Greetings Ektrosis! I write to you as I travel along the Hudson River from the hustle and bustle of New York City back to my sleepy little upstate town. We ended up walking just about everywhere we went in the Big Apple so I didn’t end up having much downtime, by the time we got back each night we passed out almost immediately. That is why my report is being sent out little later than I had originally intended. However, below you will find some important House, Clan and club level news, the final results of the Research Project #1 of the SRI and the return of the Ekky’s 10+1 questions!
Other reports have already broken the story but I am very happy to also announce that since my last report greenfire has achieved the rank of Knight! Congratulations greenfire! Being Knighted is a great accomplishment in and of itself and I look forward to your contributions to House Ektrosis as you make the march towards Equite.
Rian recently posted a reminder that application for Clan Taldryan Proconsul are open until March 31st. I’ll take this time to announce that I am not personally applying to the position but I always encourage anyone that is interested to give it a go. Many of you have held leadership positions in the past but if you haven’t, just taking the time to submit a well-thought out application is a great way to get yourself recognized as being interested in future leadership positions.
We’ve also been continuing our winning ways! I’ve decided to stop with the monthly challenges but I will still shine the bright lights on those Ektrosis members who’ve won DB-wide competitions since my last report:
Mav is doing his best impression of a Human Resources recruiter lately. He has made a post announcing that Clan Plagueis is looking for a Consul and that he is looking for a Wiki Tribune. This is in addition to the recently closed request for applications to Social Media Tribune as well his recent appointments of Deputy Grand Master, Herald and Magistrate to the Grand Master. I hope he is filling out all the new hire paperwork correctly…
Also of note, the our newly appointed Herald has release their first report which includes a call for Magistrate applications.
Various other Society leaders, Dark Councilors and Consuls have also release reports that detail some of the things that have been going on post-war in other areas. You can check the News Archive for all of those goodies.
The first Research Project for the Sphere of Research and Intelligence has officially been completed. Thank you to all who participated, I am very happy with how this very experimental first round turned out. As you are probably tired of hearing me say, one of my main goals for this entire system was to create a way for House level fiction to be driven by the participation of the House members and simply guided along by the Summit. Making the first place entry of each Research Project "canon" was a huge part of exectuing on that concept. With that said, I am happy to announce that the winning entry of the Research Project #1 fiction was the submission by Kookimarissa Mimosa-Inahj!
I love the creativity with this story and I am so happy it ended up in first place because it exemplifies exactly what I intended the SRI to be, member-driven House level fiction. If I had been writing up each step of the SRIs fiction myself I wouldn't have considered having Shi killed but with Kooki’s story being the winning entry this is now SRI canon. Everything that follows now has to react to this story. Q and I have already been discussing what to do for the next phase and I think it jumps off of this result perfectly.
The SRI Tracking Sheet has been updated to reflect the results of the Research Project #1. Going into the next round, the moral standing of the SRI is officially Marginally Unprincipled. As defined on the SRI Systems wiki page: Members should take care to minimize all casualties, especially innocent casualties. While on a mission the member can aggressively defend itself if under duress but should not initiate combat. SRI officials will likely look the other way over members breaking property laws or misdemeanors.
As the morality of the organization shifts the fiction prompts will shift with it. If the SRI makes it to one end of the scale or the other I will do my best to make it very hard to justify that extreme level of morality on either side.
The next step will have me and Q updating the SRI-related wiki pages (RIP Kagu Shi) and developing the next round of competitions. The format will likely stay the same, four weekly competitions along with an event long fiction prompt. Our goal is to have everything set up and approved to begin the weekend after next.
This month brings the return of the member interview segments. The “twenty-four letter” wonder, Kookimarissia Mimosa-Inahj, has the spotlight on her for the month of March. I swear on the Force I had no idea that Kooki would also place first in the SRI fiction but I do love happy accidents! Plus, Kooki is just a wonderful person to spotlight so it makes me smile that this is such a Kooki-centric report.
Q1: How did you originally discover the Dark Jedi Brotherhood and why did you decide to join?
My husband in real life (Andrelious), has been a member of the Dark Jedi Brotherhood and the Emperor's Hammer for many years, even before we met so that was how I came to discover the existence of the fan club. However, I chose to join as I wanted to have a creative outlet and have activities to do when my then newborn (who is now 4 and a half) was awake feeding at night. And so I could see what all the fuss was about, and if it was worth all the hours he spent online. :P
Q2: What is the OOC story behind your character’s name?
I was literally going round the supermarket and was in the biscuits aisle and spotted my favourite cookies and the idea of changing 'Cookie' to 'Kooki'for my character's first name. Her last name 'Mimosa' came from a recipe for 'eggs mimosa' (devilled eggs) I came across by mistake.
Q3: Give us a one or two paragraph “elevator speech” on who your character is and what their motivations are.
So who is Kookimarissia Mimosa-Inahj?? The woman behind the twenty-four letter name is rather deep, symbolic and metaphoric. Everything she does or says is for a reason and often there can be more to even the simplest of things. For example, the silver star pendant around her neck- it appears to just be a necklace that she has had adjusted as she’s aged, however this family heirloom has a piece of Alderaanian rock (that her father mined for back on their home planet) studded into the centre of its exterior. Inside holds an engraving of ‘Mimosa’ and a family photo of herself on the lap of both her parents (taken before she left to Corellia before Alderaan was tragically destroyed.
Kooki is very self-driven and self-motivated. Her children are her absolute life and she would stop at nothing in order to protect and nurture them. She is very maternal, yet at the same time very insecure. Kooki is feisty and protective and assertive of her spouse, who is also very important to her. Deep down, she is still a little girl scared of losing those she loves. Infiltrating and disguising herself are her preferred choice of missions, as her childlike mannerisms mean she can cause mischief and deliver classic one-liners to people before destroying them.
Q4: Describe one event from your character’s past that defines who they are now.
Kooki has had her fair share of lifechanging moments, so it is hard to choose one to elaborate on. However, where it all started was on Alderaan. Her young and beloved mother placed a silver chain around her neck and with a heavy heart kissed her only daughter on the head for the final time. A space shuttle flew into hyperspace flying Kooki and a few school friends to Corellia for a trip. A couple of days later, her parents prepared to leave on a shuttle to join her, as her mother felt like she HAD to escape. However, the couple in front of her couldn’t locate their boarding pass, and they were late boarding. Once sat in their seat, a laser hit and within seconds Alderaan and everything on it was completely obliterated. This disaster was witnessed in the eyes of a six-year-old girl. Naturally so, this shaped Kooki and remains shaken by this event in her life.
Q5: What would be your character’s most prized possession?
Since her children and spouse don’t count as possessions, Kooki’s most prized possession would have to be the star shaped pendant on her necklace as explained above.
Q6: During your time in the Brotherhood, what has been your favorite event? (Vendettas, Feuds, intra-clan events, etc.)
I could be biased because I won the competition overall and got some custom robes as a result, but I really enjoyed participating in ‘May the Force Be With You’ in 2017.
Q7: Who is one member of Taldryan’s past that newer members should know about?
I think I would choose Howlader. He has been a member for over two decades, so will have lots of eclectic experience and a lot of time to develop his character. This panda fanatic could prove a good place to start for a newbie to learn about.
Q8: Out of all your awards, titles and positions which one are you the most proud of?
I am most proud of Kooki’s custom robes because I really enjoyed the competition I was awarded the robes for. Also, as they are quite the rarity within the Brotherhood, it just makes them even more special.
Q9: What traits do you think differentiate Taldryan and its members from the rest of the Dark Jedi Brotherhood?
Taldryan has always felt like a mini Brotherhood within itself. It has some of the longest serving members in the entire Brotherhood and they are traditional and true to their roots.
Q10: Magic wand time. If you could make one change to any aspect of the Dark Jedi Brotherhood what would it be?
One change… No elitism. Have families but not ranking any better than others.
Bonus: True or True: Is Mav the worst?
Hmm..... fal...tr…fal…TRUE!!! Mav IS the worst.
I just want to say again how happy I am with the first SRI Research Project. For those of you that didn’t submit a final fiction, don’t miss out in the next round! If there is any feedback you have on the first round please do not hesitate to reach out to me. I worked in customer service for 15 years and now work in HR, I have thick skin. I’d much rather you give me important feedback, even if it is negative, than continue marching forward down an incorrect path of some sort. Either Q or I will release another report when Research Project #2 is ready to roll. As a way to possibly encourage some of the non-Ektrosis Taldryanites over to our House, we will be opening up the next Research Project to the entire clan so you may have some additional competition when it comes to having your story push the SRI fiction forward another step.
Regards,
Justinios Drake
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Yaayyyyyyy!!!!! I absolutely LOVED writing the fiction. I even refused to go to sleep until I had finished it. I was living on more caffeine the next day.
Did I Yaaaayyyyy!!!!???