Brothers and Sisters,

It is my honor to come before you again - as your Quaestor - to address our current efforts and direction. We are nearing the midway point of December, but are experiencing our first run-in with competitions outside of our Clan in the past several months. Competitions at the Battle Team, House, and Clan levels are designed to help our members and their units grow. They build the identities of our units, give shape to our characters, and help our members improve their raw skills. Brotherhood-wide competitions measure that progress.

Have we built a House that will participate? Have we built our members up to be confident in their submissions? Have we built a war machine than can, and will, rally when they are called?

There are many reasons to participate: for your own personal growth & success, for the betterment of your Battle Team or House, and to continue the legacy that is Galeres. Find the reason that resonates within you. Use it to fuel your entries. As long as you are doing it for the right reasons and giving me your best effort, I will be satisfied with how we place in any DB-wide competition.

Episode VII: The Force Awakens

Lots of excitement as we near the release of Episode 7 in theaters! I personally got tickets for a Thursday 9PM showing at Universal Studios on Thursday, December 18th. I will be there in all my nerd-gasm glory. If you are not equally excited, I direct you to here for the latest trailer released in China: https://www.darkjedibrotherhood.com/news/star-wars-news-new-international-trailer-for-episode-vii

To keep up with all the press buzz that is on-going, you should see the most recent article from the Taldryan Consul (https://www.darkjedibrotherhood.com/news/star-wars-news-episode-vii-press-blitz-in-full-force). It outlines the press schedule and interviews for all of the main characters in the upcoming movie. I've watched several and they are short, entertaining and give the entire experience a far more intimate encounter; you will now have names, faces, and stories to go along with all these new heroes in Star Wars!

With all the new excitement, we ask that you get your family, friends, and complete strangers involved in the club. Our Recruitment Staff released an announcement (https://www.darkjedibrotherhood.com/news/djb-news-personalized-recruitment-links-are-now-live) for recruitment links. Generally, I recommend that when advertising to a group of unknowns (people in line at the movie, forums, gaming conventions, etc) that you leave recruitment open to the entire Brotherhood. If you are recruiting someone directly (close friend, family member, co-worker) then you should use your personal recruiter number. It's not that I don't want our unit to be strong, but that we should utilize all of the Brotherhood's resources and share the fun and excitement as a club.

The Message

Today, I will be sharing from John Wooden, as I have no way to say it better myself. Read these words carefully. They are about pressure and challenging one's self in the right way for the right reasons:

"Pressure is healthy. It can lead to improvement. Stress is unhealthy. It can lead to mistakes.

I wanted our team members to feel pressure so that their opponents would feel stress. I applied this pressure on the practice floor by creating a buzzing businesslike atmosphere that had an intensity and focus equal to an actual game.

I removed stress - the kind that comes from a fear of losing or an overeager appetite to win - by focusing exclusively on improvement and teaching the team that ongoing and maximum progress was the standards, our daily goal. I never mentioned winning or beating an upcoming opponent.

While there might be some incidents of levity during practice - and certainly I don't object to humor if done in an appropriate manner at a suitable moment - I expected nothing short of total effort and concentration in all ways on the practice floor.

Those under my supervision were not there just to loosen up and run through their paces. Not at all. They did that before I blew the whistle signifying that class was in session - that the pressure to improve was about to be applied."

We are here to improve ourselves. This club is about fulfilling your potential. Playing a few matches of Star Conflict puts you closer to a new GMRG Rank, which will put you closer to a merit medal or promotion. Writing a short story for Strands of Fate pushes you closer to discovering your character's identity before it can be transformed into an excellent Wiki article. All of these small things translate into much larger things. Uji and I are here to ensure you fulfill that potential and everything we work towards is for that goal.

<Starship Troopers>Join the fight!</Starship Troopers>

THE FIN

We are close to having a finalized document for the Ace Pilot Initiative created by your very own members within House Galeres. We expect it will be the first of our Legendary Units that honor our Clan's past while recognizing development of our newest members. Keep your eyes peeled for the release announcement in the coming weeks!

Do you hear that? It is the sound of war! Civil War! Nothing you can do can prevent the upcoming epic clashes within Arcona. Who will be the master of Dad jokes? Can the Ryn fight against his addictions? Is it really pop or soda? Soon, all will be answered!

Join the fun. E-mail your QUA and AED about being put to work, finding out what you need to do for your next promotion or medal, and how we can help you have fun!

I am, your servant,

Braecen Kaeth
Quaestor, House Galeres of Clan Arcona