The pills skipped across his fingers as Taigikori consumed the strong opiates, exhaling harshly as the tablets passed his fleshy upper lip and his metal palate. He felt the veins behind his eyes swell from the rush of chemicals, his arms pulsing loudly beneath the heavy sleeves of his tunic. As he reached for his glass of water to wash away the sting in the back of his throat, he felt his fingers stiffen. The chill of fear and anxiety on the academy grounds again, as initiates ducked their heads beneath the roofs of the many building rising from the courtyards.

He had grown rather used to it.

He had not seen his Praetor for a few days, but this was due to the fact that she had excused herself to spend extended periods of time in the lower levels of the grand libraries. For days, Ronovi had claimed she smelled blood wherever she walked. She didn't know if this was because the aftermath of the War of New Tython lingered with her, or if her senses had become strangely amplified through Force vibes. Either way, she claimed that the best way to cope after every battle and skirmish - for her personally - was to drink, duel, and these days read. It had been unlike her in her earlier years, but recently she had taken on the unofficial role of "scholarly warrior" with more than some pride.

Taigikori was satisfied with this behavior. He let his hand stroke the hilt of his recovered lightsaber, remembering with a somewhat drug-induced glee the tormented, bulging eyed expression of Liu Van Dae as the dagger was lodged into the cavernous regions of his swollen jugular vein. The bastard had evaded death once - the Headmaster ensured that he did not escape again. And now, with new vigor in his blood, he was ready to do even more damage.

His Praetor would certainly come along for the ride. Deeper in the bowels of the Shadow Academy, there was power to experiment with. Potions to brew. Weapons to construct. Taigikori was never happy with the status quo. He had spoken of a great scholarly society at enormous lengths to the Lion of Tarthos, smirking as the Grand Master nodded and let his mane billow in muted agreement. He had spent hours in a single room, only conversing with various professors of a new strategy for maintaining hot-headed recruits so that their blood would grow as fiery as their scorched thoughts. And through it all, he had not slept, continually picked up by the small little pellets he tossed into his mouth.

Allowing a small chuckle to break from his lips like a mischievous metallic prankster, the Headmaster retrieved several scrolls and datapads and proceeded to leave his office, drawing his cloak about him as he walked. The fabric enveloped him like a welcoming shadow, while his eyes bled excitement and malice as he allowed his body to blend in with the welcoming chasms of his home.

Hey all. Been way too long since my last report. The War, my son getting Croup, it's been horrible timing. My apologies for it taking this long to get a report out.

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It's been a couple years since we've had an audit for the courses and exams, which is starting to show. There are numerous spelling and grammar mistakes hidden within each course, which is something that should be caught during the edit process. I'm now opening Audits for all courses (exams included) to be completed by the end of the year. I'm opening them by Department, so if you wish to sign up, send an email to myself, Ronovi, and Solari with your wish to audit the following catagory.

-Docent Halls -Department of General Studies -Department of Writing Studies -Department of General History -Department of Brotherhood History -Department of Philosophy -Department of Flight Studies -Department of Combat Tactics -Department of Coding Practices

I've had a cleaning of house regarding the staff, the goal being to give newer members a chance at positions. The newest addition to the staff is Teu, who is taking on the Docent position for Wiki Basics and Wiki Editing. Ben and I chose her from several well qualified people, thanks to everyone for their interest. Teu brings a fresh charge to the Academy and Ben's Wiki staff, we're looking forward to what she brings to the table.

My Praetor, Ronovi was recently promoted to the rank of Primarch for her outstanding work as P:HM and her performance in the Great Jedi War. Congrats go out to her.

I appointed Fremoc as Professor of the Combat Department, as many courses are/will be gaming oriented.

I've consolidated Leadership Fundamentals into Ekeia's Department, and GMRG History into the Combat Department. The goal being for less staff and more hands on training.

The position for Professor of Flight Studies is now open, after long standing staff member Daniel Stephens vacates the position. DS was one of my longest serving staffers, and I'm keeping him on the staff in an advisory capacity. Thanks for all the hard work. I'm leaving applications open for 10 days, though I'd like to get the position filled before then. If you'd like to take a shot at being a Professor, send applications to myself and Ronovi before then with the normal requirements (having passed all courses, high email turn around, etc).

We've got two new courses being released this month, both of which I'm extremely proud to have added to the list of available courses. First up is General Warfare, which covers several topics in the Star Wars Universe related to war. This course is now available through the Combat Tactics Department.

General Warfare

The second is another edition to the Brotherhood History Department, and one a long time in the making. Tarentum History is now live and able to take. as soon as your heart desires.

Tarentum History

-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: Kir and I have been aiming to improve the Chamber of Justice courses for a couple years now, something that is more of a major project than a smaller one. After considerable discussion, we both shall be working on the new course CoJ III: Justice Theory. I know many of you are probably thinking "The first two are hard enough, why make a third?". My answer is simple, I strive for courses than are harder than circle in the bubble. Since my appointment to Headmaster, it's been my goal to provide actual challenges to members of all rank, while at the same time providing a rewarding experience by doing so. With this exam release, we'll also be opening the new Department, Brotherhood Justice.

As Muz said in his report, the Grind Path SA Society are our two main focuses of energy. As of right now, Grind Path content is done. I'm now on the graphics phase, contracting out to any and all members who are willing to throw in help. I've had multiple people starting webpage design (Keia) and mics. graphics such as side bars, and fillers to spice the page up. However, I'm waiting on the HRLD office to finish working on the Face Generator and Possessions before anything concrete can be completed. Something that's been this long in the pipeline, I want it to look amazing, and the Grind Path is something that will change how newer members interact within the DB for years to come. That deserves nothing less than the full skill of our lead graphic artist, the HRLD. Once that's done, it'll be handed off to Orv and staff for final coding.

Muz has started working on robes for the awarding SA Society, something that will take your Degrees and courses and turn them into attainable ranks and robes to be had on your dossier. Muz is Batman, and so far from the previews he's given me, things are turning out awesome.

As of right now, Degrees are borked and give you no Prestige when awarded. I've made Orv aware, and over the next couple weeks him and I will be going through and re-assigning Prestige value to each tier and degree. Worry not, we're on the case.

Solari recently added the Test of Power to the Medusa admin page, so that you no longer have to email your request to pass the course. It's now a course under the Combat Tactics Deptartment, so that Fremoc may manually pass you from the SA site itself. Solari is also working on a crap ton of other behind the scene updates and fixes to bad SA code and improvement, the newest of which was the updating of the SA Staff page, which now reflects the correct staff members in their positions.

The year is almost over, Christmas is sneaking up on me fast. There's a new competition that I released on the 7th, entitled [HM] Voyager, dealing with Liu Van Dae's reason for coming back to 35ABY to kill Muz off. 1st level Crescents and potential Wikifying of your story are up for grabs, so be sure to submit to it before Jan. 7th.

As always, if there's anything you have a question about or if you'd just like to chat, I'm always available through email and IRC. Thanks and have a good Christmas!

*Summary: -Audits Open -PROF applications being taken -General Warfare released -Tarentum History released *

His Excellency, Taigikori Aybara Dupar Headmaster of the Brotherhood