• Suspicion
• Showcase: Revak's Banner
• Between Light and Dark
• Roster
• Our New Home: Update
• Assurances: The Chamber of Justice
• Competition Corner
• TL;dr

Suspicion

Sector MS-4 Florrum

With a calm smile, Nathan watched as Korroth added the last stitch to a small gash on his arm. "Thank you," the teenage boy stated softly. The slender Pau'an nodded his acknowledgement as he continued to check Nathan for other injuries, finding none. "I'll have to be a little more careful about joining the front lines."

"It is better to leave fighting to the fighters," Korroth echoed as the boy hopped up from an examination table and turned to grab his shirt.

As he did so, an air of suspicion tickled at him. Nathan saw a root cellar, with a tall and slender woman leaning forward. Nathan turned back, glancing around the room carefully. They were in one of the medical tents the Disciples of Baas had set up to help handle the influx of wounded and natives, a result of the recent fighting with Clan Plagueis. The fighting had started to die down for the moment, but no one believed the lull would last long. Medical volunteers and the occasional Disciple had been shuffling about their business all day, tending to the needs of others; this tent was set aside for minor injuries, with only two or three staffers at any given time.

Glancing over the Pau'an, Nathan noted that he seemed tense. "Everything is ok, right?" Nathan asked as he opened his mind up to the Force. Korroth faked a smile and nodded.

"Yes, its just a scratch. I'll be tending to some of the others now." The woman appeared again, handing across a datapad.

"Well, thank you for the help," Nathan replied, offering a friendly hand. Korroth shook it. His light grip and a little sweat on his brow indicated he was a little nervous.

The woman appeared again, pinning him down with chilly and determined blue eyes. "The price of survival is constant vigilance." Releasing Korroth's hand, Nathan smiled back at him as he turned to leave. That was very odd, the boy thought to himself as he collected his shirt. He'd need to set some time aside to think through that encounter. He had not done that as much lately; with his increased exposure to alien lifeforms and cultures, he had felt much of his natural curiosity become sated. Still, there was always the potential of another fascinating conversation to be had the next day...

---

The Next Day

Sitting in her makeshift headquarters, Major Archenksova fixed Korroth with a piercing glare. "Are you sure?" she asked, her tone of voice making it clear that there could be no room for doubt.

"Absolutely. I saw it while I was examining his arm." She suppressed the urge to curse.

"Mako isn't available right now, but I'll speak with him as soon as he returns. Thank you, and continue to be vigilant." Korroth bowed and left, recognizing the dismissal when he heard it.

The Aedile of Satele Shan tried to reach Mako on her communicator anyway, but as she expected, there was no response. He was, no doubt, somewhere hostile. Her stern demeanour hardened further as she thought through Korroth's report. They would have to move very carefully.

---

The Night Before That

Calming himself, Nathan slowly relaxed his breathing. He'd be flying out to the front lines again in the morning, but for now, he was reflecting on his earlier conversation with the spindly Pau'an, Korroth. He seemed to tense up, to be suspicious, but did not seem to be a threat. Perhaps he was intimidated in some manner? Or was he just tired after a long day of double shifts? Breathing in deeply, the boy calmed himself from the day's events. A good night sleep would clear his head.

Opening his eyes and standing slowly, he climbed into the basic cot that served as his bed, being careful not to disturb the others in his tent. He pulled the blankets over him and settled down with his right arm lying across his chest and ever so briefly, the Inquisitor tattoo on his arm shimmered.

Showcase: Revak's Banner

Welcome to the first of my fortnightly reports (though it is a little late). We're in a break from the Feud, so I'll be using this report to touch on a few different topics.

I'd like to start this one off by showcasing the winning entry to the House Seal competition a couple of months ago, submitted by Revak.

Here is the original, fantastic image:

It does lose a lot of its appeal when shrunk to seal size, so I made the decision to keep it as a banner. I've been playing with it in my spare time, shrinking and enlarging, adding words and layers and all the Herald language stuff (minus the expertise; quite a bit of that time was also spent learning how to do those things myself lol).

Ultimately, however, I went with the simple addition of a few words you can see above. This graphic will usher in all of my reports, moving forward (though I may play with some more exotic fonts). Thank you again Revak, for such a stunning entry.

Between Light and Dark

We are currently in a rest phase of the Vendetta against Clan Plagueis. This rest phase stretches between 21 and 27 March, with the final phase set to begin on 28 March (Monday).

Let's talk about our successes in the Feud.

A lot of this will revolve around statistics, which I will go into shortly, but some straight talk first.

We began the Feud with a roster of 18 members. Of these 18, eleven people have contributed to our efforts in the Feud. This is awesome; I am very pleased to see so many of us stand up and do what they can, when they can, to help ensure our victory in the Feud.

The only event graded at the time of this writing is the Prologue puzzle, which was a clean sweep for our Clan, featuring first and second place going to members of our House. Congratulations to Tekk and Darro for figuring this one out so quickly. I believe I had the same idea they had, but much later on. And I picked Mygeeto; must have missed Florrum on the list of planets I was looking at.

A total of eleven Hothites submitted to the Prologue, from a roster of eighteen.

Phase I is still being graded at the time of this writing. In the first phase of the Feud, we bravely provided 21 submissions to the Clan's war efforts, spread across nine of our members. This averages to at least 2 submissions per participant, indicates that half of our roster participated in Phase I, and is an effort that I am very happy with. I hope to have some more victories for our hard work to talk about in next fortnight's report, providing the grading has been completed.

Now for the statistics. Remember that these are calculated using our starting roster size of eighteen.

In terms of Submissions vs Roster Size, we have contributed 32 submissions to the Clan's war efforts. Divided by our roster size, our participation ratio is 89%.

In terms of Active Members vs Roster Size, we have 11 warriors contributing to our Clan's entire war efforts, for 61% activity.

In terms of Submissions vs Active Members, we have contributed 32 submissions, and once spread out across our 11 active warriors, we contribute 2.91 submissions per contributor, out of a maximum of five submissions each. That is just shy of 3 per warrior.

In Phase I of the Vendetta, our Submissions vs Roster Size was 117%, and our Submissions vs Active Members ratio was 2.3 submissions per warrior.

These statistics give us a lot to be proud of at face value. They tell me that most of you are here and contributing, that those who contribute are more likely to do multiple events, and that most of those contributing have submitted to 3 or more events. This is an excellent effort, please give yourselves a round of applause!

Roster

However, these statistics are all centered on a critical flaw in our House: a roster size of eighteen members. This is not much bigger than some of the club's battleteams, and is below the average amount for House membership.

The statistical breakdown:

The average number of members per House is 30.46.

Out of all thirteen Houses, eight of them are below this average (close to two thirds, 61%).

We have the lowest population of any House in the club. The next House up is one third larger than we are.

When combined with our Feud participation, and the general banter I see in Telegram, we also have one of the closest-knit groups in the club. This does make me proud, and while there are many things about our House to be proud of, I will be setting my sights on recruitment and building for the future.

To this end, I'll be developing what Hoth offers and modifying our future fictional directions and content to ensure that what we provide is engaging, unique and satisfying. There are three projects in development at this stage, which we hope will not only keep you all satisfied enough to stay, attractive enough to bring in new members, and engaging enough to keep the old and new blood flowing.

Our New Home: Update

I've spent most of the past two weeks researching and designing three different planets to propose to the Clan Summit, for discussion, reconciliation with the overall system, and eventual approval for inclusion with the Clan's proposal.

I have taken a lot of brainstorming and feedback from everybody, and I thank you all for that. Fortunately, most of it is easy to incorporate into all three planet proposals.

I opened up the first main proposal for feedback from the Summit a few days ago, and will be adding the second planet to that document tomorrow. Our lovely Herald has been kind enough to provide me with plenty of feedback and insight into the Clan's overall system, and in addition to needing a lot more research than I originally thought, the second planet proposal will better incorporate the Clan's overall system and agenda. I now need to commit it all to paper and pitch it.

The third planet is more of a backup plan, so that we have something to run with if we run out of time. Doable in a day, but I wouldn't order it in a restaurant.

The concept for each planet is being designed to allow us to continue our tradition of "Hoth versus the wilderness". We have a (mostly) combat- or action-oriented roster, and one of the core elements that our planet needs to offer, is action. This is one of the core differences that I will be making to our House; this planet is not a placeholder, it is a home, it is an opportunity, and it is a challenge.

IF I can get my way, it will be gritty, it will be rough, and IF I can get my way, very little of it will be given to us on a silver platter. We will still have a safe zone to live in, but we will also have an agenda and challenges to overcome along the way. House Hoth has a proud tradition of standing against the wilderness, and dominating the frontiers of New Tython; I aim to continue that tradition on our new world.

However, be aware that the new planet must fit in with the Clan's overall system, which is very detailed and very confidential. I will state quite clearly: I may not be able to deliver what everyone wants, but I will fight tooth and nail, and I will ultimately make the best decision for the House's future.

Fortunately, most of the feedback I've received is easy to incorporate into almost any kind of planet; the overall concept is the main stumbling block, and there are always ways to work through that.

So, ultimately, good news. Our new planet is progressing well, and I am confident I can deliver this project within a very reasonable time frame.

Assurances: The Chamber of Justice

I'd like to briefly mention that on occasion, particularly during Vendettas, the Chamber of Justice will be asked to look into matters that someone feels is out of the ordinary. This happens fairly often, especially in the big events, and usually doesn't lead where people believe it will.

Many people do not react well to this, and it is very important to take a step back and speak with the Clan Summit. Most of what the Chamber does leads nowhere - but if someone mentions something, they are required to look into the matter, and while he comes across as very formal in his office, Jac is a very professional and respectable lawyer and hunter of buffalos.

Seriously though, rest assured that your Summit stands beside you, and will fight for you to the best of our abilities. Remember the number one rule of thumb: if it doesn't feel right, don't do it. This will cover you in most situations, and a quick chat with the Jac or your Summit can make all the difference. If something comes up that you feel is questionable, shoot your Summit a message and we'll talk it through.

Competition Corner

We are currently in a rest period for the Plagueis Vendetta, but for those who crave entertainment, in addition to regular gaming sessions conducted via the Clan Telegram channel there is also a wide selection of graphics, puzzle and fiction-related competitions.

Several of these will be ending some time this week; we are, after all, nearing the end of the month.

Make sure you bookmark https://www.darkjedibrotherhood.com/competitions to see everything that is on offer, and when all else fails, remember that I do run free-form fiction competitions each month. I have to thank Tekk and Darro for being strong supporters of these competitions, and I hope to see more entries over the coming months.

TL;dr

And of course, for those who don't have the time or inclination to read through everything, here is every part of this report summarized:

• I wrote stuff.
• Revak made a Banner. Not the Eric kind.
• Vendetta statistics and much applause!
• Now seeking: new members.
• New planet update.
• I really must go to Americaland and hunt buffalo with Jac some day. I love their wings.
• Competitions.
• This list.