Background: The youngest and, it is thought, only surviving child of the explorer and Egyptologist Sir Preston Firth. She’s been a ward of the state for nearly 15 years, following a disastrous expedition led by her father seeking the Tomb of Thutmose II.
The exact nature of the calamity was never known. Wardens found a scene of great violence in the encampment, with huge rents torn though the tents and monstrous tracks leading to one of the nearby pyramids. When a sortie was attempted to find survivors, the rescuers found themselves driven back by Sir Firth himself, along with other adult members of his party, all driven raving mad by an unknown malady. In the end, the wardens sealed them up in the pyramid, still alive, and took Eunice back to Britain.
It was hoped that the child had escaped whatever curse had befallen her family, but that proved only partly true. Though she never fell into the madness demonstrated by her father, as she Eunice developed a terrible temper marked by unnatural strength that deformed her very body. That, and a tendency to ask uncomfortable questions, led physicians to conclude the girl and her family had likely suffered an attack by a sphinx. A course of therapy was enacted — a constant stream of puzzles and logic problems to keep her overactive brain engaged, and regular vigorous exercise — she was conscripted into the Wardens at young age — to slake her bloodthirst.
It’s worked well for years, but Eunice has grown considerably more independent-minded as she’s neared her 18th birthday. Worse, she’s been attending meetings of the Reform League and the Kensington Society that are pushing for greater voting rights.
