Introduction

Welcome, everyone! April sees the return of our House Fued, the third in the "Ascending" series. This time it comes in the form of Ascending Conspiracy, as the clan begins to tear itself apart along sectional lines. Dread Lord Selika Roh and Wrath TuQ'aun Varick have come to loggerheads over Selika's increasingly paranoid behavior, and now the Clan is caught in the crossfire. Read on for more details of this impending event!

House Feud

Title Crawl

Mobus Combine, Landsdown Docks
Aliso, Aliso System — Plagueis Territory
43 ABY

"How may I help you, gentlebeings?" came the voice of the L-1 general service droid that welcomed all who entered the Mobus Combine.

Usually, the reflexive greeting of the droid would not have registered much with the patrons of the establishment and those selling their services within, but these were not normal times. The citizens of Aliso and those spacers passing through were on edge. Tales of the armored squads of soldiers stalking the streets at all hours, of sentients disappearing to who knows where were rampant. The droid's words were accompanied by the sound of plastoid armor plates clacking together, a sure sign that the Dread Guard had arrived. The denizens of the Mobus Combine shot their eyes, sensory organs, or photoreceptors toward the entryway, just in time to see a black-armored soldier knock the droid aside with his forearm.

"Where is Braxus Warton?" the lead soldier demanded, his overly filtered voice designed to be immediately unsettling.

Those present in the establishment looked at one another slowly, no one wanting to be the first to speak. The leader of the squad of soldiers motioned to one of his subordinates, the latter smoothly drawing his blaster rifle and discharging a bolt into the server droid's chest in one swift motion. The droid collapsed to the ground, its torso little more than a charred crater.

"Where is Braxus Warton," the soldier repeated. "I won't ask again."

The occupants, customers and employees alike, attempted to push themselves against the walls as much as they could while the squad leveled blaster rifles at each of them. A commotion was heard from behind one of the counters as a heavyset man of about 50 pushed his way forward.

"I'm Braxus Warton," he said, breathing heavily. It was apparent that he had hastened from his office in the basement.

The squad leader nodded, and two of his men stepped towards Braxus. "What is this about?" the owner of the Mobus Combine inquired politely.

His answer was a blow delivered to the side of his head by the butt of one of the soldier's rifles. The man dropped to his knees while the two soldiers restrained him. Once the stuncuffs were secured with his arms behind his back, the soldier that had struck him forcefully yanked a black bag down over his head and cinched the opening around his neck.

"Braxtus Warton, you are under arrest," the lead soldier recited, the hint of boredom evident even under the heavy distortion of the vocoder built into his helmet. "You are charged with sedition, immoral conduct, and spying for outside governments."

The soldiers dragged Warton to his feet and shuffled him out the way they had entered, the man's feet barely touching the ground the entire way. The soldier continued on with his recitation. "This establishment is now closed."

One of the other soldiers slapped a poster on the wall as the others forcefully ushered out the patrons and staff at the point of their guns. One of the staff members could just make out the text printed on the poster as she stole a glance on her way out.

"THIS ESTABLISHMENT IS CLOSED UNDER ORDERS OF INTERNAL SECURITY PENDING CHARGES OF SEDITION."

To Be Continued…

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Ascending Conspiracy

Ascending Conspiracy is a house versus house feud within Clan Plagueis. Each phase will see eight competitions released for everyone to participate in. At the end the house with the most points earned by its members will emerge victorious with all the bragging rights that go along with it!

PLOT PLEDGE

I call it an homage, others might call it shameless theft, but whatever you label it we've decided to appropriate the Plot Pledge™ from the Brotherhood's recently released Seasons™. Plagueis members participating in Ascending Conspiracy have the opportunity to make a pledge of their activity towards a desired fictional outcome, either throwing their support behind Selika or TuQ'uan. In this way, member participation will drive the fictional clan developments. Each and every competition participation counts towards a desired outcome. To vote please visit this form. Vote only once on the form. Your participation in the feud competitions will be how many times your vote is counted.

Competitions

Check out the events at the following links:

• Ascending Conspiracy container
• Ascending Conflict Phase I
• Ascending Conflict Phase II

Schedule

Our schedule is going to be a bit different this year, as we won't be running "weeks" and won't be starting new rounds on Mondays. Phase I will run from Saturday April 19th until Saturday April 26th, with Phase II running from Sunday April 27th through Sunday May 4th (That's right, we wrap everything up on Star Wars Day!). This ensures that each Phase will both start and end on a weekend, with the middle of the event straddling the 26/27 weekend. So you've got until Saturday (or, more accurately, Friday night at site reset) to get ready.

Scoring

Each individual will earn five points per event they participate in. Participation is defined as a valid submission for an event. Simply signing up for an event or uploading an unqualified submission will not count. You have to put in the effort in order to receive the reward. Participation will earn 5 points.

In addition to participation points, the top three individuals in each competition will earn placement modifier points. First place will earn 4 points, second place will earn 3 points, and third place will earn 2 points, and all other entries will earn 1 point. Events themselves will have placement point modifiers based on their perceived difficulty/level of effort required. For example: the modifier for fiction will be a factor of 3, the modifier for gaming/graphics/poetry will be a factor of 2, and the modifier for puzzle/trivia/flash events will be a factor of 1.

Grading formula: (Placement Score * Event Modifier) + Participation = Event Score

At the end of the competition, the individual scores for all three weeks will be added up, and the top three individuals will earn crescents for the overall competition. Ties on individual placement will be broken on total number of placements, followed by total firsts, total seconds, total thirds, and then total entries. Total scores for the members of both Houses will determine the victorious House.

Foreshadowing

Just a reminder to everyone that the second seasonal cycle will be kicking off right after our event concludes on May 5th. Round one offered some low-key fun, so I'm sure our second (and this time full) experience of the Seasonal System ™ will be just as good if not better. Also, it's a new year. Did somebody say Pro Bowl? It is lying in wait out there, so be sure you're looking ahead to later in 2025!

Recent Brotherhood News

Here is the news

• Regent Report - The one with more flexibility
• PulseFeed News Aggregator: Clan Updates #21 - The one with no jokes on April 1st.
• Wombat Master April Report - The one with jokes from April 1st.
• Exarch Update: RP Competitions - The one where RO's go meet ID Lines. IN DEATH!
• Parabellum Chapter 2 - The one where Selika gets a cameo?
• Season 1: Parabellum - Cycle 1 Results - The one with seasonal results if you missed it

In Closing

2025 is shaping up to be a very good year. We've got our first taste of Seasons under our belt, a House Feud about to kick off, and our next round of Seasons on the horizon. And once again I'm asking you for a feud entry. Let's get to it, Plagueis!