The Free School of Lambden and the Tutors of Brigand

Lambden is a very well known popular district of Highfort. Many villagers and country-dwellers of Alven come to the capital to make their fortune and find employment in the prosperous bustling capital city. These 'clansmen' for the most part end up living in the poorer sections of High Fort, and Lambsden is one of them.
The living conditions are not good: families are crammed in two or three rooms apartments and jobs albeit plentiful do not earn you a good salary. The merchants and businesses of Highfort can take their pick of the workforce and are not driven to pay higher wages.
Under these circumstances, the education of children is not a priority. In Alven, it is lawful for a child to start work at the age of thirteen under certain conditions. Children need to be paid as much as an adult would be for the work they are doing. On the other hand, children are not allowed to work long hours (nor more than eight hours a day) and are not allowed to do heavy or dangerous work. These measures have been put into place over the last fifty years by different Thanes to regulate the increased demand for manpower from the different businesses springing up like mushrooms in the capital.
The Thanes are responsible for their citizens' health and prosperity, and as soon as excesses regarding child labor were brought to some Thane's attention things changed slightly for the better for the children of the poorer Alvenites. Of course, both parents and businesses have not been always happy about the change in practices as it has meant less silver in their pockets.

Purpose / Function

The Order of Brigand, as they are officially known, bought an old, derelict inn, called The Farting Boar, and reclaimed it as an establishment for learning. At the start, it was difficult to convince parents that their children would be better off at school than earning money for the family Many children do not attend school after the age of thirteen when they can be sent to work. It is enough time though to give youngsters a basic grounding in literacy and numeracy that will stand them in good stead for the future.
It is the job of a Tutor of Brigand to offer incentives to the parents of the brighter children and convince them to continue their studies till the age of seventeen when the chosen pupils can sit The Assays - the trials to enter the Sanctuary and its Orders (if they want to do so). The 'convincing' often takes the form of bribes, and it was not long before many families in Lambden realized there was money to be made out of a bright, quick child at the Free School of Brigand.
It is also to be noted that a few adults in the community have also expressed an interest in learning how to read and write. The Order runs twilight schools for such people. These classes are paying, but the Order accepts trades in the shape of food or other goods in exchange for their teaching.

Alterations

The Tutors have transformed the main hall of the tavern into their main schoolroom. Benches have been set up to face where the bar used to be. Now dismantled, the bar has been repurposed to serve as a pulpit for the tutor. One can still see the polished dark wood of its counter glisten under the feet of the Tutors.
The tavern crockery was also salvaged and has been put to good use to serve lunches to the hungry children attending the school. The tavern's kitchens, after a good clean up, are also in use to provide the simple but healthy food the children will consume during the day.
It is one of the reasons why parents do not mind sending their children to school when they are young. They know that the school will provide two hearty meals for their offsprings a day, more than what they would be able to offer at times at home. However, children can only start to attend school at the age of six, not before. Some parents have been known to cheat on their children's age and send them to school from the age of five to make sure they get a decent feed.
The gambling den at the back of the tavern has also been transformed into a schoolroom for the few children aged fourteen and above who are preparing for the test. The pupils attending the senior school follow a much more intense program than the junior pupils. Long hours are spent in this room learning a solid foundation in all the arts and sciences of the Alvenish culture. No stones are left unturned, from the history of art to mathematics: a future Seer of the Sanctuary needs to be as learned as they can be. The Sanctuary does not put as much stock on the martial arts as the Archive. However, classes in sword fighting and archery are still a must.

The teachers' bookshelf made from bits and pieces of one of the beds in the guest bedroom

Type

School