The Scouts

The Scouts de Vous Seispri Votaisre (lit. Scouts Interior Spirit Corps) is a corps of the Commonwealth Army, modelled after the worldwide scouting association. This unusual intersection – of a noncombatant youth organisation and the armed forces – is typical in Vekllei, where many aspects of the military serve social roles. For example, the Vekllei Fire Service and the Royal Mail are both corps of the Commonwealth Army. To this end, the Scouts Corps (better known as Puffin Scouts overseas) has different traditions depending on which brigade it belongs to. The detached Cadet Brigades of the 1st and 2nd Scouting Divisions are youth training organisations for the armed forces, designed to prepare youths for military service. The rest of the brigades, numbering some 12 in total across 2 Divisions (or some 1,460 neighbourhood troops) are decidedly noncombatant, and exist to provide community and training in useful skills for Vekllei’s youth.

Tzipora naturally belongs to Scouts de Seispri, her local troop. As a military branch, the Scouts follow identical organisational conventions, and so Tzipora has ’enlisted’ alongside other servicemen in the Commonwealth Army:

Civici Tzipora Desmoisnes, 77th Troop, 7th Lola District, 1st Vekllei Scouts Brigade of the 1st Scouts Division

The crest of the Scouts Interior Spirit Corps.

It functions as a social club – many of her schoolmates are in it – and also provides an opportunity to learn things outside of the school curriculum. Survival skills and camping, agriculture, hunting and weapons handling, driving, and amateur radio operation are common excursions. Some troops have particular reputations, and are highly desirable – 588th Troop of the 3rd Brigade has a legendary reputation in photo-electrics and computer phreaking. The 77th is a little more local in ambition, and Tzipora spends most of her time teaching the others to cook and gardening around Seispri.

Instead of merit badges, scouts earn honours that are stitched to a gi. Significant honours – usually success in national competitions or academic awards – can also be transferred to troop honours, in the fashion of battle honours for combat army corps. The Scouts uniform has many coded features of army dress uniforms, including its Sam Browne belt (sloped left for Civici, right for officers), epaulettes with honours, cloth aiguillette, and troop patches. Tzipora doesn’t wear all that every Thursday obviously – but it matters at the Games, when her honours are on display and she’s trying to show those dicks in the 76th they’re dealing with a better class of scout.