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Tactics 101

Hazzan thought she was finally starting to get the hang of tactics and headed gladly back to the class day after day. Doing bookwork suited her just fine, as she doubted she was anywhere near coordinated enough for combat training and besides was sensitive of her size.

Her stack of notes was growing larger each day, and the instructor seemed to have finally noticed Hazzan's dedication. "You've taken a shine to the study of tactics, have you?" he asked, towering over her. Hazzan looked quietly up at him.

"I think it's cool to be able to get inside other troll's heads," she said quietly, pausing in her writing.

The instructor pursed his lips. "You should go take another class tomorrow," he said, after a moment. "All theory and no practice makes you dead."

Hazzan nodded meekly and went back to copying down notes from the board.

Survival 101

Tonight they were studying climbing, which interested Alifax a lot more than swimming, not half of which was because he had proper clothing for it (and gear was provided, too - thank whatever gods were out there, because holding his breath was not something that Alifax was good at, and neither was falling from rocks and not getting injured). He was very glad for that.

He was also glad that no-one was watching him climb, though, because while he had some experience in it (he lived in the Busthind mountains, after all!), he wasn't exactly the best at it. But luckily, everyone else in the class was focused on their own climb upward.

Alifax felt satisfied enough when he finally reached the top. Their instructor noticed, and seemed pleased.

"All right! Now back down, a push-up and then do that again nineteen more times!"

...well, he couldn't have expected it to be an easy course, he supposed.

Nights went by, blurring into days. Underground, it was easy to loose track of time. If not for the brightening of the artificial moonlight lamps each morning, it would be impossible to tell when to go to sleep. Activity in the camp went on as usual, with the 'real' soldiers coming and going in small regiments from the paths deeper into the cave, and the ragtag youth army getting drilled into shape slowly but surely. Soon enough, it seemed that the commanding officers decided that their newest charges were ready to do the job they had been gathered for. It was time to enter the caves.

An assembly was announced on the bulletin screens, to take place in the training ring in one night's time. New recruits, some proud and polished, some exhausted and bedraggled, filled the arena. They milled about, uncertain of what they were supposed to be doing, until a troll stalked out from from the mass of trolls and climbed up onto a small podium, erected for the meeting.

The first thing noticeable about the scarred female was that she was clearly a redblood and yet still moved with the confidence of one used to giving orders. Apart from that, what really drew eyes was the small pocket knife that she flung in the air and caught, in a rhythmic pattern that matched the timing of her steps. She strode to the center, the blade flashing up and down, catching and reflecting light from a nearby globe, her heavily mascaraed good eye staring out into the crowd. The training if nothing else had emphasized that when someone senior was in front of you, you shut up and payed attention. It appeared to work, or perhaps it was the knife. Either way, despite her paltry blood colour, she didn't have to say a word for the crowd to fall silent and turn to look at her. Satisfied that she had their attention, the female caught the blade neatly by it's point, folded the knife away, and began to speak.

"Congratulations recruits, you've been deemed a useful enough asset to finally begin service to your Queen. For now, I will be your commanding officer. If you have a problem with this, I advise you to work hard enough so that you will be promoted out of grubling's first nappy-time squad. Until you do however, you will address me as Sir and follow my orders. I don't care how special your lusus said you were when you were wiggling around and wetting yourself, in this army you have to climb up through the ranks just like any other soldier. And right now, you are all at the bottom."

Taking a breath, she paused and looked around at the ragtag group of trolls again, her blank face suddenly cracking a humourless smile. Making a smart turn, she began to pace back and forwards along the platform, in calm measured strides. The knife was out again, flicking up and down in time with her strides. Her voice began to fall into rythm with the two other actions, with punctuation and emphasis being placed as she snatched the sharp metal out of the air with practised ease. The effect was almost hypnotic and a few of the more exhausted trolls swayed on the spot, struggling to pay attention.

"Today you will finally get to participate in what you all so eagerly came here for. The caves are eating up our best soldiers faster than we can throw them in, and now that we've run out of good soldiers, it's your turn. However, due to the number of you all, we will not be marching as one group. You will form teams of up to four trolls, or if you are feeling particularly suicidal, set out in groups of one. I do not have the time or patience to memorize a bunch of faces or names that I might not see tomorrow, so I have officially delegated the job of assigning teams to your own personal decision. You're welcome. I would however, recommend getting trolls who have received adequate training in survival and navigation for your party. If I wanted to survive."

She shrugged, as though this were a minor detail, then bent down and picked a small clipboard up from the stand. Raising it up for a moment so all the trolls gathered could see it, she casually spun the board out into the crowd like a frisbee, ignoring the sharp cry of the troll it struck.

"Write down the name of your team members on that, or just your own, if you're making that particularly dumb choice. I will be back soon with your supplies - then we'll be heading out. Don't be slow about it, if I'm back before you have a team, you get to fly solo."

At this point, a troll who has gotten over 10 points in either survival or navigation is considered to have 'adequate' training. Daily classes are still being run, but they are all considered to be taking place before this. If you get over 10 points in a class during the upcoming event, your troll can get any bonuses given by it for prompts that have not yet been posted.
Please have teams decided by 11pm EST on the 15th! The parties will set out by then. Rping you trolls gathering in a group is not necessary if you do not have the time, a post with all the names of the party members is all that is needed.

TEAM FFF
four fronds flarp
FROSSA FYRSTE
HAZZAN OCTBRE
ALIFAX BUNSEM

Navigation 101

Cheese liked to spread out her activities...do something physically strenuous one night, do something mentally challenging the next. She felt that doing so helped her improve in both areas, so tonight she decided to attend navigation training again. This time she managed to find the real navigation instructor, who was giving a lesson on the fine art of tracking. He lead the trolls a short distance from the base, beyond the reach of the dim nighttime lighting.

"Now look around, and tell me what you see," he commanded his pupils. Cheese obediently squinted into the darkness. All she could see were rocks and her fellow students. The other students appeared just as uncertain. The instructor looked around and muttered to himself. "Try looking for small details." Cheese did, but she still wasn't sure what she was supposed to be looking for.



((continued tomorrow, here on the META RP DAILY SPAM CHANNEL))

((incidentally I be teaming up with Dart/Talymn, Kiwi/Maihue, and Wasser/Nelgan as TEAM LEFTOVERS
guys
maybe we should come up with something better))

Combat 101

With yesterday's embarrassment still fresh in mind, Talymn's temper had never risen so high, nor did the feeling of wanting to punch something or someone into an unrecognisable pulp be so urgent. He was angry at himself, angry at the system and with no way to take out his aggressions without getting put in a detainment centre. Well, almost.

Trudging back to the training grounds...

(aughtootired

way to stretch the page, Mel xp

and what's wrong with Team Leftovers? That is one of the most useful recovery items in Pokemon...)

Arriving back at the training arena with two drones pushing a large hovercart filled with knapsacks, the redblood known as Sir directed the distribution of gear then lead the groups of trolls out of camp, pausing between two watchtowers on a rough and new-looking road that snaked down into the bowls of the planet. Turning a sharp about-face, she stared hard at the mass of trolls following her for a few seconds, then began her rhythmic pacing up and down the path in front of her audience, knife out and spinning.

"We will be taking the first branching path right off the main road, then traveling through a section of maze-like tunnels that have not been searched yet. No one is sure how deep they lead, or what is on the other side. My job will be to scout ahead, and create detailed and comprehensive maps for her majesty. Therefore I will not be able to babysit you all throughout this journey. I trust you will make the smart decisions of an intelligent troll and trained soldier if you encounter any difficulties. We will be using tracking devices that roughly show us the direction other parties are in. Yours is in your knapsack. Do not loose it, as it will be the only thing you have to assist in finding your party should you get lost. More importantly, it will lead you all to me. I will be searching for the path through the caves, and if you all stay within a reasonable distance you should not encounter any dead ends or end up travelling in circles."

Pausing in her stride, the redblood wheeled around and flashed another sardonic smile at her charges. While she didn't display annoyance, it was clear the troll had no real interest what the crowd thought of her directions. They would follow her, or get lost and possibly never be seen again, no exoskeleton scrapings off her back, either way.

"It will take a half-night to arrive at the entrance to the caves, so we will be marching. Try not to fall behind, it gets cold in the caves with no one around. Hup hup hup, move out!"

THE EXPLORATION OF THE CAVES HAS BEGUN

Medicine 101, take 2.

Abrila was feeling rather sore that evening, so instead of pursuing her usual torture, she decided to go visit the medical tent for some more bandage shenanigans. Except that's not what awaited her there, this time. The class had moved on to amputations and stitching on some dead howlbeats that were anything but fresh. The instant the smell hit her, Abrila wrinkled her nose. She was used to some pretty disgusting smells... Though the scent in the tent was quickly climbing up into her top ten.

The howlbeasts had been mangled beyond recognition. A few trolls sat with bits and pieces, trying to fit them together like a bloody jigsaw puzzle. Abrila was rather glad she wasn't wearing her sweater at this particular moment.

Finding a spot, she sat down and studied the pile in front of her. After a moment she plucked out a torso with an obvious gash and found a needle and thread. This didn't look so hard. It would just be like sewing up an old hoofbeast plush, or her clothes, or... a dead animal. Ugh, what was that oozing out of the orifice, anyways? Nevermind, she didn't want to know.

Abrila cleared a space and set to work.