A report wherein Muz smashes some house fiction in your face, details some parts of his plan where you can get involved, and talks a bit about the survey from last report. Promotional consideration provided by Whyren's Reserve Fine Corellian whiskey. Slurm and Whyren's, it's Highly Intoxicating!

Some of you may remember how I approached the Brotherhood storyline. I released fiction in my reports that coordinated over a long period of time, and the story would continue across all platforms. It worked fairly well for me. So, as we go about the fictional business of the House, it will be much the same. Ophelia and I (and DarkHawk!) will be writing toward this common goal, and there will be ample opportunities to get yourself involved, either as a guest author, or just having your character featured as we go.

But, rather than spam up the wordcount on my reports (which are often long enough as it is), i am just going to post the first couple of paragraphs here, and then link to a forum topic that will have the rest of the story (and will be a handy little reference for you to go and read up if you missed it later).

And heeeeere we goooooo...

Level Nine Beneath Kar Alabrek Tarthos

Ophelia leaned over the holographic display, watching the city bloom beneath her, patches of data coming in from the reports of the Warhost on patrol for the last few weeks. The pale violet laserlight of the terrain was peppered with brilliant red dots, the indicator of a reported incident. The limited warhost assigned to Kar Alabrek were supposed to be reinforcing the provincial police forces, but even with their bolstering, they were not able to keep up. It seemed that every day, another shuttle was leaving full of families trying to escape the troubles of Kar Alabrek.

Muz stared at the model, his eyes comparing the skyline, the city to what he remembered, it seemed a lifetime ago. The high-rises were rubble, some still standing like a jagged monument to when the city was the crown jewel of Tarthos. Ophelia looked at him, eyes trying to read into his reactions, his plans. He raised his eyes for a second, staring through her.

The door shut with a dull thump, the whine of the electromagentic seal engaging as DarkHawk entered, helm still riding his head, eyes obscured by high tech lenses. Muz nodded at him, stepping away from the coordinator, setting a hand on his shoulder and looking at the man before continuing, Ophelia breaking away and stepping with him. It was a long walk through the tunnels, winding beneath the old city like a serpent. They moved in silence, the chime of another report from the surface on her datapad interrupting every few moments. It was deplorable how the city had collapsed with the withdrawal of house forces. Crime was rampant, unchecked in most districts. There were entire neighborhoods that were basically falling into the ground, unrepaired after the bombardment. The governmental control of the hydroponic gardens and the shield generator had ceded to small companies, now grown fat and sprawling without anything to keep them in check. There were a few whole blocks that would freeze solid in the brutal Tarthos winters, abandoned when the residents couldn't pay for the shielding.

Do you want to read more? Click here for the official HMR fiction post! https://discourse.darkjedibrotherhood.com/t/house-marka-ragnos-official-fiction/1455

Last report, I asked everyone to go to fill out the survey at https://goo.gl/forms/3nkZaoXcmECikcVs1

So far, we had several responses (honestly, it's a bit low for the size of house that we are, so if you haven't done it yet, please go do so.) So, i am going to go over the majority responses so far.

the vast majority of responders said that 'Building up my fictional story' was the biggest goal for them. With the current 'restoration' project going on, there will be a LOT of available opportunities to get there. If you read the full fiction, you can probably already see where your character could be getting involved, and that is really just awesome.

Least important for many people was 'earning medals'. I am rather curious as to why that is less important for folks. In the old days it was understood that medals could delay promotions, but that hasn't been the case for a long time now. Matter of fact, medals actually help you get promoted in the long run. Plus, you get credits for possessions, and a shiuny bit for your dossier. But I can understand that it is not the goal, but a side effect of the goal. Which is good, because sometimes people get too caught up in the medal game and lose sight of the fun stuff.

As far as 'how much time do you have for db stuff', we had a pretty varied group of responses. Those of you who selected 'DB for Lyfe' will be getting emails in the next day or so, inviting you to do more stuff for the club according to your favored activity (on the survey, wooo!) if you signed your name (which i think everyone did, so cools). Those of you with less time will still have opportunities to leave your mark as we retake and rebuild Kar Alabrek, by way of comps and character development exercises.

The overwhelming response for 'favorite activity' was fiction, which i think speaks to our history as one of the strongest fiction-wise houses (and clans) in the brotherhood. That makes me super proud, to be honest. It is a legacy worth reclaiming, and building on. We have a lot of talent in the House right now, and I aim to use it for all of our benefits.

Least favorite activity was 'drama', closely followed by gfx. No worries there. I am done with drama, politics, and so forth. I had more than my share of it in the past, and my tolerance/taste for it has passed. I still do graphics from time to time, but I imagine I will be paying for some cool graphics to help out our wiki articles and so forth. (I am a bit of a purist when it comes to wikis, and i dislike reusing gfx from other sources for our own stuff).

Most folks were pretty happy with their DB experience so far, but there were a few people who fell in the meh category. I am making it my mission to change 'Meh' into 'happy'. It's the job, after all. ;)

Some comments that I wanted to post here and my responses to them.

"Like you had said, getting the House fiction fixed and back on track. And getting the House wiki pages up to date and finished. I do enjoy me some good fiction." -- So, if you hadn't already picked it up, I take the fictional stuff pretty serious. Our wiki stuff ties into that for easy reference, as well... but ultimately i feel that we can be doing the best job in the DB at our fictional background, and right now, it is a bit of a mess. That won't stay that way. I will say that I would ask that anyone who wants to be featured in the fiction should write up one of those 'Writing my character 101' documents that I popularized years ago (and there was a recentish competition about it that explains it a bit here: https://www.darkjedibrotherhood.com/competitions/10617 )

"I would love more fiction prompts that are keyed towards development instead of just a one-shot story. Long-arcing competitions that form an amalgamation of something to that effect." -- I have done these sorts of 'chapter' competitions in the past, and I will be bringing them back in a few days. They will follow your character through the retaking of Kar Alabrek and the rebuilding, and the summit (and I) will be reading them closely to see about canonizing it in our official stories as we go (provided you don't go crazy, haha). That way, you can get some sweet cameo time in the fictions and have your own work go for an actual story, not just a little episode/moment in time sort of thing. If that makes sense.

"Be more involved with everyone not just a selected few, I would be shocked to see or learn that not everyone has a agenda that they would like to achieve. Learn those agendas and layout specific plans tier by tier to assist in us folks reaching those goals (ed: snip for privacy). We need more mentorship not folks seeking masters, there are folks here that have the skills and qualities to make this place more, fun, stronger and formidable. Something I feel is not being tapped into and utilized." -- Not a softball comment, and I appreciate that. I like to say that I have an open door policy, and I do, but sometimes that isn't enough. I tend to use these sorts of surveys and the like to get people to open up, so i can sniff out problems before people bail. I ABSOLUTELY want to see all of you guys succeed in the DB. I have a vested interest in this clan and this house, and in all of you. Even if we haven't really talked at all, I still want to see you get enjoyment out of the club, be it by working toward promotion, by building a richer story for your character, or just making firneds to BS with on telegram when you have had a bad day. In the end, this is a pastime, and I want you all to have as much fan as you can. And yes, I am using this survey to find people to do things, mostly toward their own goals, but also toward my own goal of having a more badass house and clan. So yeah, don't hesitate to reach out to me or any other member of my summit. I promise, no judgement and an open ear.

"I want to see faces rekt." -- Say no more. I got you, fam. ;)

Shout out to Inyri Genovef who recently got promoted to Jedi Hunter and scored some cool ranks in the Inquisitorius. Excellent work, Inyri! I can't wait to see you destroy those Knight Trials.

Also, official report announcement that DarkHawk is in command of the Night Hawks now. The name suits. ;)

TL;DR?

• Kar Alabrek will be ours again! • you can still do survey https://goo.gl/forms/3nkZaoXcmECikcVs1
• Get involved! Email me!
• Inyri Genovef is JH
• DarkHawk is BTL of NightHawks

Otherwise, keep having fun out there, and let me know if I can help with anything.