Intro
Never been one for following the rules.
Back in the time of the Red King I'd been a bit of a wild Wonderlander. I was young, fresh off the press and fit to break the laws set down by society. It wasn't ever anything major, just a little stealing here or there. Just to keep me fed. I'd lived on the streets since I was just a boy of twelve. Workin' for who I could and stealing from who I couldn't work for. I'm not proud of it. But it kept me alive.
Now days I run a tea shop. Nothin' too spectacular. But you wouldn't believe how much those junkies out there would pay just to feel. Some love the taste of desire, some the taste of lust. Others just want contentment, excitement or joy. Newest on the market as of today is a nice dose of clear conscience. That's going to hit big I just know it. There's a lot these Wonderland folk need to wash their hands of in these times.
And as always, Hatter's livin' on the brink of it all. But now days it's much more...shall we say risky. This here is the time of the Queen of Hearts. An awful creature born of too much power in the hands of a madwoman. She uses her "emotions in a bottle" to keep the public starvin' for a quick fix. This keeps them passive and out of her way. If you get too cocky you'll loose your head. And I don't mean this in the giddy I've just gone mad type of way that's full of rainbows and nice little voices in your head telling you the tea's gone cold.
I spend my time playing nice with the Queen and her Suites so I can stay in good with 'em and still keep the rebellion fed. I smuggle food and clothes to them whenever I can and they give me a nice cut of tea. Not the multicolored liquids distilled from human emotion that the Queen and her lackeys spend their time peddling to us Wonderlanders, born with frayed and dull emotional capabilities. I'm no addict. I mean the tea that came before the Queen seized power. Just good old herbs 'n spices. Those were the days.
But those days are gone. Possibly forever. But I'll do my part, as much as I can. That's all people really can do, yeah? It'd be wonderful if the rebellion could summon up a miracle, but I'm thinkin' the universe is fresh out of those and it seems Wonderland is running short on the wonderful as well. And all I can do today is sit in the shop and wish for a little excitement that I'm sure never to get...
...maybe I should be careful what I wish for.