So, according to #db, the new Tarentum Consul is supposed to be announced today, Tuesday, December 18, 2007. To be honest, I'm rather looking forward to this announcement. I'm excited at the prospect of finally being able to sit back, relax, and drift away into nothingness for a while, to be honest. I have no idea who the final selection will be, but I've known Sarin long enough to know and believe that it will be the correct choice for the Clan.

I'd like to thank those people in the Clan who made this term as Consul enjoyable, but I'd also like to encourage all of you to action. I want you to know, it has not been easy being Consul this time. I have no idea why. I don't put the blame on anyone except myself for my own failures, but I will say that, when the Clan is active and motivated, it helps take off some of the pressure. As Consul, I can only do so much to try and push and motivate and encourage. I can only do so much to try and provide enjoyment and friendship. In the end, the Brotherhood (in my eyes) is about friendship and fun, but sometimes, you really have to move forward and actively seek that out to find it.

I encourage you all to try and move forward, move beyond yourselves, and really try and help your new Consul and new friends within the Clan to seek, and acquire, excellence. Tarentum always has been, and always will be, one of the best Clans of the Brotherhood. The caveat of that, though, is that as a Clan, we actually have to push forward, we have to move, we actually have to maintain our excellence. A favorite quote of mine recently is, "All speech is vain and empty unless it be accompanied by action." (Demosthenes, 384 BC - 322 BC). It doesn't matter what claims we make, or what peaks we have reached in the past. What we are, what we claim to be, must be proven by our deeds.

We have become imperfect. I especially have become imperfect. And this is one of the reasons it's a good time for Tarentum to have new and better leadership. "Once we realize that imperfect understanding is the human condition there is no shame in being wrong, only in failing to correct our mistakes." (George Soros, born 1930). I have become wrong, I think, and have led Tarentum as best I could, but I don't think it was what we, as a Clan, needed. And so, the way to correct my own mistakes is to stand down, and support the next Consul of this great Clan.

You all make up what Tarentum is, and what it can become. In you, this Clan has the potential to stand out among the other Clans as proud, dominant, successful members of this Club. If you stand up, if you stand together, and if you move beyond your inhibitions and your limitations, you can achieve anything. I make you this promise that, if you will commit yourselves to achieving that which we have lost, and moving towards the greatness we can achieve, I will always stand with you as a friend, and a member of this Clan. Tarentum is my home, and within the Brotherhood, you are all friends and family.

I wish us all good luck in this endeavor. And in this holiday time, I wish us all a Merry Christmas, a Happy Channukah, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Ramadan, or whatever holiday you and your family embrace during this time of you.

-DJM Sith Bloodfyre-Tarentae

Consul, Clan Tarentum