Etoilean Rangers

Phanae couldn't help but grin at the outfit Kyris was wearing, as she stepped in front of the mirror at the couturier. An oversized leather hat, an elegant cow leather vest and corset trimmed in minkfur, wrapped enticingly around the waist with a flare at the hips, patterned leather tights with a hooked belt lined with small travelbags, and, of all the ridiculous things, heavy canvas boots with a slight heel. The lines of the outfit were meant to accentuate a woman's curves, but were quite obviously difficult to move in and unbalanced. 
The guardswoman shook her head. "Kyris, you look like a woman of the Scarlet Block. Like a parody of what a Ranger should be."
The ranger gave a sigh, taking off the hat. "I did say I wanted to look good for the reception, but this is ridiculous. Why can't I wear something ordinary for the Capital?"
Phanae stepped to her side. "The fashion these days is to look extraordinary at these parties. Would you believe I'm expected to wear my armor? I have to work out the dents and give it a polish." The guardswoman tilted her head. "You do look quite good, in my opinion."
"I sort of get the idea that this is something I could, in theory, wear to a ball and also wear while traveling through the Bitterwoods, but I can't even bend over." Kyris leaned forward; the leather corset prevented her from reaching below her waistline. "The bears aren't going to have an opinion on my hips."
The ranger shook her head. "I can't justify the spending on this. I'll have to ask the couturier to adjust one of my regular outfits."
Phanae put a hand on Kyris' shoulder. "It's not your money, it's Lord Sevilhn's funds. Just do as he says and discard all the bits you dislike once this song and dance is done."

Career

Qualifications

Etoilean Rangers are survivalists, requiring experience in wilderness land navivgation, fieldcraft, and foraging. A ranger is expected to be able to traverse the wildlands without the creature comforts of modern Etoile. Due to their dual role in enforcement of the law, they are also expected to be as versed in the law as any city guardsman or district gendarme. While rangers are hired with the expectation that they are already skilled in the wilds, they are given legal academy training. The reverse scenario (a local guardsman training in fieldcraft to become a ranger) is far rarer.

Career Progression

Unlike the Magistrates or the various Guilds of the Principality of Etoile, there is no backing organization behind the title of Etoilean Ranger - someone simply is nominated for the role, and granted the role and its privileges until they resign. The hunters and foresters that are nominated for the role consider it an affirmation of their skill in craft. All Rangers are commissioned officers of Etoile, with the authority and responsibilities that entails.

Payment & Reimbursement

Commissioned Rangers of Etoile are given a stipend, paid out from the coffers of whatever District Commander's jurisdiction they happen to be in that season, for services rendered in patrolling the wildlands.

Perception

Purpose

Rangers manage, monitor, and enforce laws in the wild lands of the Principality of Etoile. In addition to serving as law enforcement supplementary to the local gendarmes of a given District, they serve as the official wildland guides for any Principality business in their chosen area of patrol. The Etoilean Ranger in an area is expected to advise the local District Commander as to the health of the wilderness (such as game quantity and river quality) in order to set annual policy direction regarding the outdoor seasons. 
A recent phenomenon in modern Etoile is the rise of commercial outdoors activity packages for native city dwellers - a multiday travel through unimproved wilderness on game trails, camping in the open, as a 'return to nature' type activity. Rangers advise these travelers and are the first emergency resource called upon if any accidents or incidents happen.

Social Status

Rangers occupy an outsize mystique in Etoilean culture, with regular stories of their dashing adventures gracing the pages of the more tawdry and sensational Etoilean journals. The absence of meaningful military conflict in three generations has raised the Etoilean ranger as a type of masculine ideal (though, ironically, a majority of rangers are female) - tough and stoic, working alone, able to overcome any obstacle in their way with a few well placed words and outstanding skill and character. While most rangers find this ridiculous, the state does not dissuade this portrayal, as it results in more candidates trying out for the rangers.
It has become fashionable in the houses of the nobility to try to bring rangers on retainer, as an instructor for their children in the survival arts; rangers with young nobles in their retinue wandering through forests and hills is not an uncommon sight.

Demographics

While in the pre-Etoilean era, most hunters and foresters were men, the new manufactories of the Principality were infamous for drawing men out of the countryside to work in the factories, prompting more women to learn the skills to maintain their households at the dawn of the Etoilean era. Consequently, the majority of rangers are women by a significant margin. Virtually all rangers hail from the countryside and rural remote areas - there is an institutional bias against appointing urbanites as Etoilean Rangers.

History

Rangers are the modern descendant of the foresters of the pre-Etoile petty kingdoms. Those foresters were hired to prevent illegal logging and poaching on the estates of the various lords and dukes. The modern Ranger does the same, but for the lands that are under the public trusteeship, all of those lands that were remanded into the custody of Etoile and chosen to remain undeveloped.
This was a relatively novel concept of the new Principality, but the reasoning was straightforward; once the continent was unified under Principality rule, the Principality could determine what regions across the continent were best exploited for certain tasks, instead of a hodgepodge of smaller and more inefficient industries. Another consequence of this policy was the conservation of certain parts of the new state, as their value was deemed greater as tourism assets for outdoors activities than as industrial supply. The rangers were created as a way to enforce this new land-use policy, a softer touch than using the soldiers of the Ground Forces and more suitable to the task than ordinary gendarmes.
The urbanization of the new Etoile has created a wider rift between those who hunt and gather and live on the lands by preference, contrasting with the industrialized supply chains that feed the cities of the Principality. Rangers are an attempt to bridge the gap - enforcing the laws of the Principality and the principle of progress, while being themselves of the land and with knowledge of the more 'rustic' way of life.

Operations

Tools

Rangers are well equipped for travel and survival in unimproved and remote areas, while on foot and alone. A ranger will typically carry a hunting implement of their preference (typically a bow), equipment for preparing food and treatments for purifying water, some sort of compact shelter, and usually some gear for tanning skins and butchering game. Additionally, Rangers carry extensive apothecary ointments and treatments, as approved by The Covenant for field aid. 
Rangers do not have a uniform and source their own equipment, but are typically dressed in thick traveling leathers and the finest of heavy boots. A ranger's patronage of a couturier for their equipment is typically a boon for sales.

Workplace

Rangers patrol the wilds and typically have no fixed place of work - the closest in concept would likely be the office of the local District Commander. They have no assigned areas, though Rangers are encouraged to space apart from each other in order to maximize coverage - most Rangers simply wander the areas they're familiar with from their prior line of work. Usually, if a ranger is patrolling an area, they'll post a schedule in the local settlement as to when they'll be in town, in order to handle requests for aid and similar.

Provided Services

Rangers assist distressed travelers in the wildlands, manage hunting and trapping seasons to conserve game animal populations, and serve as remote law enforcement. Ordinary Etoileans are unlikely to require the service of a Ranger in the ordinary course of events, but poachers and those conducting illegal operations can expect a visit from an investigating Ranger, if not a Magistrate.

Dangers & Hazards

Rangers deal with the ordinary hazards of the wilds - predatory animals, poor weather, and treacherous terrain. Their official duties add in the hazards of hostile poachers, fleeing criminals, and common bandits, but rangers are expected to be well aware of the risks they face in any given task.

Type

Agricultural / Fishing / Forestry

Demand

High