One problem with the worldbuilding I've got for my version of the Sith academies is just... logistics. So, it's got the population of a city, education lasts three years, and trials come every half-year. That means, every half year, there's a sudden influx of a city's worth of people all doing *something* major as part of their education all around the same time, possibly in the same place.
Now, I can make it easier on myself if intake is on a quarterly basis. That splits the numbers in half, thereabouts. Those who start their training at the start of the 1Q and 3Q will have their trials at the end of the 2Q and the 4Q. Those who start their trials at the start of the 2Q and 4Q will have their trials at the end of the 1Q and the 3Q. That doesn't do much, though, because half a city's worth of people is still half a city's worth.
Now, I'm also playing with the idea that the academies have a sort of elimination round set up, based on the fact that every trial has at least *one* of your fellow acolytes die in game. This is part of a broader idea that, at least for acolytes from Imperial families, the academy is far less lethal. They're still at risk, of course they're at risk, but most acolytes from Imperial families are merely removed from their coterie should they fail a trial, to be shifted into a new coterie at a later date. Those from vassal states and those who were once slaves have far less protections and the latter are often killed for their failures — a sort of rebellion against the Emperor's decree. Those who survive... it depends. Lord Spindrall collects some of them, but the rest may go elsewhere.
It will also help that not every trial is so... messy as the ones requiring an acolyte to delve into some lost forgotten tomb. Imagine even a fraction of a city's worth of people all occupying Ajunta Pall's tomb, all searching for *something*. I can't imagine the IRS would be too happy about that. No. I think most trials are somewhat artificial, for lack of a better word.
The first and second trials for both classes would be examples. For the Inquisitor, the death battle between you and the failed acolytes is artificial. You can repeat that for as long as you have failed acolytes looking to earn their way back into the academy (former slaves denied re-enrollment like the rest of the acolytes until they prove themselves). For the second T&I trial... so long as there's prisoners who have information the Sith want, there'll trials about getting that information. The same applies to the Warrior's second trial, too.
For the Warrior's first trial, my guess is that the Sith warblades are, like... just put there by Sith who want their acolytes to find a Sith warblade within a tomb. It's not some ancient blade that's somehow remain untouched for thousands of years. It was put where it was put so an acolyte can fight their way through flesh eating slugs and other beasties to fish it off a rack. Kind of ruins the mystique, but that's the only way I could rationalise that trial.
Another way I could go about ensuring that the academies aren't so much a mess is probably just have the trials all taking place over a period of a few weeks. Instead of everyone flooding in at once, they're staggered over a period of two weeks (however long a week is for your Sith calendar). Mmm. Thoughts.
