Calvard Academy assesses its students based on a number of factors, which span all types of data gathered during both their registration phase and their enrollment phase. Many of the obvious signs are measured for surveying purposes by the Academy's Master of Medicae for record-keeping:
Name of Student [Surname, First Name, Middle Initial(s)]
Species (ex. elf, human, orc)
Size (ex. small, medium, large)
Age (in human years)
Sex (from birth)
Gender (as identified)
Height (in centimeters)
Weight (in pounds)
Skin Color (by complexion)
Hair Color (natural)
Eye Color (natural; both if heterochromic)
The Custodian will also collect various political details from a given student before they are assessed on academic behavior, most of which pertaining to their origin and legal status.
Ethnicity (Culture group of origin)
Birthplace (City-State of birth)
Citizenship(s) (City-States of which the student is a citizen of)
Alias(es) (Other names the student goes by)
Affiliation(s) (Non-state entities the student is officially a member of)
Once these two stages of assessment have been fulfilled however, the Academy delves into a particular system dubbed Character Marks. Often considered something of a sort of "level up" system, Marks are not necessarily an assessment of a given instruction so much as they are a reward for when an assessment goes satisfactorily well; for individual assignment grading, the Academy recognizes an Experience value between 0–100 to gauge how much a student retained and successfully recounted the information presented in their given assignment. There is a minimum expectation of no less than 70 points of experience being graded on any assignment, or a student will not receive any rewards from it and may even be expected to re-take it, if not make up for it at a later date. This experience, fortunately, is a cumulative value which is reviewed when determining if a student will ascend into the next Class level or not.
Character Marks, then, are issued after particular academic experience, social, martial or personal milestones set by the Academy are met. They often take the form of a particular name and may even come in a physical form, such as a medal, to the point where all graduates of the Academy possess at least one that they are proud to wear. Marks assess very specific attributes of every student, and thus no one Mark may be so broad as to require improvement of the student's whole character simultaneously.
All of the applicable Marks will be detailed in the attached document anecdote on the right hand side.
The Mark of Ability is a commonpiece award that denotes a particular growth of a given attribute or characteristic about a student. They are categorized into 6 broad sections, and typically pertain to one of the two groupings: Physical, or Mental Abilities. Physical Abilities are an assessment of a student's physical capabilities, and may measure various skills such as athletic and acrobatic potential for Strength and Dexterity, respectively. Endurance tests may be administered to review Constitution, and more than a number of martial courses will test all three of these simultaneously.
Mark of Domain Expertise (Value of Excellence)
10TH EXCELLENCE BASE
The Mark of Domain Expertise, or a student's MDE, is one of two measurements of their field of study's progress that effectively covers how experienced they are with the many aspects of their goal for graduation. It is often awarded after a student has made their first advancements into their Field of Study and is simply escalated as they progress, being awarded a higher value of excellence to denote it above those of their peers.
Mark of Studious Talent
SPECIFY FIELD OF STUDY, SPECIFY TALENT
The Mark of Studious Talent, or a student's MST, is the second measurement of their field of study's progress that effectively covers when they have accomplished a particular feature or capability of their goal for graduation. These tend to be awarded in such abundance that the Academy will specify precisely what the MST represents for any given accolade, treating it more like a certification that a student has mastered a particular skill. MSTs are among the most awarded to a student and tend to have the most tangible representations, making them some of the most sought after by the student body.It is sometimes referred to as a Mark of Action when it pertains to a more conscious ability of a student.
Mark of Proficiency
TRAINED, EXPERT, MASTER, LEGENDARY
The Mark of Proficiency is a commonpiece award that signifies the raw experience that a student exhibits from the results of their collective studies in a given subject field. There are multiple MPs for multiple different subjects; an aspiring Swordsman may have an Expert MP in the usage of Longswords, but only a Trained MP in the usage of Shortswords, for example. MPs can grow within the context of their particular subject, but generally are not replaced once they are awarded except at very sparse intervals. MPs do not exclusively refer to weapons as the provided example may lead one to believe though; an MP may, functionally, apply to anything from linguistics to lores to even particular skills and talents within reason. Proficiency, then, is a widely understood Character Mark for all types of subjects at the Academy.
Mark of Vitality (Value of Healthiness)
ANCESTRAL, EXERCISED, ARTIFICIAL
The Mark of Vitality is one of the oddities of the Academy's markup system, penned by one of its Masters in a thorough research paper that was designed to, in essence, quantify constitution in such a way that the durability of various students could be measured. He claimed that by assessing and quantifying the natural physical toughness of a particular species, particular exercise states, and those imposed by artificial items and drugs, a constantly adaptive number could be administered to Adventurers as a way of "keeping track of their 'health pool' in battle." It's easier on the students' minds to think of a number before they are likely projected to slip into unconsciousness, and thus it was implemented. All students receive this Mark, and when they graduate they too are taught how to quantify their health condition so as to always be prepared how to take care of themselves in the field. It is not, however, a scholastic practice picked up by many organizations in the real world, and thus 'health pools' are little more than an academic trick at best. The Academy takes it very seriously, however, and does impose strict rules regarding HP injuries dealt between students.
Mark of Resilience
FORTITUDE, REFLEX, WILL
The Mark of Resilience is a commonpiece award that denotes a measured worth of resistance within a particular student. It is used to measure each of the three principles of self-preservation: resilience through fortitude, evasion through reflex, and stability through willpower. In these regards, a Mark of Resilience will be administered that assesses the individual Proficiencies of each principle's effectiveness in a student. Essentially, they will have three MRs at any point in their career, though each may be weighted differently.
Mark of Spellcraft
SCHOOL, SPELLPOWER LIMIT
The Mark of Spellcraft is one of the less common Marks that is only awarded to casters and individuals who are qualified to administer magic incantations successfully. It is not so niche as to pertain to every individual power, though; the Academy prefers to weigh to what extent a mage is capable of casting their powers, and thus quantifies their spellcraft proficiency through this Mark's 'Spellpower Limit.' Much like a level, it alerts other mages of what potency their would-be opponent might be casting their magic at. Furthermore, it is a highly useful metric that teaches students how to assess unfamiliar spellcasters' powers from a safe distance. No two Schools of Magic have the same Mark of Spellcraft, as it has been confirmed that certain types of casters are only capable of powering their magecraft in certain schools of incantations, becoming specialized casters such as Conjurers or Evokers.Magic powers are assessed in identical ways as physical powers; there is a variation of Domain Expertise that can also pertain to the expertise by which a caster is capable of performing incantations and controlling magic at all.
