Brethren,

Today is Exodus Day.

For many of our members, this is nothing more than a historic holiday for our club. To those people, today is nothing more than an excuse for us to give out special awards. To others among us, it is a reminder of a dark time in another club's history. To many more, it is a testament to the strength, willpower and tenacity of our own brothers and sisters.

Nine years ago, we reclaimed our birthright. Nine years ago, we set out into the void on our own steam with a desire to see our Brotherhood become something more than it had been allowed to be. Nine years ago, we were reborn into a new era of kinship and comeraderie, free from any shackles that outsiders would place on us.

They said we would never last.

Today, we are the strongest of all of them, one of the few left standing.

That, my friends, is something to celebrate and be proud of. That we have overcome, that we have struggled to be better, to survive, to become stronger, to evolve beyond what we all once were.

It took all of us. Every one of us, from those who have been great leaders to those who have tested our patience. I want to extend my own personal thanks to every one of you who have chosen to give to our Brotherhood their most precious resources: their time, their energy, their thought.

As tradition also dictates, we have a number of people who have been deemed worthy of special recognition by the Dark Council, the House and Clan Summits. These people are to be rewarded with the Seal of Loyalty, a medal only awarded in limited quantities twice a year. These people have served as paragons, examples of Brotherhood.

Solus Gar
Socorra Erinos
Jam3z Entar
Kelvis
Jeric
Kal Vorrac
Rayne
Fremoc Pepoi
Xantros
Benevolent Taldyra
Jason Hunter
Invictus
Jac Cotelin
Xathia
Locke Sonjie
Xen'Mordin
Celahir
Tyno
Vanwyck

We do have several more awards to announce tonight, and those will be going up through the night. But first...

The world has changed much since the exodus. Few remember that webclubs formed out of a need to find people to play multiplayer video games against, to download custom levels and maps from. The gaming industry changed, including new multiplayer options and centralized servers, making the old way of playing against others obsolete and unnecessary. The Brotherhood evolved, trying hard to shift our focus to remain relevant, becoming more and more fiction oriented, but keeping in mind our gaming roots. Fremoc ahs been on the edge of that knife. He has worked very hard to keep the gaming community alive in the Modern Brotherhood, leading the way in gaming nights and competitions. When the new TOR MMO was announced, it was frightening to many. Played wrong, we'd lose out on a huge recruitment and activity base for the club, in addition to the loss of all the man-hours spent by those who would be playing it like addicts for the next year or more. THere was a lot of planning, ad more than a few prestigious members who vanished from the planning and execution table. But Fremoc did not. He kept on, and worked wonders to keep our presence going, in game and out of it. When it came time to award this year's Silver Sash for loyalty, there were a few great members to chose from, but one rose to the top with ease. Fremoc, your dedication and loyalty to our Brotherhood is admirable, and the work that you have done is humbling. It is with great pleasure that I present you with the Silver Sash.

Please take a moment to thank these individuals for their outstanding efforts for our club.

Thank you all,

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