I am proud to submit KE Locke Sonjie for the Dark Brotherhood's Sapphire Blade. Locke has been a tremendous addition to the role of Consuls and has served in the best way I can image. Locke serves by caring about his members, checking on his members, and fighting for his members. He engages the DC for their awards, he engages the DC on their behalf, and he generates a solid foundation for Naga Sadow to operate from. Congrats Locke!
GM Pravus
In a time where activity wasn’t exactly at a high point in Naga Sadow Locke stepped up as an Aedile and showed people, including his fellow summit members, that it is perfectly possible to participate in all events in a given competition, first by participating in all five events in the third round of Fading Lights, as one of only two people in the Clan to do so, and later by being the only Sadowan who participated in all 11 events in the eleventh Great Jedi War, he also participated in the first round of the Fading Lights where his run on team just missed out on the medals in fourth place.
In the last 14 months he has also participated in 20 Clan competitions, placing in the top three in 13 of them, seven out of those he placed first. Beyond participating in competitions he has also organized or co-organized 26 competitions in the last year, some of them were part of a multi-event clan competition he ran together with the Proconsul at the time, Macron Sadow. This event, Orian Assembly Three: Vengeance, ran for a little over three weeks and it came with many fictional updates from both organizers to help the people of the Clan to not only see the fictional direction the competition was going in but the clan as a whole as it played a big part of our fictional advancement, following the Dark Crusade and Fading Lights, the two major Brotherhood wide events that had helped stall the fictional advancement of Naga Sadow for the better part of two years which further emphasized the need for plot updates like the ones Locke and Macron provided. His most recent series of competitions, Proving Grounds, is a series of short and fun competitions with three competitions per week over three weeks, these have seen more participation than most competitions in the Clan has for the past two years.
His fictional updates also showed in his regular reports where he would start the report off with a brief piece of fiction revolving around mostly Shar Dakhan but sometimes the Clan as well and most recently he posted a rather long piece of fiction that explained the transition from me being Consul to him taking over, how a former Arconan had become his Proconsul and how the Clan would now be taking a more prominent and more public role in the running of our home system, Orian.
Outside of his regular duties as Aedile he also served as my sounding board last fall when we had to decide how to spend the many fleet points Naga Sadow had earned during the Dark Crusade and Fading Lights, I’m not exaggerating when I say we spent 20-30 hours discussing this, if not more. His input played a big part in our move towards trying to make the way our navy and army would work more realistic, even if the Brotherhood as a whole pays little attention to this. Of course this meant that I couldn’t have my Brotherhood-class Star Battlecruiser… damn him. In the end the many hours of discussions lead to a more well-rounded fleet and a much more well-rounded army, which may not have been the case if I’d been left to my own devices with the fleet points.
In the past year or longer Locke has consistently been the most active summit member, and member in Naga Sadow and I can’t think of anyone more worthy of this Sapphire Blade. Congratulations Misty… I mean Locke.
Son of Sadow
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I am honoured to be recommending Locke for this Sapphire Blade. He has been a hard working and dedicated member of the Brotherhood, participating heavily during the Great Jedi War as well as the Crusade. As well as trying to help motivate members and keep them driven inside of the Clan, taking valuable time in his very busy personal life to go out of his way to assist them with anything and everything he can.
Since his last award, Locke has been a driving force inside of the Clan. Though most of his time has been spent leading, first House Shar Dakhan, then the Clan, as Malik has spoken about, I am here to point out all the things that are taken for granted. Since his last elevation Locke has managed to participate in a spectacular forty competitions, these include Fading Light, Great Jedi War XI and the Crusade in general, helping Naga Sadow continue to participate in events and giving the approach of leading by example. All the while encouraging members to participate themselves. For all his efforts he has managed to earn himself: Two Crescents with Sapphire Star, Five Crescents with Amethyst Star, One Crescent with Topaz Star, One Crescent with Quartz Star, Five Crescents with Emerald Star and Two Legions of the Scholar.
If this wasn't enough for the participation in competitions, Vendettas and the Great Jedi War, it has also seen Locke pick up Twenty-Seven Seals of the Crusader and Eleven Seals of Revelation in response to the competitions he has participated in. With Locke its almost a guarantee that he loves his fiction. Its something that I have come to expect from him and he has undoubtedly proved it to most. For his work inside of Run-Ons, fiction events or just general writing activities offered by the Brotherhood he has managed to earn himself a total of Twenty-Seven Clusters of Ice.
But Locke, having spent most of his time in the Brotherhood in leadership, listens to what the members want. For that reason he has run a huge amount of competitions, supplying members with things to get stuck into and engage with the lore and direction of the Clan. Needless to say he has aimed to please everyone and in doing so, has given the members of Clan Naga Sadow forty-two different competitions to get involved in! That’s an insane number, yet continuing to promote each of them with the same passion he has always had for this Club.
For all of his efforts Locke has put in inside of Clan Naga Sadow, he continues to earn himself merit medals. Through dedication, drive and passion he has managed to achieve One Steel Cross, One Anteian Cross and One Dark Cross since his last elevation. Locke is never one to want praise or thanks for his work, he keeps his head down and tries to stay under the radar. Even for the good that he does, all of his efforts and time he committed into the Clan saw him receive Two Seals of Loyalty as recognition for this time consuming, hard work.
He goes out of his way to help others, I have seen him come in exhausted from work and instantly sit down and start interacting with members and leaders alike, all to improve the working of Clan Naga Sadow. Though he may not care to admit it, he puts the members of this Clan above himself all the time, if he has a spare five minutes he will speak to members and try and get their opinion on matters like where to take the Clan in the future, what they want to see inside of the unit, competitions, events, anything you can think of. All geared towards getting everyone and anyone involved in the progression of the Clan.
Sometimes what people ask of him takes him out of his comfort zone. With Locke very much preferring to write, he has taken up the call of gaming when it is needed, as such he has also managed to earn himself Ten Clusters of Fire. All the while encouraging the gamers of the Clan to continue their quests, their raids and their flashpoints.
Since I’ve joined Clan Naga Sadow, my journey with Locke has been a non-stop upwards ride. Sure, we have had some downs, but that is always going to happen in any endeavor. He has always looked ahead; what we want to achieve, what we want to happen and has not stopped getting everyone involved in learning their roles and responsibilities. Since stepping up to the position of Consul of Naga Sadow, Locke has released multiple joint report informing members of all the changes that have been taking place inside the Brotherhood as well as trying to get older members back in the swing of things on the site.
He has had to take control of a relatively new Summit since taking on the responsibilities. Having to teach a Proconsul on the fly, and having to adjust him into the way Naga Sadow operates. Something I can say he did with great detail and quickly, making me feel part of the team almost instantly and getting me to the level of understanding I have for this great Clan to date. Though he has pushed me further, making me think on everything and never taking out of the equation the way to speak and interact with members and deal with every kind of situation that takes place inside of the Brotherhood.
As well as showing me all of my roles, we have recently had to start over with a new House summit within House Shar Dakhan and a new Quaestor of House Marka Ragnos. Locke has been interacting with them and getting them to a level where they have been productive and hell-bent on the expansion of Clan Naga Sadow, keeping the clan at an all time high in terms of membership. When Locke took over the Consulship, we had forty-one members at best, now we sit at sixty members with activity flooding our inboxes on a daily basis.
He has been productive in organizing and maintaining smooth and effective communication with both members and leaders. Recently, Locke has organised and run a three week long event with a series of competitions called ‘Proving Grounds’ which have been wildly successful so far in attracting members of all ranks and experience to participate. In a Clan that that had so recently suffered from a lack of activity during the last few rounds of the Dark Crusade, the work Locke has put in to capitalize on the revamping of the Clan, the new Summit and the drive towards the future has produced that activity that was so needed.
Since Naga Sadow change we have seen steady progress, something that the Clan needed for some time. Leadership is about giving and Locke continues to do so, making sure that the members under him are always busy with something to do, from running competitions to having events to get involved in. It seems that he is always looking at new ways that he can expand and progress the Clan something that is expected of every Consul. During my time serving under him he has seen Clan Naga Sadow get involved in a joint event with Scholae Palatine. This event was something that was planned form the start, with Locke constantly communicating with the summit of Scholae to get the event organised as well as having a plan on how to deliver fun competitions to the members.
The event was well executed from the beginning to the end, making sure that he knew each step and that everyone did there jobs, as well as pushing the Leaders of Naga Sadow to get there members involved, for all these late nights of planning and constant back and forth communication we saw a well organised event that brought us more activity. Locke is a stable figure head for Naga Sadow and always knows whats going on, as well as how to drive and encourage his members keeping open communication with everyone. Its an awesome sight to see and one that has been missed in Naga Sadow.
For all of your hard work, it is with joyous and well deserved honour that I see you awarded this Sacramental Blade. You have been completely outstanding in everything you strive to do; from day to day IRC presence to emailing members, to working with the leadership and guiding new journeymen. All of it is to a very high standard. Thank you for everything Locke and I look forward to our huge pile of work in the future. Congratulations bud, looks like the drinks are going to be on you tonight!
Proconsul of Naga Sadow
I’m not one to mince words. Locke has been a godsend to Naga Sadow.
His work within the Clan has given hope to it, revitalized the love that the members have, encouraged new members to join and contribute. We often find that units are like families. They have the jokers, the parents, the annoying children, the weird uncle. Locke is the guiding light within that family, the father figure.
My interactions with Locke have always been interesting. We first hit it off when I was Quaestor of House Galeres all those years ago and Locke was in his first stint as Consul of Naga Sadow. We often had long discussions via pm about issues we were facing and possible solutions and ideas. I cherished those namely because Locke always had a unique way of solving those problems and made me think about how I as a leader could contribute and continue to both involve and motivate my members. Since then, I’ve counted him as both a friend and an example to follow.
Locke has always been an inspiration to those around him, even though he won’t admit it or even thought about it himself. He creates lore, he teaches both leaders and members how to behave, what he expects from them and what they can expect from him. He gives so much, his time, his ideas, his dedication.
Locke is more than deserving of the rank this Sacramental. As such, I’m adding my recommendation so that he can stand as a veritable beacon of what it means to continually put others before . Congratulations, Locke. I know it won’t go to your head when I say nice things.
Grand Master Declan Roark, 2015-06-29 19:13:28 UTC