Since his promotion back just over 2 years ago, Takagari “Darkhawk” KogaRyu has not stood still. No, this dude has been making some really excellent marks in his own corner of the Brotherhood and even some beyond in the greater Brotherhood. Although the greater number of the competitions and events he has helped to organize in the Brotherhood centered around Naga Sadow and her sub-units, he has even reached out on at least one occasion to run an event with members of a number of other Clans to run a holiday mini-event around Halloween time.
Perhaps I am getting ahead of myself.
In his time as an EQ 3, Darkhawk took the lead on organizing 13 competitions and helping to co-organize another 12 competitions. Some of these included gaming, such as Heroes of the Storm or Hearthstone. Others have given members a chance to help ‘own’ our corner of a galaxy far, far away by naming fleet assets we gained following a Vendetta; acted as a co-organizer and judge for a competition in which members could detail an enemy of the Sadowans; acting as an organizer/co-org for events contributing to the success of Redemption and Honor event. This event saw our Clan retake our home system and saw a good chunk of our Clan taking part. He was also a key contributor and fellow brain-stormer for the Tensions in the Orian Empire event we ran for the Clan to help push our fictional direction forward and saw us publicly grab control of the Orian System as a Clan instead of operating as a shadow government. He also acted as a co-organizer for a pre-War competition alongside 3 other Sadowans to help hype folks leading into Great Jedi War XIV: Homefront. Even when you look back into his time as Quaestor you can see that Darkhawk wanted to create interesting content, like when he conceptualized and ran Three Shades of Black.
Really, it is worth pointing out that Darkhawk served a respectable term as a Quaestor for which he earned a Grand Cross back in October of 2019. There is some excellence that he strides for. There are also instances like the Gold Nova he got in the 13th Great Jedi War for an impressively built Jedi holocron for the event you can look to. That is seriously the sort of thing that sets my own pursuits to shame. And yet, Darkhawk is again about as humble as they come when it comes to such accomplishments. For one, he took first in the recently Quaestor-run Inos Incursion, he is a regular contributor in Clan-run events and with the Crescents (and the nova) he has earned has a placement-to-participation over 20% of the 148 competitions he has taken part in. I mean, the Crescents aren't everything grant it but they do show that Darkhawk tries to bring excellence to whatever he finds himself in doing. This has been further reinforced by the hard work he put in as the Left Hand of Justice. Darkhawk has been a pretty handy partner in helping to lead Clan Naga Sadow, always willing to lend a hand, always willing to contribute through whatever means he has at his disposal.
Darkhawk has been making his own mark across more than just the Clan or the Chamber of Justice. I mean, when it comes to events he willing to put up his dukes against other members of the club to represent in arenas such as Jedi Academy or Heroes of the Storm. Considering those platforms are not his particular avenues of choice for gaming, I find that REALLY admirable. He is also again super humble, even when he is played cooperatively with members in PVE/PVO activities like in Heroes of the Storm, Battlefront 2 and Squadrons. All the way, he is never the sort to assume himself an ace or a hero in any capacity, but he still grinds out Clusters with his comrades-in-arms and his fellow club members. Now, before I start numbering things like the number of clusters, I do want to point out some of the more impressive bits that I have been noticing again as I review Darkhawk's dossier. This dude has written for 33 fiction activities, when you put aside the 2 ACC battles finished. Between those activities, Darkhawk has written a total of 65,851 words of fiction and another 7,648 in the 9 runon posts he has written. Let that sink in for a minute. He has written on average almost 2000 words in each fiction activity he has taken part in. That in and of itself I find again, admirable.
Darkhawk does not shy away from the things he feels need done. He has continued to push in other sectors of the club like the Shadow Academy, having passed 31 courses since his last promotion. That is pretty awesome, considering there are plenty of Equites out there who are content to never touch the Academy again after they go through their paces on the road to Knight. That work has seen him add six more parts to his Dossier ID line for six new degrees. In his positions as Proconsul and Quaestor, he has published 14 news posts in order to celebrate the accomplishments of members, to hype for events and to keep our members informed. Is that the greatest measure of a leader, though? Nah, I would say that Darkhawk's attempts to keep the folks on our mailing list both in the know, and working to ensure that our Clan is making full use of the mailing list to a degree that frankly puts some of his peers to shame- and I speak as one of his peers. He also makes sure to read and to cheer along many a member as they put up their own reports in much the same way he tries to get the Clan keyed up in emails around Clan-member-run competitions, events, Vendetta time and more. Specific to site comments amounts to no less than 66 report comments, and most of them that I can recall are either applauding other members or otherwise showing support. Darkhawk is a cheerleader (and I do not mean that in any way that might deprecate or diminish that contribution) for CNS!
Speaking of events, I would like to point out that Darkhawk has a pretty consistent record with Vendettas. In Great Jedi War XIII he took part in 19 of 32 available events. In Great Jedi War XIV he took part in 22 of 30 possible competitions. Digging back in old reports, I can positively report that Darkhawk was one of those who 'did all the things' alongside 10 other members in the Clan who got participating in every bin during Homefront. He also shares in that accomplishment, given that Darkhawk pushes and encourages other Sadowans to participate and to bring their A game!
Really, between the attitude and drive that this gent brings to the table, I think that he is a more than apt addition to the ranks of our club's 4th grade Equites.
But as he celebrates the accomplishments of our members, I want to take a chance to celebrate Darkhawk's.
He has earned a Grand Cross*, as I mentioned above. He has gotten a Gold Nova, as I had detailed earlier in this recommendation. He has earned a variety of 35 Crescents: 1 Crescent with Diamond Star*, 3 Crescents with a Ruby Star*, 13 Crescents with an Amethyst Star*, 14 Crescents with a Sapphire Star*, 3 Crescents with an Emerald Star* and a Crescent with a Topaz Star*. He has ground out 9 Pendants of Blood* for accomplishments in gaming; he has also racked up 27 Clusters of Fire* and 42 Clusters of Earth* in that time. For the frankly laudable amount of fiction he has written, he has earned 161 Clusters of Ice*. For his artistic endeavors- which I personally feel are nothing to shake a stick at, he has earned 74 Clusters of Graphite*. His contributions to the club have also been recognized in 2 Seals of Loyalty* he has earned.
Since his last promotion, Darkhawk has served admirably in the Chamber and in the Clan. He spent 2 months as an Appeals panelist in that time and later he took over following Ciara's ascension to Headmaster as the Left Hand of Justice. In our Clan, he served 15 months as a Quasetor and has since served another 11 months as my right hand in Clan Naga Sadow. I do not feel hesitant in saying again that Darkhawk shares in each victory within our Clan with each way he so selflessly gives back through word and deed.
Oh, and in the fashion that has become so accustomed to in our chat, I think I owe Darkhawk at least 13 BOOMs for the individual accomplishments that I have listed here.
For your time of service to the club, for your attitude, for the way that you try to give to the Clan a bit of your time and energy each day, I am proud to hold you up as the latest of our Warlords in Clan Naga Sadow. When paired with the supporting recommendations that others have provided, I think it is clear that you have more than earned your place.
We'll drink to you tonight, my friend.
(Don't forget it is customary for the new promote-ee to pick up the tab at these things ;-) )
Bentre Sadow
Overlord of Clan Naga Sadow
Master Bentre Stahoes, 2021-03-02 06:39:21 UTC