Brethren of Galeres,

The long winter comes to an end. We have hibernated our share and it is time to emerge from our peaceful, passive slumber to take our rightful place as the First House of the Brotherhood. I need each of you using this Leap Day to gather yourselves; focusing on what you want to achieve as a member and what goals you have set for your character. It is important to understand how those two elements - member & character - integrate into our daily lives. It is even more important to be able to differentiate the motives of those two distinct entities.

Characters

Often, our character's actions and experiences will mimic our own thoughts and feelings. It is easy to pour a bit of yourself into your Brotherhood character. It allows a natural connection between the two and - sometimes - you begin to think of that character as an extension of yourself; not a separate entity. I recently caught myself projecting my personal thoughts as Brandon into Braecen's responses in the Clan survey. When I was asked about my loyalty to the Brotherhood or Clan Arcona... my answer was rooted in personal belief.

We will spend a lot of the coming months working on Character Development. We have a very committed group of individuals - **Celahir, Zakath, Rhace, Tamashi (Kaiburr)* - working through a ton of source material. They are trying to breakdown the creation & development of characters in an engaging & dynamic way. They want to help you think outside of the box, explore new dimensions, and get the best grasp on your character possible. In addition, once our core material is established, we will be getting veteran members to host workshops for development of your Character Sheet, Character Wiki, and help you improve your writing/portrayal of your character (and others).

Members

This is where our House succeeds. Every leader, every Elder, and every veteran member cares about the fundamental wellbeing, success, and happiness of you. I am emotionally invested in your development, growth, and recognition. Sometimes too much; to the point where it hurts. Very easily, I can want for each of you more than you want for yourselves. If I could, I would not sleep until each of you were Elders with a war chest of merit medals and several sacrificial blades (use the pointy end!) of your own.

It is also important to understand that Characters can exist without Members. Even when you sit inactive or mildly active... your Character can be swept up into amazing adventures, chronicled in Clan history, and exist in this universe. Members - specifically active members - create the community and culture for other members. You must make a decision to be active, encourage others to be active, and suffer - just a little bit - from time to time to help other succeed.

Next Steps

With the recent appointment of Uji Tameike to Proconsul of the Shadow Clan, we had a gap in our House Summit. We received several applications from well qualified candidates, but there could only be one person appointed to the position. In the end, a former Consul of Arcona was selected to fill the position: Wuntila Arconae. And I want to personally thank everyone for the warm welcome he received when we announced him to the Clan.

He had some very focused criticism on how we currently operate our House with a plan of action to improve these gaps: communication, recognition, and fictional depth. We will give him another week to settle into his office (plenty of time to record his new Adele track) before we start badgering him to deliver on those promises. I strongly recommend that if you - as a member - want to be involved in the betterment of House Galeres... e-mail Wuntila and I.

The FIN

I am writing this report halfway through my 15 hour shift tonight. It does not have all the amazing graphics, but the message is strong: it is time to shake off the rust and get back into the swing of things. I implore any member ranked below Dark Jedi Knight to contact the Clan Roll Master, Kordath Bleu d'Tana, to receive guidance to make their next rank. If you are a Dark Jedi Knight, or higher, to reach out to your Quaestor and Aedile so we can get you involved. Not sure where to start? Do a competition. The ultimate measuring stick for us - as a House - is how many of you are active, participating, and consuming content within the Brotherhood!

I am, your servant,

Braecen Kaeth
Quaestor of Galeres