Horizon's Edge Orphanage

St Anatasia the Stern's Home for the Children of Martyrs

One of the few shipboard institutions to have post-dated the current Lord-Captain Victoris' ascension, it owes its existence and funding to his generous benefices and patronage. In earlier, happier times, when the HIMS Xanadu sailed as a pleasure-craft, it ran little risk of hostile encounters and therefore needed correspondingly little planning for the dependents of those who perished in the line of duty. Since the young Lord-Captain began his spirited crusade to restore the fortunes of his dynasty, however, the inevitable death-toll prompted him to take action regarding those left destitute. Solutions pursued with some success by other captains include pressing the children into early apprenticeships (for there are no shortage of albeit dangerous jobs requiring slight builds and nimble fingers), but when confronted with that option, the Lord-Captain declared categorically that no one who died in his service should have to worry about the care of their loved ones, and established the Home.

To date, the Home has capacity for about two hundred children, although thankfully it only hosts a fraction of that number at present. It offers not only education, room, and board for children, but also gainful work for those of their parents who wish to relinquish their earlier occupations, possibly due to the deaths of their spouses. While not lavish, the fare and opportunities afforded the inmates of the Home are adequate, and the Lord-Captain takes a personal interest in their progress. He has already established a new appointment aboard ship: his growing coterie of assistants consists exclusively of graduands of the Home, whose grounding in memorance, linguistics, and administration makes them eminently suitable for the role of aides-de-camp. In fact, the position of page or maid to the Captain is now by his decree restricted only to those born aboard ship.

The exclusivity of the position have made it an honour, and the children of many crewpersons jostle to compete with the inmates of St Anastasia's House for the few positions that open every year in the Captain's staff.