03-14-06

Characters involved: Zoe_lang, Terrance, Quinten, Darklett, & Marsuvees.

Salamandastron: Meeting Room

Rows of long, narrow tables have been set up in front of the first two rows of benches in the meeting room and young, eager recruits are spaced sporadically amongst them, with at least a seat's width between each. At the beginning of the exam, each recruit was given three slips of blank parchment. By this point in the exam, most have filled them and requested more. Zoe stands at the front of the room, sitting in a chair while peering at a parchment through bespectacled eyes. An hour glass is running out in front of her. "Two minute warnin' on this part o' the exam, Recruits. Finish up 'n' prepare fer the next question."

Terrance looks up to the hour glass at the colonel's warning and then back to the answer that he's already finished, doing a quick look-see to try and catch any mistakes before time's up.

Quinten frowns at the hourglass and chews the end of his quill then looks back down at his latest answer he needs to round it off to a suitable conclusion...maybe....yes that works" lowering his head down again he dips the pen and starts to write again."

Darklett's giving a bit of help moderating the exam, standing in the back of the room to cover that area while Zoe watches the front. His eyes scan over the back of the heads of each hare, whether he or she be scrambling to finish a thought, slowly, deliberately wording a conclusion, or, unfortunately, drawing a rather panicked blank, staring, motionless, in horror, at their exam.

After announcing the two minute warning, the Colonel moved over to the chalkboard to pick up a bit of chalk. She turned it away from the recruits and, referring to the parchment in paw, began to write. "You are leading a battle against a village encamped with vermin. The vermin force is of equal number to your own, and several villagers are being held captive. There is a wall surrounding the village, with two gates serving as access points. Both of the gates are heavily guarded. How would you use your forces (assuming that you have the full force of the Patrol) to retake the village?" Having finished writing it, she glances to the hour glass and sees that it is just running out. She waits until the last grains have fallen and clears her throat. "Quills down, Recruits." She slowly turns the chalkboard around, and reads the question aloud for them. That done, she turns the hourglass over. "Ya've got ten minutes t' complete this question, the last question on the written portion o' this exam. Good luck."

Terrance takes a clean piece of parchment and ponders at the question for a bit. After scratching underneath his jaw for a minute or so, Terr starts to quickly scribble down his response. His plan involves having a detatchment attack one gate whilst the majority of the force lies in hiding. When the vermin focus their attention on the one attack, the other force will attack the other gate, hopefully catching the vermin off guard and flanking them.

Quinten stares at the question for a moment and feels like panicing, no one mentioned this, calming himself down he writes it out on the page and then starts to doodle, drawing in the hyperthetical battlefield, annoting it with a key and directions showing how he'd set up his forces, slowly building up a picture of the assault.

Zoe_Lang watches the sometimes shocked, sometimes angry faces of the harried recruits. They have, after all, been sitting in this room for an awful long time. She glances back to where Darklett stands and gives him an amused smirk. Poor things. She returns her attention to the hour glass, which has etches in the side marking off the ten-minute marks. Watch, watch, watch. "Two minute warnin'..."

Terrance finishes up his written description of his plan, hoping it will be understood easily enough. Leaning back in his chair, he idly glances around slightly and sees some hares drawing out a sketch of their battle plan. Looking back to his paper he looks up to the hour glass and frowns. Two minutes isn't enough time to draw something out. He'll just have to stick by what he wrote.

Quinten frowns nibbling the end of his quill and dipping it back in the ink to mark in a final note on the final stage of te battle plan, he sits up and smiles putting his quill down, there thats it, he hopes it is clear enough. Glancing left and right he notes some hares have written out the plan...oh dear...maybe a diagram is not acceptable...

"A'right! Quills down." Zoe sets the hour glass over on its side and turns to the board to erase the question written there. "Roll yer parchments t'gethah 'n' tie them with the string given t' ya at the beginnin' of the exam and pass them t' the end of yer row. Those at the end o' the rows, turn the exams ovah t' Majah Darklett."

Terrance stacks all of his parchments together and then rolls them up, doing as asked with the piece of string. He passes his roll on down the line, passing on a few others as he exchanges glances with a few other recruits, giving a sigh of relieve at that part being over.

Quinten looks around franticly, string string where is the string damn it this always happens to me.....he spies it on the floor and leans down to pick it up, quickly tying up his parchment andhanding it along to the end of the row, last......damn it

Darklett passes up the rows one by one, grabbing a bag off the floor where he stood before and taking the rolled up parchment from each row into it, straight-faced as he passed each hare up to the front of the room, closing up the bag and looking to the Colonel, smirking again as he lifts and lowers the bag roughly in waiting.

Zoe_Lang saves her smirk for Darklett and turns a reassuring smile on the nervous recruits. "I'm sure ya all did great! We'll have yer scores posted on the board in the rec room t'morrah aftah dinnah. Please do /not/ bothah yer majah - /or/ yer lieutenant - for information on yer scores before then. They will /not/ be able t' help ya." Obviously this has been a problem in the past. That said, she gestures towards the door. "Now fer the active portion of the exam. If you'll all wait outside, we'll start callin' ya in one atta time." Another big smile. In other words, get on out. XD

Terrance takes the hint and stands with the rest and shuffles out, muttering a query to the recruit behind him who just shrugs in reply.

Quinten frowns worriedly and darts out of the room as soon as they are told to leave, leaning against the wall and chattering to a few other recruits about their answers to the questions, swapping answers and frowning

Darklett drops the bag and turns to watch the recruit head out, unable to hold back his mouth from curling up at its corners for just a moment. Finally, they're all out of the room, and he full-out grins. "I've never stood in on one of these things before," he comments to the Colonel. "That last question was..." Chuckle. "Interesting."

Zoe_Lang grins. She was equally amused by it. "I don't expect any o' them will come up with a sound strategy. But we ask a couplah questions like that on each exam t' see how well they apply what they've learned in their battle strategy class." She gathers up her materials, then, and turns to head toward the door. "The officahs tendin' t' this portion of the exam ought t' be waitin' for us outside. So let's head on out there. The recruits're probably badgerin' 'em already." She smirks, holding up the door for the other once they reach it.

Darklett raises a brow, and grins, "Good, 'cause... Well, that's just a hard question for a recruit!" Dark chuckled again, shaking his head, following the Colonel out, taking leave out of the door. "Can't wait to see what you're throwing at 'em for this one," he murmurs as he passes her, stepping out into the grouping of recruit hares.

Salamandastron: Level Two

• -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* Salamandastron *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

You are in a medium-sized circular 'room' from which several passages

branch off. Each passage fades off around a twisting corner, winding

around in the bowels of the mountain. One passage, however, hardly more

than a short, straight hall, ends abruptly with a large wooden door - the

forge room.

• -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Visible Exits:

[Up] to the Third Level [Down] to the First Level

[L]eaders' [C]orridor [M]eeting [R]oom

[T]raining [R]oom [Forge] Room

[Lib]rary [C]rafts [R]oom

Terrance frowns as he gets nothing from the hare next to him as well and so he just shakes his head and runs through different scenarios, trying to think of what to do in each possable case

Quinten chews on an ear tip worriedly leaning forwards to talk to the doe ahead of him, seeing if she has any idea what to expect either.... she shakes her head and whispers something to him, he shakes his head and nods at the recruit behind

Zoe_Lang follows Darklett out of the meeting room, but holds the door open to allow the two officers giving the second portion of the exam to enter. She nods to each, holding up a parchment. She then calls for attention. "A'right, folks! We'll start callin' folks in, now." She looks down to the list, and calls out the first name on the list. It is an A-name, predictably.

Darklett stands on the other side of the entrance to the meeting room, listening for the name to be called... Not one that sounds familiar to him, though the hare that steps up has been seen around. Not a fighter, at least...

Terrance sighs. Alphabetical. Greeaaatttt. This is going to take a while for him then. Looking at the hare that steps forward, he gives a quick nod to him and then goes back to waiting.

Quinten fidgets nervously fingering his collar, great he's right at the bottom of that list....no one below Q in this group of recruits it seems...damn. HE watches the runneh step forwards and whispers a good luck to them

Zoe_Lang watches the buck trudge somewhat unwillingly into the room. She turns her attention to the recruits left, some pacing and some just staring off into the distance, looking vague and confused. She smiles, however, when Quinten wishes them good luck. There's the spirit. She turns her attention to Darklett. "Yer welcome t' poke yer head in t' watch, if ya want."

Darklett watches the recruits as well, looking over them carefully, picking out the fighter recruits he knows amongst them. "Peek in? ...Hah, I might as well, I guess. I'm curious." He smirks and quietly blocks any view of the recruits into the room, watching as, for now, the recruit and testers are just discussing things for a moment.

Terrance glances towards the doorway and frowns a bit as the major stands in front of it. Well so much for listening in. Terr just stands in the at ease position against a wall, seemingly zoning out as he thinks about things.

Quinten walks back down the corridor a short way, arms folded and frowning worriedly, chewing on his ear tip again.

Zoe_Lang stands in front of Darklett. You know. Just for some /extra/ protection against the recruits glancing in. She glances over the major's shoulder. They appear to be going through basic weapons use, at the moment, both defending and attacking. One of the officers stands opposite the recruit, while the other officer stands off to the side, making marks on a parchment every now and then.

Darklett grins, letting his head peek out into the hallway again, turning around. "Well, this one's doing well so far..." He peeks back in, looking between all the participating hares in the meeting room. Things are getting a little less basic now, and Darklett seems more attentive.

Terrance turns an ear as darklett pokes his head out and hms, maybe it isn't that bad. Looking to the recruits pacing he jokes, "Putting a new trench in the floor huh chaps?"

Quinten leans against the wall again and peers at the door, come on,, come on all this waiting...its nerve wracking and if he has to sit thorugh every single hares exam....

Bandem glances out the door of the dorm, slightly hung-over from last night. Sighting the recruits, he refrains from exiting, but positions himself where he can see without being seen.

The next time Zoe glances over Darklett's shoulder, it is to see a recruit heading towards her and the major. She grins and steps aside, to make way for the possibly-harried recruit to exit. "Well. That was quick, eh?"

Marsuvees comes down from the third story...backwards, staring up the stairway and grumbling. Holding onto his hat, he turns...and bumps straight into the back of a recruit. Rattling off a harsh oath, he blinks suddenly, staring about him. "What th'...?" The hall is full. Flickering his ears about, he sniffs, and pokes out gently at a hare, who just happens to be Bandem. "Oy, mate. What's goin' on 'ere, hm? All this confounded amalgamation a hares an' all, I means."

Terrance looks as the recruit comes out and smirks as a good portion of those waiting swamp him asking him questions. Terr stands on the outskirts, not asking anything but hoping to gleam something

Quinten pauses and watches the recruit, nodding his head to them, listening to the colonel's words. /Quick..she siad quick is that a good thing...or a bad thing....heavens knows..."

Darklett chuckles again, watching the recruits swarm around the recruit that just finished... He simply steps out of the way for the next hare to come through, seeing if he'll recognize him or her.

The recruit in question has been ordered not to divulge any information on the exam, so he's left to vague statements like, "Oh, itwasn'tsobad, heh?" Zoe merely grins and looks back down to the parchment. She calls out the next name, then the next, and the next... Each recruit takes about five-ten minutes, depending, but it's a fairly small number who are taking the exam. Soon enough, Quinten's name is called.

Quinten jumps as his name is called totally wasn't expecting that... Surely R can't be right before Q....can it?" he shuffles forwards chewing on an ear, he tugs it out and looks about feeling rather lonely now that the others have been in. He pauses by the door and looks at Zoe and Darklett worriedly.

Terrance grunts as the recruit doesn't hand over any details and so the huddle breaks up. Terr goes back to his place holding up the wall where he waits as each of the recruits go in and out.

Zoe_Lang gives Quinten an encouraging pat on the shoulder, and a smile. "Just think of Gabby there t' congratulate when ya find ya've passed, lad." She smiles and ushers him in then looks toward the dwindling group of recruits. There are three left, with Ter among their numbers.

Quinten darts inside with a smile at the Colonel's words, thats encouraging....he should be able to get quite the kiss off Gabby if he passes...and tells her at just the right moment..." the door shuts behind him with a click.

Terrance sighs as he looks around at the two others left. "Well chaps, almost done it looks like. What are yer names anyhow?" One replies with Steve and the other replies with Sergan. "Great, so I guess that puts me at tha bottom o' tha list. Well good luck ta tha both o' ya."

Zoe_Lang leans against the closed door for a moment, then pushes off to head toward the remaining recruits. She smiles to each in turn, patting one on the shoulder. "You'll do fine, Recruits. I know it's hard bein' the last t' go in somethin'."

Quinten is out of sight inside the room for about twenty minutes finally walking out into view and looking a bit dazed, he pauses just outside the door and frowns as he looks about for the Colonel or Major not sure what to do next.."

Bandem watches, quite interested in the process, as, being a warrior of sufficient skill, he skipped the exam.

Terrance shifts his wait around as he continues to hold up the wall in the at ease position. Finally the recruit comes out and he winces at the look on his face, then looks to the other two left.

Zoe_Lang looks around as she hears Quinten exit the room. She tries to hide her amusement at his dazed look; she's seen it a million times. "Sergen," she calls to the next recruit, and then turns her attention to Quinten. She goes through the same thing she has with almost every other dazed recruit. "Yer free t' go now, lad. Good work 'n' good job. Get yerself some food; ya've been at it a long time, now."

Quinten nods dumbly to the Colonel and salutes, walking down the corridor he whispers a goodluck to the remaining three recruits "Yes ma'am...thank ye ma'am..." he moves towards the stairs leading upstairs

Bandem glances out, and seeing that there are few recruits left, exits the dorm.

Terrance sighs a bit. One more in line ahead of him and that's it.

Zoe_Lang looks between the two remaining recruits, rocking back on her heels and then forward again. Her paws slip in her pockets, and every now and then she glances over her shoulder, expecting Sergen to come out. Finally he does, and Steve is sent in. She turns her eyes around to Terrance. The last. "Nervous, lad?"

Quinten has left the hall by now making his way upstairs to go collapse in the rec room or someplace where he can get a drink and unwind and relax

Zoe_Lang chuckles at Ter's reply. She gives an appreciative nod and a grin. "Fair 'nough, lad. Fair 'nough." She is looking over her shoulder as she speaks, "They should be out in just a..." And there Steve is. She blinks. He's... crying. Her eyebrows raise. "... Well." Throat clearing ensues. "S'pose that's... yer cue, Ter m'lad."

Terrance blinks at the crying recruit. Okay, now he's a little nervous. Taking a deep breath he heads into the room, nodding to the colonel as he passes by.

Zoe_Lang takes the time that Terrance is in the exam to comfort the second-to-last recruit. With shoulders heaving, the recruit is sent off to the dormitories to take a rest and calm himself down. That done, Zoe just... waits. She was here for the first to exit, and she'll be here for the last.

Terrance comes out a couple of minutes later, sucking on his finger that seems to have gotten a chunk of skin missing from it. Passing by the Colonel he gives a salute and says, "Have a good night colonel marm."

Zoe_Lang's reaction - or rather, lack of reaction - is taken in with a faint smile. She nods to the young buck and gives him, quite likely, the most respectful salute he's had from a Colonel. "Good night, Recruit." She turns, preparing to head off to whatever it is she has to go.

Terrance smiles back a little and then heads off, a little bounce in his step. What's a little bit of whirlwind sparring compared to boxing a hare twice his size.