Gentlemen and Ladies,
Solus Gar isn't your normal member.
He's controversial. He's a lightening rod. He attracts controversy like a lantern attracts moths. The reason he does this? He's skilled, talented, focused, driven, and he's not quiet about it. He's loud, he's logical, and he's experienced enough to make sense. And he gets frustrated about being ignored. That said, when Solus is listened to, he gives like there's no tomorrow.
Since before he came to Plagueis, Solus has been invaluable. He more or less single handedly re-designed the Plagueis Fleet Reset to within a half point. He earned the respect of the Deputy Grand Master in helping to point out places where the Fleet sheet needed work, and proceeded to upgrade the sheet in cooperation with the DGM.
He successfully helmed the first Brotherhood Debate event, testing the format and refining it for further use.
During the Summer Invasion Feud, (Also known as the Orian Incursion), Solus earned Two Diamond Crescents, Two Amethyst Crescents, and Third Place Overall. He earned a Dark Cross for his efforts, and was the leading performer from Plagueis.
After joining Plagueis, Solus personally recruited three additional members, one of whom he personally raised to Dark Jedi Knight in 47 days.
He is First Hero of the Brotherhood Vendetta: Horizons. He personally earned Ten of Plagueis' Novae.
He participated in 26 of 29 possible events, his apprentice participated in 20 of 29.
Solus has mentored countless other members beyond his own apprentices, has assisted in multiple additional projects in proofing, concept, overall design, and is only not on the Summit because he doesn't want to be.
His dedication to the Shadow Academy, to turning around exams inside forty eight hours, picking up the slack of professors who fail to grade on time, and just general all around effectiveness cannot be overstated.
His performance is stellar. It's Excessive. It sets the bar for prolonged contributions to Plagueis, and to the Brotherhood.
He deserves to be recognized for this with a Sacramental Award.
I ask that you recognize his performance, dedication, excellence, and continued assistance with an Amethyst Kukri.
~Tra'an Reith, Quaestor of House Plagueis
I haven't known Solus for very long, at least not personally. It's only been in the past few months that I've been able to interact with him and understand that he is a friendly, helpful, qualified, and unnaturally active member of our Club. And to boot, he keeps a very humble demeanor--taking satisfaction in a job well done, even if it's not a job well recognized.
I admire this guy. He's always one step away from the decisions, putting in amazing activity that wins awards in graphics, writing, and gaming and still coming back to assist the DC and his House's summit.
Well done, Slags. Enjoy a few more letters on your alphabet-soup ID line!
~Eiko, Rollmaster of House Plagueis
I give my complete support to this recommendation Both leading up to and during Horizons, Solus was an invaluable resource to me. He both made sure I adequately prepared for the event and helped guide me through it. As a result I achieved results that I don't think I would have garnered otherwise without his advice, counsel, and occasional "aggressive encouragement". I have also been impressed with his desire to help others as well during events like the Run-On and all in all has been one of the better mentors I've encountered over many years.
~Arden Karn, member of House Plagueis and apprentice to Solus Gar
Solus and I haven't know each other personally very long, but during the Vendetta, specifically the run-on, I came to know him very well. Solus has a dedication to House Plagueis and the DB at large that I haven't seen in very long time. He played a very significant role in the development of our Run-On by helping guide the newer members and played a significant mentor role to them. I was impressed with the way he handled every situation and I would be very surprised if the Run-On had run as smoothly without him there.
His dedication to developing the newer members of the Plagueis and the Brotherhood is shown in his equally impressive dedication to the Shadow Academy. This combination of activity, mentor-ship, and leadership more than prove that he is extremely worthy of this sacramental award.
Congratulations Slags, this is well deserved. Continue to be a beacon of activity and guidance in our Brotherhood.
~ Alaris Jinn di Plagia of House Plagueis
I've known Solus Gar for many years, both in the Dark Brotherhood and outside of it, and I'm always astounded by not only his level of personal drive, but also his level of dedication to those around him. In my time being active, I've seen many examples of him using his skills and knowledge of both Star Wars and the Dark Brotherhood to bring out the best in everyone and I feel he really deserves this award.
I've always known him as someone that will not give anything less than 100% of himself and will do whatever it takes to help others do the same.
~Graus Colvin of Clan Arcona
For as long as I have known Solus Gar he has been a force in the Brotherhood. A man with multiple talents, he has the unique ability to be involved in both major aspects of the club--administration and participation in the fictional/fun environment. This is a rare gift as often a member leans towards one side or the other. Solus not only does both but does them very well. This is evident in the can of whoop ass he opened in the Vendetta and in his tireless pursuit of improving the Shadow Academy. He has written new courses, and spearheaded the debate event which I think will be a great boon for the SA and the DB in the future. He is a bastion of activity, a paragon of leadership, and an example we should all strive for. I am proud to be able to help him be recognized for his many contributions.
~Scelestus, Magistrate to the Headmaster and Aedile of House Qel-Droma of Clan Arcona
Four months ago, Solus Gar received a well-deserved promotion to Sith Battlelord after an immense amount of work for the Shadow Academy and for Arcona. The reason why I now ask that he be awarded an Amethyst Kukri? Because he proved to me after his promotion that he was only just getting started.
It's typical, really, for members to slow down after a hard-fought award or promotion. But not Slags. Not my Praetor. It began with the little things. Dozens of Clusters of Fire, crescents, scrolls. Then before I knew it, he was in Plagueis, assisting with the brainstorming of the Summer Invasion, the three-unit feud among Naga Sadow, Scholae Palatinae, and Plagueis. Not only did he take third place overall in the feud (earning a Dark Cross for that), but he also gave enormous insight to the Plagueis summit for plot, schedule, and story in terms of the event. He was creative, stubborn, and resilient, never giving up even if his initial vision had been changed.
Throughout even the feud, Slags was working with me to continually expand and improve upon the Shadow Academy's repertoire of courses. He helped me begin an all-out audit by hiring Scelestus as our Magistrate and working alongside him to edit and modify various exams. He suggested the idea that we overhaul the General History department in order to make it more accessible to members who desire to use Star Wars history to better develop their Brotherhood characters. He started brainstorming the design and aesthetics of the Shadow Academy itself and how it would look and function in fiction. He consistently jumped in to grade exams when Professors had failed to meet the 72-hour turnaround time requirement. He had proven to me that he was never happy with the status quo, that he was always willing to question and use skepticism to our advantage to make the Academy better and stronger.
I didn't think he could top his work as Praetor and mentor to so many people. But then again, Horizons hadn't even started yet.
Slagar's success in Horizons wasn't simply based on his participation. True, he earned ten Novae, which sealed him the title of First Hero. True, he participated in 26 out of 29 events. True, he was pretty much a goddamn warhorse in terms of his contributions to the competition individually. But what the medals don't tell you is how much he really worked to make everyone else around him succeed just as much. Arden Karn, having been recruited to the Brotherhood by Slags himself and subsequently becoming his apprentice, proved to be a brilliant new addition to Plagueis by participating in 20 out of 29 events and becoming Eighth Hero of Horizons. He couldn't have done that without Slags' constant pushing, encouragement, and even criticism, something that is a little difficult to swallow especially for some new members. Being from an entirely different unit, Graus Colvin of Arcona worked with Slags and myself in the run-on and with Slags in the co-op fiction. The co-op received silver and the run-on received gold, helping Graus achieve Tenth Hero. Slagar feverishly worked to put together the gold-winning wiki team - also consisting of myself, Legorii Kryotek Entar, Socorra Erinos, and Tra'an Reith - endlessly reminding us of what to do for the article and how to do it well. I could go on and on and on about how Slags became a beacon of creativity, determination, and perseverance for our run-on team, which ultimately compiled a story over 40,000 words long and at a whopping 40 posts, none of them being the bare minimum requirement of text. We could not have done so much without Slags serving as the captain of our little ship, giving direction to the narrative and flooding us with new ideas as well as helping to edit posts and give feedback to members still struggling with the run-on formula.
Solus Gar does not have to be Headmaster to be a true mentor. He does not have to be Quaestor or Consul to be a true leader. The amount of teaching that Slags has committed to is phenomenal. The description of the Amethyst Kukri claims that the award is granted when the recipient has greatly furthered one aspect of the Brotherhood. If that's the case, then I wish I could give him two Kukris: one for the Shadow Academy and one for Plagueis. But seeing as I can't exactly give him two shinies simultaneously, I'm happy to give him at least one because he deserves it.
Thank you, Slags.
~Ronovi Tavisaen Dupar, Headmaster of the Shadow Academy
General Ronovi Tavisaen, 2012-11-14 19:47:36 UTC