Deputy Grand Master Report
Suffering exists because weakness exists. - Unknown
The Lion & the Monster, Part II
Antei Dark Hall 36 ABY, In the Weeks Leading to the Crusade
Raken sat on the chamber's ceiling and heard the voice again in his mind.
You have built an empire. I will take this from you. You have built monuments to yourselves. I will tear them down. You have placed hope in a man you believe to have power. You have made a grave mistake. I will show you that for which you have asked. I will show you shades of power you have never seen. Then I will shut your eyes forever...
Always the same. The voice. The words. The Shadowhand considered this as he felt a rivulet of sweat bead on his forehead. Occasionally a drop would roll off his scalp to spatter on the cobbled floor below; evidence of his concentration. His effort. But there should be no exertion. Whether on a ceiling or an airless moon, Raken should exist the same. Without effort. Without thought. He relaxed and felt the pores of his body close.
Despite the voice, this was as close to peace as the beast came.
Candles lit the corners of the room. They flickered in rhythm with Raken's breathing. With each breath, the same thought.
The Dark Eye was making a mistake.
He believed metal and fire would deliver an empire. He could not be more wrong. The Lion misunderstood his enemy. The Monster knew him all too well.
Raken felt her. Heard footsteps. She was early.
The oaken door parted silently from the stone jamb as one of Raken's soldiers let her in. Socorra wandered into the room as ill at ease as she had been since she was a girl. The Ironskin had called her here, to Antei. To hear him speak, some waited years. To be summoned by him...it was unprecedented.
The chamber was spartan. No furniture. No trappings. No life. She felt alone. Hollow. This was an empty place. Neither office nor quarters. Simply a room. The only way out the door standing open behind her. She turned to see it still ajar. A glowing portal separating the light from the dark. She was uncomfortable, feeling more prey than predator. The sensation was foreign to her. A Quaestor of Arcona. It was she who was terrible. Others who were afraid. Now none of it mattered. She tried in vain to recall confidence. At the moment, she could not remember how to inspire fear. She felt as though she were drowning in it.
What was she doing here? On the verge of war. The Shadowhand calls to her? Why? Muz's spies were everywhere. Did the Dark Lord sanction this meeting? If not...
Socorra did not see the creature drop from the ceiling behind her. She could not feel his presence as he had made himself small in the dark currents of energy. She could not hear his bare feet land on the dusty cobbles, nor his breathing as he rose like a red mountain behind her.
Raken unveiled himself in the Force.
Socorra's breath caught in her throat as suddenly she was overwhelmed by his presence. Air left the room. All light died. The walls closed in. Pressure changed as though a storm was forming. The sensation smothered her as she spun to face the invisible fire behind her.
Calloused hands shot out and grabbed either side of her delicate face. Claws of black iron interlocked behind her head. A mere twitch and they would separate flesh from bone to undo the beauty which nature had worked so hard to create.
Her head was ratcheted back as far as it would go between the iron vise of his hands. Her hands grasped his wrists futilely. She saw his eyes. White. Dead and yet alive. In them despair. Things she could not know. Things she could not bear. She made to speak and the air was taken from her lungs.
The monster was teeth, claw, and muscle. Dread-will given form. Raken was as frightening as she imagined. As terrible as she had hoped.
The door closed behind her sealing light from the darkness. She felt this world tear away from the one before it.
In the darkness, in the grip of death, Socorra's past was left behind forever.
CSD Cotelin Invasion Staging Point Above Krayiss II 4 Days Before the Invasion of Rhelg
After the briefing room had cleared, Vance wasted no time in retiring to his assigned quarters. “Quarters†may have been stretching things, though. A Cotelin-class Star Destroyer was over a kilometer long and had space for over ten thousand people, but the Iron Throne's elite guard was assigned to a series of small rooms next to the main cargo hold. The room Vance was splitting had smelled disgustingly organic when he had first entered it–like someone had left something to rot until word came down that they had some "special guests" arriving.
Vance leaned back in his cot, and reviewed what his instincts had whispered to him earlier. All in all, he had probably gotten more information by watching his assigned task force than they had received in the briefing instructions. The soldiers seemed to have at least adequate training; he didn't catch any fearful looks or snarls of bloodlust that signified inexperience. Warriors like that get themselves, and everyone around them killed.
Vance’s datapad chirped with an incoming call, Master Ashen's credentials. The Corporal accepted the call, then waited a brief moment for the encryption handshake to settle on a secure channel. A live view of the Grand Master in his battle attire appeared on-screen.
“My Lord,†Vance greeted the image, quickly bowing his head in deference.
"Corporal Vance,†the Dark Lord acknowledged with a curt gesture. “Sergeant Altaris informs me that you've just finished going over the battle plan with your strike team. I trust there aren't any complications?"
"Some blustering and bravado from certain Elders, my Lord; the rest will fall in line. Everyone else will follow orders, I'm just not sure if those orders will be mine, theirs, or someone else's..."
"You suspect a traitor?"
"Not certain yet, my Lord, but your Shadow Hand mentioned the possibility."
Muz's face wrinkled in concentration; either considering possibilities or communicating telepathically with an advisor. The pause was long enough that Vance began to wonder if he had perhaps said too much. Shortly, the stress lines melted off the Dark Lord's face as he responded.
"I'd like to reiterate how important it is that my suspicions stay private, Corporal. Make no mistake, there are enemies to this Brotherhood embedded within our Houses, and I will have them exposed.†The image flickered briefly, the Dark Lord’s rage physically affecting the equipment on his end. “In the meantime, Cotelin and his retinue will be allowed to carry out whatever little game they're playing. Do what you must to ensure I get an accurate report of the activities on Rhelg."
"Understood, my Lord." The Dark Lord’s image blinked out of existence, leaving Vance with only the dull thuds of the heavy lifters in the cargo hold stomping around to compete with his racing thoughts.
The message couldn't be clearer; at least one member of this "Old Folks’ Home" was suspected by the Iron Throne of being an agent of the One Sith, and he was about to drop onto a hostile planet with them. Journeymen and some Equites could be outmatched if you were quick, but there was absolutely no room for error if he had to take down an Elder or worse—a rogue Grand Master.
<font color="#800517">Long Time, No Talk</font color=#800517></font> I was on vacation with the family. Great time. I got a lot done and even found the time to piss off a long-time DB friend. For my absence, I apologize. There was no getting around it. For my rudeness to a guy I actually really like, I also apologize. I am a harsh dude living in a harsh world and when you get me candid, it's blade to bone.
On to business.
The above fiction is in two scenes. The first scene is mine and its intent is to liven up our fictional tone. It serves two purposes. First, it's mildly suggestive. Think of Rome, The Borgias, Spartacus, Dexter, etc. Second, we don't feature our female members often enough in fiction, the main page, etc. So I had asked to use some female members' characters and this is what we came up with. I had also asked to use someone else's character for the male lead, but they were...unwilling. So Big Red Machine did what he does.
The second scene is Benevolent Taldrya Whiner's and it comes from Taldrya's First Place Run-On entry for Rhelg. They picked up and ran with the "traitors among us" theme that Muz, Sarin, and myself crafted. It tied-in nicely with what I intimated in my fiction as well so...winner-winner chicken-dinner.
Enough talk. Results...
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<font size="4"><font color="#800517">Rhelg & Khar Delba Results</font color=#800517></font> Participation was incredible this Chapter and one contest was extremely close. Above all things, we want you to have fun. Try to bear that in mind. Feel free to let us know how we're doing as well. Most of you do anyway. Try not to get too down on us if you didn't like an event, etc. We're trying to a) do different things, and b) challenge your skills. Bear that last bit in mind if you can.
<font size="4">Dark Crusade, Phase One, Chapter Two Results</font>
Run-On
Khar Delba
Gold Nova - Team Alpha, House Plagueis - Ronovi, Alaris, Solus, Arden, Teylas Silver Nova - Team Lance, Clan Naga Sadow - Xia, Vexatus, Shirai, Yuriko, Amagon, Ylith Bronze Nova - Team Prime, Clan Naga Sadow - Mirdao, Atra, Kalia, Mirus, Syntari
Rhelg
Gold Nova - Old & Busted, House Taldryan - Jac, Halcyon, Yacks, Shadow, Benevolent Silver Nova - Sabley Dark-Dark Rainbow, Clan Arcona - Socorra, Wuntila, Tsainetomo, Marick, Invictus, Valhavoc, Montresor Bronze Nova - Team Awesome, House Taldryan - Shaz'air, Vodo, Mav, Talon Drear, Sithspawn
Fiction
Khar Delba
Gold Nova - Vexatus, Clan Naga Sadow Silver Nova - Locke, Clan Naga Sadow Bronze Nova - Malik, Clan Naga Sadow Fourth Place - Solus, House Plagueis Fifth Place - Revak, House Odan-Urr
Rhelg
Gold Nova - Shadow, House Taldryan Silver Nova - Troutrooper, Clan Arcona Bronze Nova - Jac, House Taldryan Fourth Place - Legorii, Clan Arcona Fifth Place - Yacks, House Taldryan
Shadow Academy
Khar Delba
Gold Nova - Malik, Clan Naga Sadow Silver Nova - Eiko, House Plagueis Bronze Nova - Tra'an Reith, House Plagueis Fourth Place - Teylas, House Plagueis Fifth Place - Kalia, Clan Naga Sadow
Rhelg
Gold Nova - Socorra, Clan Arcona Silver Nova - Shadow, House Taldryan Bronze Nova - Shaz'air, House Taldryan Fourth Place - Halcyon, House Taldryan Fifth Place - Invictus, Clan Arcona
Graphics
Khar Delba
Gold Nova - Morotheri, House Odan-Urr Silver Nova - Xia, Clan Naga Sadow Bronze Nova - Sanjuro, Clan Naga Sadow Fourth Place - Slagar, House Plagueis Fifth Place - Mayda, Clan Naga Sadow
Rhelg
Gold Nova - Socorra, Clan Arcona Silver Nova - Jac, House Taldryan Bronze Nova - Alanna, House Taldryan Fourth Place - Atyiru, Clan Arcona Fifth Place - Catmatui, House Taldryan
Gaming
Khar Delba
Gold Nova - Mirus, Clan Naga Sadow Silver Nova - JScumm, House Odan-Urr Bronze Nova - Oberst, House Tarentum Fourth Place - Silent, House Plagueis Fifth Place - Atra, Clan Naga Sadow
Rhelg
Gold Nova - Marick, Clan Arcona Silver Nova - Cethgus, Clan Arcona Bronze Nova - Andrelious, Clan Arcona Fourth Place - Mav, House Taldryan Fifth Place - Socorra, Clan Arcona
Overall Participation
Khar Delba
House Plagueis - Run-On (19) Fiction (18) SA (22) Gaming (13) Graphics (16) = 88 / 43 = 2.05
Clan Naga Sadow - Run-On (28) Fiction (19) SA (23) Gaming (16) Graphics (22) = 108 / 68 = 1.59
House Odan-Urr - Run-On (8) Fiction (7) SA (5) Gaming (3) Graphics (3) = 26 / 37 = 0.70
House Tarentum - Run-On (6) Fiction (4) SA (1) Gaming (1) Graphics (2) = 14 / 34 = 0.41
<font size="4">House Plagueis is Victorious on Khar Delba!</font>
Rhelg
Clan Arcona - Run-On (30) Fiction (36) SA (39) Gaming (19) Graphics (38) = 162 / 70 = 2.31
House Taldryan - Run-On (20) Fiction (16) SA (32) Gaming (11) Graphics (30) = 109 / 48 = 2.27
House Scholae Palatinae - Run-On (10) Fiction (8) SA (10) Gaming (2) Graphics (6) = 36 / 56 = 0.64
<font size="4">Clan Arcona is Victorious on Rhelg!</font>
*The number of members we divided by was an average of each unit's members on Day 1 of this Chapter and Day 14. Example: HSP started with 54 members on Day 1. On Day 14 they had 57 members. 54+57/2=56. 56 is the average number of members we divided participation by.
My undying appreciation to the Dark Council: Solari, Shikyo, Sarin, and Fremoc. These big studs are the reason we're getting results in 3-5 days. Any delay thereafter is entirely my fault in assembling it all.
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<font size="4"><font color="#800517">Burned Out Yet?</font color=#800517></font> How are you guys doing with the pace of this Vendetta? I've talked to some people who say the two-week break in-between is really helping. Others, perhaps with more personal stuff going on, are stressing a bit with the tempo.
I have no problem tweaking things to help you guys have fun with this thing rather than worry over it. One of the ideas I had was that after a particularly event-heavy Chapter, we could easily dial back on the number of events offered for the next one. I've had several people tell me five events is fairly easily managed. But if needs be, we could go three events, etc.
Let me know how it's going. If we're breaking your backs, we have options. Especially since this is more of a marathon than a sprint.
I really hope everyone is digging this.
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<font size="4"><font color="#800517">The Art of Proposals & Projects</font color=#800517></font> Something we've gotten away from over the last few years are properly presented proposals for new systems, ideas, creations, etc. If you have an idea for something, write a proposal and send it to us. Why? For formality's sake? No. I hate formality. But what a proposal does is it gives us a complete overview of what you intend. This isn't an email or a two-page stream-of-consciousness text. It's a white paper and should at least reflect as much time, effort, and thought as what'll be necessary to implement it.
Anyone should be able to look at your proposal and have a very clear notion of what the idea is, what it does, and how it will be implemented. It doesn't need to be super-exotic or contain pages of references, etc. But if you stick to what it is, what it does, and how it'll be done, it has a much higher chance of successfully being understood and implemented.
A good example of a finished proposal and project...
Also, the recent work by Shadow and Mav is another great example of a solid proposal for a system. When it's no longer OPSEC, we'll share their work with you as another example of how to propose an idea in the club.
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<font size="4"><font color="#800517">Internal Reviews</font color=#800517></font> I responded to as many of these in as detailed a manner as I could before the Crusade started. I still have several more to get to though. I figure since you're not used to getting much feedback on them, and you'd rather have events and results, this can slide for a while yet. For those few of you I did talk to at length, it was really helpful for me to see you guys soberly assess your situations and let me offer some suggestions. Hopefully I helped one or two of you out with some ideas.
Also, you don't need to wait for an IR or other opportunity to talk to me. Regardless of what I have going on, send me an email. It's the best way to reach me as I travel more than most humans do on this rock so I'm always in transit. Someone mentioned that they didn't want to bother me while I was on vacation. Outstanding consideration, but if I can help you...ask. I took this job to help Ray (Muz) and to help you. End of story. That was it. So let me know what I can do for you.
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<font size="4"><font color="#800517">Next Time on the New Hit Series, ShadowHand...</font color=#800517></font>
Independence Games are coming. Ten years of freedom. Thanks go out to James for stepping up as the event organizer. If you didn't know, the IG's will run during what would have been the next Chapter of the Dark Crusade. You'll still get the Chapter as intended, just later. The IG's will act as a nice breather from all the skull-splitting and blood-drinking you all have engaged in battling through the Crusade. Light, fun, relaxing, etc.
Also next time...
More info on the coming ACC changes.
Peek at the new Character Sheets.
More scandal!
Stay tuned.
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See you out there,
- R</font></font></font></font></font>
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Damn, .06 points, close one.
Well fought Arcona, and congrats to Plagueis as well for their victory.
Fleet points work same as last round. Multiply your score by 400. Sending out revised buy sheets is next on my list. Enjoy.
Congratulations to Arcona on the well-fought win. That was very close!
Congrats to all of the Novae winners.
Major props to the judges for the quick grading!
So close! Congrats, Arcona :)
Good lord that's a tight margin. Well done, Arcona people.
...Howie can sleep now?
Congratulations to Arcona! Also to Taldryan, you guys rocked it hardcore!
Also, my thanks to Naga Sadow for a hard fought round! You guys pulled off some awesome placements and have a lot to be proud of!
Wow that was an intense two weeks. Arcona, you really made us work for it, and you still came out on top; congratulations! Well fought, well deserved.
As intense as it was, it was also very fun. That said...I'm looking forward to the break. :P
Yay,, DGM report!
Congratulations to Arcona! Awesome job to everybody who participated in this phase.
Congrats, everyone. I think every unit stepped up their game from last time, which is good to see. As always, every single submission counts, so well done to Arcona for getting those last few in. See you all in 2 months? :P
Great job Arcona! Tal well Fought. PLA come play with the big boys
Great job Plagueis and Arcona and to everyone who participated!
Great job Plagueis and Arcona and to everyone who participated!
Well done, all.
I would like to point out that I lost to everyone. And then I won. Winning by losing. There's a novel idea.
Well done to all the people!
In the famous words of Montresor, "DO WORK SON"
Great job by everyone. Awesome hustle from every single unit.
Also, I find the lack of scandal in this report disturbing, Raks. :P
Good work, everyone!
Also, broken link for the Antei System Document.
Congrats to Plagueis and Arcona and all who placed.
http://www.darkjedibrotherhood.com/dbjedi/policiesandprojects/AnteiSystem.pdf
Congrats Arcona and Plagueis. Well fought guys, until next time.
I've thought for a while about whether to post this comment, because I approve wholeheartedly of the aim of featuring the DB's female characters more in fiction/on the main page etc. But to do it by writing a sex (?) scene... ugh.
This is, at it's heart, a gaming club. And women in gaming is a bit of an infamous problem. Women in games = big boobs, skimpy clothes, being rescued by the hero (almost always male, of course). There are computer games where I don't even get the option of playing a female character. And try being a woman (with a mic) gaming on a 'hard-core' platform...
I'm not suggesting that the DB has these problems. It's one of the reasons I love this club - I've never seen my gender as being a problem here. But you're right that, fictionally, women don't get featured in the storylines very often. That may just be because the % of women in this club is very low, so the % of storylines featuring female characters is proportional. But that in itself is an issue, and IMO the way to address that isn't to write a scene where the helpless woman (who's actually one of the few female leaders in this club - way to portray women in power!) gets drawn to the male character for him to have his way with her (sexually or otherwise - I'm not sure what your intent was).
This comment's long enough - I don't want to make mountains out of molehills. But in writing this, I'm wondering... maybe this could be a project for someone? Do we have a female DC member at present who might be willing to contact the women in the club and come up with some ways in which female members/characters could be encouraged?
x2 what Alanna just wrote.
agreed with Alanna
Before Crusades started I was working on creating NPCs for the Arcona military (to be used in fictions and such where our ships feature) and I tried to keep the male-female ratio at least above 40%. For the simple reason/concept that if realistic women NPCs are there to be used in fictions and such, that maybe people will realise the potential of such characters.
Sorry if that seemed jumbled, just woke up and need coffee. I agree with Alanna though and really hope it changes.
I agree with you in principle, Alanna. Improper depiction of female characters is something that has happened in the past and something that I'm sure will happen again in the future. This is a discussion we've had a lot in Arcona given our high number of female members. That being said, I'm not sure that the fiction within this report quite fits the bill.
Personally, I don't see any undercurrents of sexual allusion. From my perspective, I saw something supernatural and surreal. We're in a PG-13 Star Wars Club. Things go down in private that is mysterious. The Star Wars Universe is inherently mysterious. It could be a Force meld. It could be a training session. We just don't know. The point is we're not supposed to know what goes on behind that door, but drawing conclusions such as Raken beckoning Socorra to his quarters for sex? I'm not sure that its entirely right to do so. Of course, I don't speak for Socorra, but I've known her long enough to know that she wouldn't allow her character to be used in such a way. The point is that if we keep making a point of drawing out potentially suggestive (and by potentially suggestive, I mean things that could be, and by the looks of it have been, misconstrued) or finding innuendo where is does not need to be found, we're going to go down a very difficult path.
I have to say though, I do appreciate where the sentiment lies. This is something we've tried to counteract. Ood says it right when he brings up the Arcona military; we try to keep the number of females and males proportionate.
Just my .02.
On a side note:
Arcona Invicta! Massive props to you guys. Absolutely fantastic work. And great job Tal. You guys certainly gave us a run for our money... again!
Even asuming the allusions weren't sexual (and honestly, I'm hard pressed not to read it that way...), I still have a problem with it.
One of our highest placed female leaders is being depicted as a frightened little girl, helpless before this powerful man. I understand there's a strong element of power disparity between the characters. But I don't readily recall a fictional piece portraying a male QUA as a frightened, helpless little boy. I'm sure there are some, in amongst the 100s of fictional pieces featuring the club's male characters as strong and powerful.
If this were one of 100s of fictional pieces featuring the club's female leaders as strong and powerful then I wouldn't have a problem with it, but that's not the case.
Having said all that, I don't want to make a big deal about this one piece of fiction, and I do appreciate Raken's efforts to include a female character in the writing.
I just find the fiction creepy because I imagine Big Red in a room full of candles.
Great job to all the winners and the ones that didnt place keep up the hard work every one!!!!!
You asked how the pace is I think it is good how ever if your going to do a run on and fiction in the same event maybe dont do as many other events on top of that or make them really simple and easy. It was hard to keep up with the run on and write a fiction.
I am finding the pace great for now. Once placing starts figuring into the overall outcome i would rather see less events so we can focus on more on the quality of our work. I do find this to be a good way to work on my skills and improve now.
The RO and fiction this time was ok because it wasn't an overly long fiction requirement. Many of the members no doubt found it hard to juggle both. I would like to see a random draw on some rounds as to who is fighting who. We all know that there are some units that don't have the participation of the others and really don't want to see people coasting along simply because they choose to avoid the units with higher participation levels.
Somebody read the fiction!
Alanna,
Thanks very much for your thoughtful comments. My intention with that fiction was to provoke interest of some sort and apparently I got it.
Before I get into too much trouble: I asked Socks for permission to use her character. She reviewed the piece months ago and really liked it. It's part of her character's fictional transformation away from her Krath roots and into the dark realm of the Sith Order.
Spoiler: It also serves to establish her as a possible One Sith operative. Further, the fiction intends for the reader to wonder what, if anything, Raken is up to regarding the One Sith. Tattoos? Spent time with them? Is he on our side or theirs?
So Sam's interpretation is correct. The piece was meant to describe a relationship between Raken and Socorra. I did intend for their "relationship" to be ambiguous. So you can draw conclusions, but it's up to you. Fictionally, Raken is mentoring Socks into the ways of the Sith. Hence all the weirdness.
The one thing I did not intend was to make it seem as if Socks' character is weak, or submissive. I'm very sorry if that came across. I was just going with the standard darkity-dark routine of how powerful we all are. A lot of fictions I've read over the years always have the Master being dominant and ominous and the apprentice on bended knee reciting a lot of "Yes, m'lord"s. In an Arcona fiction written by I believe Dash, he once had Raken choke Wuntila, the Consul of the clan. So it does happen. I don't mean to excuse what I wrote, just point to what I thought were the common examples of how we always write ourselves darkity-powerful.
In the future with this experiment though, I will take your concerns to heart and be more careful when dealing with the very female characters I sought to highlight.
Typical guy-move, right? Try to do something nice and it blows up in my face =)
I am stoked though the writing at least elicited some emotion. The conversations I've had with Socks, Oberst, etc., about going down this path centered on exactly that. So again, thanks very much for your thoughtful comments.
Don't hesitate to let me know how you feel about something though!
I didn't mean it to blow up in your face ;) I very much appreciate the intention behind the fiction.
See...if there was any "blowing up in the face" then it would really be a sex scene.
Just saying.
And this is where he goes, "Choo-choo-choose Tarax."
Just saying. <3
And this is where he goes, "Choo-choo-choose Tarax."
Just saying. <3
drops a gauntlet at Raken's feet
Come at me bro :P
drops a gauntlet at Raken's feet
Come at me bro :P