Master Chambers Misahide Castle Kane'ohe Region, Kyataru

Shikyo sat in the cushioned throne before the fireplace, head buried into his hands as he stared deep into the fireplace that danced before him. He didn't focus on the flames nor care anything for the gentle warmth they bestowed upon him. He received the Dark Lord's will and his mind began to race at the thought. Glory and the potential for ascension ran through the Kyataran's mind as he began to imagine himself on the battlefields across various Sith worlds he had long read about yet never explored. The Elder had a lot of difficulty containing his excitement.

Slender fingers found their way between Kyataran silk and the muscles underneath it as the arms that accompanied them wrapped around the Herald's shoulders. Elysia rested her head beside that of her husband's as she closed her eyes and smiled.

"Something has you tense, yaunin. What did your brother have to say?"

Placing his hand over the Kiffar's, Shikyo grinned slightly as he turned his head towards the young woman's.

"We're re-taking our dominion, darling. It's time for us to reclaim our place in the galaxy."

Armory Dark Vaults Antei

Ekeia looked over the newly acquired weapons sitting in their respective lockers, impressed by the vast amounts of weaponry she had obtained along with her new colleagues. Kazmir and Arch sat on a couple of plastisteel crates, nonchalantly fiddling with their respective lightsabers as they waited for the Herald to arrive. Pneumatic hisses signaled the arrival of the Dark Councilor, followed by the loud thud of hard soles on the concrete. The Equites turned their attention to the Keibatsu and their jaws dropped slightly in astonishment.

Adorn in the darkest onyx and rich scarlet colored armor and cloth, Shikyo brought his hands to the hilts holstered on his belt and let them rest there, standing tall before his staff members. The armor was a combination from newly designed Guardsmen armor and those once worn by ARC troopers of the Old Republic. It provided functionality, protection, and was designed to signify the position of the man wearing it. Looking over her boss' attire, the Hapan woman cleared her throat and smirked slightly.

"So, what's the new mission, Master?"

The Kyataran returned the gesture with his own wolfish grin,

"Tie up your loose ends and return to your Houses. It's time to prepare for war."

---

This report is going to be a bit of a long one. Prepare yourselves -- there's a lot of good news in this report.

First and foremost, I must apologize for my spotty appearances and lack of report for quite some time. With holidays, transitions at work, and moving to a new place, things have been a little more than hectic than usual on my end. To this degree, I apologize. To make up for my negligence, here is the good news I have for everyone.

First off, I would like to thank everyone for their submissions for the Pre-Crusade competition: Feel My Pain. Had some “below-the-belt" images, some entertaining images, and some brutal images. Here are the results for the competition:

1st Place: Revak Kur of Odan-Urr for creating a Jar Jar target. 2nd Place: Montresor of Arcona with his unbiased yet “below-the-belt" target 3rd Place: Kuro Kogarasu of Plagueis for his hand drawn graphic detail of a beheaded Stormtrooper

I would like to thank the following participants for their entries:

Rath Draken of Naga Sadow Xantros of Scholae Palatinae Atra Ventus of Naga Sadow Roxas Buurenaar of Naga Sadow Ashura Isradia of Naga Sadow Nikola Valtiere of Arcona Valkas Palpatine of Scholae Palatinae Jaek Kaeth of Arcona

Awards are on their way!

Secondly, I have put off a lot for too long and with this Dark Crusade, it is time for the Herald's Office to follow in the spirit of this move and take steps towards completing grand projects. What does that mean? Military-style ribbons for the upcoming campaign, the release of the Face (Headshot) Selector, progress in regards to Possessions, and a new perk for those who qualify for it.

I am currently working on designs for the upcoming campaigns that are unique to each conquest. That way, each person will have their own set of ribbons according to their contributions to the crusade. I will discuss the potential of showing you all teasers of the ribbon upon the start of each conquest with the rest of the Dark Council to get feedback and motivation from the general population. More on that later.

For the Face Selector project, we are working on one of the harder aspects of this project: humans and near humans. This is difficult as even the slightest issue will be noticed by anyone. Muz and I are making sure that we give you quality images with little mistakes, hence our delay on this project. However, my goal is to complete this as a "starter kit" this year with basic images that we will expand upon for Herald Style Hanukkah. Think of those images as "booster packs".

Lastly, I have tasked Ekeia with a project to provide more images to our Wiki pages. She will be heading this project, with assistance from the rest of the Herald's Staff. This is a HUGE project as we have so many pages that could use some images to really put a shine on the entire Wiki. This will not include designing custom character images. This is for units, unit-specific items, events in the DB, etc. I look forward to seeing the progress we make on this.

Now, let's move on to the sexiness!

Archangel Locke Sonjie

Completed by Ekeia:

Rayne Malfrost Xeon Alaris Jinn di Plagia Jaek Kaeth Morotheri Mithfaron Blarex Teylas Ramar

Completed by Archangel:

Amagon Evoroth Stigaryl Mirus Cavataio

Troutrooper

Nero Inferni of Taldryan had a number of questions to ask that I feel would be appropriate for all.

Are all the Robes pre-made? If so is it possible for anyone to recommend a new robe.

Yes. All the robes, with the exception of the custom ones, are pre-rendered and placed into the Robe Construction Tool. Anyone can recommend a new robe for the selector however most designs for the selector are not done until either the anniversary of my appointment or during Herald Style Hanukkah.

Why are there other weapons, like blasters, in the Custom Lightsaber Creator, but no image for them?

There are no other weapons in the "Custom Lightsaber" request form but there are blasters available to Journeymen who are not able to wield a lightsaber just yet. We do this because it at least gives them something to place on their dossiers until they are able to wield a lightsaber. Others have asked why we don't do this for anyone with the skills for a specific weapon. My answer to that -- well, that's what Possessions is for. ;)

Will there be martial weapons in the Custom Lightsaber Creator tool, or will there just be Lightsabers and Blasters?

Again, there are no options for other weapons in the "Custom Lightsaber" request form. Just lightsabers. However, all other weapons will be available when Possessions is released. We have a wide variety that will be available and there may be the option of having a custom weapon available on your dossier. This will be up to the mercy of the Seneschal, the Deputy Grand Master, and the Grand Master. I'm just the graphics monkey.

If you have any questions about anything, please feel free to send me an email or find me on IRC.

Robes: 270 Lightsabers: 1,145 Warbanners: 525 Miscellaneous: 194

-DA Shikyo Sasuke Keibatsu Herald of the Dark Jedi Brotherhood Daimyo of the Keibatsu Bloodline