Arcona Citadel Selen

"Remove her from Soulfire immediately."

The hulking blue-skinned form of Wuntila was intimidating, even from a small holoprojector. Marick held it in his palm, his handsome Hapan visage betraying nothing to his superior. "As you wish," he replied.

"Send her to Qel-Droma, even. Give her whatever she needs to still do her job, just get my Attache' out of this mess. I will not have her wrapped up in this Erinos drama and a potential casualty - she is far too valuable to lose. Make it happen. Now."

The holo shimmered out of existence, leaving Marick to brainstorm in silence. Socorra had just been Knighted by Wuntila and was instrumental in keeping him from killing Teroch after the youthful Erinos' assassination attempt. Teroch appeared willing to go to great lengths to accomplish his goal of ending the life of the man responsible for his father and uncle's deaths. So although Socorra saved his life, there was no telling if he would spare the woman or if she too would face his unbridled wrath by remaining loyally at the Consul's side.

What the Hapan did know was her intelligence work during and after the war. She was a brilliant analyst, and although still a bit young and inexperienced in Brotherhood affairs, the Knight made an excellent advisor. She had confirmed to them that she had been an information broker - a claim that was clearly evidenced by her massive encyclopedic bank of knowledge. She was the epitome of a Krath scholar, and after seeing her on the battlefields of New Tython, Marick knew that Socorra was an excellent fit for Shadow Gate. Port Ol'val was well enough away from the commotion surrounding Wun, and with Sanguinius rising to Aedile again, the covert Battleteam needed a new leader.

With a quiet "hm," the Proconsul rubbed his chin and thoughtfully peered upwards. A slight grin formed on his handsome features as everything seemed to fall into place.

Introduction:

Greetings, Gatekeepers! Welcome to my first report in the Brotherhood. Tons of Summit changes have occurred in the last month, much of it in the last couple days, and hopefully you all have figured out by now that I have been appointed as Shadow Gate BTL (duh, winning!), filling in some mighty big shoes that Sang's mom left behind. Coming from a heavy (10 years) background in the original D6 SW RPG, I have a large proponency towards roleplay and group social interaction, and intend on bringing this to Shadow Gate most likely in the form of competitions, ROs, and fiction. Group interaction will be voluntary, but encouraged. I'd like us to be less names on a roster and more of a group known for individuals that work well together when together and get shit done, although some of you Keepers have some rivalries between each other, and that'll be interesting. grin

Timewise fictionally, my character has a short background in DB (7 or 8 months?), but it is already quite expansive and everyone in-character would have heard her name at some point or another. Socorra started out in Galeres, in less than a month was invited to Soulfire Strike Team, became apprentice to GAL AED Talos Erinos (who assisted in the reopening of SG, ooo a Master/Apprentice legacy!), received a double Field Promotion during the recent Great Jedi War X, and obtained Knighthood in just three months of joining the Brotherhood. Socorra was Proconsul Wuntila's assistant in the GJWX as dubbed by the Dark Council in the war fiction update and officially became Consul's Attache' after Wuntila ascended the Serpentine Throne.

That is "Socks" in a DB nutshell. It has been a crazy trip so far, and I intend to harness all that energy and create a fun atmosphere for Shadow Gate now. Will you come along and ride on this fantastic voyage? Beyond the new Gate lies adventures ready and waiting for you...

This Just In:

Shadow Gate News:

• Solus Gar and Sanguinius have moved up to Galeres and HQD Aediles, respectively.

• Fet'ai'narun has moved up to HQD Rollmaster

• Socorra has taken over SG BTL

• Balthier, Andrelious, Scelestus, Socorra, and Ramar have joined SG

• Balthier has left SG

• Vassan has been moved to HQD proper

• Legorii has been moved to HQD proper

Lots of new leaders have popped out of Shadow Gate as of late -- now that says something about it! It is unfortunate that we as a BT do lose members due to leadership, but as Wally instilled in me from my very first day in DB, **_We are One Clan.**_ It does not matter what BT or House you are in, we all work towards the greater good of Arcona, and of the Brotherhood. Good luck to everyone, make us proud! SG is representin'!

House News:

I am reminding everyone that Clan/House/BT communication is done via the Arcona Google Group. Reports and announcements are pushed through there, so if you do not receive these emails, you are missing out on just about everything. If you need assistance getting these emails, we will gladly help you out.

I am largely pushing for increased communication due to the new Battleteam policy that has gone into effect. Invictus has sent out a HQD QUA report and an email titled HQD Battleteam Membership that I hope everyone has taken the time to read. For those of you that haven't, here is a short list of what is now required:

• Continued Battleteam membership will require participation in at least one (1) competition per month.

• The type of competition doesn't matter, nor the difficulty - it can be Brotherhood, Clan, House, or BT level.

• Battleteam Leaders will track activity for their members and submit a report, monthly, on their respective activity.

  _**

  This means you have to CC your BTL on everything!**_

• Members who fail to meet the requirement will be removed from the Battleteam, though they will remain members of House Qel-Droma.

• Members on a declared Leave of Absence (as per the DJB Website) are exempted from this requirement.

Please direct any questions or concerns regarding this policy to your Battleteam Leader, me, and Wally. If you feel you can't meet this requirement for whatever reason, please let us know that as well. We love to have old friends (and new!) around, even if they don't compete - but since there are a limited number of spots in any Battleteam, we feel the need to reserve them for active members. I hope to see every one of your names on competition submissions this month! --Invictus

Due to the new policy, I expect good communication from everyone. I keep an extensive activity list and will expect everyone to CC me on any competition entries as well as the House Summit. Also, I'd like to know of everyone's current participation throughout the DB, such as Wiki work, Magistrates, even small projects, etc. In short, if you do something in DB, even a small one-time thing, or especially helping out new members and the like, I wish to be notified so I and our Summit can make educated decisions regarding future awards, promotions, and recognition.

As our hard-working Consul Wuntila said in his report: "I'm a great advocate of giving people credit where credit is due. It is on this premise that my leadership rests."

To go along with that, we have some very talented and experienced folk in SG, and though your literary skills far exceed my own, I am here for assistance for ideas/proofreading/etc. Feel free to shoot me a message or email, and I also use Gdocs frequently for collaboration.

Stuff to Do

There are two new Shadow Gate competitions available, Aliases: Take Two and Barn Raising. We are revisiting Sang's DCA comp and changing it a little bit as well as having a short fiction regarding safehouses.

Aliases: Take Two

"Gatekeepers, you are tasked with creating a short-term or long-term alias for use on Port Ol'val that will be sent to our experts for production."

Note: I encourage multiple aliases for your characters which can be one-time use/throw away personas or deep cover aliases. Everyone can submit more than one alias, but I will only be choosing the best entry per person. Winning entries will be based on creativity and originality using any platform of your choosing. Winning aliases may be added to the Shadow Gate Wiki as well as be featured in an upcoming fiction.

Start Date:12/18/2011 End Date: 1/1/2011 Platforms: Any Awards:5th Level Crescents Comments: Email entries to: [Log in to view e-mail addresses]

Barn Raising

This competition is a Recon/Infiltration contract for the Arcona Contract Bureau. Going off of the fiction prompt I will release in the Arcona egroup (which I also posted to the HQD forum), you are to write a fiction that details your character (and possibly others) finding and procuring a safehouse for Shadow Gate. Those that wish to enter the competition will email Wally (Marick is the ACB Commissioner) and I, and Wally will post up your contract on the ACB board for you to reply to. My fiction is the prompt that will be used by all of the contracts for this competition.

This is a single-person contract, but I encourage you to use other characters of Shadow Gate (including Socorra) for the fiction, just make sure your character is the main of the story. There is no minimum or maximum length; however, quality is much more important than quantity. Winning entries will be based on Technical (spelling/grammar), Story (plot/characters), and Style (writing style). Winning entries will be added to the Shadow Gate Wiki and likely used in upcoming fictions.

Start Date: 12/18/2011 End Date: 1/1/2011 Platforms: Fiction Awards:5th Level Crescents Comments: Email Wally and I stating you would like to take out a contract for Raising the Barns: [Log in to view e-mail addresses], [Log in to view e-mail addresses]. Please feel free to ask us any questions.

For a full list of competitions available: Log into the DB site and click "Stuff that matters to me" (clicking this link does it for you).

Bragging Rights (since Nov. 1st)

Workin' Hard Ramar: Promoted Apprentice through Protector Ronovi: Promoted to Primarch Scelestus: Promoted Apprentice through Protector Socorra: Promoted to Dark Jedi Knight

Hardly Workin' Andrelious --Several Legion of the Scholar --Steel Cross <dt>Ronovi</dt> --Scroll of Foundation <dt>Socorra</dt> --Steel Cross --Dark Cross <dt>Strategos</dt> --Grand Cross of the Dark Side --Dark Cross

Shinies! Andrelious --Several Cluster of Fire --Crescent with Emerald Star --Pendant of Blood Ramar --Several Clusters of Fire Scelestus --Several Clusters of Fire Socorra --Crescent with Topaz Star --Crescent with Amethyst Star --Several Clusters of Ice --Several Clusters of Fire Strategos --Cluster of Ice

Resident Shadow Gate Scholars Ramar: Passed Training Saber Basics, DB Basics, ACC Basics, History of the Sith Empire I & II, Pre-Republic History, Old Republic History Scelestus: Passed Training Saber Basics, DB Basics, Clan Arcona History, ACC Basics, and IRC Basics Socorra: Passed Leadership Studies, Leadership Fundamentals

TL;DR

Solus Gar & Sanguinius: GAL & HQD Aediles Fet'ai'narun: HQD Rollmaster Socorra: Shadow Gate BTL Arrivals: Andrelious, Scelestus, & Ramar Departures: Balthier, Vassar, Legorii New Battleteam Policy - Do comps like a boss Ramar: Promoted to Protector Ronovi: Promoted to Primarch Scelestus: Promoted to Acolyte Socorra: Promoted to Dark Jedi Knight Bunch of Crosses given out for folks to nail themselves to Bunch of Crescents and Clusters of Fire and Ice to decorate/set fire to the Christmas tree with Lots of courses to read during awkward holiday family gatherings

The Word

Formspring:

Using Formspring, you can ask me serious and hilarious questions to which I will reply to in-character. Some highlights:

Marick asks: _Now that you are a member of the summit, you will have some difficult questions to answer. To start off... Who's hair is better, Invictus' or mine? Be honest. (and remember who's a higher rank) _ Socorra replies: _Hapans are gods at beauty, sorry Vic. _

Wuntila asks: What do you intend to do in your tenure as BTL? _ Socorra replies: _Well, I won't lay out some trite BS about activity and fun and such that I'm sure you are used to hearing. However, I see a lot of great potential in Shadow Gate. It shouldn't be just a bunch of names on a roster. It should have meaning, it should give members a way to develop their characters. It should create a sense of comaraderie. I wish to throw my energy into bringing out the qualities that can make it great, fun, and popular. Over the years I've learned that it doesn't come without a lot of time and work, but hopefully, my tenure will be long and strong, and worthy of Arcona. _ _Parting Words:

Mad props to Solus Gar for creating the SG banner up top!

I'll be in and out of the office through the holidays, but still available via email.

Finally, I wish happy holidays to everyone and I hope you all enjoy your Gift.

~Socks

Dark Jedi Knight Socorra Gatewarden, Shadow Gate