Alice Liddell

Alice Liddell is the "First Alice" to visit Wonderland. As a Namesake she was extraordinarily powerful and survived one of Calliope's most tumultuous eras.

Alice, Beginning

The Namesake story literally begins with Alice. Pastor Charles Lutwidge Dodgson knows where the missing Alice Liddell is, because he is a Writer and can sense her in the Wonderland. Naturally, he cannot tell anyone. Without warning a portal opens in his house and through it falls a very young Alice. While he is grateful she has returned, he knows her arrival will only lead to more questions.

Alice's life story threads through the narrative of the Namesake webcomic, which is useful in understanding the history of Calliope, Namesakes, their worlds, and the powers that plague them.

The Liddells

Alice had two sisters, Lorina (Ina) and Edith. Ina was the oldest and behaved in a disapproving manner towards Charles, but there is an implication that she had feelings for him and felt they could never be reciprocated because the poison of Alice was 'too deep'.

Edith was the youngest sister, and Alice's raw powers reacted to her jealousy at her engagement. She summoned a portal (though not by plan), drawing Edith and her finance through. He never returned, but Edith did...decapitated by the Queen of Hearts. Although this was a disaster, Edith's body was accompanied by a Cheshire Cat, Chester, who stayed Alice's closest companion for the rest of her life.

After this tragedy, Alice agreed to go to Calliope for training. She first met Dro here, and Thumbelina, current head of Calliope. Thumeblina scolded her for not mastering her powers and leveled a challenge to that resonated with both Namesakes named Alice: "Prisoner or Warrior?" Her growth was slow but steady and she became a valued fighter for Calliope against the incessant ghosts.

Alice's Command of Calliope: There's Trouble in Oz
"...Liddell took his post."

A single comment by One tells us that Alice wrested control of Calliope from Henry Jekyll, a personality that later fused into him. She was against tampering with stories (in these days she would probably be appalled at online fan fiction). We don't know for certain what their specific fight was about other than this slim detail. "Liddell punished any writer that went off script." On the other hand, we don't know what Jekyll had actually done. Alice has motive to be as protective as possible for the Namesakes, knowing how dangerous it is to be one, and how entire worlds can be affected by a re-write. Alice commanded Calliope through difficult years. She saw the introduction of Oz and Neverland into the Bone Door with L.Frank Baum and J.M.Barrie's Peter Pan, and was a reluctant fighter against the Writer's Strike (led by Baum) in 1912. After the Strike there was prosperity, and Calliope expanded and outgrew its Lister Drive location in Liverpool, England and moved to its current location next to Alexandria, England.

The Writer's Strike was painful. It took the presence of The Founder to make a peace in which 'everyone is unhappy'. Her beloved Writer, her husband, sister, and most of her children had died; her remaining son and the 'harpy' he married made her miserable. She was feeling at her most alone when she confronted a Shadow-puppet of her older sister Ina. There, she learned the truth of Charles' death:

Ina eventually murdered Charles after a lifetime of resentment. She brought frost fairies to his bedroom and released them so his lungs would freeze as he laid in bed. The world thought it pneumonia, and so did Alice, until The Founder warned her with a sinister hint, and Ina calmly admitted to it seconds before she killed Alice, too. Her faithful Cat Chester was slain too, but Alice hung on to life so she could shield his new incarnation from the cold until help came.

Alice died, but not her legacy. Her Vorpal Sword passed on to Alice Purcell, and with it, her memories. Her beloved Cat became the new Alice's companion. It would probably annoy One a great deal if he knew his old enemy was so unquenchable.