in life. It is something that will not change, something that she will fight teeth and nail for. She takes her business seriously. She sees hard work as a challenge, and she loves to embrace challenges and to challenge herself.
Alice has a vulnerable side to her personality. Because she keeps a tight reign on her emotions, it does not surface very often. She guards it well. But, when it does, it is really utterly and completely adorable. She becomes cuddly, she becomes playful, she teases. It is almost like a release of that unwaivering emotional self-discipline. It only happens when around those that she loves deeply. It is important to her that it is not made out to be a big deal. For an unknown reason, she is a little awkward and embarrassed about it.
Another rare side to Alice’s personality is her temper. She is a naturally composed, level headed person who does not often lose her temper over little things or even some big things. But, when she does lose it, it is a little scary, but adorable as well. She will throw things, she will yell, she can become a tiny bit snarky and then she will peter out to silence and regret. Things like disloyalty, people who think they are better than others, and people who will not do anything to help themselves are triggers for her temper.
She is intelligent and it shows in eagerness to learn new things, an interest in how things work and an instinctive curiosity by the bucket-loads. She has a quick mind that is best put to use in a tight spot. She learns new things easily and quickly and she is generally resourceful. She likes to be in control of herself, her body and her surroundings, which is partially why she's so eager to know about the things around her. When she is not in control, especially in regards to her herself and her body, she tends to flail a little. Not overtly, but she does find herself becoming upset, confused or frustrated with the situation.
Reflection
Height ∙ She stands at around 5’9 or 175 centimetres
Overall Appearance ∙ Alice has long, thick and straight dark brown hair. It is the kind of brown that is deep and rich, almost a chocolate colour. She wears it long, down to her shoulder blades, with her fringe cut so that it barely reaches her chin. She likes to wear it down, due to the fact that she does not like the feeling of her hair being pulled tight. It gives her headaches. However, when she is working, she will pull it up into a loose pony tail so that it is not in her way. She has those big wonderful, warm eyes that are slightly almond in shape. They are a brown in colour as well, but a rich, golden brown.
Alice has quite petite facial features. Her face is almost love heart shaped, starting with a wider forehead and angling in and down to a small chin. Defined cheek bones, that are medium set, but give her face shape. She has a small nose, with a small bend in the bridge that makes the tip of her nose appear to angle upwards slightly. It is the result of a broken nose, sustained in childhood. Her lips are of medium fullness, the bottom lip fuller than the top. Her top lip is a little higher on one side, but it is not overly noticeable.
She is thin, but healthily so. She has a quick metabolism, so her body just does not store fat. She has wide shoulders, with visible collar bones, and long arms which end in feminine, graceful hands. Alice has a medium sized bust, which angles in towards her stomach, and arches out to medium sized hips. She gets the majority of her height from her legs. They are longer than her bust and quite shapely.
Backstory
Family History ∙ Her family are merchants, right back to her ancestors. Her father, Marcus, is a well off cloth merchant with a reputation for having a good head for business and an aptitude for being detached and ruthless when it comes to business deals and transactions. Her inherited the business from his father, who inherited it from his father. The Gift runs in Marcus’s side of the family, but has been known to skip generations. Her grandmother was Gifted, as was Marcus’s mother, but Marcus is not. Alice’s mother, Rosemary, is a seamstress. They met through the cloth merchant-seamstress connection. They married after a long and traditional courting and had three children together.
Family ∙ As mentioned her father Marcus is a cloth merchant, who sometimes has a tendency to bring his business attitude home with him. Marcus and Alice have that close father and daughter relationship. Rosemary and Alice tend to clash a little. They are both similar in personality. Marcus and Rosemary have three other children, William (aged 23) Jack (aged 21), and Archie (deceased at 9).
Birthplace ∙ Alice was born and raised in Port Caynn, Tortall
Background ∙ Alice was born in Port Caynn, the only girl child to Marcus and Rosemary Bailey. She has two older brothers – William at 23 years of age, and Jack at 21 years of age – and had a younger brother, Archie who was only ten months younger than Alice. Because the Bailey children were born within a few years of each other, they grew up together and became incredibly close. Their childhood was stable and relatively normal. They went to school, they made friends and they had devoted, loving parents. At eight years of age they were tested for the Gift and only Alice and Jack were found to be Gifted. Their parents tracked down a local tutor named Owen and thus, began their Gifted education.
Two months short of her tenth birthday, the Bailey siblings were climbing trees, despite receiving a warning from their parents regarding the dangers of tree climbing. The branch that Archie was standing on broke, and he fell, landing on his head. He never woke up. Marcus retreated into his business, putting distance between himself and his family. Alice was understandably affected by the death of her brother and the distance from her father. She had nightmares, and gained a fear of heights. She fell in with the wrong crowd of friends and for a while turned to thieving and rebellious behaviour.
In her own father’s absence, it was Owen who pulled her out of trouble, simply by being a father figure to her. Pushing her to be better and laying down the law when he needed to. Through his guidance she eventually found herself, and developed into a well rounded, ambitious teenager, who was eager to soak up every bit of knowledge that she could.
At the age of fourteen, Jack sat and passed his University entrance examinations, and a year later Alice followed suit. Having two children at University, strained the family’s finances and brought them to the edge of financial hardship. So, in order to increase business and hopefully bring in more money, William started working for Marcus and they were able to initiate a trade element to the business.
At eighteen Alice graduated with a degree in Healing, while Jack stayed on to do his mastery and left to take up a job as a Gifted teacher at a royal school in Port Legann. William and Marcus, with some financial backing from a money lender, managed to buy their own boat and employ a small crew. Marcus stayed ashore to deal with business, while William went aboard to oversee the trade element to the business. So at nineteen years of age, Alice decided that it was her turn to leave and make her own way in life. So, she headed for Corus, rented a shop and slowly set up her own business, of course with the help and backing of her big brothers, who had to...invest in her business to get it up and running.
Sample
Leaning against the counter, Alice lifted a hand to rub her tired eyes. The shop had been open for six hours and she had served only one elderly customer, who had read the sign hanging above the door with failing eyes. Instead of a healer, she was searching for a jeweller. Feeling guilty, or a trifle silly, she had brought a balm for her aching wrists and left, cheeks flushed with embarrassment. The plan was to serve enough customers to spread word of the opening. Word of mouth was a powerful tool for a business woman. She would consider herself lucky if the elderly customer went home and told her cat.
Shaking her head in an attempt to clear it, Alice used her foot to push herself off of the counter. She moved over to the open door, and peered out into the street. A man walked with purpose towards the shop across the street, his head bowed as he watched where he placed his feet instead of where he was going. She heard the bell tinkle as he entered the shop front. All around her people were coming and going, entering and leaving the shops. Why could she not be one of those shops? They did not even pause as they passed her by. Were they not curious by the opening of a new shop in their district?
Why was she doing this to herself? Today was just the first day. There was always tomorrow. She took a step back from the door, dragging it shut behind her and listening for the click to signal that the door had shut properly before pushing the lock across. Alice crossed back to the counter, bending over it, the tips of her toes lifting from the ground; she reached down to grab the bottle of red wine, and the glass, stowed away for the end opening day celebration.
Contract
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Amity Booth This post has been edited by Alice Bailey on Jul 1 2009, 06:25 AM
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