Greetings my fellow Odanites, allies of the Lotus and dark side spies…

I must apologize for my radio silence as of late. RL, my other DB jobs and crippling Overwatch addiction got the better of me :p But things are certainly moving in COU!

The featured art this month is of A’lora/Moro’s new character(s) Kasula and Ysera Dargella by the extremely talented Bearcub

JOBS!

• Tarentum Rollmaster - Due by 16 Feburary

• Wiki Staff - Due 17 Feburary

• House Excidium QUA - Due 04 March

Brotherhood News

• Voice - Wally has laid out all the various initiatives the Voice staff is working on. This is an important read for anyone who does fiction in the club. We get Lasat (Zeb from Rebels) as a species!

• Combat Master - In addition to adding the Cooperative Hall to the ACC, Atra has put out an update on the various mental Force powers. This is worth a close read and if you have any questions please ask.

• Shadow Academy - Farrin has enacted a massive change to how the Shadow Academy is organized. A big thanks to all the years of service put in by the previous professors and good luck to the applicants for the streamlined departments.

• Wiki Tribune - The Wiki staff continues their hard work of making improvements to the massive respository of knowledge we use on a daily basis.

• MAA - Howie put out his first report detailing all the behind the scenes changes the MAA staff has undertaken recently. If you’re a young leader reading this, Howie is very easy to work with and contrary to popular belief doesn’t bite. If you have any questions on an award or promotion run it by your senior leadership but don’t be afraid to ask the MAA.

A kinder, gentler Howie?

• Fist - So, #GoodGuyDrac and our very own Edgar have put out some great information on how new games get approved (hint, play in the test comps if you want to see a game). Also DB Gaming is the only official gaming channel. Oh and COU has been dominating the daily cluster reports...but more on that later.

• Herald - A big congrats to Mako on joining the Herald staff as their community manager magistrate / cabin boy / whatever Esca wants him to be that day. Also, the Graphics society is coming soon which means I’ll need to brush on my photoshop skills if I want to be XII in everything.

• COJ: Letter of Reprimand Removal Policy - This is an important change to the Covenant and illustrates the Club’s forgiveness. Be excellent to one another and you can go far!

Clan News

• First and foremost I’d like to welcome Blade Ta’var as COU’s new Rollmaster. Blade has already established herself as a presence in COU’s Telegram channel and brings a wealth of talent and experience to the Rollmaster office serving not only our Journeymen but COU members of all ranks.

Blade’s triumphant arrival to COU

Thank you to all who applied, there will be more leadership opportunities to come. In the meantime don’t hesitate to propose or get involved in a project. Leadership is more than a position

• With the completion of the Fleet project COU has a functional military in the Possessions system. As I laid out nearly a year ago COU has moved to a system where our Houses serve as Joint Task Forces and are the primary vehicles for employing the Clan’s military and intelligence assets. The ultimate goal of that change was to get more toys into the hands of the most members as possible. Thus, the Odanite Expeditionary Force or OEF was born. As you use the Clan’s military in fiction be sure to bookmark that page as that will be the central hub for all our possessions. Also, I need your help in building our military. Arch’s team did a fantastic job but there is still a need for people to help flesh things out with NPCs, unit names, etc. If you are interested please contact me.

It’s my pleasure to offer my first Quaestor’s update for the Clan report as you may know House Hoth has gone through some dramatic changes in the last month. Arcia Cortel stepped down as our Quaestor and I took control of this very dynamic House. Then just as I was in the middle of the search for our new Aedile, Chris Winchester had to step down from his role has KoA’s Battleteam Leader leaving me with two spots to fill. I would like to pause for a second and thank both Arcia and Chris for their great work in their positions and I am happy you decided to stay within Hoth, as well.

So to fill the Vacancies Yuki Suoh is our new Aedile with Darro Zhen becoming the newest Knight Commander. I’m very please I was able to hire two long time Hoth members to help me bring Hoth to the next level.

The three of us are already hard at work getting things organized, developed and in place so we can start bringing great content to every member of the House and the Clan as a whole. Our first step was to create our first mini-event called Proving Grounds and by also creating a year long competition to earn the Scimitar of Lord Hoth . Now Darro, Yuki and I will set our sights for one Hoth’s next step and hopefully start to introduce story elements to take us to our first real House Event. We don’t have much set up yet but all I can say is it’s time to let Hoth out into the universe and show why we are the sword and shield of Clan Odan-Urr!

Seer Edgar Drachen, Quaestor of House Hoth

Salutations Satelites! I want to remind everyone that we have a few slots open in Garza's Pathfinders, so if you're interested please talk to your House Summit for details. Otherwise, I'll be e-mailing everyone soon with details on some exciting competitions that are currently running.

Winning with class

COU has had some pretty significant victories lately. We had 785 competition submissions and 45 unique participants last quarter. In all the metrics Mav and Sarin look at we were either first or nipping at Arcona’s heels for the top Clan. And I’ll just leave this graphic here to show how our gamers have been doing:

#humblebrag

I am so very very proud of everything you guys are doing. And a special shout out to the House summits who have done a fantastic job of both generating and promoting content. In short, the Clan is active, the Clan is moving forward and the Clan community is more fun and inviting than ever. Odan-Urr is on the rise and people are starting to take notice. This raises a significant question I do think think we have had to deal with in our entire history as a unit: how do we handle victory?

This is something we should collectively reflect on because the history of the Brotherhood shows us Clans have handled victory and defeat in a variety of ways and often how a unit handles winning defines them just as much as how they win. Here are some of my thoughts on what our Clan culture should be when it comes to competition:

COU is inclusive and a friend to all

This goes without saying. In character rivalries and lightie vs dark sider jabbing aside, we have no enemies OOC in the Brotherhood. COU was founded and built up by former members of all Clans, we maintain ties to those Clans. Those ties make us stronger. We learn from what others have done and forge our own way ahead. Talking down another unit makes us weaker. We welcome all members of the Brotherhood to join us in all the club has to offer. And if they want to renounce the dark path, they can become one of us as well :P

Our opponents should walk away from any competition still wanting to shake our hand and say “good game”

Winning is fun, but it should never come at the cost of our friendships or standing in the larger community. We play the game, we fight with honor, we embody sportsmanship in all things. A big part of that is showing respect to your opponents. If someone put up a hard fight against you, tell them so. Compliments cost nothing but go a long way toward building the larger community. Some trash talking in jest is to be expected (the DB is a family after all) but make sure you know the other people you’re doing it with and your comments cannot be misinterpreted.

COU upholds both the spirit and letter of the rules

This is non-negotiable. If it feels shady, it probably is. No matter what the rules say or what loopholes exist. We compete honestly and fairly. It is better to lose a competition than to lose one’s integrity. Believe me, I know.

Those are my thoughts but the culture comes from you, the COU community at large. Do you agree with me? Is there something you’d add? Discuss it in Clan channels. Let’s be the best damn winners the Brotherhood has ever seen!

Competition Spotlight

Competitions by and for COU Members

• A Mile in Their Shoes - Shameless plug to this fiction comp ran by Atty and myself. Do a freaky friday scenario (or a plain ol’ job swap) with any Consuls or Proconsuls in the DB.

• Gods of the Brotherhood

• A Dream Within a Dream

• Poster Puzzle Palooza

Both Houses are also hosting Run-ons! Grab a spot and dive in!

• Hoth Proving Grounds

• The Polyphemus Operation

DB-wide Competitions of Note

• [FIST] Diablo 3 Season 9 Greater Rift Solo Tier

• [FIST] Titanfall 2 test run

• [FIST] Star Wars Force Arena - Test Run

• [HRLD] Favorite Things #1, Dinner

AskTurel

Edgar - #AskTurel as consul do you feel that you provide a good example for the clan? What are your honest strengths? Are there any weaknesses that you want to improve?

I like to think I do, but at times I don't. Like now, I haven't put out a report in over a month. I've let other things take priority and let my Clan duties suffer. That's a terrible example as a leader. On the other hand, I like to think I give the summit leaders what they need to do their jobs and take care of members. If I have a strength it's presence, I'm usually around to help a member or leader with whatever they need or even to do an activity with. My current weakness is closing out items on my to-do list.

Uji - if Odan-Urr were approached with an honest proposal by someone like the DGM or GM of betraying their allies in exchange for safety and disregard by the DJB. Would Turel (or the COU Summit) consider the proposal?

Nero - #AskTurel How is Turel, IC, handling A'lora disappearing and his wife leaving as well, landing him in the most important position in the clan?

How is he handling A'lora disappearing? Child support payments on the 1st and 15th :P As far as Vorsa leaving he's soldiered on. Obviously, he misses her when she's away, both on a personal level and her counsel as a senior Jedi General. But she comes back to Kiast for short periods like life day to spend time with him. He's a little sleep deprived atm with a new baby at home.

Best Aidnen (Rylance) - #askTurel what advice would you give to members who are looking to adapt new themes to their characters story?

I don't really have any specific advice other than "just do it." I would say think through how a person would adapt to change naturally, people in RL don't abruptly change in drastic ways and neither should characters. New themes should be introduced carefully and evolve the character rather than drastically change them.

V'yr - #askTurel How's that affair with the Empress going? :P

"I did not have sexual relations with that woman!"

Closing

That’s all for now. Stay tuned to your email for updates from our new RM and on the on-going House competitions. Keep making COU a place people want to be!

Turel Sorenn

Consul, Clan Odan-Urr