For this report, I'm just going to get right into it. There's really two things I want to talk about, so let's get down to business.

Dark Linings To Every Silver Cloud

The Dark Jedi Brotherhood is a Club for Star Wars members that has existed since the 1990s. It was created by individuals who had a passion for the Star Wars universe, the Star Wars experience, and all things that encompassed the passion we all share that originally inspired young minds in 1977 on the big screen. It was created as a place for anyone and everyone to have a fun, enjoyable time, make friendships, and participate in Star Wars-themed competition and fun across the internet.

What does this have to do with you?

Sometimes, we all have to remind ourselves what this Club is, and why we are here. I joined the Club originally in 1997, in then-House Satal Keto. I didn't stay long. I thought the Club was incredibly odd, and the Krath Order (that I had joined) was just full of Star Wars-themed D&D wizard weirdos. There was a lot of competitions about writing prayers and chants, and other nonsense that I've seen blocked out of my memory. It wasn't entertaining to me. I drifted away, and let the Brotherhood be what it was. In 2000, I joined up again, this time in House Gladius of Clan Tarentum. The Brotherhood had evolved, and the people in Gladius welcomed me in. The people made it a fun, interesting environment, and while (as a Krath again) I was destined to do a lot of writing, it was a provoking, entertaining writing environment. I've since stayed.

What does this have to do with you?

When I first joined and found the Club uninteresting, weird, or just undesirable, I left. Now that I've been a part of it for so long, it is more than just an enjoyable atmosphere. It is friendships, it is entertainment, it is a part of me. I've had a lot of fun in this Club, and have made a lot of friends. I've had times where I've been incredibly successful, and incredibly burned out and ridiculous. The friends I have made have not only helped me to remember, time and again, why I joined the Club, but why I stay. And, as such, the friends I have made have really helped me to see how much I can enjoy this Club, and how much I ought to be working to help others enjoy the Club.

Unfortunately, though, there are people who either hate me, or hate anything I'm involved with, or hate other members of the Brotherhood. There are people who simply cannot ignore the facets of this Club they're not involved with, not a part of, or have somehow decided they need to fight against. I have heard of incidents involving one specific individual who has really managed to annoy or offend several members of Tarentum. The harsh truth that we have to accept is, there are people who think their sole purpose in the Club is to ruin the good environment that others are trying to build up. For this, I apologize. If you are having to deal with this member, or any member who says things you don't like, seems to target you unnecessarily, or aims to simply ruin the enjoyable time that you and your friends are having, I encourage you to do two things.

First, I encourage you to ignore this person on IRC, and not get sucked into this person's twisted idea that ruining the pleasure of others somehow increases their own enjoyment, or somehow makes them better than the rest of us. It's hard, but I can honestly tell you, that if you don't get caught up in the drama these people bring, you will have a better time. Secondly, I encourage you to pass on any specific problems that you are having with this member, or anyone else, to the Justicar, Kir Taldrya Katarn, by email ([Log in to view e-mail addresses]) and he will look into it. Kir is an incredibly fair individual, and he knows how much the Brotherhood needs to be kept as a fair, reputable place. Kir will listen if you are having issues, and he will take them all seriously.

To those members who have come to me to complain about this specific member, or any other facet of the Brotherhood that is annoying them, again, you have my sincere apologies. If it keeps up, I'll be looking to make an official complaint. As it is, I don't have any specific logs or anything about these issues, but as you find these issues arising, feel free to submit IRC logs or otherwise to Kir to look into.

Tarentum Aedile

You may have noticed that Elols has stepped down as AED, and Archean has been selected to serve as my second from this point forward. Elols, Raimi and I discussed the decision, and the reasons for Elols to move towards doing graphics, and move away from administrative stuff makes sense. Elols is a dedicated member, and a good friend. I appreciate his willingness to serve, and even his willingness to continue to serve in doing graphics, and trying to coordinate the image-making efforts of Tarentum. He will remain a leader in Tarentum both for graphics design, as well as for any other needs you all may have of him. Elols is an experienced member, and he's always willing to help.

Archean is one of the Tarentae. He has been a member of Tarentum for many years, has been a successful member of Tarentum, and one of our talented leaders in the past, as well. He has a great deal of enthusiasm, and as he and I have been friends, leadership peers, and Clan or Housemates for years now, I know that he and I have the ability to work cohesively, and that the leadership team now comprised of Raimi, he and myself will continue to be motivated and productive for you.

For those who wonder why there was never any public mention made of taking applications, I am, as many can tell you, very picky in some respects. I do not pull calls out to the general Brotherhood for applications because, quite frankly, I do not like siphoning member resources away from other Houses or Clans, and I do not believe members coming from other areas are as familiar with Tarentum as leadership needs to be. I believe very much that Tarentum's leadership ought to come from within. If a person wants to be a leader in Tarentum, they have to want to be in Tarentum first.

There are a great many leaders, and potential leaders across the lines of every House within the Brotherhood. If you are looking for opportunities to serve, opportunities to lead, and opportunities to advance, I can guarantee that your House's leadership will gladly put you to work, and will certainly put forth every effort to try and see you trained and ready to advance into any open position of leadership within your respective Houses. If you're interested in being a leader in Tarentum, though, the place to be is here. I can guarantee that being within any House before you seek leadership in that House helps.

Another week or two goes by, and the Brotherhood continues to grow, time continues to change, and each of us is made better (or worse) by the decisions we make. There are ways for all of us to be productive, happy, and make this Club a healthy environment for all of us. I encourage everyone to make friends across every House line, and in every facet of the Brotherhood. While we all may be competitive, while we all may want "our team" to win, we all gain by having the Brotherhood succeed.

If I have ever offended anyone, and have not taken the time to apologize for my actions, and try to take every necessary effort and action to repair the damage I've done to the friendships I have with you, with your House, or otherwise, I sincerely apologize. Feel free to hit me up and let me know what happened. I'm human, I err, and sometimes, I forget. If I did something, I'd love to apologize for it.

Have a great week, everyone.

-DJM Sith Bloodfyre-Tarentae Quaestor, House Tarentum Sith Order