“kittle folk are the volunteers/ they ride wi’ over mony spears” caledonian adaptation of a traditional scottish song.
“bydand” (steadfast, abiding) caledonian volunteers corps’ gaelic motto.
it is an ancient tradition that the scots enlist to participate in foreign wars. used to dying in far and foreign lands, they don’t fear death while defending their own. the caledonian volunteers territorial regiments corps was created when it was perceived that the separatist wars were more than a probability. now it forms the core of the caledonian army, collaborating jointly with the rest of the ariadnian military forces. as its name says, the corps is formed by territorial or clan units, indicating their origin between brackets in their regimental device. like many line regiments, the volunteers have a highly developed esprit de corps, believing themselves somewhat superior to other troops.
their men and women come from the most diverse origins, including the most desperate and hopeless individuals from the slum areas of the urban zones, hardened mining industry workers and, as is common in the caledonian regiments, a sizeable proportion of clan thugs. bearing that in mind, it is not surprising that they have a reputation amongst the caledonian people for being a bunch of troublemakers. the combat slang of the volunteers is a disjointed mix of english and gaelic, strongly flavoured with russian expressions and offensive words. their daily mission is to fight in hundreds of wars and frontier skirmishes for their country, in the most distant and freezing regions of the planet. and all of this for a meagre salary and a tin of camp rations – but this is the venerable tradition of the caledonian volunteers corps.