Greetings all,

Today I am pleased to make several announcements: first, on when we will be running the next Great Jedi War; second, on whom we are appointing to Fist of the Brotherhood; and finally, an announcement on the new role our current Fist will be taking up in retirement.

Great Jedi War XIII

As many of you have heard through grapevine or other rumblings, a Great Jedi War is coming in mid July! This Vendetta event will pit the combined Clans against our Factions... and to some degree, one another! More details will be revealed in plot updates and more coming soon!

We are planning for a five week event, with two Phases, beginning site time July 20th - this date is flexible and could change as we continue to plan, especially with the addition of two new Dark Councilors. In the coming weeks (currently scheduled for July 13th), the Master at Arms will announce the Vendetta Transfer Hold, and the Regent may institute a purchase freeze for units. We have a number of competitions slated for the event and have taken feedback from the RoS and Consuls into account, and you'll hear more about the scoring and other features of the event in the near future.

We ultimately decided on a War in July, because it allows us the opportunity for a later Winter / early Spring Vendetta event, which would not have been possible with a Fall event. The July event gives us the flexibility to continue to develop the Principate, as well. We hope you are all as excited as we are to jump into a Vendetta next month and crown a new set of Heroes!

A New Fist

The enthusiasm for open Dark Council positions has been clear in the excellent applications we have received the last few weeks, and the Fist applications did not disappoint. Evant and I discussed the position in depth, and what we were looking for from the Fist and gaming in the long term, and we decided that Alaris Jinn best fit our vision for the position now and in the future.

Alaris has served the Brotherhood in numerous capacities over the years and has participated in multiple major projects across the Brotherhood, including in the Fist's Office. Alaris has extensive leadership experience at the Clan level, and is well known to most of the Dark Council and to many of our senior members for his reasoned approach to our club. We are excited to have him joining the Council, and look forward to what he will bring to gaming in the future. Dracaryis is leaving behind big shoes, and we're excited to see Alaris hit the ground running with the upcoming Great Jedi War!

Praetor to the Grand Master

Speaking of Dracaryis - erm, Kalan -if he thought he was escaping service to the Brotherhood with retirement... he was wrong.

I have decided (Drac had some input, too ;) ) to name Drac my new Praetor. His first task will involve updating the positional expectations and requirements of some positions in our Brotherhood. Many of the documents describing our expectations have gone a significant amount of time since revision and are in dire need of some love. In this role, Drac will work with leaders across the Brotherhood, and where needed interface with the Wiki Staff and Shadow Academy to update relevant documentation, such that we can ensure clear and understandable expectations for leaders at different levels. Drac will take on other projects in the future, as well.

Following the Great Jedi War, I plan to use my Magistrate positions as opportunities for members with project ideas to propose ways to work to improve the Brotherhood. Although we are always willing to accept project proposals from members, my hope is that opening Magistrate positions AFTER THE GREAT JEDI WAR, I can encourage some of our members to get involved in generating ways to better the Brotherhood. These Magistrate positions will exist for the term of the project the member proposes and will work directly with both my Praetor and me to ensure they have the resources needed for completion.

And with that, look forward to more from us soon on the Great Jedi War, and please join me in congratulating Alaris on Fist!

Telaris "Mav" Cantor

Grand Master