Is This Thing On?

Hello yes, this is Arch. Greetings, Sunriders!

While 2021 seems not to be much different yet from 2020, I nevertheless hold out hope that the year will get better. That said, I don’t think long winded report introductions are going to be the deciding factor. So let’s get right down to it.

Upcoming Attractions

As those of you who’ve read Blade’s last report will know, we’ve got a feud coming later this year. However, there are two big events coming up between now and then and I want to give them both a little hyping.

Scars You Don't See

We will be presenting the first Sunrider event of 2021 on Friday the 15th. I’ll be teasing the event throughout the week but I wanted to take a moment to talk over some of the design considerations. First, this is obviously meant to be a practice run for the feud. The event will use a bin system so that folks who haven’t been around for a vendetta before can get used to it. Although obviously the stakes aren’t as high for a house event, I hope you will take this as an opportunity to get the rust off and practice for the big leagues.

When I spoke to members of the house early on in my QUA term, a few things jumped out. People really enjoyed the spread of competitions in the last chapter of Vatali Unsettled but wanted something in between the one-and-done peacekeeping events and the year and a half-long arc of VU. Most of all, people wanted to get to know their fellow members’ characters and to have their own characters in the spotlight. This first chapter of Scars You Don’t See is intended to deliver that while exploring some of the implications of last year’s events across the Kiast system.

This month we’ll be heading to Kaerls, home of the Okami Mandalorians and the only source of Kyber crystals in our region of space. The rebellion of the United Tribes spiraled out of control rapidly with the appearance of Arcturus, a former officer of the Vauzem Dominion. Although the Royal Guard knew several Dominion officers were still skulking about the system, they had no idea that one was a Force-user or that he had enough firepower to sack Voraskel Palace itself. They have no idea where he received his training or if there are more threats to come. And since every known Force-user in the Empire is in Odan-Urr, there’s only one place to start looking.

This is an event about deciding whom to trust. The person standing next to you could be your deadliest enemy. After all, how well do you really know your clanmates?

SARLACC and Write Club

The other main attraction is near and dear to me as a former Combat Master: the Shadow Academy Research Lab: ACC, or SARLACC. You can read some background information here and check out the rules here.

Several months back I created a small personal chat for getting ACC posts proofread and talking through strategy, called Write Club. I’ll be dusting that off and doing my best to ensure that every Odanite who’s interested in the ACC has the support of their clan behind them. Anyone in Sunrider or COU interested in participating should reach out to me for an invitation. And while you’re at it, you might want to check out the new Descriptive Writing course just released in the SA.

If you’re interested in participating, make sure you are ACC qualified by Friday.

News and Reviews

Activity and Recognition for December

Lots of excellent activity to report for last month, even though December was, as usual, a relatively slow month. I’d especially like to highlight that Agate reached the maximum rank in the graphics society, only the fifth person in club history to do so.

• Agate Gua’lara: Participated in 26(!) competitions, earned 27(!) crescents, 2 Clusters of Ice, 41(!) Clusters of Graphite, and 2 Clusters of Earth, completed 8 SA courses, earned Pundits in Communications and Competitions, ranked up to Inquisitorius VI and Syndicate XII.

• Elyon de Neverse: Participated in 15(!) comps, earned 8 crescents, 1 Cluster of Ice, 11 Clusters of Graphite, and ranked up to Syndicate VI.

• Jafits Skrumm: Participated in 14 comps, earned 15(!) crescents, 1 Legion of the Scholar, 19 Clusters of Graphite, 1 Pendant of Blood, 25 Clusters of Fire, and completed 1 SA course

• Gui Sol: Participated in 10 comps, earned 3 crescents, 2 Legions of the Scholar, 4 Clusters of Ice, 9 Clusters of Graphite, 2 Pendants of Blood, 30 Clusters of Fire, 28 Clusters of Earth, 1 Scroll of Indoctrination, completed 4 SA courses, earned Savants in Tactics and Writing and Philosophy, earned Mavens in Writing and Galactic History, and ranked up to Syndicate V, Inquisitorius VI, and Shadow Academy Society VIII.

• Tassk Adroc: Participated in 8 comps, earned 1 crescent, and 2 Legions of the Scholar.

• Len Iode: Participated in 6 competitions, earned 3 crescents, 2 Clusters of Ice, 3 Clusters of Graphite, and 3 Clusters of Fire.

• Revs: Participated in 6 competitions.

• Raziel: Participated in 5 competitions, earned 1 crescent, 3 Clusters of Graphite, 1 Legion of the Scholar, and ranked up to Syndicate IV.

• Zeon Blacktooth: Participated in 4 competitions, earned 2 crescents and 4 Clusters of Graphite.

• Celevon Werd'la: Participated in 3 competitions, earned 20 Clusters of Earth, completed 3 SA courses, and earned the Dark Pundit in Communications

• Ryan Hawkins: Participated in 2 competitions, and earned 3 crescents.

• Jon Silvon: Participated in 2 competitions and earned 3 Clusters of Ice.

• A'lora Kituri: Participated in 2 competitions.

• Takota Okami: Participated in 1 competition, ranked up to Syndicate IV.

• Yuki Suoh: Participated in 1 competition.

• Zanothi Nightblade: Participated in 1 competition.

Other Assorted Goings On

Here are a few comps to tide you over until the house event gets going.

Fiction

• Odan-Urr Comedy Series: That 3 AM Call: Revak’s got you picking one of the summit up from Yoda-knows-what in the wee hours of the morning. Ends Tuesday, so hop to it.

Art

• Miss/Ter Universe: has you depicting your character’s strut for the Space Miss Universe contest. This one runs all the way to February 6.

• Time Waits for No-one: asks you to depict your character at least one year into the future. Runs all the way to February 11.

Gaming

• January 2021 GMRG Competitions: You have three chances for glory this month, with dedicated comps for Jedi Academy, Battlefront II, and Destiny 2. See this note from the Fist about the Destiny 2 comp.

Misc

• I Thought This Was Speed Dating, Club-Wide and Sunrider-Only: Our Dear Leader is running Star Wars trivia on Telegram on Sundays. Watch Telegram and Discord for announcements on when the sessions will start and then come at me, scrubs.

• What I made / What the DB saw / What I played!: has you create a version of the RPG meme featuring your character. Runs January 13 through 20.

To close things kicked off, here’s an excellent new commission of everyone’s favorite Aedile.

Raziel by AngieTatsu

Hugs and kisses,
Arch

Alethia Archenksova
Quaestor, Sunrider