[hr][h3]The Practical Exam, Continued[/h3][hr]11:10 AM, August 6th, 1210PW. 43 Degrees Fahrenheit. Cloudy.[hr][color=f7976a]Albrecht Hamwheel's 'Radio' Device Finally Hits Store Shelves - BUY TODAY![/color] - The Unoctoc View, July 5th, 1197PW[hr]Nearly silent footsteps approached two of the largest students in the crowd. Mionrashk ar Wahaca, the tiny felid Monster from the opening ceremony, plopped down in front of Berke and Azerus, and stared up at the two with all four eyes. It was wearing a leather harness covered in deep red foreign-made Condensers. [color=f49ac2]"Myon."[/color]

It seemed to want to team up with them. A ten pound creature would probably do well working alongside a Gorilla Chimera with its delicate nature. Azerus would immediately recognize it as a Telkit, given his interest in history (a rather notable and widely publicized event had happened some decades ago regarding violence at first contact). But it was still a Monster, and seeing a Telkit in human or chimera occupied lands was almost unheard-of. They usually kept to the Deadlands and only very rarely made contact with humans, and for good reason: Telkit colonies were feral and xenophobic, and didn't particularly appreciate other intelligent creatures treading on their land. Deadland Explorers who'd survived wandering into Telkit territories generally came back crippled by severe electrical burns and frostbite.

[color=f49ac2]"[i]I hope you don't mind my joining your team. I believe it would be beneficial for all parties present.[/i]"[/color] The creature seemed to be using localized telepathy to speak.[hr][h2][center][color=7ea7d8]Professor Brovak[/color][/center][/h2][hr]The professor tapped his foot up and down the entire time the students were working to find teammates, staring at a clipboard and scribbling down notes. It was impossible to tell who or what he was looking at with his dark goggles, and some of the applicants half-assedly tried to hide from what might be his gaze. Of course, he made a note of everyone who did so on his clipboard. It'd be interesting to see what those students would do in the Practical Exam. Probably run and hide or something - a perfectly valid tactic, but it wouldn't achieve many of the objectives.

A small 'Ding!' noise popped up and Brovak pulled his sleeve back to reveal a bandaged arm with a small twist-timer on it.

[color=7ea7d8]"Alright everyone, your time is up. I see a number of you haven't gotten a complete group together, and that there are some... Stragglers. You do realize you were supposed to get in groups of three, right? Should I have repeated myself over and over? Or were you just too afraid of talking to people to choose?"[/color]

Brovak's tone of voice wasn't angry. It was just... Condescending. Very condescending. At least it wasn't targeted at anyone who'd made an attempt at grouping up.

[color=7ea7d8]"Alright, I suppose I'll have to put some of you into groups myself. [sub][sub]Can't follow simple instructions...[/sub][/sub] Yes, hm. I think I've got it. You there - Mat Harken - you're working with Yrhen Oharra and Alexander Breckenridge. They're right there."[/color] - he pointed towards the two applicants in question before continuing - [color=7ea7d8]"Lester Astrante, you're with Mallory Mortimer and Madock Holliday."[/color]

He continued swinging his finger around and naming names for a solid three minutes, shutting down anyone who tried to speak over him as he went. There were quite a lot of applicants who hadn't made complete groups yet, apparently. When he was finished, there were ten groups of three in total.

[color=7ea7d8]"I don't care if you don't like who you've been paired up with. You had ten minutes to find a group and work that out. The Practical Exam starts as soon as I'm finished explaining things. Firstly, your equipment. Everybody with the ability to grip and use a rifle is being issued the 7.5x56U M1 Kubyezh, along with ten magazines, which each hold five rounds. Mind the recoil - I've seen unprepared people dislocate their shoulders with them before. A .38 revolver is also being issued, with three speed loaders. There is also a simple combat knife with an eight inch blade weighing two pounds - extremely heavy for a knife, but you'll be glad of it."[/color]

With a series of soft 'pops', a harness appeared for each person with opposable thumbs and fell to the ground, with a revolver holster on each hip and the combat knife sheath mounted to a strap crossing the wearer's chest. A pair of ammunition pouches were also on the harness's chest, out of the way of the combat knife sheath. Another series of popping noises a second later materialized the rifles atop the harnesses, unloaded and in pristine condition, followed by the revolvers and the knives.

[color=7ea7d8]"And just in case any of you actually understand magic, we're throwing in five Condensers as well. With the full charge of one standard-issue Condenser, you can raise the temperature of one cubic meter of air by roughly one thousand, two hundred degrees, or perform any other magical feat requiring the same amount of energy."[/color]

A third series of 'pops' materialized a rack of five Condensers in small cylindrical 'pockets' on the harnesses' right side vertical straps.

[color=7ea7d8]"Now, on to the Exam itself. We will be transporting each group to a location surrounding this town. There are three objectives: the first of which is to tell me what this town's name is and what happened here, and this objective is worth one hundred points for your group. The second is to capture and hold the town's central Temple against others, and this objective is worth one hundred points as well - however, the amount of points earned will be divided up amongst all of the groups holding the objective based on time held... Inverted. The group that arrives most recently will be awarded points based on the time the group that first captured the objective has been there, and vice-versa. Why? Because I said so. And the third objective? Survive. Ninety points to teams that survive in full, with thirty points awarded for each killing blow against another group and thirty points lost for each team member lost. If a team is completely wiped out, all of the kill points they have accumulated will be transferred to the ones who took them out. And the highest scoring team will be rewarded quite nicely. Any questions? No? Good."[/color]

The shape of a wicked smile formed under Brovak's facial bandages. He was finally enjoying himself, now that some of the groups were visibly squirming. The first objective was reasonable, but the second two were almost completely nonsensical outside of being meant to cause as much mayhem as possible. And he outright ignored anybody who raised their hand or tried to ask anything, instead pushing on with his speech.

[color=7ea7d8]"Oh, and... I've left a few presents in there, specially for you. Think of them as gifts for newcomers. You're welcome. We're starting in three, two, one..."[/color]

A series of ten much louder pops shot through the air and each group suddenly found itself in the middle of a grassy field outside of the town, with their assigned equipment lying on the ground at their feet. Low hills and tall, uncut grass made it nearly impossible to see where other groups had landed, but the taller buildings of the abandoned town were clearly visible over the grass, and they were much closer than they had been earlier. Low noises somewhere between rattling and hissing could be heard in the distance.

[hider=Starting Points][img]https://i.imgur.com/tRVskzz.png[/img]
Bold lines are player teams. All others are NPCs.

[b]RED STAR = Madock, Mallory, and Lester[/b]
BROWN STAR = Darhaub, Kayl, and Kat
BLUE STAR = Orson, Hugh, and Zak'kuul
ORANGE STAR = Arthur, Gilliam, and Gwen
BLACK STAR = Tina, Wilma, and Tank
[b]DARK GREEN STAR = Azerus, Berke, and Mionrashk[/b]
TEAL STAR = Squarg, Schlogar, and Zhivoth
LIGHT GREEN STAR = Bradley, Alyssa, and Jackson
[b]PURPLE/PINK STAR = Yrhen, Alexander, and Mat[/b]
YELLOW STAR = Kyle, Kylee, and Aggoth
[/hider]

[@Eragon][@semicolon][@Jay Kalton][@Dark Light][@FlitterFaux][@HeartlessNobody][@Etranger][@hagroden][@GrafRoy Zeppeli][@thewizardguy]