Romanovan Servicer

A slave of the Law

Published 26 July 2023

Updated 21 October 2024

a desert camo coat hangs against a white wall. the left sleeve is dyed black; the right sleeve bears an armband made of yellow, white, and blue flags. Across the shoulders reads the word SERVICER in 1.5 inch high letters. — A Romanovan Servicer has declared for Achilles, and dyed their sleeve black.

This is a hypothesized Servicer coat from sometime after September 24, 2454. In Ada Palmer’s Terra Ignota novels, Servicers are those who have committed a crime so heinous that their debt to society may never be repaid by a lifetime of their work, yet with so little potential for re-offense that the offender may be allowed to walk the world as any free person does. Servicers work in exchange for food, with shelter provided by charity, and the Cousins Hive keeping a watchful eye to prevent abuse. Servicers hold no personal possessions, are forbidden from weapons or fighting, and generally perform the role of migrant labour. There are only a few tens of thousands of Servicers in all of the Universal Free Alliance.

In the 2400s, the Romanovan Universal Free Alliance is big on “clothing as communication”, so the Servicers wear mottled dull colors, unlike any other outfit worn in that era. This is not confused with military camouflage patterns because there are no militaries in the Universal Free Alliance. There hasn’t been a war in more than 200 years.

Since the Servicer’s uniform is above all else a work uniform, and safety of Servicers is a key part of the Cousins’ charge, I decided to modify this jacket by adding high-visibility stripes:

a desert camo coat lies flat on the floor. retroreflective tape makes bands around the sleeves, in a stripe around the waist, and in stripes running over each shoulder. — With the Romanovan armband temporarily removed, the back shows the pattern of retroreflective stripes.

a pair of desert camo pants lie flat on the floor. retroreflective tape makes bands twice around the calbes, and covers the flaps of the thigh pockets. on one thigh is stenciled the word SERVICER. — The uniform bottom stripes. For added visibility, the thigh pockets flaps are retroreflective.

When war comes in 2454, uniforms are needed. On the evening of September 23, Emperor MASON decreed that the uniform of Masons in the present conflict would be their left sleeves dyed black, showing the Masonic Emperor’s Capital Power reaching through the arms of every Mason.

Sworn to Achilles, who was sworn to MASON, were the Blacksleeve Servicers, who illegally bore arms and fought in the War.

Costume parts

The base is a 60/40 poly-cotton digital camo BDU.
The left sleeve is dyed black using Rit dye for synthetics, from my local grocery store’s laundry aisle. The dye was applied using a large galvanized steel wash-tub, heated on a gas kitchen stove, with temperature checks provided by a meat thermometer floated on a hunk of spare cork. If you replicate this, you may wish to buy a spare stock pot for dyeing purposes from your local charity shop.
The “SERVICER” lettering on the back of the jacket is iron-on. You will need an iron.
The “SERVICER” lettering on the front right thigh is fabric paint, through a 3” stencil. You can buy a pack of stencils, or make your own with printer paper. Be sure to lay a line of masking tape to align your stencils.
The Romanovan flag armband is made from authorized merchandise, later stabilized with iron-in interfacing and scrap nylon and cotton duck fabric.
The retroreflective striping is 2” retroreflective iron-on tape, purchased in a 30-foot roll from Amazon. Placement will vary based on the particulars of your BDU; I laid each piece here so that the stripes would avoid the reinforced elbows and knees, and the pockets.

Not shown in these photos are a shapeless black cap with brim, and a Masonic flag patch on the left sleeve.