Equite 4 is the pinnacle of the Equite ranks and there are few I can think of who deserve it more than Seraphol, or DS as most know him. Frankly, I think of him as an Elder. His dossier is old enough to drive in most jurisdictions, yet he stands shoulder to shoulder with the youngest members offering both wisdom and a solid comrade to do any activity with. As I've said many times before, I cannot imagine COU or the Brotherhood without him. He is a leader, a mentor, a staunch advocate for members and someone I'm proud to call my friend.

In the twenty months since his last promotion, DS has served a combined 10 months on summit. As a leader he has organized or co-organized a total of forty eight competitions including the recent Renewal of the Light Clan event which garnered twenty three unique participants. He worked diligently behind the scenes on House Shan's new planet Daleem and was instrumental to the development of our post-Posessions armed forces.

I preach "lead from the front" activity-wise to my subordinate leaders and DS never disappoints. In fact, he holds me accountable. As an individual member he has participated in 173 competitions, winning twenty one Crescents since his last promotion. In that same period he has earned A Grand Cross for activity and leadership, two Steel Crosses for activity, twelve Pendants of Blood, 1970 Clusters of Fire, eighteen Clusters of Ice, 924 Clusters of Earth, and four Legions of the Scholar. He also received an Anteian Cross, and two Dark Crosses for his recruitment efforts.

I know this day has been a long time coming for DS and I'm proud to have some small part in making it happen. Congratulations my friend!

Turel Sorenn Consul, Clan Odan-Urr

Councillor Turel Sorenn, 2017-01-03 03:13:47 UTC

I've been in the Brotherhood for almost 5 years now, in that time I can safely say I've never known anyone to be more dedicated than Daniel Stephens. No matter what the situation you will always be able to find DS actively creating and championing all manner of competitions. He displays greatness as both a member and a leader in the Club and I can say that we are surely honored and humbled to have him in Clan Odan-Urr. His efforts and dedication for the Clan have already seen him become one of our most recent Clan title holders and it is about time we saw him receive EQ 4.

As an individual DS shows himself to be kind and fair, despite his 'old and grouchy' exterior. Without him the Clan as a whole would be significantly worse off, his efforts in Brotherhood Gaming and providing a solid foundation for other Odanite gamers has been a huge contributing factor to the Clan being in such a consistently strong position regarding our Gaming.

Daniel Stephens is someone whom I know to be well en route to becoming an Elder and I am proud to be given the opportunity to be a part of his next, well deserved promotion.

Congratulations my (much older) Brother.

Mar Sûl, 2017-01-03 02:49:10 UTC

At various points in the last year and a half or so, I've joked around with with others in Odan-Urr and beyond about the typical Seraphol application: "Don't hire me if y'all have anyone else with a pulse." They tell you a lot about the guy, actually.

First, he doesn't feed you BS. He doesn't just tell you what you want to hear, he doesn't toot his own horn, and he doesn't give you a goal and treat it like something already accomplished. Sera has plans, but he doesn't treat them as unassailable masterpieces. He's honest about what's possible or when he doesn't know exactly how to solve a problem that he's identified, but he's willing to work to find out.

He shows up. I've known Sera to have problems at work, problems with his house, and problems with his health. He stepped down as Rollmaster very early in his term because he was physically incapable of doing the job to his own satisfaction. But if he's able, he's willing. Sera consistently volunteers his service everywhere he thinks he can be useful. When I needed an Aedile, he stepped up without hesitation. And Seraphol is not a glory hound. He's not angling for a promo or a medal. He gets bashful if you even compliment him on his hard work. If there are other people who want to take on a position, Old Man Seraphol doesn't want to block their shot.

Of course, just being present and making a lot of noise doesn't make you a leader. Since taking on the job of Satele Shan's AED, Sera has been indispensable. As QUA, I rely on his advice. He's brought a bunch of activity to the House by running competitions, particularly his jigsaw series, and publicizing others' competitions through a weekly email. The name and lore of the Garza's Pathfinders battleteam was largely his idea. And, perhaps most telling, he ran the Renewal of the Light anniversary series for the Clan effectively by himself, because he wanted all of the other sitting Summit members to be able to participate in all the competitions.

EQ4 is supposed to represent a member who is a cornerstone of the club, someone who is passionate about it and who has done much to keep it running over the years. I can think of no more fitting honor for a man like Seraphol than this promotion, which was a long time coming. Congratulations, my friend. - Commander Alethia Archenksova, 2017-01-01 08:59:26 -0500

Since others have more than listed Seraphol's numbers, awards, leadership time and service to the SA. I will bring myself to talk about his spirit, his devotion, his loyalty and more importantly his genuine care for not only the Clan as a whole but for every single member he comes in contact with. I have known Seraphol for a few years now and i know him to be "opinionated" and "vocal". Some people thinks he just does it to be a troll but he really doesn't it out of passion. He sees a problem that affects the club as a whole and does everything in his power to help fix it. There are not many people that would care this much to do whatever it takes to help, but that is exactly what Seraphol does.

I have also gamed and chatted with Seraphol for many many hours over the course of the years and he has become a very close friend. When you want to earn clusters he is there to help, do you have a comp or fiction idea he makes a great sounding board to work out the kinks. It's rare to fine someone of Seraphol's character but we are lucky to have him.

I'm truly honored and privileged to be able to write this recommendation for not only a great Leader in the DJB but always my dear friend.

Congratulations my friend the wait for Eq 4 is over!

Edgar Drachen, 2017-01-03 02:49:57 UTC

Daniel "Seraphol" Stephens (or DS, as I'm going to call him for the rest of this recc) is a force of nature, and I'm happy that in addition to everything else he does for his Clan he's able to work for us in the Shadow Academy. During the course of the audit, DS was asked to just lightly proof his courses; he's the Professor of the Legends Department, after all, and we don't expect those courses to be canon-based. However, he provided substantial rewrites instead which made the entire department that much better.

Beyond his efforts to make his courses better, he's also maintained the traditional grading expectation of a Professor. In his tenure as a Professor, DS has graded 115 courses with an excellent average grading time of 9 hours. In our mind, DS is unquestioningly worthy of this promotion, which is why we are so pleased to add our voices to this recommendation. Congrats, DS!

-Farrin Xies, Headmaster
-Marcus Kiriyu, Praetor to the Headmaster

Adept Farrin Xies Tarentae, 2017-01-03 03:12:06 UTC