Greetings, my Clanmates,

Welcome to another collection of my ramblings that passes for a report these days. Let's get started, shall we?

The Feud

You already know we've won, but three events have not had their results announced... until now! Braecen told me he'd release the complete Feud results on the news page, but that was a week ago, and I simply won't wait any longer. Due to a lack of time and/or effort by one of our Fiction judges, event 4 only has a top-3 available, and no winner when it comes to Clan points. The other two, however, are fully graded - and the results are pretty conclusive, as you'll see.

Event 4 (Short fiction)

1st: Nathaniel, for CSP

2nd: Niemand, for CSP

3rd: Selene, for Arcona

No other scores were given, so this event remains undecided. Blame the judge. :P

Event 7 (Long fiction)

1st: Sashar, for Arcona - 92 + 100 = 192 pts

2nd: Rasilvenaira, for CSP - 89 + 80 = 169 pts

3rd. Zandro, for Arcona - 83 + 60 = 143 pts

4th: Kieran, for Arcona - 81.5 + 40 = 121.5 pts

5th: Fionn, for Arcona - 81 + 20 = 101 pts

Arcona: 883.5 pts with 9 participants

CSP: 606.5 pts with 8 participants

Arcona wins, once again!

Event 9 (Run-on)

Arcona's Team 2 (Kosk, Timeros, Sashar, Selene, Zandro, Kieran) edges ahead to win first place, thus securing this event for Arcona as well! Well done, guys.

Final Score: Arcona 8, CSP 0 - pwnage in its purest form. I'm extremely proud of you guys, and let's hope this is a sign of things to come.

The RoS

You've heard about it, read about it, seen the trailer, and now it's finally time for the real thing. In three days, the Rite of Supremacy will kick off, and I'm sure it'll be a blast. I actually don't have that much more advance info than you guys do, but I do know a few things: one, it'll be heavily skill-based. Sarin has hinted at this several times in his news posts ("Bring only your best", etc.) and it should provide a nice counterpart for the traditionally more participation-based GJW. Two, any individual who wins an event will grant their Clan some sort of special bonus in the GJW. If there wasn't enough incentive to show your absolute best already, this is it. Three, Arcona is likely to suffer substantial losses, RP-wise. This happens to all the Clans, and cannot be avoided at the moment. I can't really say any more about it at this point, though. Four (and this is mostly common sense), we'll have very short events, by DB standards. The entire competition only lasts two weeks, and from what I've heard, they're even trying to cram an ACC event in such a short period of time. This is promising to be a quick, high-energy Vendetta, and calls for quick-high-energy performance. Coincidentally, the length of the Feud fits exactly between that of the RoS (two weeks) and the GJW (four weeks), so at least our preparation was excellent. :P

I will, of course, keep you posted as soon as anything new happens on this front.

The GJW

The biggest, most important, most cataclysmic period the DB can possibly go through. It's coming soon, and in a breach with tradition, it'll be quite a bit influenced by the outcome of the RoS. All I know at the moment is that it'll be in the format of a wargame, and that the aforementioned bonuses for RoS event winners will have some effect on some phase of it (probably the start). Winning the GJW is, of course, the ultimate glory in the Brotherhood, and I really believe we have a substantial chance this time. Taldryan might be the perennial favourites, Tarentum might be on the rise again, but we ourselves are stronger than we've ever been in recent years. I have high hopes for this, I really do. :)

The News

• Former Arcona Consul and Master At Arms Halcyon Rokir is our new Deputy Grand Master, I'm sure he'll do just fine.

• Kraval Novir replaces Halc as MAA - he's currently vacationing in Hawai'i, though.

• Malisane De Ath is the new Knight Commander of the Brotherhood, replacing Siyavash Kaida.

• The RoS is coming very soon, closely followed by the GJW - but you've already heard about that.

• Anshar has opened some EP positions for applications, check the news page if you're interested.

• We're pwning the ORW, as usual. Special props go out to Malidir, who's managed to secure a 2nd place overall during the last two weeks.

• News closer to home: Oriens AED Ashura will be enjoying an extended Easter break in Australia from late March to mid-April. Have loads of fun in the land of Oz.

• We still haven't decided on a new Clan Envoy for Arcona, but that'll soon change. Really.

Other items of importance are listed under several headers below.

The AWOL Check

This ends very soon, so if you haven't replied yet, I urge you to do so right away. We need all the numbers we can get - even if you're half-idle. :P

The Fictional Development Team

I'm glad to say that we've had plenty of interest in the Fic Dev team, and they'll start their prestigious task soon. Members (you know who you are), you can expect an e-mail from me very shortly, with my plans on how to proceed from here.

The Evaluation

I'm interested to see how you, the members, view me as Consul. That's why I'll be sending you all a short survey, to fill in at your leisure. Tips and constructive criticism are always welcome - and a compliment or two won't hurt either, as I've had precious few of those lately :P Watch your inboxes, the survey should be arriving there shortly.

The Important Stuff

Rewards! Making a list of everything you guys have earned lately would take faaaaar too long, and I believe some friendly neighbourhood House Summit members have already covered it in their reports. I will, however, give you some of the absolute highlights from the last two weeks:

• Our very own Proconsul, Kosk d'Tana, gets a brand new shiny Amethyst Kukri for the amazing work he's done for Arcona in the past six months, specifically the Feud. Again, congratulations - this can't be said enough :P

• Zandro Savric Erinos, best known to many as CC or Chris, is promoted to Warrior. Congrats to our newest Equite!

• Both Rho and Kieran were promoted to Jedi Hunter, and continue their steady rise through the ranks. Keep up the good work, guys!

With the final Feud results now known, I have my mind set on handling any additional Feud rewards before the RoS starts. So, if you've been active enough (and the MAA agrees :P), you're in for some shinies.

The End

It's been two weeks of relative quiet... but that's not a bad thing. Look upon this as the proverbial calm before the storm - and prepare to unleash that storm soon. The RoS is awaiting, and afterwards the even bigger challenge of the GJW looms. But if there's one thing I've learned from five years of being in Arcona, it's that we've always been able to go that extra mile in competitions where it really mattered. You've shown that already in the Feud - now it's time to step up two more times, and sweep those poor bastards in the other Clans off their feet. I expect great things to happen.

• Strat, CON-man
  

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His Excellency, Krath Pontifex Strategos Thanatos

Acuithar Khmarh Entharyi, di Tenebrous Arconae

Consul of Clan Arcona

KPN Strategos Thanatos Entar Arconae (Krath)/CON/Clan Arcona [GMRG: CRU] [ACC: CL:3]

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