Late 36 ABY
The Anchorage - Edge of the Stygian Caldera

Eiko learned to stop counting the recruits that stood in line. It didn't matter. As the shuttle rose from the shambles of the hangar, so too did the last opportunity for these recruits -- young and idealistic, old and tired of wandering, all hungry for something.

"Before we were led into space, I would have greeted you in the snows of Morroth. You would have run a kilometer along the ice, left to die in the wild or shot by guards if you failed. But there is no ice here." Eiko paced slowly, reciting the same lines that he'd crafted months ago. His voice, filtered through the wires and speakers of his mask, offered no warmth.

"There is no ice," he repeated lazily. "So, instead, I will give an order to you. You will obey this order -- even if it kills you. If you do not obey, you are of no use to Plagueis. Now, kneel."

The line dropped unevenly, like grasses shaken by the wind. From behind, blaster fire caught the few recruits who faltered. Their bodies slumped forward, careening into their peers as they lost consciousness. As the remainder blinked in panic, perhaps fighting the nausea that climbed up their throats, Eiko stepped out of the way as the limp bodies were hauled away.

"I will be your master until you can prove yourself to one of your brothers," Eiko gestured to the upper walkway of the hangar where a loose assembly of Equites had gathered to watch, "or until your death. And through you, I will make Plagueis strong."

It's February. Love is in the air -- or is that the smell of Nfolgai burning?

Yeah, that's definitely Nfolgai burning. I love the smell of orbital strikes in the morning. You ready to see the kind of havoc you've been wreaking on my inbox this past month?

I bet you are.

Activity Report

Incoming and Outgoing

Anatol Dajen (Rogue) has left us, citing a lack of free time. We look forward to when you can come back, buddy!

Harst Caman (New), Psylis (New), Chewaky (Rogue) and Bredic (New) have all joined or re-joined Plagueis!

Award Lists

Promotions

Harst Caman: Novice
Psylis: Novice
Chewaky: Novice
Shadowkind: Guardian
Nite Dawn: Dark Jedi Knight
Nariah Jadon: Dark Jedi Knight
Eiko: Obelisk Prelate (EQ2)
Alaris Jinn di Plagia: Obelisk Primarch (EQ4)#### Competition Awards

Clusters of Fire: 753 in January, 123 in February (so far)
Alaris Jinn di Plagia (90), Celevon Edraven (14), Khan "Imperius" Kunar (43), Nite Dawn (72), Solus Gar (242), Teylas Ramar (195), Xathia Edraven Erinos (10)
Clusters of Ice: 49
Alaris Jinn di Plagia (3), Arden Karn (3), Celevon Edraven (1), Eiko (3), Evoroth Stigaryl (1), Gaius Julius Caesar (1), Kant Lavar (2), Kuro Kogarasu (4), Ronovi Tavisaen (6), Silent (4), Solus Gar (3), Telum Vas Umbra (1), Teylas Ramar (1), Tra'an Reith (6), Vessicant (7), Xathia Edraven Erinos (3)

Legions of the Scholar:
Arden Karn, Vessicant (January 24 to 30)

Novae:
Bronze: Alaris Jinn di Plagia, Eiko, Ronvoi Tavisaen, Solus Gar, Teylas Ramar, Tra'an Reith

Crescents:
Amethyst: Kuro Kogarasu
Emerald: Solus Gar, Alaris Jinn di Plagia
Topaz: Nite Dawn, Evoroth Stigaryl
Quartz: Evoroth Stigaryl, Solus Gar

Scroll of Indoctrination: Teylas Ramar
Scroll of Foundation: Solus Gar
Pendant of Blood: Solus Gar

Merit and Sacramental Awards

Dark Crosses:Teylas Ramar, Vessicant, Ronovi Tavisaen

Shadow Academy

Classes Passed: Shadowkind (3), Nariah Jadon (2), Alaris Jinn di Plagia (1), Arden Karn (1), Eiko (2)

Degrees Earned:
James Roberts-Brannigan: Dark Maven: Leadership
Shadowkind: Dark Maven: Philosophy
Nariah Jadon: Dark Maven: Philosophy
Eiko: Dark Maven: Philosophy

Rollmaster Report

Late 36 ABY
The Anchorage - Edge of the Stygian Caldera

The generations had been remarkably kind to the Anchorage, leaving it forgotten and adrift on the edge of old Sith space. Still, repairs had to be made. The work fell under the Overseer's purview, along with the slaves who would live and die under his cold-steel gaze.

Eiko planted his feet on top of a rubble pile, keeping a small crowd of apprentices and droids at his sides.

"Depending on the progress that's made in the rest of the station, this will be our training ground once it's cleared," Eiko noted dryly to his followers. The slaves held their gaze on the work ahead of them. There would be no way to know whether it was the fear of the shock collars or the threat of the Overseer's droid-like voice that pinned them in place, but it kept them in their places. Dirty, broken... and these were the strong ones who'd survived the Saraask'ar raiders and their brutal conditioning.

He started down the pile, feet settling on the rough duracrete boulders as he picked his way back to the floor of the hangar. The large pieces would have to be broken up by laborers wielding crude picks, working in teams under the supervision of the sycophantic Willing. Those who'd bent their knees to the Plagueians early, welcoming the scouring instead of resisting it, knelt again as the Overseer led the way back through the rough terrain.

"You are blessed," he spoke absently to his students as he passed by the slaves, "that you were born with a stronger spark of the Force than these creatures."

The words sounded raw in his ears. They flowed too easily, but Eiko somehow stomached them, even as they felt cruel and jagged as they left his annunciator.

Competition Spotlight

The end of the first round of the Dark Crusade is tonight -- so if you haven't submitted your work, this is the time to do so. Stop reading now and submit. We've already told you why simply getting submissions into the pile is worth your time -- if you've forgotten, it's because participation will trump placement when it comes time to tally the scores. Showing up is more effective than winning! Have fun with it, and make sure you get in all your entries before midnight EST.

These next few weeks are a pause on the Crusade, leaving us to run some competitions as a unit.

If you're looking for a low-impact activity that will still net you those competitions you're looking for (promotion requirements!), we have trivia designed by Shadowkind available this week. After him, we have another round set up by Garloaf. Four Legions of the Scholar are up for grabs in these two weeks. Make your entries count.

Tra'an is running a fiction competition focused on our new home -- the Anchorage -- and the powerful Dark Side nexus that it contains. It's already seeped into me (report fiction!). How will it affect you? Look for that to come not too long after Dark Crusade finishes tonight.

Don't see a competition that really interests you? Make it yourself! If you have an idea for a competition, email the Summit and we'll do our best to work it in.

Activity Spotlight

Trivia!

With the break between phases of Dark Crusade coming quickly, we're going to be running a few weeks of trivia. Trivia is a quick, easy way to snag the competitions you'll need to get to Dark Jedi Knight. So, how are you supposed to handle these types of events?

Who wins trivia? The quick and the accurate.

Trivia is usually drawn from one of two sources: the DJBWiki or Wookieepedia. Sometimes trivia can also be drawn out of news items from the front page or unit reports, but that's all up to the person who makes the event.

How do you give yourself an edge? Type quickly and search well, because it's incredibly unlikely that you'll know the answers off the top of your head. Search keywords from the question. Search for related events, terms, and make friends with the CTRL+F shortcut that exists in most all Internet browsers. CTRL+F is "Find," which will let you surf through long Wiki articles with ease. It will highlight every place on that page where your search term will appear. If I search "Int", for instance, Find will highlight every word that starts with those letters: integer, Interdictor, interim, intergalactic, etc. As long as you can get to the right page, you can make short work of finding the answer with CTRL+F.

Know your way around the wiki. At the bottom of most pages are categories that you can click and will open a new page with all the individual wiki pages that are in the same category. Need to find the Plagueian flagship? Head to Category:Plagueis OOB and start looking through the list of pages.

The temptation with trivia is to rush. Rushing (to the point where you miss questions) actually cripples your ability to be competitive. If you're the first entry but you only got 75% of the questions correct, then you're going to lose out on the Legion of the Scholar as soon as someone gets a 76%, even if they're slower than you. Take enough time that you can check your answers efficiently.

Given that, though, don't dawdle. If you're the third 100%, then you're also unable to get the award. Move through the questions as quickly as you can without missing them. Using tips like CTRL+F and making sure you make the most of your searches will help you here. You can find the correct answers and find them faster

If you find better ways to get through trivia, go ahead and add it to the comments or reply to the Google Group's thread.

The Plagueian Path

I continue to get questions about being a master -- actually, I see more side-long comments about how hard it is to find a student in our House. With several new Knights stepping into the mix, the situation is more lopsided than it was a month ago.

Go onto the roster. Look at all the folks who are below the rank of DJK.

Only two of those people have masters.

Strike up conversation with the ones who are don't have masters. Just talk to them. You don't have to commit to anything right now. My expectation of you as a master will be regular communication via email, IRC, Skype, or even just catching up with them in TOR if they're not hanging around. Why not start your relationship with a student on the right foot?

I've seen at least a few students over the past few years who have declined having a master as result of masters who were simply paired by Summit, ignoring any relationship between the two. Specifically, they declined to have another master when their earlier masters were self-interested, uncommunicative, or simply absent.

In an ideal world (which is really what I'd like to create), you'd be interested in the people who are joining Plagueis -- not just in having a student, but in developing a friendship and showing to these new people why you like hanging around here. On that note, I won't just give away students -- they're people, just like you. You wouldn't want me treating you like a resource either.

Question Time

"I'd like a leadership position. What can I do to get that opportunity?" - Several People Reclan. I hate to throw this out as an answer, because I would like for everyone to have a shot at leading something.

When I talked to Tra'an about this, he brought up the two things that he looks for in potential leaders: dedication and consistency. They might look like the same thing, but they're two separate ideas. Dedication is about showing up day in and day out. Consistency is about showing the same level of work regularly. And that's all fine and good, but how can you show those two things without having a leadership position of your own?

"Consistent work on participating in the Dark Crusade, with quality entries, stepping up to lead wiki teams, working in rotation with others so that everyone gets a chance that wants one, etc. These are the traits that will figure in towards selection of the new leaders once we get reclanned." That's what Tra'an said. Those same things that will count towards selecting leaders also help us get reclanned. And those things that help us get reclanned also help you.

Solus said something very similar: "There are only so many leadership positions, and right now they're all full. The thing that you can do in order to increase your opportunities in this area (aside from just waiting for somebody else to step down) is to bust tail towards the goal of getting us clanned. Not only would the efforts in those areas show the Summit that you're ready to step up and try to give back to the Club, but it would also directly lead to there being more of these leadership opportunties, since there will be more positions to fill."

"Will there be future graphics opportunities geared towards our House, and, in the future, Clans? Will members be given Summit-driven tasks of an artistic nature, to contribute to Plagueis in the arenas they are most skilled?" - Shadowkind From Solus: "We always aim to give people tasks that are in their wheelhouse. If there's graphics that need doing, we're sure to farm that out when we can."

Yes, there will be graphics opportunities. I'm not prone to just throw jobs at people, so please come up to the Summit and ask if you can help. I know that sounds like a cop-out, but it prevents a lot of the struggle that can come from giving people tasks that they don't want. Start the conversation by mentioning things that you enjoy doing (graphics, wiki writing, proofreading, greeting new members, etc.). That gives us a way to get you plugged into opportunities that suit you.

The Summit-assigned task shouldn't be the only time you work on a project in this House. In fact, the intent of those Journeymen requirements should be to introduce you to how you can be a part of the Brotherhood. So, maybe that Summit task is meant to introduce you to handling projects. But, unlike the Summit task many of you achieved to earn DJK, the rest of the tasks aren't forced on you. You have to ask for them. You have to want to give back to the House.

"Eiko, there are several things that have begun to be undertaken to promote the future of Plagueis. One of these things is the possible Clanning. In the new system two new houses will gain status. A house needs an RM. Therefore there would be two spots to fill. Which would you take? The one in House Sneaky or House Grunt-and-Moan?" - Telum Vas Umbra This is all distant, hopeful thinking, honestly -- and how distant depends entirely on your motivation to help get Plagueis back to being a Clan. But we've already set our sights on it, so it's worth discussing.

Tra'an already spoke up in the email thread about this, but I thought it was important enough to reiterate. I also want to show that we've been thinking about this The plan, as it stands now, is to have one person serving as the Rollmaster for both a future House Karness Muur and a future House Ajunta Pall. This is a model that's being used in both of the current Clans -- Methyas is Rollmaster for both of Naga Sadow's Houses, and Andrelious serves both House Galeres and Qel-Droma in Arcona. And we think it's the best way to go. It provides a unified solution for both Houses, ensures that everyone is welcomed to Plagueis in a consistent way, and prevents people from being skipped over or double-tagged by twin RMs.

Perhaps it's not a permanent choice, but as Tra'an, Solus, and I have been talking, it's the choice that we intend to make at the start and then examine periodically as we continue forward.

It'd be far better, though, to put our energy towards activity which pays dividends towards reclanning than just discussing what we'll do on that day -- so, keep going!

"Can I have a million dollars?" - Kant Lavar Only when I have a million to spare.

From Tra'an: "When you win the lottery, you can give me everything but the million you need, since apparently you don't need the rest."

Closing

I'm not letting you guys forget about your resolutions so easily. If your resolution has been invalidated by powers outside your control (Plagueis Raid Group folks), then you should come up with something else you'd like to achieve and email it to me. You deserve a massive accomplishment this year -- and you even can pick what that accomplishment is!

If you're not on the list, it's actually not too late to commit to a resolution! Yes, it's February. But I'm not concerned about when you make a resolution. I'm concerned about you completing your resolution and looking back at 2013 as a year when you accomplished something meaningful.

Arden: Maintain activity, recruit more people, and stay sharp in the ACC
Eiko: Communicate effectively and frequently.
Evoroth: Explore the ACC, branch outside of SWTOR.
Gaius: Make a difference in the Brotherhood.
Silent: Get laid.
Solus: <del>Plagueis Raid Group</del>, supporting the Summit.
Telum: Rewritten history and purpose.
Teylas: <del>Plagueis Raid Group</del>.
Tra'an: Present fascinating fiction, create a supportive environment, and expanding and embracing open communication.
Vessicant: Challenge every Journeyman in the ACC for training
Xathia: Help people get into ACC, continue preexisting awesomeness.

And with that out of the way, here's...

What the Rollmaster's Thinking About

Why am I here? It's one of the biggest questions that drives every one of us -- whether we realize it or not. If you don't have a reason to be here, then you're probably not going to hang around for very long. But just because you're here doesn't mean you're here for the same reasons. Rewards, community, interest in shared subject matter, recognition, power, etc. are all valid motivations for sticking around the Brotherhood.

So, why am I here?

A few nights ago, I was thinking about motivation -- I was finishing up the Obelisk and Sith Core exams so that I could have the MVPH degree that I've been urging Journeymen to achieve. And as I was thinking about motivation, I started thinking about my own motivation, both in character and out of character.

Specifically: Why did the fiction I put together for this report feel so strange?

The punchline is this: I am absolutely here because of the community. I enjoy writing, and I like Star Wars quite a bit. But I'm not really here for either one of those things, though that was definitely what started my relationship with this club.

Eiko, as a character, has no family. He was left with his godfather on a reasonably decent planet, but that doesn't mean he wasn't abandoned by his parents -- and without any stronger clues, there's no way for even an information hound like Eiko to trace his parents down again over two decades after the fact. He was forced to flee the planet as a teenager, only learning of his godfather's eventual death once he could do nothing about it. His time as a smuggler on Ione offered him friendship, but his inability to stay put under a Grey Jedi's tutelage (rejection of a father figure's authority) in turn forced him back to his old transient lifestyle. His dominant experience in the Brotherhood -- Independent House Revan -- offered him power, authority, and prestige. And yet the thing that stuck with him wasn't standing among the Councillors or the regular communication with storied Elders of the Brotherhood.

Eiko is most frustrated when there is no community -- when no one shows up, when he has to break apart the group that he came to recognize as a "family" of sorts.

That's why it's so odd for Eiko to take such a shallow view of life while aboard the Anchorage. Every student has potential to learn, to become the kind of master who will raise up better students; a cycle of better students, better masters, and a better House. It's also a part of why Eiko isn't broken up over the loss of the Jusadih system. The family has survived, for the most part. And that's what matters.

So let's walk this all back to reality.

I've really appreciated seeing the reaction of the Brotherhood to a few events over the past few months. Muz and Ashia's son was born -- and we all cared. Arcona has rallied around Graus as he's been recovering. And just this week, we got news that Jac and his wife are expecting twins.

I appreciate the community here. I am honored to have been pushed into roles of leadership by those who appreciate me. In just over 3 years, I've spent some 5 months outside of leadership roles. And so, for over two and a half years, I've been either managing the small stage of an Independent House, working behind the scenes, or (currently) getting my hands dirty trying to relentlessly interact with a House full of members who have fantastic potential.

I loved being Revan's Quaestor. That job (and that House) will always have a unique place in my understanding of the world. And being a Praetor is oddly satisfying, running around behind the scenes to support other leaders.

But I really like being a Rollmaster.

It's not illustrious -- it doesn't count for getting warbanner medallions or the Dark Maven of Leadership. It involves sending a lot of emails that never get replies, staving off the discouragement that comes from being ignored. It takes showing up on days when I'd rather turn off my computer and sleep. It means constantly eyeing my inbox, trying to balance the desire to reply to everything with trying not to overload people who check their emails maybe once a day.

But even without the accolades associated with higher-profile positions, I happen to think that it's a linchpin position.

Or maybe it's not the position, but the person. You should be a linchpin. You should be a leader waiting for a leadership position. I want to make that happen.

(There are roughly 4100 words in this report. Thank you for your patience and attention.)