Greetings Sadowans, this report today is to announce both a rework and a ‘revival’ of sorts for the Clan Naga Sadow Black Guard system. This report will outline what the changes are, how you as members will be able to take part and interact with the system and how the Black Guard fit in with Naga Sadow from a fictional perspective.

Onwards, then;

What is the Black Guard?

The Black Guard were a small sect who are dedicated to defending Clan Naga Sadow and Sadowan tradition, the Guard themselves were selected usually via a competition and the winner of which would then be fictionally placed as the Guard of a specific Summit member for their entire duration as a Black Guard. Not only would these guards receive a tattoo to mark their position but they would also wear a specific set of armour, the latter of which was recently updated by Muz. Both the Tattoo and Armour can be found pictured below:

The ‘New’ Black Guard has changed. I’d hesitate to say that it has changed fundamentally but there would be some merit to that. As of now there will only be 2 Black Guard slots to be filled by our members, these slots will be filled by the members who ‘score’ the highest in the soon to be released Black Guard competition - ‘How do I get this score Cable, tell me now!’ I hear you cry and, to put it simply, activity! Almost all forms of activity will earn you a score [Please note: current scoring is subject to change.]

	Score
ACC Win	6
ACC Loss	4
SA Course Pass	3
SA Maven	5
SA Savant	7
SA Sage	9
PVP Win	3
PVP Loss	1
PVE Match	1
Competition DB Wide Placement	6
Competition Placement	4
Competition Participation	3

At the end of each month, scores will be tallied and the member with the highest score will take the position of Black Guard. Every month only one Guard will be appointed, meaning that when we open the new system after the first month there will only be one sitting Black Guard (Guard A) then after the second month the second Guard will be appointed, then come the third month Guard A will be replaced after serving their two months and so on, nice and simple!

If the highest scorer is already a Black Guard, or a Summit member or Clan Title Holder, then the fictional position will go to the member who places second in the competition and so on.

Guard in Fiction

Fictionally speaking, the Guards will now no longer follow a specific member around. Instead they ‘Guard’ the Clan as a whole, for their time as a Black Guard they are expected to eschew any House loyalties and act as arbiters for the Clan, under the guidance of the Captain of the Guard, the Rollmaster. As such the Black Guard will now find themselves with significantly more freedom of movement than many others. When thinking about writing a Black Guard it is probably easiest to draw a comparison with the ‘Inquisitorius’ or the ‘Jedi Hunters’ from the Star Wars: Rebels series in the sense that, were the character to go to a nondescript Sadowan military outpost the troops would be well aware that the Black Guard carries a certain degree of power and that their commands and requests should be carried out.

It's important to note that, despite the above, members will still remain in their Houses and can have the additional fictional element of their Black Guard duties conflicting with their House ones.This opens up the potential to have Clan members who have worked to become a Black Guard to be included in other fictions in a broader sense but to also allow the member to feel more free whilst writing their own character.

The running for the new Black Guard will begin immediately as the competition is approved, which will likely not be long after this report. It should be noted that in order to be considered for Black Guard we will only be accepting members who subscribe to the competition, that date in which you subscribe won’t matter, even if you do it one day before the end of the month you will still be counted, but you must have subscribed. Links will be provided through the Clan mailer; I will also edit this report to hold the link after competition approval.

Competition Link: Arbiters of Sadow

Final Notes

Over the coming few months, we will be keeping a very close eye on how the new-ish Black Guard is functioning and as such changes will likely be made, including additions to how the role works - with potential for fleshing out our base of operations and giving the Black Guard a direct hand in that; We will all have to wait and see.