There are certain qualities to a person’s character that cannot be taught. Things like patience, compassion, dedication, loyalty, selflessness, mentorship, and leadership…you can’t teach people to have these qualities, not completely. We can’t always tell where they come from; and it’s easiest to say the people who possess these qualities are born with them. Fortunately for everyone not only in Arcona, but in the Brotherhood, Cethgus is a person that honestly has these characteristics. I have known few better men.

Cethgus is always there. He’s such a strong and constant presence that it’s easy to forget how much he does, like it’s easy to forget how much we depend on indoor plumbing and running water until a pipe breaks somewhere. I usually tend towards exaggeration, but I am nothing but straightforward now when I say that Cethgus is a pillar of this Clan. If every unit’s got a heart and a mind and all the other pieces and parts behind it, then Ceth is our backbone. He holds us up, supports us, and grounds us. I can count on one hand the times I’ve seen him off IRC, and cannot name a single instance when I’ve seen him refuse to help someone or do work that needed to be done. If a member needs something, he’s there. If someone has a question, he’s there. If a recc needs writing or a talk needs to be had, he’s there. And that’s just general interaction—it doesn’t even begin to cover his leadership, his ToR activity, or his friendship.

When I stepped into the AED office, I didn’t know what to expect. This was because for as long as I’d been in the Brotherhood, my then­ Aedile, Cethgus, had been busy redefining the position with his natural amiability and his seeming inability to take a break from working. When Ceth rose up for his Clan and accepted QUA, things could have gone a lot of ways. What happened, though, was a partnership. Ceth’s always been a workhorse, and he’s by far a long­-tenured member, but he never relegated me bits and pieces of assignments or expected me to just follow his lead; no, he treated me as an equal—albeit one that needed to learn a few things—from the very start. And that’s probably one of his best qualities: he treats everyone that way. He doesn’t see anyone as better than him, and certainly never less; he just takes everyone as they are, and strives to be their friend no matter what.

That simple kindness transcends into everything Ceth does. He’s patient, dedicated, and unfailingly supportive towards his apprentices, no matter what challenges may come with mentoring them. When he’s online on ToR (which…is always), he’s constantly trying to generate activity, offering to run people through flashpoints and raids, to help them level or gear up; and when he made it onto the Fist’s staff that diligence only grew to new heights. He contributed to Shadow Academy courses and helped with seemingly endless course rewrites without complaint despite being up to his eyeballs in all the other work he gladly takes on. Sometimes I feel like Ceth is everywhere, because I don’t see much where he hasn’t offered a hand. He’s never limited his help just to his friends or just to his clan; he’s willing to give to everyone and anyone in the Brotherhood.

Still, despite all this, Ceth doesn’t see a whole lot of recognition. He’s a nice person, an honest person, and a generally happy, laid ­back person; and unfortunately, that often gets perceived poorly. Earnest kindness can be seen as weakness, and earnest happiness can be seen as foolishness. This is far from true in Ceth’s case, yet because of his constancy, it’s easy to forget. Personally, I’d bury the man in awards, if I thought that would make him proud and show him how much he’s appreciated; but frankly, I doubt it would. Ceth isn’t the type of person to care about awards (not that we aren’t going to give him them anyways): he does what he does for other people, not for himself. He doesn’t go out of his way because he wants something shiny; he does it because he cares, because seeing how happy a member is to hit DJK or read that heartfelt medal recc (and get teary-­eyed over it…guilty here) is what he really cherishes. You can look around all you like, or spend another ten years in this club, but you won’t find more than a handful of people, if that, that are as truly and honestly selfless and wholeheartedly good as Cethgus.

I would keep going, but I’ve said a lot, and I could yammer for pages and not say enough. Cethgus, Stuart, I wouldn’t call you anything but brother. Someone like you deserves only to be family, and deserves so much more gratitude than I can hope to convey; but a shiny purple pointy­stick will have to do. Congratulations, bro, and remember, you really are an outstanding human being (it’s why I can guilt trip you so easily).

Cethgus has been an absolutely foundational member of Clan Arcona in the last few years. He has undergone a tremendous transformation from a loveable gamer who stuck mainly to what he knew into one of the finest Quaestors I have ever worked with in the Brotherhood. He succeeded me as Aedile of Galeres a while back, and then served as Quaestor in Galeres opposite my own tenure in Qel­Droma. In those times, we were friendly rivals, pushing one another to greater successes than either of us could have achieved alone.

Not only is Cethgus one of the greatest Quaestors around, he is also one of the most unique. You don’t think of Cethgus as an administrator, an inspirer, a dreamer, or a delegator. He doesn’t write the most reports, he isn’t the most organized, and he doesn’t try to impose any agenda or policy upon his House save one ­­ friendship. That’s what makes Cethgus such a talent in his position, his genuine kindness and selflessness when it comes to the men and women of Galeres.

Cethgus’ friendly and upbeat attitude has been infectious, and it has drawn new members to him and his House. He has overseen the training of five apprentices to Dark Jedi Knight just this year, which is an eye­popping statistic that is likely unparalleled in Brotherhood history. His students have included some real long­shots, some apprentices who would discourage most masters, but he never complained or accepted defeat. He just grinned and did what he needed to do.

I have no idea how Cethgus balances the demands of his Quaestor position with everything else he is involved in within the Brotherhood. His Crusade numbers were stellar, he’s putting together ToR raids frequently, and he’s engaging almost as many members outside of Arcona as he is inside. At a time when Arcona has been blessed with a strong stable of leaders, present and future, Cethgus stands among the very best.

I can’t imagine the Arconan landscape without Cethgus in it, and I sincerely hope that I never have to. While I do not believe that this AK even comes close to compensating him for the incredible passion he has demonstrated, and the effort he has expended on behalf of the Brotherhood, I hope that it reflects the supreme gratitude of the Shadow Clan for all that Cethgus does.

Congratulations, Ceth!

Three months ago I hired Cethgus on as a Magistrate for the Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO. At that time the state of the guild could be best described by one of the lines early in Episode 4, “What a desolate place this is…”. Rarely seeing more than 3 members online at a time, frankly I was unsure if or when another Operation made up of DJB members would be possible. I sure was in for a surprise.

Cethgus jumped into his work whole heartedly, not only encouraging and helping existing level 55 members, but he also created numerous alternate characters to play as he leveled up with new TOR players. If there is one thing that I’ve watched Cethgus do exceedingly well in the time I’ve known him its recruit people and make them feel welcome to groups, and he brought that same charm and likability to TOR. Old members returned to the game to try it out. New members were drawn in to see what all the fuss was about.

The road to where the Guild is today wasn’t an easy one. There were Operations and Flashpoints that Cethgus needed to learn the mechanics of so that they could be explained to other members. Much time was spent working on helping others obtain gear. For a while I think he ran the Oricon quests at least once per day helping a someone’s new level 55 character get a starting set of gear. Finally, after preparation and gearing was complete it was time to begin hitting the Operations.

Anyone who has played an MMO knows the level of frustration that can accompany running an Operation when some members don’t know the strategies. Silly wipes can occur as what veterans feel is a simple mechanic is still being learned by those newer to the experience. Its easy to lose your temper, its easy to lose patience, and its easy to throw in the towel and go to another Guild where all of these mechanics are already known by the members. Moreover it can be disheartening for the newer Raiders who feel responsible for the growing pains, even though every person in the Operation went through that same learning phase at some point.

Cethgus did not take the easy route. He persevered and explained fights, he encouraged new Raiders not to give up, and when there was downtime between boss fights he entertained the group members (at least once by pulling me into the water in a Raid and killing my character, still not forgiven btw). Instead of folks feeling beat down as they struggled through a new challenge the group came together as a team. Not ragging on each other for mistakes, but learning from them.

As I said at the beginning of this, I sure was in for a surprise. Recently I jumped onto TOR and found the guild with 8 people online. Members from multiple units playing a Star Wars game together, helping each other with quests or questions. The TOR Guild was intended to be a platform for all members to be able to relax and enjoy, without feeling like second class members if they didn’t know every Boss fight to perfection. I can happily say that the Guild is a better place for Cethgus and wholeheartedly endorse his receipt of the Amethyst Kukri, both for his contributions to the Club as a Leader of the TOR Guild and as well as the plethora of reasons listed by the members of his Clan. Congratulations Stu!