The Indigo Guard

General description

Being an electional diarchy, the Confederation of Tarrabaenia has a twofold head of state residing in the Confederation's capital Savína. Their palace, the Bipellé Prépetis, is guarded by the Indigo Guard, which is named that after their signature uniforms coloured all in blue. When one of the diarchs or both are travelling, half of the Indigo Guard accompanies either one of them to keep them safe.

Altogether there are fourty four Men in the Indigo Guard, five from each of the eight states that make up the Confederation and four from the capital city. Depending on the time of the year the equipment changes, being lighter in the summer and heavier in the winter.

The summer uniform consists of a helmet made of atarum, an alloy of iron, platinum and lestrigonite, which is black in colour with a night-sky-blue metallic shimmer to it. The helmet covers the entire head and face and has two relatively wide openings for the eyes as to offer a wider field of vision. Under the nosepiece there is a vertical slit to make breathing easier. Most of the time the helmet is tilted back and worn like a cap, which makes it very comfortable to wear and easy to put on in case of an emergency or when the etiquette requires it. The upper body is covered by a cotton vest with worked in steel wires and sewn on atarum scales the size of a coin along the chest and back. The upper arms are left free, but a targe is carried to offer protection. The lower body and legs are protected by a skirt reaching just over the knees. It is made from alternating strips of leather and cotton with the leather strips being reinforced by atarum splints. The feet are protected by studded boots with leather soles that get replaced regularly, so the soles reinforced with iron nails don't cause as much noise on patrol.

The winter uniform adds a wide woollen shawl to the summer uniform that is draped around the shoulders and falls down over the upper body. In addition cotton gaiters for the lower legs complement the longer winter skirts that reach down to the middle of the shinbone.

The weapons employed by the Indigo guard are the aforementioned targe with sharp steel edges and a 30 cm long double-edged steel short sword called the 'rúpifes' for close combat in narrow places. For wider spaces they had a unique kind of sword, which no other military unit was allowed to carry - the 'acés'. It has a 70 cm handle and an equally long blade. The end of the handle ends in a small knob, while the wooden shaft is reinforced by inlaid steel stripes. For a comfortable grip it is covered with soft leather stripes. The blade is straight and starts to broaden slightly at about two thirds of its length. The last fifth of the blade is significantly broader than the rest, making it a bit top heavy. This is counterbalanced by heavier metal inlays at the end of the handle. This gives the whole weapon an appearance of being a mix of a long handled sword and a cleaver knife.

Recruitment and relationship to other military

To guarantee neutrality, the Indigo Guard is recruited from all the states of the Confederation at an equal ratio. This procedure has been introduced in the year 3772 of the Era of the Earth, after Pólius Súna Felis' attempt to seize absolute power over the Confederation of Tarrabaenia with an Indigo Guard he had previously merged with the military of Savína so he had, counting the one of his home state Tebrina in, two loyal armies, the special unit of the former Indigo Guard and the secret police at his disposal. After his usurpation was put down, the Indigo Guard always had to be made up by a mixed group of soldiers. These soldiers normally receive a training in the home states' armies, but can not be transferred if they occupy a higher rank.

Savína, although only being a city state, has its own military, which is seperate from the Indigo Guard. Savína has the highest number of soldiers to the rest of the population with 1200 soldiers in this city of around 20.000 inhabitants. 360 additional soldiers from Savína are stationed all over the Confederation of Tarrabaenia . They are called the 'dilissentés', hidden ones, working as the confederations intelligence corps. They are strictly forbidden to interact with the Indigo Guard and instead report back to the two kings directly. Savínas army too has no contact to the Indigo Guard. The Indigo Guard however informs the army, which also works as Savínas police and security, of any excursions the king(s) might make into the city.

Only proven and tested soldiers get elected to make a move into the capital and serve in the Indigo Guard. Savína has its own training facilities, where individuals get trained to fight with the acés. After a training phase of six months suitable individuals get appointed to the Indigo Guard and replace members who have fulfilled their three years of service. Soldiers who were sent to Savína to get assessed but don't make it can appeal to their superior in their home state and might get a secondary recommendation to train for another six months and have another chance to get selected. To keep a steady supply of fitting applicants, each state has to send two or three people every two or three years.

Type

Security