Student
There are many students in the Imperium of man - although knowledge is widely seen as dangerous and ignorance of the masses is actually lauded and desired by many in authority, various forms of education exist. In most cases, this is vocational training designed to make the citizen useful to the Imperium rather than improving him or, Emperor-forbid, making him question established dogmas.
For many millennia in the 'Dust Zone there was no education at all; when the area was established during the Thorian Reforms following the Reign of Blood, little consideration was given to the workers there. The Adeptus Mechanicus masters of the Zone were concerned only with fulfilling their obligations under the agreements with the Ecclesiarchy and didn't care about the welfare of their workers, except as productive units within their factories.
Over the centuries, as the power and wealth of Ophelia VII grew, ever-more glorious palaces and temples encroached on the 'Dust Zone, crowding the workers into a cramped ghetto. Millennia of mining and manufacturing poisoned the air and water, and generations of neglect left the workers uneducated and uncatechized, ignorant of the most basic doctrines of the Imperial Cult and knowing nothing except the bare minimum they needed to work in the factories. Crime increased, subversive cults and gangs gaining a foothold.
Emperor-only knows when - if ever - the downward spiral might have ended, but the arrival of the Order of Our Crystal Lady - if not reversing it - at least halted it. They established their cloister-fortress in the heart of the 'Dust Zone, worshiping the Emperor and pursing their unique charism of care, compassion and education of the workers there.
For their part, the Mechanicum were pleased - if such an emotion can be applied to people who have cogs and cogitators rather than hearts and souls - with the arrival of the Order. Although they did not care about the workers, the techpriests recognized the units' performance was sub-optimal and the services of the Order improved it.
The Daughters established hospitals and hospices which cared for the aged and infirm, as well as organizing social programs to support those who could no longer work due to age or injury, or who had been orphaned by the dangerous conditions in the manufactorums. But perhaps the greatest contribution they made was to establish schools (segregated by gender) which the children of the 'Dust Zone are required to attend until they are sixteen. Male pupils who show aptitude in a particular discipline may, if they wish, remain in school for a further two years before joining the workforce - this further education enables them to assume managerial, specialist and supervisory roles in the factories.
Historically, women in the 'Dust Zone (and, indeed, the wider Imperium) did not have even the meager opportunities afforded to the men. With the high value placed on marriage and family by the Imperial Cult women were discouraged from pursing education or a career. A young woman might work in some menial, repetitive task on the factory floor (in some cases, the smaller hands and limbs of women were used to get into tight spaces in machinery - often with dreadful consequences as that machinery was rarely turned off) until she was married, but then she was expected to stay home and raise a family, building a home to give a stable foundation to the next generation.
Of course, this is entirely in keeping with the Imperial Cult's theology and the Order of Our Crystal Lady does not deviate from it. However, the Order recognizes that education of young girls is advantageous; it not only makes them better wives and mothers, but also opens up other careers to them (allowing them to choose to not marry, or provide for themselves if they are widowed). It is for this reason girls are, like boys, also required to attend the Sororitas-run schools until sixteen and - like boys - have opportunities for further education. For girls, this is postulancy in the Daughters of Verity - an optional two-year continuation of their education with an emphasis on religious piety and military discipline.
However, this is not the earliest a female student can go to war in the grim darkness of the 41st millennium; in extremis, selected students are armed and led into combat alongside the Postulants. Unskilled and young they may be, but their naïve faith provides them with courage more experienced warriors might lack ... although the horrors of war mean few of them live long enough to gain such experience. In combat they are led by Pedagogues Militant, just as the Postulants are.
Accoutrements & Equipment
Students wear a uniform whose origin is unknown but rumors trace to Ancient Terra. For females, this is a short-sleeved white blouse and a pleated plaid skirt. When in combat, a smock of blue synthetic cloth is worn over the uniform to mark them as under the protection of Verity.
Grounds for Removal/Dismissal
Students can be expelled from the school for repeated infractions of discipline or displays of insubordination, at the ultimate discretion of the head Pedagogue Militant.
Related Locations
Related Organizations
Students are presented on the tabletop as Astra Militarum Conscripts.
