Manta Carlos Scouting Corps

Made up of the administration, social services staff, and the investigative and extraction agents of the now dissolved Starlight Academy Scouts, the new Manta Carlos Scouting Corps have merged with the reconnaissance and field operatives of the former Veil Agency to form a new division. The Scouting Corps are the closest thing that Manta Carlos has to a standing military force, but their goals are entirely focused on the safe extraction of extranormal entities from the Narrow Reality back to the pocket dimension that houses the island of Manta Carlos.


There are many kinds of people who become scouts. The majority of scouts are graduates of Starlight Academy themselves, usually with at least a four-year degree. A bachelors degree in sociology or psychology is the norm for new scouts who act as social workers. Field investigation is an enticing opportunity for majors in supernatural fields of all types. People who come from off-island with prior experience in relevant fields are also considered valuable additions. Some scouts, especially field investigators, are ex-MCPD.

All scouts are required to undergo a special training program, but the parameters of these training programs vary by role. Every scout spends at least one month in a training program before becoming qualified for administrative work. Social work oriented scouts must pass a special exam after a three-month program. Field investigators and Extraction-focused scouts each must undergo six months of training.

• Administration: The bulk of the scout's work is done in the office. They handle reports, letters, information, and decision making. Administrative scouts rarely, if ever, leave the island, and focus entirely on what can (and must) be done from their offices. All scouts have to handle administrative work to some degree (filing reports after missions, reporting on on what they've learned), but some choose to specialize only in this type of work.
  
  
• Social Work: The scouts often need to engage in activities comparable to social work. This especially comes into play when a family does not know how to care for their supernaturally gifted child. Such scouts are also qualified to make the call that a living situation for a potential recruit is abusive or otherwise unacceptable, and thus to recommend retrieval with or without the parents' or guardians' consent.
  
  
• Field Investigation: Sometimes, the people back at the office will only know that some mysterious paranormal activity is at play in an area, but they won't know what's causing it. In some other cases, a potential recruit may simply be hard to track down. This is where scouts with skills related to investigation in the field can come into play. These scouts have skills that allow them to track down missing people or unravel paranormal mysteries. They are also typically capable of handling themselves in a dangerous situation. Some of the scouts specialized for these tasks came with a background in detective work or are reformed "hunters" of the supernatural, such as former vampire hunters or demon hunters.
  
  
• Extraction: When it has been discovered that a potential recruit is being held in a heavily guarded or extremely dangerous location an extraction team may be called in to rescue the recruit. In some cases, however, an extraction team might even be called in to incapacitate a supernatural child or adult who poses a threat to themselves, those around them, and possibly even the Veil. Finally, one or two scouts typically assigned to extraction teams might find themselves helping to remove a child from an abusive household with unwilling parents.

The process for reaching out to potential new citizens in the Narrow Reality. Most frequently, this involves a letter sent to the family of the individual in question, explaining the bare minimum necessary about the Disbelief, Manta Carlos itself, and extending an invitation to come to the island. This invitation is not always accepted; many families with supernatural children are more than capable of raising their child without breaking the Veil.

Sometimes, a more involved approach is called for, and one or more Scouts will be sent in person to meet the prospective Manta Carlos resident and/or their family. The reasons for sending a scout in person often involve a lack of information about supernatural activity, looking into a likely recruit's abusive living situation, or (in extreme cases) rescuing potential recruits from life-threatening situations or heavily guarded positions.

All of this work requires extensive prior information-gathering to identify potential recruits and determine a proper course of action for handling those recruits. Most of this work and shot-calling is handled in the main offices at Starlight Academy.