In all honesty, I've been dreading writing this recommendation. You see, Appius does things. He does a LOT of things. And to give him the fairest reading possible, they all need to go into this text box.
Let's start with numbers. Since his last promotion in January, Appius has participated in 110 competitions. Of those, 24 of them were GJW XIV events, making him the highest-participating Taldryanite of the Vendetta (including participating in every bin, obviously). He helped Taldryan take home a Silver Nova in the GJW, received a Bronze Nova (I believe for the PLA-VIZ Feud, before his transfer to Taldryan) and has racked up four Crescents with Ruby Star, eight Crescents with Amethyst Stars, seven Crescents with Sapphire Stars, two Crescents with Emerald Stars, and a Legion of the Scholar for his other competition-based efforts.
Even without awards on the line, Appius' sheer output is nothing short of astounding. Between traditional fiction and ROs, he's contributed over 60,000 CI-eligible words to the Brotherhood in the past year, making him one of the greatest examples of the "Tal keyboards go brrr" meme. He's also finished ten ACC matches, and if he's like most ACC participants, probably started twice that number that went to timeout before being completed (and thus aren't counted in his stats). On top of those numbers, he's participated in unofficial co-op fiction with several other members of Taldryan (Aylin, Tracinya, and Dasha that I'm aware of), one example of which can be found on the forums, and contributed several thousand words' worth of fiction updates for the Clan's "Aggressive Expansion" storyline. It would be fair to say that Appius has written most of a standard-length novel (100,000 words) in the past year.
Next, leadership, and part of the reason for the delay in this request. Appius came on to the Taldryan Summit as a young Quaestor with a lot of potential but not much experience. Less than a month into his original tenure, RL circumstances forced him to resign suddenly. Upon his return, Appius took the Aedile position in House Ektrosis under Vodo's supervision, and he's worked his rear off to show that he could be a reliable Summit member. He's organised 13 competitions as a member of the Ektrosis Summit, most of them since his return, and was a role model for Taldryan as a whole during the GJW. Since resuming the Ektrosis Quaestor position in October, Appius has been instrumental in encouraging activity throughout the Clan, often becoming personally involved with other members in order to keep them engaged. In addition to his Summit duties, Appius oversaw the training of Dasha "Jala" Talus, guiding her to JM4 shortly before GJW XIV began.
Finally, the odds and ends that don't fit neatly into any other category. Appius is a prominent and celebrated Telegram personality, most notably in the Taldryan and DB Fiction chats, where he's become known for posting "Character Question" writing prompts on an almost-daily basis. He's always happy to provide advice or proofread other members' fiction and ACC posts. He's among the best-humoured DB members I've ever encountered, cracking jokes (often at his own expense) and embracing nicknames like "Zappius" and "Mandaboo". I don't think it's a stretch to say that Appius is one of the friendliest active members in the DB as a whole.
In recognition of his contributions to Taldryan and the Brotherhood as a whole, I hereby nominate Appius Wight for promotion to Equite 2. Congratulations, Appius, and may God help anyone who makes fun of the saberstaff I'm sure you're already rushing to request.
Master Seraine "Erinyes" Taldrya Ténama, 2020-12-25 02:25:52 UTC