“The significant problems we face cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.” -- Albert Einstein

Alexis’ hands shook, ever so slightly. The clan sword, covered in blood, dropped from his hand. As his eyes came back into focus, he saw what was left of Harold MacKail, the would-be usurper of the MacKail clan, on the floor. As well as the remains of his wife, his two sons, maybe his daughter. Alex couldn’t tell. What was left of them was scattered around the room, unidentifiable.

Somewhere in the back of Alex’s head, voices came to light.

“What did they ever do to you? You should be ashamed!”

“Good job! Your father will be proud, Alexis. Maybe he’ll finally accept you.”

“Ooo, look at all the blood. A pity to waste it!”

“That chair looks dangerous. You should attack it before it hurts you!”

Alex finally shook his head, sorted through his thoughts, and made a decision. He picked up his sword, cleaned off the blood on a rag, and then dashed across the room.

“Die, you evil denizen of hell!” Alex brought the clan sword down hard, neatly slicing the chair in two. “Your devil kin should think twice before coming here again!” Feeling better now that he had destroyed yet another source of evil, Alex turned and strode from the room.

So many voices. His feminine side, which he couldn’t get rid of no matter how hard he tried. His trained, soldier spirit, in which any pity had been drummed out by his father. His newfound vampire lineage, calling in hunger. And that last voice…Alexis had no idea where it came from, but it was the most fun.

“I think I’ll follow that voice from now on,” he decided aloud. “So the rest of you bastards, clear off!”

And they did.

Alexis was born the youngest of four daughters to the chief of the MacKail Clan. Her father was upset upon finding his last child was also a girl; he despirately wanted an heir to carry on the family line, or else another family in the Clan would take over. Despirate in his bid to keep the Clan in the hands of his lineage, he swore his wife and those who had been involved in the child’s birth to secrecy, and then announced that the baby born had in fact been a boy.

From the day of her birth, Alexis was born and raised to be a male. She was dressed as one and was told to act like on. If she acted otherwise, she was beaten until she learned her lesson. Anyone who even hinted at Alex being a female would be killed instantly. Alex, began training to be a Clan warrior and leader like her father. Although she became quite skilled, her father believed, as a woman, she was still physically too weak to keep a hold on the clan.

One night, Alex’s father snatched her from her bed and took her to an insane asylum in Edinburgh. There, he paid the guards a bribe to let them enter the facility and keep the visit a secret. Supposedly, a vampire resided in one of the cells; the fellow was quite unbalanced to begin with, but only the serfs truly believed his claims. Alex’s father went to the vampire, Lord Piggly, and offered him a deal: Alex would be made into a vampire to gift her with strength and power beyond any ordinary man, and the MacKails would send a monthly “tribute” to Piggly in the form of disobdient servents or captured enemies. Piggly agreed and Alex was forced into an Embrace.

The plan worked in the beginning. Alex indeed became strong, stronger than her father could have imagined. But, her father did not know that Piggly was a Malkavian vampire, and Alex began having fits and behaving wickedly. Her father, at a loss, tried to keep his son’s struggles a secret, but failed. Word of Alex’s madness reached the other MacKail families, who, at the Clan meeting, decided the current family in control was unfit and ordered them to step down. The next day, all possible leaders of the MacKail Clan, save Alex, were found dead, torn to pieces or drained of blood. Frightened, the remaining few renounced their claims and left the family in power alone.

After her father died from tuburculosis, Alex stepped in and ran the Clan from behind closed doors for nearly eighty years. Eventually bored with her power, she handed control of the clan over to one of her sister’s sons and left Scotland to travel Europe with her faithful servent, Emerich. She seeks to find new adventures and battles, and to find something to keep her busy for another eighty years.