Welcome to Gaia! ::

It was a nightmare. How had the world come to this? How many ill-mannered, ill-tempered young souls were she to encounter in her lifetime? She whispered a wordless prayer to the Lord, asking for strength to continue running this much needed institution.

Lady Hortence Blackwood straightened her black skirt, took a deep breath and crossed herself, before walking back toward her office. There were forms to fill out, protocols to follow. She had to make sure that the kitchen staff had started preparing dinner, that the gates had been thoroughly shut, that none of the girls had hurt themselves... The new girl, Juliet, had been the only arrival they expected today, and although the young lady had an attitude that made her want to retch, she'd broken more difficult girls in the past. The other new girl, Virginia, seemed to show fewer of the signs of mental illness, but she still needed thorough assessment and appropriate treatment.

Her job seemed to grow more difficult every day, but her skilled, unrelenting staff gave her confidence in her mission. These girls were ill, and the public needed to be protected from them. With a curt nod, she greeted the head nurse, Mrs. Louise, before retreating into her office.

Rowen a redhaired girl. Wearing a blood red corset over a black top with gossamer sleeves, and a poofed skirt and striped stocking (risque for the era but she didn't give a care).
Walked into the asylum and almost stepped onto a plague rat. She went over to the corner of a room sat down a table. She drew out of her bag a meat pie she had made just before her dreaded mother escorted her to the asylum.
She ate half the meat pie in dread of the fearful Mistress she knew lied ahead. There had been talk of a Lady Blackwood that worked in the asylum that was rumored to be quite a ignomonous twit. Or that 'tis the rumor amung the chimney sweep she over heard a month ago.
She wondered in her head why had her mother condemed her to a fate so cruel. A place so filled with plague rats and soot, no freedom? What was the reason? All she really did was dress a bit differently, drink tea bit more than others, and write poetry that would scare away the people. Oh, and she did give her uncle a scare on his face after cutting him with a knife she found. She did have a reason for that.
The bloody churl tried to kill her!

Juliet still played on. Only now, she paced about the room while doing so.

Juliet continued pacing and playing simultaneously until she saw something out of the corner of her eye. She turned and noticed a girl watching her.
She stops playing.
"Oh, hello there!" she says cheerily to the girl.

"Hi! Sorry, if I interupted your playing. Your violin playing is very artisticly played. I couldn't help but to follow the sound." Rowen murmerd. She sat down and at a muffin.

Paperwork... Always more paperwork. Lady Blackwood finished skimming through a report on the effect of physical discipline during bouts of hysteria in young ladies, and looked disapprovingly at the door as she heard a light, familiar knocking. The institution's chef, an elderly man who was a family friend of the Blackwoods, opened the door, waited for her nod of approval, and headed for the dining hall. Moments later, she could hear the sound of the great bell, signalling to the young girls that it was supper time.

Juliet gently sets down her violin in its case.
"Why thank you!" She takes one of the muffins and shoves it into her mouth.