This ramshackle building used to be a cheap hostel for sailors, longshoremen, and itinerants. But after the Succession Riots, a wealthy philanthropist bought the building and converted into a home for the orphans of Freeport. Here young children have a roof over their heads, a hammock to sleep in, regular meals, and a chance to learn a trade.
History
Originally this building was known as the Hammocks, a hostel run by an ex-sailor named Tyler. It didn’t have individual rooms or even beds; instead, tenants slept in hammocks strung throughout every level of the building. While inexpensive, the Hammocks was generally popular only with sailors, who were more comfortable than landlubbers with the notion of sleeping in a sack thirty feet above the floor. In the wake of the Succession Crisis, Tyler found that he simply couldn’t afford to run the place any longer and gratefully sold it.
Description
The Freeport Orphanage is a typical (if slightly rundown) warehouse from the outside. The streets and alleyways around the building are constantly full of children using them as a playground, running with messages, or practicing their roguish skills. Strings of laundry line the roof, coincidentally hiding anyone on the rooftops from the view of the neighbors.
Almost the entire interior of the Orphanage is one massive open room, with thick timbers running from floor to roof. Strung between these pillars are a series of hammocks, reaching all the way up to the ceiling. Sets of pegs in the pillars form a rough ladder on each one reaching up into the rafters. Ropes also dangle from the ceiling at various points, and planks in the rafters allow easy movement for those with a good sense of balance. Visitors to the Orphanage may be shocked by the sleeping arrangement, but the managers solemnly explain they simply haven’t got the money for proper bedding. Children who aren’t old or strong enough to climb into hammocks sleep on pallets on the floor, which is also where meals are served; those adults living in the Orphanage either sleep in hammocks or in one of the building’s small rooms.
Prominent NPCs
Mumbles:The manager of the Freeport Orphanage, where he is referred to as “Father Morris” when outsiders are around. This enigmatic character is actually a priest, although no one really knows which god he worships. But his prayers seem as effective as those of any other priest, and so the staff tolerates him. Mumbles is dour and truculent, speaking only in a mumble. He communicates mostly with nods, grunts, and significant eye movements, and seems to be wearily depressed with life in general.
Cricket: Mumble’s assistant in the running of the Orphanage, Cricket appears to share his boss' general depression. He works with the children, trying to teach them basic life skills and some literacy, but only occasionally shows real enthusiasm for the task. Some of the older children in the establishment say that he used to be more lively; however, evidence of this claim is pretty thin.