Members of the Dark Brotherhood,
On 10 December 2017, I notified the leadership of Clan Tarentum that deliberations were underway to discuss their closure. These deliberations were conducted under authorities granted to Star Chamber, Dark Council, and Grand Master under the Dark Brotherhood's Covenant. Please Reference:
*Article 3, Section 3.01b "Survival of the Brotherhood"
*Article 3, Section 3.04e "Approval of Fundamental Changes"
*Article 4, Section 4.01 "Authority of the Grand Master"
*Article 6, Section 6.01c "Authority" - Specifically "the Grand Master and the Dark Council can affect changes to policies, procedures and structures of the Brotherhood."
The deliberations on Tarentum's closure included the permanent and temporary members of the Star Chamber, the Dark Council, and the current members of Clan Tarentum. The deliberations on closure were focused on Tarentum's historic performance in major club events, statistics associated with club activity, new member retention, culture, and any extenuating circumstances that Tarentum wanted to present.
The Deliberations:
4 x members of the Dark Brotherhood were asked to take the exact same data set and present it to the Grand Master. This data was pulled from the past two years of Clan quarterly activity reports. I asked a DC member and members of three different Clans to present the data and their interpretation of the data. This was done to avoid any individual bias in the manner in the interpretation and also in the manner that data was presented.
On 10 December 2017, I asked the Justicar to provide a an opinion on the Grand Master's authority to close a clan without a Star Chamber or Dark Council Vote. Justicar Cotelin replied that the Grand Master had the authority to make this decision alone.
Despite the Justicar's opinion, I conducted a survey of the entire Dark Council and Star Chamber on the topic of Tarentum's closure. This survey took place over a period of multiple days and included discussion, the presentation of numbers mentioned above, and the logs of several discussions with active Tarentum members.
On 11 and 12 December 2017, I had Grand Masters Ashen and Cotelin conduct research on the historic closings of House Revan, Clan Satal Keto, and Clan Exar Kun. This research resulted in email traffic between Clan leaders, the justification for closing these units, and email traffic between all relevant parties. I reviewed emails from Chi Long, Selket, Jac, Muz, and a host of others. This effort was designed to review historic precedent in the Dark Brotherhood in order to ensure that any decision I made was in line with previous Grand Masters.
On 13 December 2017, the Deputy Grand Master and SCL pulled new membership data dating back three years and defined this data in terms of recruited members and new joins. We conducted a thorough review of how new members progress in our club and what Clans are successful at transitioning new members into the Journeymen ranks (a relatively low bar).
I received, shared, and reviewed personal messages from 17 individual club members. 12 of these members were from Clan Tarentum or previously served in Clan Tarentum. Their messages told of family, of a culture that helped them with real life issues, and of a community that brought joy to their lives. I found the bulk of these messages extremely compelling and they resonated with me as a human being and also as a leader in this club. I was particularly swayed by members who told me of their troubled lives and how they found solace in Clan Tarentum.
Throughout the last week, I conducted a review of all historic documents associated with previous discussions on Clan Tarentum's closure. This included message traffic from 2012, 2014, and 2015 and involved GM's Ashen/Sarin and former Tarentum leadership including Anshar, Scion, Bloodfyre, Oberst, and a host of others.
The Decision:
Why:
Closing a Clan in the Dark Brotherhood is an extremely difficult and emotional decision. I understand that Clan Tarentum has provided a safe place for many of our members and has provided a creative outlet to men and women who find the real world an extremely difficult place. It is gut wrenching for me to take that away from one person, let alone a group of members who have been a part of this club for two decades or more.
Arguments that cite numbers and statistics fall short when a member has an emotional attachment to a Clan, but those arguments are important. Likewise, the culture of a Clan (both the negatives and positives) play an equal part in any decision like this. I had to weigh these variables and in the end there was a very unified decision on how to proceed. This decision was hard, it was difficult, and quite frankly, it sucks. But this closure, for the time being, is the best thing for the Dark Brotherhood and our new members.
This is a hard decision and emotions will run high, but I am confidant that I applied a level thoughtfulness and scrutiny that far outweighs historical club precedence. I am also confident that my decision was in line with the counsel I have received from various club members and leaders over the past two weeks. However, we should all be clear. The decision to close Clan Tarentum; although well discussed and researched, remains my responsibility as Grand Master of this club. It is a decision that I accept full responsibility for now and leading into our future.
GM Pravus
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