The tendrils of knowledge were gentle on Ronovi's mind, as more sifted into her thoughts as if breathing steam through her nostrils. She sat in a familiar room, an altar she had knelt in front of a year earlier as a whore was sliced open like a pig. Her superior paced in front of her, fingers curling and uncurling in his palm.

"That is all you'll need for now," he murmured to her as she stood. "The turmoil I sense ahead of us will make us prepare for the worst. I trust you will be ready for anything."

"After half your face was lopped off," Ronovi replied teasingly, "I'm hoping you don't lose the rest of it."

They left the room together, pupils dilated and breaths thin and whistling against the walls. As they stepped out into the courtyard, they could see Ekeia Iclo leading several apprentices away after a class in rudimentary Brotherhood policy. They saw the ships move in and out, the patrol droids glistening in the light of the morning.

Ronovi waited for Taigikori to light a cigarra, then remembered the steel below his upper lip. She removed the flask from beneath her coat and unscrewed the cap. Amber glinting in her eye.

She followed him to his office, high above the landscape. He was silent the entire time. He had always been a quieter man, but Ronovi was unused to this. She stood and watched him as the dawn left and the day waltzed forward.

It had been a year since her arrival in Lyspair, and two since her master's. This was only the beginning.

One Year Edition!

Dark Greetings as always, my sincere apologies for it taking this long to release a report out to you good people. This was supposed to be released on May 25th, my One Year Anniversary as your Headmaster. With no computer, and work lately, yeah...that didn't happen. However, the new laptop just came in, much to Muz's delight I'm sure. Let's get to the good stuff.

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-The Dark Sage Writing course has been traditionally (with me as the exception) ran by amazing writers, or a single writer. In this case, Oberst is that writer. He's a beast, but is unable to continue. I nearly tore my hair out last year when I ran it, I don't plan on going bald anytime soon. So, after pondering for a little bit, I came to remember that I have one of the Brotherhood's greatest fictional writers within arm length; my Praetor. Convincing her to run it this year wasn't a problem, and after I saw her lesson plan I'm sure you all will enjoy it more than I did when I took it. I wanted to put more emphasis on Star Wars literature, and working that into what we do here in the DB. So, the 2011 Sage Writing Course is hereby open for applications, please see the two requirements below and email Ronovi and myself no later than July 10th. I want it up and going by the middle/late July. 1: Your ID Line 2: A brief sample of your writing, it can be something you've written for the DB, or a college English Comp class, I don't care.

-Before I rudely forget, let me announce the almost forgotten position of Graphics Lead - Magistrate to the Headmaster. The position was created to run the entire look of the Grind Path. Every page, every animation, every graphic. That person had to know my Academy in an intimate sort of way. So who better than one of my own Professors? And by the way my Herald brother rants about her, I hear she isn't half bad at the graphical thing either. Ekeia Iclo will be filling this position, and I have the utmost confidence in her. Congratulations.

-New Course this month as well...sort of. I'm releasing a new bit called Planets and Stars, which is featured in the Department of General Studies. Not only does it have some great things on traditional Star Wars systems, it's also got some Brotherhood planets thrown in there as well. Arion is working out some final things with the coding side, look for it to be Live on the Shadow Academy within the next 72 hours. I'll post a reminder on the news page when it's out.

-Don't forget to CC my Praetor, Ronovi, on all SA related emails, especially degree requests. Degree requests that do NOT have my Praetor CC'd, will be thrown in the trash.

-Projects: In this section I'll give you all a layout of my plans for the next year of my tenure. First let me frank. I don't plan on staying Headmaster forever. The Grind Path has taken an amazing amount of energy out of me, though it's been one of the most enjoyable projects...the most important project I've ever worked on. Once I release it, anything else I do after it will seem...anti-climatic. I'll of course be around for a long while after it's released to work out all the bugs. But one of my main priorities is to replace Ronovi in my shoes. Training her is an ongoing thing, something that never stops. I'm still learning from Muz, Halc, and even Aabs. Speaking of the Grind Path, I feel I owe you all a semi-solid release date. My optomistic answer is: The Grind Path will be Live in 8 months. Will it happen? I don't know. While most of the content is written, the graphics and programming hasn't even started. That's my two cents on the issue.

-Not sure I should be talking about this...if not, Ashen can kill me later. Him and I have been throwing the idea of SA specific robes, sabers, and possession items. The problem is, who do I measure John Doe's SA feats? The answer him and I came up with was to create a mini society around the Academy itself. Nothing that would take up any room on your ID lines (I hate degrees on there), but enough to calculate what you've done, and showcase your work on an adminstration page. We'll be able to add up your scores, degrees, and figure your Grade Point Average. We're playing around with the idea for certain awards to be catagorized into Cum Laude, etc. Please note I'm well aware that taking exams isn't anywhere near as hard as the ACC, or the GMRG. There won't be 40 robes and 20 sabers to chose from. Hell, I don't even know if we'll get 5. The point was to add a little more flavor to those more of the Krath mind, and give them some possession perks.

-Degree Overhaul: 50% complete

-Internal Review: 50% complete

-Fire Kir: Haven't been able to yet.

In a nutshell, let me tell you all what a joy this first year has been, and I hope to bring you all even more goodies as time goes on. Stay safe, TTFN.

*Summary: -Ekeia named M:HM -Muz and Halc promoted me, no idea why, but they rock -Planets and Stars released, sort of -Sage Writing Course open to applicants -SA society incoming *

His Excellency, Taigikori Aybara Dupar Headmaster of the Brotherhood