Introduction

Hello, students! Take that pencil out of your nose, the eraser out of your ear, and that classmate out of your mouth and pay attention!

I have a lot to cover this report–three new courses, one deleted course, staff changes, all sorts of stuff–so I won’t waste time here. Read on for detailed news or just skip to the bottom for the changelog.

News from the Academy

Before I start walking through the individual course updates, there have been a few changes to the SA staff. First, I’d like to thank Idris Adenn and Anshar Kahn Tarentae for their service to the Academy as docents. However, I’ve deprecated the Docent position. In Iddy’s case, this was pretty straightforward as we cut the only course he was teaching. In Anshar’s case, we’ve moved the Test of Wisdom directly under the Professor of Writing, Zentru’la.

Additionally, my Praetor, Qormus Aquila di Plagia, informed me this morning that he will be stepping down to focus on some real life issues. Qormus was kind enough to share his ideas and SA expertise with me when I came on board and it’s safe to say that both will be major influences on my term as HM, even if Qormus himself isn’t going to be as involved as he would’ve hoped. Thank you, Qormus, for setting me off on the right path.

Additionally, I want to ensure course authors and auditors are properly given credit for their work, while also making it transparent how current our course materials actually are. Going forward, all new and revised courses will have a date and author/revisor listed in the course description. Unfortunately, this will not be a retroactive change: one of the projects Ciara didn’t talk about much in public was an attempt to identify the authors of all of our courses, and it proved to be incredibly difficult.

Fundamentals

There are several projects ongoing, but the one that we’ve been pushing hardest on is revising the Brotherhood Fundamentals department. In addition to the Advancement Survey, which is its own thing, there are three course series aimed at new members: Essentials, which outlines how the club works, Competitions, which outlines what we do, and Comms, which outlines how we communicate.

When I came on as HM, one big update to Essentials was already on my desk waiting for approval:

Essentials 103: As you may remember, a little while back the Council removed the concept of Paths from our systems. That made our Essentials 103 course, Paths & Orders, a bit out of touch. Thanks to Zuza Lottson, a modernized replacement course went live last month. It covers both Orders and the Disciplines available for member characters. Although it’s a pretty substantial rewrite, I made the call to treat this as the same course rather than creating a new one and requiring members to retake it.

However, most of our attention has been focused on the Competitions series. These are some of the most important courses in the club because they cover how members can participate. The Gaming one was redone earlier this year and in great shape, but some of the others had some dated, incorrect information in them. The other thing that was a little weird to me was the title: Competitions. While it’s true that most Fiction and Graphics activity takes place under the competition framework, that was never entirely true of gaming, especially not now that we have the casual queue. And now we have roleplaying, which so far happens exclusively outside of competitions.

Activities 10X Series: So I’ve rebranded the series to a more accurate name. Activities 101: Fiction, 102: Gaming, and 103: Graphics have been updated. Wally and the Exarch staff have put together Activities 104: Roleplaying for us, and the newly renumbered Activities 105: Vendettas completes the set. Roleplaying is obviously new, but the others cover much of the same content as previous versions, so nobody will be required to retake the exams. If you don’t already have the Dark Pundit degree for this series, you will need to take the roleplaying exam to earn it, but people who already have the degree are unaffected.

Despite being arguably the most important courses in the SA catalog, Fundamentals courses haven’t been awarding Academic Credits (ACs) and thus haven’t let you advance through the society. Bubba and I discussed this and agreed that it was a bit of a rip-off, especially as most ACS ranks require degrees anyway, so going forward all courses in this department–except for the Advancement Survey, which pays people to take it–will award a single AC each. This should get new members into the early ranks of the ACS quicker, giving them some early credits and items.

Department of Combat & Warfare

As was previously announced, Idris and I agreed to remove the ACC Qualification from active service. On the SA side of things, I removed it as a prerequisite for two courses developed by the ACC staff way back when, Lightsaber Combat and Martial Arts: Forms Studies. Additionally, it’s no longer a requirement for the Tactics Savant degree–although you’re still required to complete five ACC matches, so it’s not much of a change.

As someone who graded 40 or so qual exams, I am a bit sad to see it go, but the reality is that it was out of sync with how the ACC has operated for the past year and where Idris plans to take it moving forward.

Jael raised the question of how members are supposed to wrap their heads around the ACC without the qualification course. ACC Combat Studies is still around as is the ACC Guide.

Department of Writing

Zen came to me early on with a plan to do a comprehensive revision of the entire department, something that I agree is sorely needed. I’m happy to unveil the first new course, Writing Studies. Those of you who took the previous course will not need or be able to retake the exam for this one, but the notes are accessible to everyone. Keep an eye out for more new and revised courses to come.

Department of Character Creation & Development

This is not strictly a Shadow Academy update, but Societies: GMRG and and Societies: Shroud Syndicate are no longer required to advance in the GRMG or SYN. Those courses are still available for members who want to learn about the in-character aspect of those societies for their roleplaying and fiction, but Turel, Rian, and I thought it was a bit silly to gatekeep rewards for our gamers and artists behind something that was neither gaming nor art. Societies: Inquisitorius and Societies: Aurora Collegium remain optional. Thanks to Rian and Turel for making their societies just a little bit easier for new members to dive into!

Member Spotlights

Dark Sage: Service: The Service degree series is awarded for, well, service to the Shadow Academy. I have awarded my predecessor, Ciara Tearnan Rothwell Tarentae, the Sage degree. Quite frankly, the only reason she didn’t already have it is because she was too humble to award it to herself. Ciara’s term on the SA staff lasted nearly four years, beginning as a Magistrate and Praetor and ending with over two years of service as our Headmistress. Her contributions have been documented in two Amethyst Kukris, a Sapphire Blade, and her promotion to Elder. Additionally, both she and Takota Okami have been awarded the Master of Dark Lore, a degree traditionally given to Headmasters.

Decathletes: Congratulations to Tuuka Vurr, Kenath Zoron Ad Vizsla, and Nora Olen for taking the top three places in October’s SA Decathlon! Additionally, a belated congratulations to Nicfer Luthol, TheBlackxRanger, and Centam Javik for taking the top three for all of last quarter! It warms my cold, death little heart to see a mixture of both new and established members tearing up the SA.

New and Returning Members

If you see these members around on Discord or elsewhere, please take a moment to say hi and introduce yourself!

Arcona:

• Cruel Nemeris
• Anaro

Naga Sadow:

• Vosiri Lightscrest
• Brandr Niljoir

Odan-Urr:

• vishal of unsa
• Revs
• Alicia

Plagueis:

• Hokomutos G'jigant
• Hevan Slavis

Scholae Palatinae:

• Kaine Roste
• Kaylesha Blackheart

Taldryan:

• Rai-Ho Daigua (formerly Justinios Drake)

Vizsla:

• Vaelor Bladesin
• Tuuka Vurr (formerly Shimura Keibatsu)
• N8imus

Closing Remarks

As always, if anyone sees any errors in the course notes or exam questions, please submit them through the form. And, of course, I am always available at [Log in to view e-mail addresses] or Archenksov#2230.

Academy Changelog

DARK SIDE DEGREES
Dark Pundit: Activities (DPAC)
- Renamed from Competitions (DPCP)
- Added Activities 104: Roleplaying as a requirement
Savant: Tactics
- Removed ACC Qualification as a requirement

DARK BROTHERHOOD FUNDAMENTALS
Essentials 101: History
- Academic Credit value increased to 1 from 0
Essentials 102: Societies
- Academic Credit value increased to 1 from 0
- Removed prerequisite so that members can take these in any order
Essentials 103: Orders & Disciplines
- Renamed from Essentials 103: Paths and Orders
- Major rewrite by Zuza Lottson to reflect the removal of Paths
- Added information on CS System Disciplines to replace Path-specific content
- Academic Credit value increased to 1 from 0
- Removed prerequisite so that members can take these in any order
Essentials 104: Ranks
- Academic Credit value increased to 1 from 0
- Removed prerequisite so that members can take these in any order
Essentials 105: Organization
- Academic Credit value increased to 1 from 0
- Removed prerequisite so that members can take these in any order
Essentials 106: Medals
- Academic Credit value increased to 1 from 0
- Removed prerequisite so that members can take these in any order
Essentials 107: Primer on Member Conduct
- Academic Credit value increased to 1 from 0
Comms 101: Website Navigation
- Academic Credit value increased to 1 from 0
Comms 102: Discord
- Academic Credit value increased to 1 from 0
103: DJBWiki (An Introduction)
- Academic Credit value increased to 1 from 0
Activities 101: Fiction
- Renamed from Competitions 101: Fiction
- Replaced outdated Telegram content to reflect the Discord migration
- Updated content on run-ons to reflect the model used in GJW XV
- Removed references to Discourse forums
- Removed references to ACC Qualification
- Academic Credit value increased to 1 from 0
Activities 102: 
- Renamed from Competitions 102: Gaming
- Academic Credit value increased to 1 from 0
Activities 103: Graphics
- Renamed from Competitions 103: Graphics
- Replaced outdated Telegram content to reflect the Discord migration
- Removed reference to the unused DJB DeviantArt group
- Removed some duplicate links
- Academic Credit value increased to 1 from 0
Activities 104: Roleplaying
- New course by Wally and the Exarch staff!
- Added to Dark Pundit: Activities
- Academic Credit value increased to 1 from 0
Activities 105: Vendettas
- Renamed from Competitions 104: Vendettas
- Replaced outdated Telegram content to reflect the Discord migration
- Updated Telegram DBGaming policies to reflect Discord-based matchmaking rules
- Updated art assets with content from GJW XV (previously from GJW XIII and RoS:M)
- Replaced references to old vendettas with references to the most recent GJW, RoS, and clan feud
- Academic Credit value increased to 1 from 0

DEPARTMENT OF WRITING
Writing Studies
- From-scratch rewrite of the notes and exam by Zen

DEPARTMENT OF COMBAT & WARFARE
ACC Qualification
- Course removed
Lightsaber Combat
- Removed prerequisite (ACC Qualification)
Martial Arts: Forms Studies
- Removed prerequisite (ACC Qualification)

Additional changes including de-Darking the Dark Council, replacing externally-hosted images with site assets, and changing the link Markdown to a format Arch doesn't hate.