Sergeants Exam

[Daniel]

For any corporal wishing to take the Sergeant's Exam, an announcement went up in the Corporals barracks listing the date, time and room number to be in. And eventually that day came.

On the appointed day, many interested corporals began filing into the room #745 in the base Admin building, not far from the Bursar's office. There would be a written portion, followed by a practice drill where leadership skills were tested. The written portion tested knowledge of the Abestat military and command structure plus had some questions that could only be explained by the fact of the military bureaucracy itself.

Inside the doorway to the examination room, a young Dorin private named Aguie stood, a clipboard in his forepaws.

"Please sign in, and list your name, rank, company and platoon, here here and of course here."

Behind the Dorin and inside the room could be seen many yellow desk and metal military chairs, the uncomfortale kind that made one wished for the homier little-red-schoolhouse sort. Perhaps that was an unspoken part of the test, checking for endurance and to weed out any whiners.

(OOC: please note that this thread is in addition to anything else ongoing, so all gained ranks are cumulative. If you are a corporal who might be getting sergeant at the end of some other thread, you will in fact then get lieutenant instead.)

[Yarrow]

Yarrow Woodruff had heard threw Keeva who heard from another that promotion sign ups were coming up...again. Her heart raced as she entered the examination room.

"Please sign in..."

Yarrow Woodruff, Corporal, Delta Company, 2nd platoon

She could imagine what life would be like as a sargent, but when she had been a Private she could imagine any other way of life. That had seemed like ages ago, but really...it might not be...was it yesterday instead? No yesterday was Corporal...maybe the day before that she had been a Private.....

[Keeva Kaldres]

Trailing some way behind her friend Yarrow, who, in some strange way she could not possibly discern had managed to get ahead of her, Keeva soon managed to drag herself into the examination room, her heart pounding to the fastest rhythym her mind could rationally encapsulate. Something about the mere word 'exam' had sent her senses racing in repulsion, but she wanted this promotion with all her throbbing heart.

When the dorin asked her to sign in, the young girl's mind blanked momentarily. What was her name again?

A harsh shake of her head did little to bring her mind back into the sensible waking world once more. Why was a silly little test having such an effect on her? Hands that tremored ever so slightly worked to sign the corporal's name in.

Keeva Lasant, Lance Corporal, Delta Company, 2nd Platoon

In silence, the young woman made her way over to one of the desk, seting herself into one of the horribly uncomfortable chairs, seats that did nothing to calm her nerves, and, more likely, worked in the complete opposite effect. Resting her hands on the yellow desk before her, Keeva waited for what was to come next.

[Daniel]

Once enough corporals had trailed into the testing area, Aguie closed the door and introduced Staff Sergeant Dan Silverswind. "Serale everyone, and welcome! For those of you who may have overslept or think they are in the Mess Hall, my name is Sergeant Silverwind and I will be overseeing the field portion of your test. That being the case, I will also proctor this examination though final grades will not be posted until the next brightening."

He turned to the private. "Aguie, please put paper and ink pots on all the desks, then hand out the writing plumes as necessary."
Silverwind spoke with courtesy to his assistant though he could just have easily tyrannized the little Dorin. "Everyone please use the following heading."

The sergeant went to the front of the room, and took a large stick of yellow chalk in his left hand then began writing: "Promotion Exam, Date, My name-- if anyone puts Silverwind that IS an automatic 'F' people-- company and platoon, current Sergeant, such as Dundridge for Delta Company platoon two, and your time in grade and time in rank, those being the date you joined the military and the date you became corporals."

"Once everyone has written out their headers put your quills down so I can see when we are ready for the closed-book written exam. Headers, begin now!"

[Yarrow]

Yarrow began to write...

Promotion Exam... Yarrow Woodruff Delta Company platoon two, Sergeant Dundridge...

When she wrote all she could she bite her lip and raised her hand. When she was called upon she would ask: What is today's date sir?

ooc: I don't know the date I signed up or when our promotion date to Corporal was. What should I put for it??? :confused:

[Daniel]

A uniformed hand pointed at the blackboard, where the current date was listed. One point was taken off of Yarrow's test for not knowing this.

OOC: The Parade Grounds thread may be timestamped. If it came before timestamping, you can estimate it and you can round off the approximate date you joined as well. It's not like anyone is going to doublecheck this stuff. I'm still a bit unclear as to whether we have timestamping or not: the decision has apparently changed 4 times this week alone.

[Keeva Kaldres]

Promotion Exam

Date: Carmelyana, Brightening 4 of the 1st cycle of Ponutis, Winter of Era IX PF in the Age of Darkening

Name: Keeva Lasant
Company and Platoon: Delta Company, Second Platoon
Current Sergeant: Dundridge Silverwind

Time in Grade: Thera, Brightening 6 of the 1st cycle of Imperos, Autumn of Era IX PF in the Age of Darkening
Time in Rank: Solaria, 1st Brightening of the 1st cycle of Kalendryas,Winter of Era VIII PF in the Age of Darkening

Upon finishing, Keeva lay her quill neatly on the desk top in front of her, as per instructed. Her initial nervousness seemed to have died down somewhat, although its prescence still lurked all too noticeably within her system. She then waited for the rest of the soldiers to finsh their headers, and for the test to begin.

[Daniel]

Each corporal was then given the test:

Knowledge of Abestat:

1) Who was Lord Culturen? (in-game.)
2) Who recently liberated the population of Abestat and fell in love with Meladora Lastra?
3) Name the three neighborhoods (subforums) of Abestat, and briefly explain what can be found in each.
4) ______ led the Orc invasion that created the current military base.
5) Jucle Magik physically occupies a special place in Abestat. . . what is special about it?
6) Tusya is the word for Western Gate in Old Abestatian. (T/F) Bonus point if you can name the New Abestat name.
7) Lynsa Farn has what dedicated to her in Abestat? Why?
8) Anyone wishing to file a grievance against another resident of Abestat should see the Aedile. (T/F)
9) Pescado Branch is the only _____ in Abestat.
10) Abestat is named after the ____ River.

Knowledge of the Military:
1) Enamere Lastra is a Corporal in the Abestat military (T/F)
2) People wishing to file a complaint against a military personnel are instructed to see the Quartermaster (T/F)
3) The standard enlistment for joining is 28 eras (T/F)
4) Put the following ranks in order: Sergeant, Major, Private, General. (Top to bottom)
5) Where on base are promotions and medals given out?
6) From the _______, one can see almost all of Abestat at a glance.
7) In a time of war, a sergeant must obey any order a corporal gives him. (T/F)
8) Name the first rank one must get a commission for to be considered a full officer.
9) There can only be one corporal for each platoon. (T/F)
10) What are the colors of the Abestat uniform?

The test proctor then gave the following instructions: "The Abesat military system works on the honor code, so please do not look at the paper of the person next to, above, or below you. Turn them in to me when you are done! Good luck!"

[Keeva Kaldres]

Knowledge of Abestat:

1) Lord Culturen tried to overthrow Lady Meladora Lastra and was imprisoned for treason.
2) Roland Moonstar. ()
3) Dan’s Domicillium – the residencial area of Abestat, where the majority of the citizens live and have their houses.
Market Square – shops and stalls serving the population of Abestat.
Military Base – houses all of the military buildings of Abestat.
4) Hazbones led the Orc invasion that created the current military base.
5) Jucle Magik lives in a hut situated in the forest.
6) False. The Western gate is now known as the Wargate.
7) Lynsa Farn has a park and statue dedicated to her because she saved a caravan of widows and orphans from the Xet.
8) False.
9) Pescado Branch is the only Saurid in Abestat.
10) Abestat is named after the Abe River.

Knowledge of the Military:
1) False.
2) True.
3) False.
4) General, Major, Sergeant, Private
5) Promotions and medals given out on the military parade grounds.
6) From the Watchtower, one can see almost all of Abestat at a glance.
7) False.
8) Sergeant.
9) False.
10) Blue and Silver.

Thinking that the second set of questions appeared to be much more straightforward than the first, that was the first part of the test that Keeva deigned to tackle. It was hard to think under all the pressure and stress that were being granted her under the examination conditions, and the young woman found her hands shaking, her normally neat writing appearing slightly scrawled as she put quill to paper.

Dreading the first set of questions, as they appeared to require a lot more thought than the second, Keeva began to feel the onslaught of a dull pain in the back of her mind as she struggled to access the dark recesses of her memories and dredge out any sort of useful information lodged there.

Upon finishing, Keeva would check her answers over once…twice, willing the cogs and wheels of her brain to work in unison in order to make sure she had answered all the questions rightly. She was completely unsure about the Jucle Magik question; she had not heard too much about the orc, and so her answer for that question was…well…awful, frankly. She could only hope that getting a few odd questions wrong was the norm for this test. When she figured that she had done the best she physically could, Keeva positioned the quill back on the desk in front of her with one tremoring hand, noticeably anxious of what was to come next.

[Yarrow]

Yarrow blushed as she realized that the date had been right in front of her the whole time and that she had been stupid enough to ask and get points taking off of her test. Now I am really going to fail this! She thought as she completed the rest of the top of her form.

Date: Carmelyana, Brightening 4 of the 1st cycle of Ponutis, Winter of Era IX PF in the Age of Darkening

Time in Grade: Thera, Brightening 5 of the 2nd cycle of Imperos, Autumn of Era IX PF in the Age of Darkening

Time in Rank: Solaria, 1st Brightening of the 1st cycle of Kalendryas,Winter of Era VIII PF in the Age of Darkening

Then she began to look at the questions and she was soon relieved. She knew most of these.

1. He tried to over throw Abestat's leader, but was thrown in jail for the attempt.

Uh-uh! I have no idea! She froze as she read the next question and was suddenly fearful of what the rest of the questions would be like if already she had no idea...

2.Lord Culturen
3. Dans Domillicum- Citizen's houses are found here
Market Square- Shops can be found here
Military Base- This is where the military train and sleep, soldiers, and other military equipment are found here.
4. Hazbones
5.
6. False. The new name is The Wargate
7. A park is dedicated to her because she saved a caravan of widows and children who could not defend themselves.
8. False
9.
10. Abe

1. False
2. True
3. False
4. General, Major, Sergeant, Private
5. The Military Parade Grounds
That's where I received my promotion and purple heart at least...I hope this is right... Again she paused for a moment, but decided to keep that answer.
6. Watch Tower
Yarrow paused once more, remembering the view from the Watch Tower. She had been there on duty once before and couldn't wait to go back. The view had been...BACK TO THE EXAM! She blushed and moved on to the next one.
7. False
8. Lieutenant
9. False
10. Blue and Silver

After she reread her questions and sigher over the ones she knew would be wrong she got up and handed over her test...the thing that would decide if she passed or failed...

[Daniel]

The Sergeant collected all the papers. "All right, very good. Go take your physical drills then report back here in the morning."

The corporals were all sent to the base hospital for a complete physical, then spent the afternoon attempting to goad a deliberately unwieldy group of recruits into some semblance of a marching band. Not everyone was cut out for being a sergeant, and many of the test-takers were eliminated.

The next day they were ordered to report back to class, the four that were left.

Aguie the Dorin private sat there and graded everyone's papers right then, now and then sneaking glances at Polly.

The only real frown on his face came when he got to Margo's paper. It appeared he was trying to find some way to help her pass, but there was just no way no matter how he judged her answers. Aguie hated to see anyone fail.

"I'm sorry, Margo, but the following answers are just not correct:"

1. Thane of Alleria Prime.
2. Grakelin
3. Enamoria, Imperia, Dolud
4. Enamere Lastra led the orc invasion.
5. Jukle occupies the Plane of Illusion.
6. True
7. A shopping mall dedicated to her.
8. True
9. Pescado is the only Ancient Allerian in Abesat.
10. the Roland River

1. True
2. False
3. True
4. Private, Sergeant, Colonel, Admiral
5. Promotions are given out at the Quartermaster's office.
6. The Library
7. True
8. Lt. Colonel
9. True
10. Red and gold.

Margo of course stormed out and went to complain. Aguie shrugged and went back to work.

He continued to grade, then blushed when he got to Polly's paper. "Hmm... good job, Polly! You scored enough to pass!"

Polly let out an excited bark then blushed herself. "Excuse me." She glanced down at her paws.

A few minutes later Aguie beamed at Keeva: "A perfect score on the first part, Corporal Keeva. Are you sure you're not an Initiate Mystic?" Polly chuckled, slapping the desk with her paws.

Aguie smiled at Keeva. "You missed one or two on the second part, but nothing serious. The correct answer to #8 is Lieutenant, not Sergeant. And one should see Sergeant Dan about complaints: the Quartermaster handles supplies. Supplies."

He totalled up the points. "Still, that's a 90, a full 18 out of 20. Congratulations and good job!"

Aguie gave Yarrow a serious look. "I was expecting a better grade from you, but you still passed, demerit and all."

He stood up. "Congratulations to all of you! The promotion ceremony will be on the Parade Grounds day after tomorrow!" Another excited bark came from between Keeva and Yarrow again.

"Excuse me," Polly giggled.

[Yarrow]

Yarrow smiled, although she didn't know why he thought she would have gotten a better grade then Keeva. She had always been told that she wasn't bright....WASN'T BRIGHT? THEY CALLED YOU STUPID... Still she had past and so this gave her great joy cutting off the voice. She had passed! SHE HAD PASSED!

Well then.... Yarrow said suddenly, but that was all she could find herself to say. After a moments pause she had the idea of going out for a celebration. How about we go over to the Commissary and get something to celebrate? My treat? Yarrow suggested.

[Keeva Kaldres]

'That'd be great, Yarrow.' Keeva responded, surprisingly calmly given the fact that she had just managed to pass the prerequisite test for Sergeant rank. Perhaps this was because the fact that she had indeed passed had come as quite a shock, and on taht was taking quite a while for her to recuperate from at that.

'Polly? Did you want to come too?' Keeva asked the dorin female. After all, she, too, had passed the test. 'I think we all deserve to have a little celebration before going back to our duties.'

[Daniel]

Polly nodded, then shook her head.

"Well, I really do want to come along, but there's someone, ah, there's something I need to see first. You two go on ahead, I'll be along in a few minutes, ok?"

Whether she simply wanted a moment alone to confer with Aguie about her grade, or whether she wanted to make sure Margo was all right was a bit unclear, but either way she politely begged off for a bit, promising to come by in a little while.

[Yarrow]

Yarrow nodded giving Polly her flashing smile. Then she turned to Keeva. Shall we then? She turned to the door after waving quickly to Polly and then was off to have a drink of tea.