Ood Bnar has to be one of, if not the, most active and dedicated members of the Shadow Academy Staff. His tenure to date is impressive, having served in one form or another for nearly seven years now (over three of which while at his current rank.) His tally for marked exams has just reached the 900 mark and counting.
His dedication is so great that he received the greatest honorary degree the Academy can bestow, the Dark Sage: Service, over two years ago. Despite already having already earned this token of appreciation, his work has not wavered.
Ood is currently tasked with the role of Professor of the Department of CORE Studies, the Department which is often the first to be visited by our newest members. Having only been assigned to this department for a short time, he is already planning to re-write the courses under his charge and update them.
Ood currently maintains a turnaround time on grading of under 24 hours, one of the fastest turnarounds of all Shadow Academy Staff.
He is constantly thinking up ways to improve both his department and the Academy as a whole. His primary motivation being the students who come through the Academy, especially those newest to the Brotherhood as a whole. Recently he noted that students completing Dark Brotherhood Basics are passing the course, but failing to understand ID lines. Realizing this is a problem he is taking the time to email these students to better explain the concepts and is planning an expansion to that section of the course to ensure future students come away with a good understanding.
Ood is always at the ready to take on new tasks, even if his plate may already be overflowing, and somehow he manages to deal with the workload and deliver above expectations every time.
He is currently undertaking the task of writing a series of mini courses for the Grind Path, which will be the first courses a new Initiate comes into contact with. These courses involve splitting up and majorly expanding specific sections of the current DB Basics course and he has even taken it upon himself to get in touch with certain units to ensure he is presenting accurate information; such as talking with the leaders of Odan-Urr to ensure he has their ranks properly represented.
Ood, you're a great asset to the Shadow Academy and I hope to see you reach your 1000th exam and even the end of your first decade with the Academy. I am proud and honored to be able to see you move one step closer to being the great Elder that I know you will one day be.
~ Solari, Headmaster
Ood has been a part of Arcona for almost four months now and since that time, he has been one of my stalwart active Equites. Ood is one of those members that I can rely on to complete any given task and is often the first to volunteer his time when members of the Clan are asked for their input. Since joining Galeres, Ood has been a regular gamer, encouraging gamers from other units to participate in flashpoints on ToR. His actions have garnered him 156 Clusters of Fire for doing 22 Flashpoints with DB members. It has also gotten him a Pendant of Blood.
Ood participated in Horizons as well, despite going through finals and illness, showing his dedication to his unit and to the Dark Brotherhood. He was rewarded for his time by a Dark Cross, but he has also helped me immensely in the wiki projects I have going for Galeres, helping to update and expand on Galeresâ cover organisation. Ood has been a big help in this, taking a lead spot without even being asked to. Added to this, Ood has been a major player in the updates going on to Arconaâs OoB at this current moment in time, creating 26, thatâs rightâ¦26 NPCs that he is currently fleshing out who will eventually be leading ships, squadrons, and other notable military personnel.
Thatâs not all, as Iâm sure Solari and Wuntila will have already told you. Ood has been involved in the Shadow Academy for almost 7 years in some shape or form and he recently marked his 900th exam during his time as a Professor. Often we donât see people getting rewarded for their work in the Shadow Academy outside of a Maven or a Dark Cross. So I think it is nice to see Oodâs dedication, his work ethic and his eagerness to help young/new members to the DB by helping them to understand how the Dark Brotherhood works.
Iâm honoured to write this recommendation for Ood Bânar to be promoted to Krath Epis. Congratulations, Ood!
~ Sanguinius Tsucyra Entar, Quaestor of House Galeres
If someone asked me to name one person who has been a consistent, active, and productive member of the Brotherhood since before I joined, my instinctual response would be: "Ood." This man has become an example to the Brotherhood, a driven, ambitious, capable, caring, approachable individual who is always willing to give any time from his day to help out, regardless of whether itâs aiding an apprentice with the SA, for example, or the Grand Master. Honestly, I've never known someone to work as hard so uniformly. You kind of come to expect people to work a little harder when they're trying to make an impression. They tend to be eager, active, willing and cooperative. They tend to do a much better job than, say, if they were asked by a journeyman to talk them through a particular issue. Ood, on the other hand, gives everyone equal time, equal patience and equal advice. He's a giving, generous person. Not with material goods, but with something more precious: his time. And to anyone, for anything.
There's a little story I'd like to address here. I know, I know, the MAA staff hate 'fillers', but I think this is pertinent in exemplifying who Ood really is, and what he has given back to this club. When I re-joined the club back in 2009 after a two year hiatus, Ood was the first person to greet me. I was a GRD then. I'd re-joined a unit that was not the same unit I'd left. Ood was the first person to come to me in PM - even though I was in Plagueis at the time, and he was in Scholae - and offer me help and support, given that I was 'new'. He also made a point of looking my activities up and noticed I'd posted a particular video up on YouTube that had reached something like 11,000 views. He reported this straight to Aabsdu who got me a Scull of Indoctrination, and then helped me find my feet back in the club. None of this was reported to my summit, none of it was reported to his. This was simply an act of kindness, a truly remarkable example of WHY Ood is such an amazing member.
Yes, so far my recommendation has been a giant exposition into why Ood is so wonderful, and not what he has done to qualify him for the rank of Equite 3. I will now try to use a few examples of Ood's talents to reify this recommendation; I'll leave the heavy activity stuff for the other lead recommendations. To truly exemplify what Ood has done, one must look beyond the Clouse level. Yes, he has served successfully as a Proconsul, and all kinds of other fun unit-level leadership gigs, but honestly? All of that pales in comparison to his dedication to the Brotherhood ticking over. The activity he has demonstrated both within the SA, and as a genuinely giving member, ultimately defines him. He has been a veritable bastion of activity in the Shadow Academy. He has served in one form another within the SA for just shy of SEVEN YEARS. Yes, seven. Yesterday he graded his 900th exam. This is a truly remarkable, yet tangible piece of evidence that goes to demonstrate just how much of a vested interest this man has within this club.
Similarly, since joining Arcona, Ood has shown why he is one of the stalwart, one of the elite, one of the Brotherhood's finest. He literally strolled in, introduced himself, made friends immediately, and said, 'So, where's the work?'. Well, maybe not literally, but you get the gist. He came in and went nuts. He's currently involved in a wiki project pertaining to the restructuring of Arcona's navy. A project he volunteered for, and has, in all honesty, done the lion's share of work for. Out of ten volunteers, Ood has stepped up, written a huge number of wiki pages, some live and some not, and also created a document to track everyone's progress and assign particular tasks. All of this off his own back, even AFTER I assigned a project leader. And, quite frankly, he's done a much better job than said project leader, and hasn't kicked up a fuss.
I think that's one of the defining features of Ood's Brotherhood career. He doesn't make a song and dance about things. He just gets on and does whatever he has planned with absolutely no want for reward. Often people who do that get overlooked for those who do make a habit of bitching and moaning. And itâs not right. Ood has done an awful lot for this Brotherhood. He's one of the people that make sure things keep ticking over. He's part of the fabric that keeps members interested. And it is for this reason that I absolutely, wholeheartedly recommend that he be promoted to the rank of Equite 3.
Congratulations, Ood. You've earned it.
~ Wuntila Entar Arconae, Consul of Clan Arcona
I have only recently had the privilege of getting to know Ood. As a member he has an amazing drive to see not only the unit he is a member of succeed, but ultimately the Club itself. This is evident when looking at his contributions while on the Shadow Academy Staff. Nearly seven years of work invested in assisting the development of new members, over 900 courses graded, and he still finds the time and energy to take on leadership positions as Proconsul and Quaestor (total of 15 Months of experience in those two positions as an Archpriest). In addition to these activities Ood had mentored Zeron (Dossier 8003) through to Dark Jedi Knight, again showing his commitment to the Club and its members.
Considering his contributions through Leadership, as well as those with the Shadow Academy Staff I believe that Ood has met and exceeded the requirements for Equite 3. Congratulations Ood! Well done!
~ Valhavoc, Sergeant, Dark Forge Battleteam, House Galeres, Clan Arcona
Master Windos, 2012-12-31 19:10:53 UTC