Education and Indoctrination

= Education and Indoctrination = Posted by : Winteroak on Mar 25, 2018, 3:38pm

August 19th, Daybreak Orphanage, Rose District, Mid Afternoon

Enoch Solomon walked through the almost empty street of the Rose District. It was a almost like he was in a different world. This part of the city looked completely unlike it did during the evening. Most pleasure houses, taverns and drug dens were closed at this time of the day. Its denizens and workers still asleep or only now rising and getting ready for another night of excesses.

The Rose District was the smallest area of Dusk, nestled on the western edge of the Centrum. It was a hotbed of crime and the place to go for all sort of carnal desires and forbidden and illegal passions. It was the one place in the city where the poor and destitute from the Sprawl brushed shoulders with the aristocracy of Higholm in smoky dens and the greedy merchants from the Centrum shared dark backrooms with the military classes of Paramount Hill. Everyone came to the Rose District at one time or another.

If the Steamworks were the beating heart of Dusk, the Rose District was the place that stopped the City from blowing up and erupting in chaos. This was the place that anything and everything one wanted could be bought. For a price. It was also the domain of the Clockwork King who was rumored to run the criminal underworld of Dusk from within the district.

Enoch Solomon made his way to the Daybreak Orphanage. For the past 6 months he had been teaching some of the children at the institution. He believed education was one of the keys for social progression for many of these youngsters. Majority of them would never be adopted. Once they reached 18 years of age they would be turned away and be forced to find their way in a unforgiving world. Most boys would turn to petty crime and within the year be sent to work in the mines of the Delve. The girls... Well this was the Rose District after all. Most would be turning tricks before they turned 19 in one of the pleasure parlours. If they were lucky. The alternative was to walk the streets and that was not a safe life for anyone in Dusk. Orphanages like Daybreak had several agreements with establishments across the district to supply them with the next generation of workers.

Enoch had an agreement with Warden Donnel. He would come and teach those children that wished to learn how to read and write for free and in exchange he would arrange for some of the older boys to get apprenticeships in some of the factories of the Steamworks. Enoch and several other members of the Red Crew had similar agreements with other institutions across Dusk. It was of course more than just educating the younger generations. It was an opportunity to spread their tenets and mold the young minds of the next generations of workers in the City. Subtly of course.

Today was no different. He entered the room allocated to his class and was pleased to see that among the group was Jessy. Her red curls making her stand out from the crowd. Of all his pupils here she was the quickest of mind and tongue. She was learning her letters fast. Faster than her friend Cerise. Of course his interest in her was more than academic. The Red Crew had her under their radar for a while now. She worked at the Silken Mill owned by the Corbet and somehow had access to the Corbet's Manor. She appeared to be some sort of handmaid to Lady Stella Poole-Corbet herself. This was an opportunity they could not pass by.

He had observed Jessy for a while and they had learned all about her family. Her 5 year old brother Carter and their sister Robin who could not afford to keep them away from the orphanage. Yes, Jessy was a bright young woman, thirsty for adventure and eager for meaning to her existence. She would see the benefits of what he had to offer her.