The blood cooled within him, the man running his hands back across his head, smoothing down the emerald hair. The plan was convoluted, but brilliant. Halcyon turned on his heel, pacing slowly in the small room.

"Then there's the matter of the Games." Halcyon reminded the Dark Lord.

"The construction is finished?" Muz responded, watching his Shadow Hand move.

Halc merely nodded. The new Coliseum was built upon ancient ruins of what they had assumed was a similar structure several thousand years ago. At great cost that Halcyon understood and yet did not, the structure was fortified, modernized, rebuilt and made to gleam like a crown jewel. Halc had bit his tongue before in wondering if this was the Krath's way of building a legacy. While such opulence usually foreshadowed the death throes of an overly indulgent culture, he also knew that it was a show of power, considering how spartan the last dozen years had been. It was either brilliant or futile, Halcyon could not tell which. And he wasn't sure that Muz could tell, either.

"The Games..." Muz started, a hesitation in his voice giving away a measure of uncertainty. Would the Brethren enjoy the distraction, or would they ignore it without blood on the line? Muz stopped. There was more. Other reasons for celebration besides the complete reclamation of their Throneworld.

Muz smiled as he thought of it.

---

The Coliseum was brightly lit, an outcropping of chrome stone, jutting from the monotonous dark dust of Adas. Floodlights circled the installation, waiting for the perpetual dusk to graduate into full-fledged night to illuminate the curved splendor. Rows of shuttlecraft lined the pavement less than a kilometer away, the awkward assortment of house ships unique except for the universal addition of their house insignias. In other times, they would have preferred armed ships, but that was forbidden.

Tsainetomo stepped down the ramp of the triple winged transport, a blue-haired Zeltron woman and a blind man stepping closely behind. Methyas and Masika were well known within Sadow, and their careers had just begun to make a mark within the Brotherhood entire. Another Miraluka, this one without eye-coverings, clomped down a few paces behind them. Venator, another one of the Pepoi bloodline was in the same boat. Sai chuckled, wondering what it was about Sadow that inspired such powerful bloodlines to join them. His own had reached out into the Brotherhood, seizing control of Dark Council positions, and ultimately the Iron Throne.

Another ship landed across from them, this one bearing the thorned crest of the Arconans. Sai watched as the landing ramp extended fromt he slowly opening airlock. They looked a bit uncomfortable wearing normal robes instead of their customary mandalorian-inspired armor kits. The woven sigils of their shadesworn caste wrapped around many of those that disembarked first, the arcane icons used as their uniform rather than the customized armor plates. They moved with strength, not lingering on the ramp, and filing out to the paved footpath to the Coliseum. Their eyes moved quickly, ascertaining any possible threats with military precision. It was only a moment later that Zandro and Sashar erupted from the door, and it all made sense.

Without the troops to serve as guards, they would use their own Dark Jedi. Sai debated if there was a need for that, considering the situation. One could never be sure on Antei.

Moving toward them from the coliseum, a Krath priest in formal robes stepped with measured gait. The wind caught black hair, tossing his cloak back. Sai narrowed his eyes, his hand twitching at his side to put his house-mates at high alert. One never could be sure on Antei.

He grew closer, and somehow more familiar. Sashar and Zandro did not let down their guard, several of the Arconan's nervously moving hands closer to their sabers, the only weapon permitted to be carried at this event, and only by those who had earned Knighthood, a departure from the battlefield law of 'everyone goes armed'.

The man stopped between the two groups, dropping to a knee in a bow.

"Quaestors, your personal presence is requested by Lord Keibatsu." He stood slowly, making no sudden movements to inspire violence.

It clicked in Sashar's mind. "Praetorian Anderson, lead the way."

---

Fireworks bloomed in the night sky, an elaborate grid of lights and explosives bathing the upturned faces of the crowds below in color. Sparks flew from the arena floor, gouts of flame reaching high into the air as servant droids wheeled hundreds of tables lined with food into view.

To the side of the arena, the enclosed seating of the Elders shifted downward, the lights of the sky reflecting off the transparsteel as the motorized boxes moved to the floor of the Coliseum. Doors opened, and Dark Councilors filtered out from them, the last of the fireworks cracking in the sky.

Blinking displays on the backsides of the headrests gave directions to the membership, mapping out a route to the feast being laid out. Many got up from their seats immediately, others holding still, watching and waiting rather than fighting with the crowd of dangerous people. Those were surprised by droids bringing around trays filled with goblets, insisting that each take one.

The form of the Grand Master was soon seen, moving from the Elder's box, surrounded by crimson armoured guards and the dark robes of his closest advisors. The Lion of Tarthos had his own glass, and raised it to the crowd, a gesture mimicked by most.

"To the fallen." The toast was simple.

After lowering the glass, he looked out across the brethren, his sable eyes glinting in the lights of the nighttime stadium. Halcyon stepped forward, unmistakable with his green hair.

"Today we mark another year of Independence." The Taldryan paused for the applause. "We celebrate the reclamation of our Antei, and the defeat of our enemies. We honor the dead, the steel upon which our steel is sharpened."

Muz raised his glass again, Halcyon doing the same a moment before the gesture flooded across the rest.

Tonight, we remember.

Tonight, we celebrate.

Exodus Day is here, a day of remembering all that it took for us to get to where we stand now. From our meager beginnings as a couple of friends on AOL Warrior Chat back in 1997 through the troubled times under the Hammer to our glorious rebirth as an independent club, we have grown, made friendships that will last a lifetime, and become just what our name intones.

We are a Brotherhood.

Tonight, we start the celebration that will last two weeks, in an event called the Independence Games. This event is multifaceted, a compendium of competitions run by those of us on the Dark Summit. It will run for two weeks, with most events being a single week in length. Up for grabs are the rarest of our Crescents as well as Seals for participation.

We all hope you enjoy the event.

What most recall about Exodus day and the Day of the Fox is that we hand out the Seals of Loyalty on these days. This time is no exception.

Awarded for displaying exceptional service, dedication and loyalty to the club, these medals are a token of the Brotherhood's esteem. While there are many more people who have displayed strength and honor in the name of the Brotherhood, these few have gone well above and beyond to deserve special recognition.

Solari, Wuntila, Anubis, Tiberius, Jeric, Tyre, Brujah, Arturis, Tsainetomo, Ronovi, Tyno, Korras, Vivackus, Ashia, Fremoc, Sashar, Timeros, Shaz’air, Macron, Eiko, and Taigikori are all hereby awarded Seals of Loyalty for their devotion to the ideals that help make the Brotherhood what it is today. Well done, all.

Another item of note is the annual awarding of the Silver Sash. This exemplary award is used to award those who have toiled hard for the club, and continue to press onward for the good of the Brotherhood.

This year, the award goes to Orv d'Tana Arconae, Seneschal of the Brotherhood. His efforts to streamline, speed up and improve the experience of our members has been particularly evident lately, witht he changes to the Forums, the wikipedia ramp-up, and his ever continuing devotion to the great beast project that Possessions has become. Add to this his constant having to deal with people bothering him at all hours about bugs and clarification on coding stuff, and you begin to see why Seneschals have a rough job. And despite all this, a full-time job and a family, Orv still maintains an incredibly freindly demeanor. He's accessible, hard-working, and a hell of an impressive coder. Invaluable, in a word.

I want to take a moment and personally thank Orv. I know that coding is one of those inherently aggravating sorts of work, and to have the wherewithall to subject yourself to countless hours of it for the enjoyment of others is impressively selfless. Thank you, Orv.

And the hits keep on coming.

A few weeks ago, you no doubt heard the buzz that we were looking at reclanning efforts. There were a number of factors that we pored over to determine if houses were ready to be invited to submit reclanning proposals. This was no small decision. We weghed all aspects of activity, from competitions and endetta performance to raw message board and email activity. We looked at so many different things, it took us a couple months just to get the data sorted out before we talked to anyone about it.

And then we went to the next step, inviting those houses who were exemplary to submit proposals delineating their plans, their ideas, and all the nuts and bolts of how and why they would return to clanhood while avoiding the pitfalls of the past.

We dove into those proposals with a fine-toothed comb. I know, as did my advisors, that if we returned a house to Clanhood that if they were to falter and require re-housing, that the blow could be fatral for them, and we don't want to cause that. Some that had heard the rumor of reclanning had gotten impatient, bothering their summits for information that they did not have, as Halc and I have held this very close to the vest while we deliberated. This is a huge decision that required a lot of consideration... anything less would not do it justice.

At the end of it all, we decided to make our announcement today, to coincide with Exodus day.

Today, the Great House of Arcona and the Great House of Naga Sadow become Clans.

For many, this is the culmination of a goal. Indeed, much hard work has gone into bolstering the house to where it was able to be considered twice the strength of it's fellow houses. For those who see deeper, they recognize that the hard work is just beginning. While the honor is theirs for what they have done, they have further to fall, should they falter. It is my belief that they have the strength to continue their great works and push onward, leading the Brotherhood in many aspects and serving as a great example to the other Houses that desire to stand among them as Clans.

Well done, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for refusing to allow yourselves to be defeated.

For Sadow! Arcona Invicta!

TL;DR *Exodus day. *http://djbhosting.com/ig-2011/ *Seals of Loyalty Awarded. *Orv earns a Silver Sash *CLAN Arcona *CLAN Naga Sadow