There are a few in the club whose names live on long after they are gone. Their names, to an extent, become part of Brotherhood legend. Their efforts and deeds on our behalf stand the test of time. Purchased through toil, their labors of love elevate them into rare company. I have the pleasure of knowing a few of these men and women and the honor of calling them friends. One such, whose name I know will live on long after his service, is Valhavoc.

Simply, Val needs to be an Elder. He has smashed his way through every rank and position he has been given as one possessed. And though I cannot make him an Elder, yet, I can get him as close as some of us will ever come.

Sith Warlord is the pinnacle of the Equite population. These ones have shown devotion beyond the norm and proved themselves ready for the ultimate step to Elder. Val has shown that he belongs among them. Underneath the hood of his usual ease and humor is a workhorse engine constantly hitting on all eight cylinders. Below, I'll enumerate some of what he has accomplished as Fist since his last promotion.

Since October Val has run the popular Gorefest gaming competition. Ever on the lookout for ways to entice members to get together and game, he also proposed the idea of the Grand Master's Royal Guard Progress Bar. Further in the realm of the GMRG, and I will not spoil it, Val has devised another great "meta-game" for GMRG members to delve into and earn awards. But you will see more about that in the coming months.

Val also took the initiative to redesign the way the GMRG rank structure functions. This was a very popular change and offered our busy members "safe ranks" for the first time. No more losing all that hard work due to real-life crushing one's time to game. Val saw the complaint our members had and took action.

Venturing out beyond the GMRG changes, one notices Val's comprehensive reformation of the Rites of Combat, the "rules" which govern all our gaming activity. Historically, these were somewhat complicated and over-involved. Val has streamlined the RoC so that it is straightforward and accessible to our members new and old alike. Again, we can see the pattern emerging of our membership desiring change and Val quickly and thoughtfully responding to that desire.

Val was also left a sizable mess to clean up following the departure of the previous Fist. Namely this was in the area of the only Star Wars Massively Multi-player Online Roleplaying Game available to us, Star Wars The Old Republic. As one who plays ToR, I was able to witness his efforts to restore the Guild and viability of this platform first-hand.

Across the whole of ToR, Operations, Flashpoints, etc., Val cleaned up and simplified what awarded Clusters of Fire and what did not. He reorganized the Guild rank structure, called for Unit Representatives from each of our Clans and Houses to aid members in enjoying and maximizing their ToR experience, and purchased a new and dedicated TeamSpeak server not just for use with ToR, but all our gaming platforms. I even tried to pay for this so he would not have to and Val has yet to give me his PayPal info. The man simply wants to help in every way he can and asks for nothing in return.

I say often, "The work is the reward." Val embodies this. He enjoys what he does. Val is truly a subject-matter expert in his chosen field. He loves gaming and loves coming up with ways to make it more fun and accessible to all of us.

Such is the example of his recent organization of a Brotherhood Guild for the wildly popular Diablo III. Val adapts to what members want and need and he does it quickly. Another example of this can be seen in his constant push to provide mobile gaming opportunities for our members. He recently developed a support structure for the fun and challenging Star Wars Assault Team mobile application. He is constantly on the lookout for more mobile platforms he can work into a format that makes them available for our members. By doing this, he allows them to benefit from the synergy of doing what they enjoy normally and reaping benefits on the club-side of things.

What really sets Val apart though, in my mind, are his constant works outside of his chosen office. Val is a gifted organizer and has an eye for detail. He has helped us immeasurably throughout the challenging Dark Crusade event far beyond simply running gaming. He has contributed to every discussion we have had, pointed out improvements, and discovered flaws where we otherwise would have missed them. He has covered down on judging when and where we needed it and was often the first to ask for more work to do.

Val has also contributed greatly to our ongoing Possessions System work. He is constantly among the first to respond with feedback and ideas to our email exchanges and makes himself available virtually 24/7 to bounce ideas off of. Email, IRC, WhatsApp. Val is always there to help out.

He also was a key part of our Prestige redesign that went live recently. Val worked up much of the re-balanced values and helped sort the logic behind making everything as fair as possible.

Did I mention he somehow found time to mentor Zednich to Dark Jedi Knight?

As anyone can see, Val continues to revolutionize the way we handle gaming as a club. But beyond this, he continues to prove himself as a valuable Councilor even outside his own position. Besides perhaps Herald and Seneschal, I cannot think of a DC job for which Val is not qualified. Moreover, Val is one of our most trusted members. He has earned it, and our respect, time and time again.

But if I keep going, he'll never get promoted. So I will just say, thank you, Val, for everything you do for the club and the rest of us on the DC. It would be a darker place without you, partner.

Congratulations on Sith Warlord!

-Raken, Deputy Grand Master

Raken, 2014-06-03 04:50:07 UTC

I recently contacted the Deputy Grand Master and Grand Master requesting the elevation of our Fist, Valhavoc. My recommendation was based on a long and lengthy list of Val's accomplishments over the past 8 months. Simply put, Val has updated, rewritten, and improved nearly every single gaming aspect of the Dark Brotherhood. Val's work has streamlined the submission of CFs, clarified awarding criteria, and reinvigorated the GMRG.

We should also not overlook Val's steady and consistent contribution following the epic meltdown of his predecessor. A normal, consistent, and thought provoking human being is exactly what the Dark Council needs more of.

Thanks for all you do!

Grand Master Declan Roark, 2014-05-29 15:36:59 UTC

Valhavoc is one of the most responsive Dark Councillors I have ever had the pleasure to know. During my time as Aedile and Proconsul in Plagueis, I witnessed Val quickly and directly addressing questions and concerns raised by my members, clearly taking their suggestions to heart. He also took the time to mentor Zednich, providing goals and guidence and coordinating with the Plagueis Summit to move Zed through the ranks and ensure he was appropriately rewarded for all his work.

In the month since I assumed the mantle of Headmaster, Val has rewritten or edited three seriously out-of-date gaming-related exams, consulted with me on the future of gaming-related Shadow Academy degrees, and assumed the responsibility of being Professor of the brand new Department of Gaming Studies without missing a beat. As FIST, Val goes above and beyond, taking a "Whole Brotherhood" view of his position -- an ideal for the Dark Council.

This promotion is fully earned, and I'm sure it's only one more stepping stone for a bright career. Congratulations, Val!

Lord Dacien Victae, 2014-05-29 16:38:29 UTC

The importance of the Fist to the Dark Brotherhood cannot be overstated. Gaming has been one of the two primary sources of activity for this club from the beginning.
The efforts that Valhavoc has made to re-invigorate interest in gaming have been tremendous to observe.

Working with other members of the DC for feedback and additional input, he completely revamped the GMRG rank system to encourage people to game more, without artificially restricting them on how quickly they could advance.

He runs the monthly Gorefest competition.

He was instrumental in keeping the Prestige revamp discussion alive and moving in the right direction, so that we could properly award people not just for their participation and performance in competitions, but also for how much they give back to their Battle team, House, Clan, or to the DB as a whole.

He made sure that when the expansion for Diablo 3 was released, the rules for awarding Clusters of Fire were awarded as quickly as possible to avoid a sudden imbalance in how people could accumulate them.

And he's consistently trying new games out as platforms for DB activity to see if it's something that will catch our interest.

In short, he's making it easier, and hopefully more fun and more rewarding, to play games within the DB community.

How could we not reward that?

Congratulations on your promotion to Sith Warlord, Valhavoc!

Master Gavriel Kadesh, 2014-05-29 17:22:40 UTC

Since being appointed Fist of the Brotherhood, Valhavoc has been working non-stop to revolutionarize anything gaming-related in our club. From the GMRG to the Cluster of Fire calculation tables, from Diablo 3 to cell-phone games, there is not a single gaming-related aspect I can think of that hasn't seen Valhavoc's touch of improvement. And it doesn't stop there: Going beyond his call of duty as Fist, Valhavoc has contributed to numerous other projects, which include, but are not limited to, the recently completed Prestige rework, the Possessions System, several Shadow Academy courses, the Old Republic Guild, and even mentoring a student to Knight.

Valhavoc, this promotion is fully earned, long overdue, and well deserved. Thanks for all your work!

Ascendant James Lucius Entar, 2014-05-30 13:48:07 UTC

I'd never gotten to write a promotion recc for Val before, which I am more than happy to remedy right now. He was my Aedile and the best one that anyone could ever have. He seriously works and plays hard. I watched this man blast through ranks at record speed and I knew one day he'd even surpass me because of how dedicated he is. He was supposed to be my successor too, but he went from new QUA to Fist in all of 5 minutes and all I could do was shout at him because I had already stepped down! But as Fist he went on to do great things as my fellow Councilors have explained. I expected it though, his work ethic is incredible and he brings a maturity to the position and the club, both of which is admirable and hopefully emulatable by others. I seriously missed working with him, so being on the DC and getting to collaborate with Val again has been wonderful. Thanks for all you do Glenn, and congratulations!

General Socorra Tenebrosa Nhar’qual Erinos, 2014-06-02 15:01:21 UTC

There are those who take a job and do the work. They show up on time, do as they're told, keep their head down, and refuse to make waves. Stable, reliable, consistent. These are some of the good traits. Some of the lesser ones are beurocratic, risk-averse, and narrow. There is a time and a place for that.

The Dark Council is not that place.

Since taking up the mantle of the Fist of tjhe Brotherhood, Valhavoc has acted much as the name implies. He gets ferocious when he sees people abusing our systems tot heir own end. Downright brutal. His love for this place, his devotion to all of us to fight so hard, to care that we all get a fair shake is central to how he operates. He takes that fire and he drives us forward with it. He is constantly refining our policies, not only in his area of expertise, but also any time that we brong anything to the table of Dark Councilors. He weighs in, without fail, turning his formidable mind and impressive experience, in the real world and in the Brotherhood, to bear on the situation at hand. He is unafraid to question why we do things. He is not complacent with what we have already done, seeking to improve, even if by inches.

He may be a younger member as far as time in the club goes, but he has more than earned his stripes. Holding down any dark council gig is hard enough. Just doing what you are told is difficult sometimes. It is the mark of a man to seek higher, to push further, and work harder than he has to.

Valhavoc, I am glad to know you, and even happier to have you on my Dark Council. Please accept this promotion as a token of our esteem. Thank you.

~Muz Ashen, The Lion of Tarthos

Lord Muz Ashen Keibatsu, 2014-06-03 02:31:35 UTC