...State of the Union / State of the Unit

(didyouseewhatididthere :D)

Before I get started, for those of you who have been living under a rock, Grand Master Muz Ashen has stepped down as Grand Master after a full 6 year term. I don't think words are truly enough to thank Muz for everything he's given and done for the Brotherhood. Most of you have no idea, and never will. And that's ok, because leaders like Muz do things that we can't maybe track or understand on a daily basis. That is their burden, and Muz has carried it longer than anyone currently in the DB. Consistency is hard, but Muz has shown why he is one of the greatest leaders this club has ever known.

You can view is great, final report here, and leave comments to show your appreciation and support.

State of the Clan: Clan Address

Greetings all. There has been a lot going on in the Brotherhood, and there will be even more in the days to come. I am going to touch on these things in order.

In this address you will find the following.

• Leadership Changes/Opportunities
  
• Post-Victory Talk
  
• Statistics
  
• The future
  

Leadership Changes

House Galeres

As most of you now know, Cethgus has stepped down from his long-tenured position as Quaestor of House Galeres. I just wanted to take a moment to again thank him for everything he’s done, and is giving up, for the sake of the Brotherhood. Clan Naga Sadow gains one of the most reliable, steadfast, and experienced leaders in the club, as well as one of its most active competitors.

Good luck, Stu. We will miss you.

In the large vacuum left by the departure of Cethgus, House Galeres will be in need of new leadership. For reasons I’ll expand upon in the next section, we will be opening both Quaestor and Aedile of House Galeres for applications.

QUAESTOR Applicants should have:

• A concrete plan of action and ideas for the House moving forward.
• Past leadership in the Brotherhood and notable achievements.
• Leadership experience outside of the club or in real life that may be relevant.
• ~ >12 Hour email turn-around.
• Strong IRC presence.
• Rank of at least Dark Jedi Knight. (Never a real hard truth, but something we strongly look at in terms of experience/time in the DB.)
• Ideas for the fictional expansion/tweaking of House Galeres role within Clan Arcona
• 30/60/90 is not required.
• Answer the Question: “Why do I want to be Quaestor of House Galeres?”

Typical Quaestor duties include:

• Writing and Publishing Monthly House Reports
• Tracking and being conscious of members’ activity and taking responsibility for keeping track of when they are due for medals or promotions.
• Headlining the writing of lead and/or supporting recommendations for medals and promotions.
• Maintain a working knowledge of the members of your House.
• Oversee the development and direction of House Battle Teams.
• Communication with the rest of the Summit, including sister-House leaders and Clan Rollmaster.

AEDILE Applicants should have:

• A concrete plan of action and ideas for the House moving forward.
• Past leadership in the Brotherhood and notable achievements.
• Leadership experience outside of the club or in real life that may be relevant.
• ~ >24 Hour email turn-around.
• IRC presence.
• Rank of at least Jedi Hunter. (Never a real hard truth, but something we strongly look at in terms of experience/time in the DB.)
• Answer the Question: “Why do I want to be an Aedile?”

Typical Aedile duties include:

• Assisting your Quaestor with the monthly reports.
• Assist with being conscious of members’ activity and responsible for keeping track of when they are due a medal or promotion.
• Assisting with the writing of supporting recommendations for medals and promotions.
• Maintain a working knowledge of the members of your House.
• Being prepared to step up into the role of Quaestor should the Quaestor need to step away for a short period of time.

For more information, please see the Arcona Leadership Guidelines for Clan Arcona.

Please have your applications in by Thursday, 2/26/2015 @ 11:59AM EST

Please send all applications to [Log in to view e-mail addresses], [Log in to view e-mail addresses], and [Log in to view e-mail addresses]. (Failure to include the three of us is in your application is probably not the best way to score brownie points).

Clan Arcona

”It’s too late / my time has come”

I don’t know who knows or does not know at this point anymore, but for anyone who’s spoken with me over the past few months or taken the time to inquire, I’ve been planning on stepping down from Consul following the conclusion of the Great Jedi War.

I have had the honor of leading Clan Arcona as a Battleteam Leader, Quaestor, Proconsul, and Consul for the last 4 years. Every day has been a blessing, as it’s helped me build not just a Clan, but a family and community of friends. We all have different backgrounds, all have different opinions, but find ways to offset one another and I honestly don’t know how my life would be without all the time I’ve spent with you guys.

I have more to say, but as this is not the reason we are here today, I must move on to more pressing details.

Shadow Lord is a coveted title in Arcona. Many think they are worthy of it, but few truly understand the weight and responsibility that comes with it. And there is more to the position than just a fancy title, larger office, and billowy robes. The Consul of Arcona is the pinnacle of leadership. And Arcona sports a legacy of leaders who have all left their marks on Arcona in various ways. My replacement is no different, and has already drawn the outline for what I know will be a great reign.

In these times of peace, the focus for Arcona will be solidifying our foundations and expanding on the fictional aspects of the Clan that have been brushed aside for “later” because of the War. It is a time to train, a time to hone, and most importantly to have fun, create, and grow as members, friends, and leaders. For these times, a certain kind of leader is needed.

That leader is Atyiru.

“Atty” has been in leadership within Arcona since she was a Jedi Hunter. She rose from Battleteam Sergeant to Aedile in the blink of an eye, and wormed her way into the Summit’s trust before any of us really knew what to make of her. She has earned a reputation as a fierce competitor throughout the years of warfare and conflict we’ve had, while injecting a constant aura of positive energy and exuberance. A lot of people write her off because of her friendly, outgoing, and empathic nature, until she’s right in your face calling you out and not backing down from something she believes in. She has a working relationship with the current Dark Council members--the true cornerstone of the position--as well as the various leaders in other Houses.

She is a friend to most of you. You know her, have worked with her, have fought with her. I know that you will all give her the same respect you have shown me.

Legorii will be staying on as Proconsul to help Atyiru settle into the office. Once settled, Atyiru will look into selecting her next Proconsul to help guide the future of Arcona’s next generation.

Since there is no real rush to make moves on the Roster, Atyiru will serve as acting Quaestor of House Galeres, and I will remain in my seat as Consul. Expect the full switch to happen once both Quaestor and Aedile spots are filled in House Galeres. This decision has been approved by Deputy Grand Master Pravus, as we currently have no standing GM.

Thank you all for your support over the years. I will speak a little bit more on this in my final Clan Report coming up that will include fictional updates for Arcona, some more lighthearted fun things, and one other surprise for everyone.

But again, this is not about me. It’s about each of you. So, onwards we push;

Arcona Invicta.

Awards

Medals (To Date)

The following members received the first wave of merit medals for their efforts leading up to and during the Great Jedi War.

Name	Award
Nadrin Erinos Arconae	Steel Cross
Arcia Cortel	Steel Cross
Ernordeth Puer-Irae	Steel Cross
Kordath Bleu d’Tana	Steel Cross
Kookimarissia Mimosa-Inahj	Steel Cross
Saskia Ortega	Anteian Cross
Nicolai "Rod" Rodell	Anteian Cross
Marrek Gunstinson	Dark Cross
Nobilus	Dark Cross

Promotions

The Three Amigos (Or Equites...Dammit I had something for this)

These three members have shown why they are part of the future of Arcona as they’ve taken their respective steps up the ranks of the Equite Ladder.

• Mako Henymory - Promotion to Krath Archpriest

• Achilleus - Promotion to Sith Warrior

• Rrogon Skar - Promotion to Obelisk Templar

Congratulations to all three of you!

Dark Jedi Knight: Xephia!

Of all the things that have been going on the past few weeks; the stress the emotions, the varying dramas. This just makes me smile. Endlessly.

• Xephia- Promoted to Dark Jedi Knight!

Congrats, Miya <3

Battlefield Promotion

• K’tana to Krath Priestest

For those that were curious, each unit during Great Jedi War XI was given the opportunity to nominate one member of their unit for a unique Battlefield Promotion.

K’tana was one of a handful of members, let alone Arconans, that went 11/11 for participation. She has been active anytime we’ve had a conflict, but due to real life situations has never been able to be here consistently. In this scenario, the Summit got together and looked over options. We looked over who would be getting what after the war, and who could use that little extra boost to really tip them over the edge and get them something special.

Contrary to popular belief, or events in the past, BFPs are not meant to skip a rank. They are simply meant to help reward a member going above and beyond in the instance of a major Brotherhood-wide conflict.

Kat was the unanimous conses of the entire Upper Summit (Rollmaster, Aediles, Quaestors, PCON). So, again, congratulations Kat on your Battlefield Promotion!

Please also note that there are still some more medals to come! The Summit is working diligently.

The Heros of War

A hero of war/
Yeah that's what I'll be/
And when I come home/
They'll be damn proud of me/
I'll carry this flag/
To the grave if I must/
Cause it's a flag that I love/
And a flag that I trust/

I wanted to take a moment to highlight the Arconan Heros of GJWXI. A Hero of War, in Arcona, is someone who competed in at least 1 event over the course of the GJW. Those members are as follows:

Members in yellow competed in all 11 events. Members in silver competed in 10/11, and bronze represents every other member who did at least 1 event. Every single one of you is a part of this victory. Every single one of you made a difference, in that final score, and in sending a message.

Your efforts will show through your merits and awards, and also in the soon-to-be-updated Shadesworn rankings. Thank you everyone who was part of this milestone achievement for Arcona.

Let’s take a quick look at the message we sent, through the wonderful medium of numbers.

Fun With Numbers (it hurt to type that)

With all of that out of the way, let me touch on some quick feel-good statistics, compliments of my Proconsul, Legorii.

Arcona lead the Brotherhood in Unique Participants (42) and Total Submissions (273).

Just to add perspective, the next closest unit for Total Submissions was HSP with 176. Yes, we had 100 more submissions than the next unit!

42 unique submissions (42 members doing at least 1 event), is more members than Tarentum and Naga Sadow, and Plagueis have on their active rosters (and 1 point away, subsequently from Tal/Scholaes 43 man rosters).

Just...let that sink in for a second. You guys are awesome, and these numbers mean more to me than the actual victory, or how many novae you won. Thank you for making this happen!

[Edit: We got 3rd actually in Unique Ration. #reasonswallyhatesmath. However, keep in mind that our total roster size of 66 is the largest of any Clan by at least 10 members. (Thank you Xen!)]

10 Arconans went 11/11 for a full 100% participation.

21 members of the Dark Jedi Brotherhood went 11/11. This means that Arconans accounted for almost *half the number of members that fully participated in the Dark Crusade.*

25 Arconans placed in GJW XI. 18 placed multiple times.

10 Arconans combined to win 14 total Novae.

Arconans won 3 of the 8 individual events, plus 1 of the 3 team events.

Duh, Winning.

The Path Forward

Well, we did it guys. We’re here. We won. And now it’s over.

For some, it is time to lay down arms, and take a well deserved rest. For others, it is a time to step forward, step up, and take control. We enter into a stretch of rare peace that we have not truly seen in over two years. In this time, I hope to see the following things continued as pillars of Clan Arcona. I will let Legorii say a few things here to close up.

Community

If there is one single thing that we, as leaders, point to when asked about our success -- which has now been sustained since 2009, with our third straight Great Jedi War victory -- we always point towards our incredible culture and community. We have each other’s backs. We know each other’s names. We hang out on IRC, WhatsApp, Google Hangouts and talk about anything and everything. We welcome new members with open arms, support each other, push each other to be better.

There’s something beautiful about that. That’s why we’ve remained the Brotherhood’s largest unit for years, without having to rely too heavily on organized recruitment. When you have a community that is as vibrant, friendly, and fun as ours, people notice. They want to be a part of it themselves. They bring their friends and family in, because they know that we have the kind of atmosphere that encourages those kinds of relationships.

We come together for one another, not for the promise of medals or promotions, but for the opportunity to team up with our friends, to fight shoulder-to-shoulder, and to have a hell of a lot of fun.

Tradition

Our community and our culture is what sustains us. There aren’t many of us around to remember it, but in the weeks leading up to Great Jedi War IX, back in 2009, the Taldryan Times projected that Arcona would come last in the upcoming war, and it called us a bunch of divas and essentially alleged that we were insular and locked into our losing ways. We set out to prove them wrong, and we did so by changing our culture and our Clan’s narrative.

We won that war, and we’ve won every war since then. Arcona has become synonymous with competitive excellence. We took a small core of excellent leaders, writers, and gamers and used them as the seed from which we would grow into a powerhouse. Today, and tomorrow, Arcona is bigger than any one person. We lose tons and tons of members every year to other Clans in need of leaders, and while we’re always sad to see them go, we’re overjoyed to know that the men and women who we’ve groomed and supported are ready to play in the big leagues.

Don’t lose sight of who we are. We’re a Clan that wins a lot, yes, but that’s not really who we are. We’re a big semi-functional family, constantly adding and losing new members, but never losing touch with our ideals. As long as we remain true to ourselves, committed to having fun and supporting one another unequivocally and without prejudice, we will continue to succeed.

Progress

Don’t ever stop improving, Arcona. Don’t ever stop pushing the envelope, reaching for more, aspiring to be better. Innovate. We owe much of our success to our ability to dream big and implement our ideas, popularizing things like WhatsApp, the Arconan Contract Bureau, and various other tools that have contributed to our effectiveness. We are the First Clan, the standard-bearer of the Brotherhood -- let’s live up to that responsibility by leading the charge into the future and adapting to an ever-changing world.

-- Proconsul Legorii

Closing Thoughts

Leaders, members, friends, and family. Thank you again, Arconans, for everything you do, day in and day out.

Change is coming. Keep your eyes on the DB mainpage and your inboxes ;).