It had been a long time since he had seen Aroi’hon.

The city had once been a bustling transport hub and economic powerhouse on Eldar. Set south and east of the Sabaku desert and the planetary capital, the city controlled one of the major trade routes into the desert and the sand-bound city that was the seat of Eldar’s government and power. As the saying went, all roads ran back to Shihon, and the seat of the Shogun.

Pashtal remembered just how it had looked when he had first seen it, back before the plague. The great open causeways and near-constant stream of mag-rail trains ferrying people and cargo alike. The city beyond, a rising expanse set against the forest-covered mountains, with greenery only broken by the foot paths and gondolas that led to the remote temples and shrines on the steep slope. The spires of the business district and shining windows of the apartments juxtaposed sharply with the agrarian swathes only a short mag-ride away. He could still remember the din of the streets, and the vibrant, happy multitude of lives that had once crowded within. It had been glorious. Beautiful.

Now it was dead.

His small engineering team was approaching the city from the remains of the southern highway: a long stretch of wheel-tracked dirt and mud that was only occasionally dotted with poorly-maintained pavement. Long-burnt wrecks dotted the road, building to a massive gridlock just outside the tight urban sprawl. The remnants of the viral carnage that had consumed the city, consumed the planet. A brisk, biting breeze washed over them as they marched on, muffling their subdued attempts at chatter. The other Keadean workers, normally politely talkative, were now notably silent. The rumors of other travelers passing through…

Pashtal gazed up at what had once been a jewel of the Shogunate, however minor. The skyscrapers were crumbling, overgrown with browning ivy, with various grasses and shrubs snaking up from cracks in the pavement. Windows and decorative colonnades were broken, the skyscrapers devoid of their once shining luster, skeletons of their former selves. The Death Walker plague had turned Aroi’hon into a silent tomb. The thousands that escaped had spread the plague into the far reaches of the Shogunate. The millions that were trapped had simply ripped themselves apart within the walls. Or, so the local rumors that survived told it. None of them had dared venture back.

Read the rest of the fiction here.

Table of Contents

1. Admin Notes
2. Event Calendar
3. News
4. Activity in the Last Two Months
5. Final Notes

Admin Notes

Leadership Changeover

We hope you enjoyed the brief fiction update to set us off for our Spooptober competition intended to be aligned with the House plot! Go explore a derelict Keadean city, or battle Viet Con-… er, Sardinian insurgents. Or ghosts! There’s a bit of open-ended room for both prompts. And what’s more, our fellow Arconans outside of Galeres are invited to participate! Send in the reinforcements and show us what you got!

This is the first iteration of what will likely be a series of smaller competitions versus the more standard event-based things we had previously. There will still be events, but this will allow us to move the House plot along in small ways while not being overwhelming. Especially important while we continue to find that sweet spot for RP with our disparate timezones.

There’s still the event calendar below for your expectation management, so reference that for your future competin’ needs.

Discord and Telegram

This is more a reiteration of last month’s report on the same topic. While the Brotherhood at large has officially moved to Discord as its primary chat platform, we will maintain the Galeres chat on Telegram to meet individual needs. This is currently only templated as a temporary measure and is subject to further scrutiny and possible change, likely to come around under the next administration.

Event Calendar

We’re still sketchy on what 2022 is gonna look like. For now, we still have a full three months’ worth of goods for your expectation management purposes.

• October: Here it is again! Go check it out!
• November: Break time before event stuff in December.
• December: Hey look, Sithmas and Life Day are back. And more Selenian gods!

News

Going to hit on just a few of the big news releases that came out recently.

• Here’s the latest Clan report from PCON AtyiRuka.
  
• HQD did their usual and made a report too! Go show them some love.
• The FIST talks a bit about casual gaming and what that means for the club at large.
  
• The Voice talks about un-grandfathering species in his report.

Activity in the Last Two Months

Note: the below stats only reflects Crescents, Clusters, and other Awards, and does not directly reflect participation.

Ood Bnar

• 2x Crescents with Amethyst Stars

Sera

• 2x Clusters of Ice

Kaled

• 11x Clusters of Ice

Vahrosa De

• 2x Crescents with Amethyst Stars
• 2x Clusters of Ice
• 6x Clusters of Graphite

Final Notes

As always, I can be reached by e-mail at [Log in to view e-mail addresses] or on Telegram with @QyreiaArronen (PM or through our group chats). You can find Sera at [Log in to view e-mail addresses] or @OrionR on Telegram. And if you’re bored, feel free to follow my meant-for-recruiting-but-still-fun in-character Twitter feed @TheRedQek!

Sincerely,