There is no avoiding war; it can only be postponed to the advantage of others. - Machiavelli

The Lion & the Monster, Part I

Antei Dark Hall 36 ABY

The whispers had begun.

High above the conspiratorial voices, long columns of light poured down from roughly hewn stone portals. The glittering beams that braved the Hall's interior formed rectangular pools of amber across the dark cobble floor. The stone was warm where the light touched. As the sun tracked across the sky, the pools and their warmth receded.

Councilors came and went. Courtiers scurried. And glimpses of a beast were seen in the passages of the Dark Hall. Here and there a shadow. A notion of movement. Occasionally a flash of red and black would break through the shafts only to disappear behind doors few could open. Raken's passing left a wake of dancing motes and whispers in the fading light.

"What is Ashen playing at?"

"...must think us fools."

"What business does that monster..."

They were quiet whispers to be sure. Some mere thoughts. But the walls heard all. The Council chittered. The Brotherhood held its collective breath. Those with power afraid to lose it. Those without afraid it would never be theirs. But none challenged the Lion. And none challenged the Monster.

Colors changed as evening came. Darkness fell.

A young Equite looked up from a datapad bound for the Herald and noticed a door off the main hall he had never seen before. Outside it stood soldiers whose uniforms were not that of the Army of the Iron Throne. They looked oddly at ease given the effect the Dark Hall and its residents normally had on the Force-deaf. There was something different about them.

They watched Kazmir watch them. It was as if they knew something he didn't. What it was he couldn't discern. A gentle push towards their minds revealed nothing.

Odd.

More soldiers came and went through the door. Some carried equipment. All looked busy. Almost as if they were preparing for something. But what? Surely they were simply installing the new Deputy Grand Master's things in his...office?

No.

Kazmir had heard of the Ironskin. Whatever was behind that door would be no idle chamber of papers. He was death wrapped in skin. The Elomin was no administrator.

What then?

The Templar knew better. He knew it in the way a child knows when she is wrong. The way a man knows when he has crossed a line he shouldn't have. But the Echani had once been Revan. Stood shoulder to shoulder with the Red Tower on Salas V. Under that banner much had been won. And much lost.

He approached the door, curious as to how Raken had gone from victor to exile to Shadowhand. Few had won so much to fall so far. And now to win it back again...what game did the beast play? Of course, it was no game to him. It was a step on a path. One not always linear. But one ever advancing. Kazmir imagined stones across an angry river. He tried to imagine Raken's motives, but the door was before him and had his attention now.

Thick iron bound heavy oaken planks of age and character. There was no handle. No keyhole. As he approached, the two soldiers who had been watching him positioned themselves in front and to one side of Kazmir.

The Obelisk was not familiar with the make of their weapons. Their armor was modified. Sharp spines protruded here and there for the purpose of he knew not what. The man directly in front of him was older, mid-40's. A tattoo of something tentacled showed just above the neckline of his armor. His eyes were silica and they smiled as Kamir made to speak.

"The door. What's behind it?" Natas asked authoritatively.

"Sorry, brother. You're in the wrong place," the tattooed man said curtly.

The Echani stiffened. To be directly challenged by a mundane was nearly unheard of. The Force again had little to say, but the brawler in Kazmir assessed the man and his partner astutely. Weight evenly distributed across the balls' of their feet. Hips sunk down into their centers of gravity. They were ready to do him harm. In several ways.

"Perhaps you misunderstand--"

"No, mate. It's you who don't understand," Tattoo said.

A whisper told Kazmir to look up.

Several meters above him, barely visible in the shadows, was a droid of a kind he had never seen before. It was upside-down, fixed in the space where the stone ceiling curved into the wall before him. It was as black as the shadows that ensconced it. Six--no--eight legs. And writhing tendrils that seemed to appear and disappear from different points along its segmented body. A long needle-like proboscis extended from its head.

It was watching him.

Kazmir looked back to the tattooed man, spoke conspiratorially, "He's in there. Isn't he? The Ironskin. He asked to see me."

The Echani waited for the effect of his push. The tattooed man's eyes remained as clear and lucid as mid-morning lakes. They smiled at him again. Kazmir thought of the blade at his waist. It was the briefest glimmer of intention, the slightest notion of thought...

Then he heard the sound of metal against stone and his world became pain.

The JK droid had released from its perch above and fallen directly atop him. Several hundred kilos of armor and claws crushed down on Kazmir's ribcage making every breath an act of survival. But the true pain came not from the weight, but from the meter-long proboscis driven through his shoulder into the cold stone beneath him. The Echani could not tell whether the pain was hot or cold. Dull or sharp. Numbness radiated outward from the strike as if cell by cell his body were going to sleep.

Or dying.

A small crowd had gathered. Magistrates. A few docents. No one notable. More of the Shadowhand's soldiers arrived. They formed a perimeter around the fallen Obelisk. Kazmir's eyes fluttered as he struggled to hold them open and make sense of what was happening to him. He felt as though he had not slept days. Years. His mouth was slack. Drool ran down from the corner of his mouth though he could not feel it.

He heard a sound like wood scraping stone. The door that had drawn his curiosity was opening before him. His feet seemed to raise into the air unbidden and pull him towards the portal's black maw. Men were holding his feet. Dragging him. Dragging him inside. He was being swallowed. Shadow fell over him. He disappeared.

Into the darkness beyond.

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<font color="#800517">ShadowHand Operatives Selected</font color=#800517></font> I am embarrassed. I expected four or five, at most, to offer up their help and I received something like 15 offers. I had people asking to help who already have important positions within the club. I had people asking to help who have incredible skills in one, or all, of the disciplines I inquired about. Very humbling. Really, really impressive showing.

So impressive I had to come up with a new plan to leverage all that talent.

In looking at all the quality applications, I knew I could simply throw people away because 13 years ago it was decided there were only two or three slots in the database for "official" titles. So what I've done is chosen the three candidates (one Praetor and two Magistartes) that best fit the team I'm looking to stand up. The other 12 or so of you who applied are going to be my mercenary talent pool.

I'm greedy like that. I'm not going to send people away who can and want to help because I have X number of pretend titles to hand out. There will come a point whenthe primary team members will be tasked out. We will still need work to be done. So, I'm keeping the rest of you on a list of operators I can draw on in those times. You still get the chance to work for the club, I still get the skills you have to offer, and the customer benefits all the way around. Winner-winner, chicken dinner.

Fictionally I'd like you guys to think of yourselves as contract operators of the ShadowHand. From time to time he will call on someone outside the collective. Men and women with skills as you all have demonstrated. You will be given an opportunity to show your stuff. And you will be rewarded. <font color="#000000">Get real. Way too easy. Try harder.</font color=#000000> Now, for the primary team:

<font size="2">Praetor to the ShadowHand - <font color="#911400">DA Macron Goura Sadow</font></font color=#911400> - Clan Naga Sadow</font>

After Horizons most of you should be familiar with Mac's work. He wrote most of the story with some help from Muzenstein. He stepped in when the club needed him and helped to deliver a really nice product. He's also been helping with the new Lightsaber Guide. Mostly I hired him due to his impressive Star Wars nerd-powers. Mac is one of these guys, like Sarin, who can tell you what color shorts Palpatine had on under his robe in Return of the Jedi.

<font size="2">Magistrate to the ShadowHand - <font color="#f600ff">DA Arion Aquillarum Solnatus</font></font color=#f600ff> - Clan Naga Sadow</font>

Code-master. You know, the magic numbers and symbols that make all this fly? I've worked with him before. What a lot of people might not know is Arion has a real passion for this material that transcends simply coding for us. He loves to write and asked for the opportunity to do more of it. Well here it is.

<font size="2">Magistrate to the ShadowHand - <font color="#0000ff">OT Graus Colvin</font></font color=#0000ff> - Clan Arcona</font>

Top-ten finisher in Horizons. Artist. Writer. Action-figure customizer. Wha? He makes these really neat and detailed custom action figures. DJB custom action figures, anyone? I hired him because he swore a blood-oath to make me a custom Raken figure. You swore! The truth is Graus is a really talented, down-to-earth guy. Some of you might know him from his days helping to run the Bounty Hunter's Guild. So Graus has some experience across a lot of different fields.

<font size="2">Magistrate to the ShadowHand - <font color="#f600ff">JH Malfrost Xeon</font></font color=#f600ff> - House Taldryan</font>

I wouldn't normally hire a future lawyer. (Jac, if you're reading this, avert your eyes!) But Malfrost has a really impressive grasp of government, politics, law, etc. Fictionally, he's a world-builder. Which is exactly what we do here. He's steeped in all the hard-core nerd disciplines like Pathfinder, D&D, d20, World of Darkness, etc., etc.

So, this is the team. Each member is possessed of various skills, experiences, and talents. When combined, much like Voltron, they come together to form one giant 200ft tall robot of ass-kicking destruction.

<font color="#575757">(Note to self: Not sure about the above reference. Nobody remembers Voltron. Maybe leave that out before posting report.)</font color=#575757></font>

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<font size="4"><font color="#800517">Ideas</font color=#800517></font> I get ideas all the time for things. I like to categorize them into ones that can be accomplished relatively quickly and easily, and ones that will take longer to produce. Here are some examples of both kinds with brief explanations. In no way do I promise any of them will see the light of day, but they are things I think would move the club forward and provide more products to our customers. They are all subordinate to the long list of other, more important, things the Dark Council is working on, but many of these I can bring to market myself or with minimal outside help.

<font color="#f3d900">Tangible Vendetta Rewards</font color=#f3d900> - Say you come in first place in a vendetta. You get all the normal fanfare, but how would a The Old Republic game card, choice of video game, Gentle Giants statue, etc., sound? Many of these could be digital rewards we'd email you. Others would be physical rewards and you'd need to provide a P.O. Box, etc., if you're willing, or just pick one of the digital prizes.

Let us know what you think.

<font color="#f3d900">Clan/House & Individual Vendetta Performance Recognition</font color=#f3d900> - What I propose is that somewhere on the main news page a portion of real-estate be permanently set aside to recognize the hard work that units and members put into their Vendetta efforts. A small banner or section of the sidebar could be devoted to simply naming the First Clan/House and the top individual placements.

This could be as simple as plain text, or it could be a small banner/Clan logo, etc. I feel this important because 365 days a year we celebrate the names of the Dark Council, the Consuls, etc., on the main page. Then finally, when a "regular" member has an opportunity to make an impact, little is visible to other members regarding his or her contribution. And again, this is especially true for those who perhaps placed sixth, seventh, or eighth. These members, likely, are our future first, second, and third-place winners. We need to encourage them.

This will most likely come to light on the new site.

Let us know what you think.

<font color="#f3d900">Quarterly DJB Graphic Novel</font color=#f3d900> - We all love comic books and graphic novels. It's a wonderful format that offers both story and art and is a very efficient way of telling our tale. What I want to see is the "realization" of our collective DJB story in a fictional and visual medium that goes beyond the occasional, and expensive, Vendetta comic.

I make these for myself all the time using a combination of 2D and 3D art programs. It's cheap, fast, and relatively easy to produce when compared to paying a commissioned artist. Here's an example of what I'm talking about. Some of you may even want to help with this kind of thing. I'm working on one right now for the next Vendetta to see if it's viable.

Let us know what you think.

<font color="#f3d900">Brotherhood Magazine</font color=#f3d900> - We had the Dark Voice once upon a time. It had issues and went away but I think the concept still has merit if executed properly. In Arcona I recently had a chance to work with the guys there on more of a Magazine/Literary and Artistic Journal. For the time being, it's an Arcona-only publication, but if it takes off, I'd like to convince them to offer it up Brotherhood-wide.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about. I created this format hoping it would lend a professional quality to the work that would get people reading. It's also portable. You can download a .pdf version. It's also designed to work on phones and tablets. Obviously this is super-rough and unfinished, but you get the idea. It's just a mock-up, but I think it has real possibilities.

ShadowCroN

<font color="#f3d900">Star Wars Galaxies Emulator</font color=#f3d900> - This is a personal favorite of mine and one of the longer-term ideas I have, but give this a look and tell me what you think.

You might have heard of this. This is a team of guys who for years have been reverse-engineering the code to the now classic Star Wars Galaxies so that anyone may run a custom server tailored to the version of SWG they most enjoyed. Combat upgrade era, Pre-Combat upgrade, etc. From there you will be able to further modify the game so that we could create a custom DB experience.

I think the way private servers will be able to be run will lend themselves very well here to giving us a more concrete medium members can use to "play" the "game" that the club is fast becoming. One more meta-game, but a very immersive one. A private SWG server would allow us to "realize" what members do on the club side of things in the game. This is something we don't currently have even with a platform like The Old Republic. Different timeline, we don't control anything, etc. But with the SWG Emulator, the sky would be the limit.

An example would be, say you just received a Ruby Scepter for services and actions typical of that award. Currently you can write about it in your fictions, use it in the ACC, etc. But you could also log into our private SWG server, load into a customized Antei (say Dantooine, etc., re-skinned), go to the Dark Hall, and receive your Scepter with the Dark Council and all your Clan/House-mates in attendance.

Then go to your residence and add it to your trophy case. Or use it in PVP or PVE to bolster your character's abilities, etc. It has stats, a model, a fictional description when examined, even stat bonuses when equipped. You get the idea.

Nearly everything in the club could be replicated in-game. Credits, ships, items, ranks, powers, property, etc. It could be tied into the Possessions System. Server capacity would be large enough to even invite other clubs or organizations to act as PVP competition. Imagine a light-side oriented club occupying some of the planets on the server. If not that, any NPC enemies we want to create. It's really a dungeon master's dream type of situation. Everything about the original game can eventually be tailored to support this level of immersion.

One of the great things is, even at initial launch it would be very doable. Yeah, the planet still looks like Tattooine, or what have you, but we name it Antei. Things like custom textures, models, etc., can come over time. The 1.0 release will come with scriptable dungeon master tools though for admins to run their server the way they want. The mod community will crank up shortly after this and there is already movement on this front.

So initially your Ruby Scepter might look like a Stun Baton in game, but it could at least have the item description we want as well as any modifiers. Months and years down the road, the in-game environment becomes more and more tailored to our specific corner of the Star Wars universe. Some work to get there? Yes. Nothing new for us. Just keep it all in mind as to where we can take things.

Personally, whether anyone likes this idea or not, I will be running a private server when the time comes and experimenting with all the above.

If you're not familiar with this project, check it out here:

SWG Emulator

Let us know what you think.

<font color="#f3d900">Clan/House Global Products</font color=#f3d900> - The magazine thing also gave me the idea that if other units are out there doing something unique and interesting, let's get it out where everyone can enjoy it. What I'd like to do at some point is work with the Consuls and Quaestors to see what kinds of products their units could bring to market for the entire club to enjoy.

Maybe your Clan or House is particularly loaded with great writers. Is there some literary product you could provide to the entire club? A writer's workshop? A Poetry slam on IRC? You get the idea. Perhaps you have a bunch of quality artists on-hand? Maybe they could provide some custom character images to the other members of the club?

Something along these lines. Something that involves everyone that benefits everyone.

Let us know what you think.

<font color="#f3d900">Influence Points</font color=#f3d900> - Perhaps not the exact name it'll have, but close. This came from a super-secret IRC channel that few know exists. Those who do know of it know that rarely does anything meaningful happen in it. Except this one time. Influence Points came out of a random discussion amongst some key leaders regarding things other than just Armed Forces Points to award Clans and Houses with for Vendettas.

It was reasoned out that it could be interesting to award a separate alottment of points that could be used to "buy" influence in official fiction, plots, canon, etc. Example: House Odan-Urr wins the next Vendetta and earns 500 Influence Points separate from whatever is awarded for Armed Forces. Thresholds could be set and certain amounts of points could "buy" features of their House in the next Great Jedi War. The next fictional Plot Update. The next major piece of Brotherhood Canon. Maybe it's something as simple as naming a new Dark Council fleet vessel after a member of a Clan or House. Maybe it's as simple as a character-feature in an upcoming story. It could be a lot of things really.

Let us know what you think.

END IDEAS

So, give me some feedback. I see a lot said on IRC about what we "should" do with certain things. I don't see any emails with these ideas though. I don't see any proposals for "how" to do what you think we should. Let's change that. Leave comments as to which idea(s) you like the best, if any. Leave comments with a brief suggestion of what you'd like to see/think we should do that we're currently not doing. Follow any of your comments up with an email to me and Muzenstein and the relevant subject matter experts (Master-at-Arms, Headmaster, etc.) and let's leverage all the great creative minds out there.

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<font size="4"><font color="#800517">Armed Forces Refit Complete</font color=#800517></font> I intend to have either a major or minor work-item done and accounted for in every report. This way you - the customer - know that everytime you see the giant red logo go up on the news page, something got done. There might be a time when this isn't the case, but this is my goal. Work. Not talk. Results. No bullshit.

<font color="#534a01">The December 2012 Armed Forces Refit is done.</font color=#534a01></font>

Muz wanted to give every Clan and House the opportunity to adjust their forces. The last opportunity was roughly two years ago. This was a major pain. I had to twist arms, there was much screaming and stamping of feet, many lineages were insulted and even more oaths sworn. Wait. Sorry. That was the 2007 Refit. The 2012 Refit was an absolute joy compared to the one five years ago.

We went to work on this and through some really high-quality teamwork with the Consuls and Quaestors, we got it done. Muz and I heard their concerns and issues with how we had been handling things in the past. We addressed these issues and gave our customers not only the product they needed, but the one they wanted.

Some of the things we were able to do were:

<font color="#534a01">Nebula-class Star Destroyer Reintroduced</font color=#534a01> - It had been dropped at one point and Sarin pointed out we should bring it back. So we did and I know it made at least one House very happy.

<font color="#534a01">Completely Custom Refit</font color=#534a01> - In the past we've sometimes stumbled when dealing with this stuff. We have offered X at times and Y at others. This time we wanted to make every option available to your Consuls and Quaestors so that you guys have the greatest opportunity for the most fun. So partial and full refits were offered with both Fleet and Ground Forces. We also did away with the need to spend ALL your points everytime following a Vendetta. This way, the smaller units out there can save towards something they can actually use.

You are also now allowed to keep your remainder points. That spare 20 or 30 points, or whatever remainder you had from the last Vendetta, gets tracked and put in an account so the next time you're able to purchase, you can use those points. Why lose them? They are yours. You guys earned them. Trade-ins also now only suffer a 10% depreciation cost. In 2007 a trade-in took a 33% hit! As you can see, you would quickly loose your ass in trying to undo the mistakes of your predecessors. This was punitive and we couldn't see any reason to keep it.

<font color="#534a01">Fully Automated Spreadsheet</font color=#534a01> - Yeah. No more math. This sheet now allows you to plug in all your available forces, points earned in vendetta, as well as remainder points. Then you just have to choose what you want to buy and trade-in, etc. Everything is calculate automatically for you. Way easier than figuring half of it by hand. For this we all need to thank Yacks, Yacks, and Yacks.

He wasn't asked. He just saw what needed to be done and did it. This is what shit-hot operators do. They don't complain, they don't sniff around for reward, they see a job and they do it. Period. It is exactly this kind of thing, this attitude, I want to see more of. This is what gets things done. Moves us forward. This will get us where we want to go. Anything less and you are wasting oxygen.

<font color="#534a01">Updated Descriptions and Improved Formatting</font color=#534a01> - We went through and tried to clean this thing up both visually and functionally. We re-did the links to Wookieepedia that describe the items for sale, added instructions to the sheets themselves for easier use, and basically just tried to make it more user-friendly.

If you'd like a copy of this new spreadsheet, let me know. Maybe you want to play around with it, or maybe you have some ideas to make it better.

So yeah. This was a bit of work on everyone's part. Your Consuls and Quaestors had to not only try to make the best strategic decisions they could with regard to their Armed Forces, they also had to put up with several drafts of the new spreadsheet as well as some pretty specific requests from me to keep it all straight. But we did the heavy lifting to make what you guys needed happen. More work for us sure, but more benefit for our members. Too easy. This is how things get done, folks. Objectives are identified, solutions are plotted, resources allocated, expectations set. Task - Condition - Standard.

When these things are done, victory is achieved.

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<font size="4"><font color="#800517">Proven Operators</font color=#800517></font> I'd like to recognize two killers here with my appreciation and a little hardware. Note: Operators do not want or ask for medals...but they get them anyway.

<font size="2"><font color="#0000ff">OPM Wuntila Zratian Entar Arconae</font color=#0000ff> - Arcona (Pare that name down a bit, brother, good lord.)</font></font>

<font color="#9f9f9f">Dark Cross</font color=#9f9f9f></font>

Sam did a great job working with me during the Armed Forces Refit. All the various things I asked for were delivered to me on time and on target. Through all the various iterations of the new spreadsheet (which required some Clans & Houses to fill out their sheets 2 or 3 times) Sam was first each and every time in getting me what I needed to get the process done and over with. Any of you leaders out there well-know what it's like to wait on things promised from the people you're working with. You can't move until they do and it can be frustrating. So I want everyone to see that doing your job well will be recognized and appreciated. Don't get me wrong, everyone did a great job. But Sam led the way. Maybe next time one of the other Consuls or Quaestors will have something to say about that?

<font size="2"><font color="#911400">DJM Keirdagh Taldrya Cantor</font color=#911400> - Taldrya</font></font>

<font color="#bc3e07">Steel Cross</font color=#bc3e07></font>

As I mentioned above, Yacks made things happen without being asked. At one point, I had actually told him not to do it as it entailed a lot of work. But he did it anyway. This is what I'm talking about. The really great thing was that his motivation inspired me to get off my ass and do what I could to improve the spreadsheet. This is how this kind of stuff works. Your effort inspires someone else to up their game and a better product is delivered as a result. This spreadsheet isn't used often, but it is important. And I'm betting after the next Great Jedi War or Rite of Supremacy, things will go a lot smoother for Yacks' efforts on this.

It's not much, but I will reward people when they bust their ass for me. Comment, email, congratulate these two gentlemen for actively making your experience here a better one.

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<font size="4"><font color="#800517">Mad Men</font color=#800517></font> Seen this show? It's good. My point in bringing it up here though is that we need to do what they do: We need to sell products. How do products get sold? Advertising. I want to find the "art" in this. If you watch the main character of the show, Don Draper, this is what he does. He finds the art. When the client sees the art, the advertising transcends from copy to prose. More importantly, the product transcends from want to necessity. This is where we need to get to. Social media venues have practically become necessities. Not wants. People need to interact. People need to see what their friends are up to. People need to escape. Social media offers this. We offer this.

But we need to advertise.

When you log into social media sites, when you click on apps that connect you to friends, when you turn on your computer, when you check your email, what do you often see? You see those products keeping you aware of what they're doing. What they're offering you, the customer. You get little announcements that inform you of a new feature. You get a little banner that lets you know there's a new format, layout, customization, etc., option available. You, the customer, are being informed. You're also getting reminders of features you already have but may not yet have used or tried.

This is key.

How many of you have never tried the Antei Combat Center? A run-on? The club wiki? IRC? Forums? A Vendetta? Uploaded an avatar to your dossier? Asked for a custom lightsaber? Robe? Warbanner? Have you ever used the customized layout feature on the site? Don't know what that is? Is there something else listed here you haven't tried yet or weren't aware of? Chances are, for a few of you, that's the case. But you're already a member. You should know these things, right? For many of them, unless someone tells you or you explore a great deal, you might not ever know of them.. Now imagine you're not a member here for the last three years. Now imagine you're a potential customer who just searched, "Dark Jedi" an landed on our main site.

See what I'm saying?

How does he know what we have to offer? The club is immense and it is complex. It is not particularly user-friendly. And worst of all, we don't even advertise what we have available.

"Oh, okay, Raken, what do you want to do? Banner exchanges? Pay for advertising?"

No. Not yet anyway.

What I'd like to do is begin advertising what we offer the customer where it makes the most sense. Right on our own sites. I've discussed this with James (Lord of the Code) for inclusion on the new site. Something simple we can start with is a little banner (like the ones that go up when a report is posted) on the main news page. Rather than advertise a report, we'd have additional banners that rotate through listing what services we offer.

Example: Antei Combat Center. "Do you like to write? Enjoy fast-paced combat-driven action? Want to see how you stack up to some of the best writers in the club? Then come try the ACC."

A little text, a nice image, a clickable link. As simple as that. Possibly we give one of those new members who is looking around trying to figure out what he likes a direction. A passion maybe, as the ACC is for some. Possibly we rope in that potential customer who just searched his way over to us. Maybe now instead of clicking-away in confusion, he decides to stay and spend some of his hard-earned "cash."

Taking this concept further, a link to the ACC site isn't good enough. Currently, for example, the ACC isn't so hot at explaining "what" it is to someone with little to no prior knowledge. It will tell you "how" to use it, in great and painful detail, but not "what" exactly it is. The ACC wiki article isn't much better. The Shadow Academy suffers from this as well. So do a lot of our other portals. These things are written from a perspective that takes for granted you know what it is you're looking at. We can't afford to take that for granted. We need to make sure when a customer, current or potential, comes across one of our products he knows exactly what it is, what it offers, and how he can get it.

So these advertising links will likely lead to new or adapted wiki articles explaining things from a "real-world" perspective. The sites themselves as well will need to offer a clearer up-front description of what it is the customer is looking at. When I first found the club online, I landed on an ACC battle. I had no idea what exactly it was I was looking at. I could tell it was involved. Star Wars-oriented. I casually passed through, wasn't immediately engaged, and moved on with my search. It was six months before I found the club again.

So this is my point. We're going to look at advertising what we offer on our own site. We're going to clarify for customers what it is they're getting with their membership.

So for you Dark Councilor's out there: Look at the websites and pages in your charge. Do they do what what I've illustrated here? Do they help retain current customers and lure in new ones? The answer at this point is, No. I want you to look at what you have and tailor it to this end. Work with me. Work with James. Let's get what we have out there for people to see.

For you Consuls and Quaestors out there: Do the same. Many of you have secondary and tertiary websites devoted to your Clans and Houses out on the web. These are like Exit Signs on the highway for Food, Gas, Rest. Take a look at what you have with an eye towards what I've explained above. Your satellite sites are spokes leading back to the hub. Let's use them.

I'll be emailing the Dark Council list with more on this concept shortly.

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<font size="4"><font color="#800517">Headmaster, Voice, and the Concept of Teamwork</font color=#800517></font> Voice and Headmaster have been chosen. Sarin (Darth Pervus) and Windos (His Excellency) are already at work with their teams making things happen. Teams? Yeah. As Muz mentioned in his announcement, and as I mentioned above, we're not throwing away talent for lack of pretend titles. When looking at all the quality offers of help we got, Muz and I decided to choose the best three applicants for Voice and Headmaster and form them into teams. We want results. So putting the best three studs we had on each team is what will get us those results.

We approached all six men with this idea. They liked it and readily agreed. Now they are all at work. For you. No need to waste time with applications for P:HM, M:Voice, etc. These slots have been filled. Sandbags are being filled. Stones cut and moved into place. Construction has begun.

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<font size="4"><font color="#800517">The Way Forward</font color=#800517></font> What's coming next is a different type of Vendetta. I don't want to give too much away. I'm sure Muz wants to leak more of this as we draw near. I think it will be a nice change of pace though. It's something I'd like to see more of in the future. One way or another, we're certainly find out what you all think. If it's good, we'll do more. If it's not, well, at least we know what "not" to do next time. Either way...

Get excited.

It's great. It's hard work. It's magic.

Stick around and see what happens.

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<font size="4"><font color="#800517">Next Time on the New Hit Series, ShadowHand...</font color=#800517></font> The (Lost) Art of Proposals. We got away from this somewhere back there a few years ago. Once upon a time, people would get ideas. They would come to the GM, DGM, etc., and offer up an idea of what it was they were thinking. If it was agreed that it was indeed a good idea, if it served the customer and the club, then a proposal would be called for and drafted up by the idea man. Everything from Clan-owned planets and artifacts to new systems of play were introduced and explained in a proposal. Next week I'll have some thoughts on this, possibly with the collaboration of some old and crusty members who remember this too.

Also next time...

Tarax on the Dark Council?

My resignation! For serious this time.

Stay tuned.

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See you out there,

• R</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font>