Hope’s Watch is a small village at the northern tip of the Faded Steppe, an outpost to warn of incoming attacks, turned into a place for those passing by to trade in. A passing-though kind of place, surrounded by half-crumbled watchtowers and fields that don’t produce nearly enough food for both the villagers and the traders. Tucked next to one of the towers, on the eastern edge of town, lies Hope’s Heart Orphanage, a crowded, noisy place full of children without homes or families. Over the years, the orphanage has managed to whittle its numbers down to only about two dozen children, but there used to be over twice as many. Most wards of the orphanage seek to leave it eventually, and the matron of the place encourages this desire, often trying to convince the caravans that visit that an apprentice would just be the perfect addition to their group. 

The matron of the Orphanage, Ms. Marta is a strict, shrewd woman, and it often seems like she wants nothing more than to be rid of all the children under her care. She’s not one to offer comfort to her wards, and she has little tolerance for nonsense or defiance. She demands that the children of the orphanage are diligent in their studies, learning how to read and write, as well as other basic life skills. When they are old enough, she almost always tries to send them off to be apprenticed somewhere, usually openly saying it’s one less mouth to feed.

The matron has two children, though no one is quite sure where they came from. At this point, the boy and girl she calls her own are both middle-aged and do much of the work of raising the children of Hope’s Heart. Her son, Ivan, is a warm, goofy man, always ready with a helping hand and a joke to break the tension. However, in the overcrowded orphanage, there’s only so much he can do. Her daughter Natalya is a quieter sort, often watching from a distance as she works to keep the orphanage running. 

Twenty-five years ago, a child was found and taken to the orphanage. They had bright ginger hair, green fey-touched eyes, and a stubborn, fiery spirit. About ten years ago, they ran away, sneaking onto a caravan without permission, but even after that, their name stuck around in quiet conversations and rumors. 

(OOC: If you have a character from Hope’s Watch within the last 10-25 years and would like to know rumors/have a connection with Meridy, DM me! My discord is MerryLights)