My fellow Tarenti,

It is with a large amount of pride (and not a little bit of trepidation) that I come before you this evening in my first formal address as your Consul. I have been back in Tarentum's active roster for almost a year and a half now, and I've had the pleasure of serving in some leadership capacity here for most of that time. Serving as Consul, however, will be the biggest responsibility that I've had in the Dark Jedi Brotherhood to date, and it's one I'm excited to take on. I've seen the upswell in that wonderful thing we call Tarentum Momentum, and it is now my job to ensure it doesn't just continue but grows. With the members that we have, I am very confident we will be successful, but in order to do so it'll take each of us continuing to work towards that goal.

Before I begin, I want to take a second to thank Raiju Kang, the newest Tarentum Consul Emeritus, for not only his service to our Clan but also his friendship. I've had the pleasure of serving on the Tarentum Summit with him since he took over its leadership in February, and I cannot underscore how important he was to ensuring we were not closed. Some of you might feel that was just an idle threat, but I can assure you the Grand Master was not bluffing; he could and would have closed us down, but under Raiju's leadership we showed the entire rest of the club that we still gave a damn and, most importantly, were worth a damn. We need to never give them cause to doubt us again.

Where are we?

As all but our newest members should know, we have just completed the second of three chapters of our summer Clan-wide event, titled Reanimated. The third chapter will begin on August 10th and will run until August 24th; like the last two, it'll contain five events of various types and one overall parent competition that you earn points for by placement in the others. Chapter 2's participation was certainly up from Chapter 1, and I'm grateful for that; we can and still need to do better, however. The fiction for Chapter 3 will wrap up the threads left from the first two chapters and set in us in motion to deal with the changes coming to the DJB this fall.

Where are we going?

There have been two things going on in the background that may have escaped the notice of many of you if you don't closely read the reports put out by the DC, and each has a major impact on Tarentum and thus all of you. The first and most important is the concept of "paths." Currently, all Tarenti (and members of all Clans save COU) are members of one of the three "Dark" orders - Krath, Obelisk, or Sith. Very soon, that'll change in a huge way. One of the first steps in that process was putting together and submitting for the review of the GM/DGM/VOICE Tarentum's Path Proposal (an edited version to remove a few spoilers from Reanimated Chapter 3 can be found here). Subject to their approval, our three Path "slots" will be as follows: two will remain Dark, as they are now, while one will be Grey. This grey path, in fact, will be established fictionally in Reanimated Chapter 3 (spoilers!).

The other thing I wanted to briefly mention is in response to a lengthy discussion that took place on Telegram this evening regarding each Clan's fleets. There is the possibility, according to the Grand Master, that there will be some sort of reset of the Clan fleets to bring them in line with the newly established (and in the process of being established) canon as well as our own possessions system. I don't know any more information at this time then I gleaned from the Telegram conversation, but rest assured that if that is the case I will do whatever I can to ensure Tarentum's fleet is as competitive as possible.

Additionally, something that has been previously alluded to internally has been an event with another Clan we are currently in the planning stages of. It is our hope that this competition will have some cooperative elements to it, rather than be a simple (and tired) Clan vs. Clan affair. That does not mean we shouldn't take it seriously; if anything, some cooperative elements to it might make it even more important that Tarentum puts forth the best effort possible so that we don't embarrass ourselves! You'll hear plenty more information about this as we firm up the details, but very tentatively we're looking at it possibly sometime in September.

Change, it is a-comin'

There are always changes whenever there's a shift in the Summit, especially at the Consul position, and this will be no different. However, as Raiju and I worked closely together on many of the projects currently ongoing, you shouldn't see any radical shifts. There is one change I wanted to highlight this evening, however.

One of the reasons I will forever be a Tarenti - and one that many of you likely agree with - is the sense of togetherness that you gain from this group. Even our newest members likely can tell that we've become more than just a collection of random people (even if that's how some came into our orbit). Tarentum is a family, and we thought that taking that to a fictional level might add some flavor and differentiate us from the other units.

The first visible example of this was announced by Ranarr yesterday: the Order of the Trident. Battleteam Inmortuae has been renamed Battleteam Order of the Trident; all members of Inmortuae have automatically been retained in Order of the Trident, but are free to switch out if they so desire. This is the first of what we've called "Factions" - Battleteams that have a special focus on a shared fictional background and, ideally, are comprised of members who have a natural affinity toward each other. As an example, a group of Tarenti especially interested in the darkest parts of necromancy might band together under the tutelage of a senior Patron like Bloodfyre or Oberst; for database purposes, they'd exist as a Battleteam, but for fictional purposes they'd be yet another group vying for resources and attention from the House and Clan Summits. Am I being clear as mud? For more information, you can view the working proposal (which I'll note is still a work in progress) here.

Oh, and did I say House? I believe I did. That's in the works too. :)

Forward we March

Tarentum has the capability to be the best Clan in the Brotherhood; I want that, and I think many - if not all - of you do too. It won't be easy, and it won't happen overnight. However, it's possible, and we're on the right track to make it so. The phrase "Tarentum Momentum" might be seen by some as a silly meme or might be dismissed as propaganda, but it's real, and it's being noticed. Together, we'll silence our critics and prove those who believed in us right. That starts right now, tonight, and it's something all of you will play a part in. Let's get to work, my friends.