"In times of great stress or adversity, it’s always best to keep busy, to plow your anger and your energy into something bearded."

-- An Excerpt from the Bearded Tome: Chapter 11, Verse 14

So... is this thing still on? Apparently I have fallen into a black hole of being the worst Consul ever lately, and I haven't filed an actual official report on the site in a long ass time. Hell hath truly frozen over, and for that, I apologize profusely and can only state that I hope I'll be remedying the situation in the coming weeks. Since we have a lot to cover though, I'd best plunge right into it.

The Fictional Side of Things

The Inquisitorius

So, though it's been a very long time in the making, the Voice announced a couple weeks back that the DB's Fiction sided answer to the GMRG and SAS has finally gone live. No doubt many of you have already recieved your introductions into the society, and may even now participating in your first mission for the society.

There is a lot of great character development possibilities that go along with membership within the Inquisitorius, as was witnessed in the comments section of Evant's announcement, and I hope you'll all consider taking some time to figure out where you fit into it, or if you fit into it at all. Regardless of how your character may or may not feel about being the Iron Throne's James Bond (or Jason Bourne etc), the Inquisitorius society provides a great opportunity to spend some time working on the nuts and bolts of what makes your character unique.

ACC Venue Rewrites

Recently I was contacted by members of the Combat Master's team who are helping to rework and reimagine some existing venues currently in the ACC to bring them more in line with the current designs of the Centre. Taldryan was fortunate enough to have a few of its locales added to the ACC in the earliest days when it was relaunched. However, as with all things, the times they are a changing, and we need to do a few tweaks to the venues to make sure they stay standard.

Along those lines, we're going to need some volunteers to update the Taldryan Military Institute and the Massassi Temple Training Grounds. It's not a huge task, but if you're interested in lending a hand, shoot me and Howie an email.

Masters of our Fate followup

Well, the fictional updates that follow along with Masters are one of those things that got swallowed up in the ridiculous mess that my life has become, but to remind you where we ended off: Taldryan has been under cyber attack by a shadowy entity who we've been able to identify as a Corporate Sector based organization operating under the name of the Sphinxian Satellite Coporation. Though we have been able to secure our homeworld in the short term, intel collected by our agents who breached the data centers on a CSA planet have returned to us with the blueprints of a particularly deadly looking combat droid.

All is currently quiet on Karufr, but it is more likely than not, simply the calm before the storm...

The Pretty Side of Things

Non-Force User's Custom Items

With the recent addition of Loyalists and Mercenaries to the Brotherhood's ranks, there's been a need to update the arsenal of weapons which are made available to our membership. Along those lines the Herald and his team have been hard at work crafting new and lethal looking blades, guns and more. More particularly though, in keeping with the tradition of the best soldiers customizing their weapons to fit their needs (and mimicing the ability of higher ranked Force users to customize their lightsabers) the Herald's Office has released it's guidelines for constructing said customized weapons, and has implemented the forms necessary to requisition your new street cannon. Happy hunting!

The Amethyst Kukri

Recently one of Taldryan's members was honoured with an Amethyst Kukri in order to thank him for all of his hard work over the past year and a half. Since he joined us a couple months ago, Andrelious has been one of Taldryan's most active members, and it should come as no surprise that his record prior to joining us was no less impressive. Receiving such a prestigious award is not something that happens every day, and it should be celebrated when it does happen.

Congratulations again Andrelious, on your Amethyst Kukri!

Star Wars News & Info

• By the time of posting, Star Wars Rebels season two has already begun. I haven't had a chance to check it out yet, but I am hearing lots of amazing things are in store for us this season, and I personally can't wait to see it all!
• There's a lot of buzz around the web is that we'll be seeing a new trailer for Episode VII next Monday, as well as get some information on when we can pre-order our tickets for the opening.
• It also appears as though Episode VII will have a runtime of 136 minutes, and be rated PG13
• There was a lot of new publishing news at NYCC last week including the announcement of multiple new books in the Journey to the Force Awakens subseries, as well as a new comic starring Obiwan Kenobi and Jedi Padawan Anakin Skywalker.

The Gritty Side of Things

Battlefront Beta Reflections

Last weekend the internet played host to the open beta test of Star Wars Battlefront across all major platforms, and resoundingly the buzz about the game has been quite positive. While there's been some problems voiced about balance in the Hoth map that the developers have already said they are looking into, and cries from the hardcore shooter fans about the lack of everything that isn't a hardcore shooter... as well as even some freakouts about laser drop in our own channels... for me Battlefront was nothing short of a watershed experience.

I loved this game, fully and completely. Unsurprisingly, I'm a fanboy and the odds of me hating it were nearly a billion to one, but even with my old crappy computer chugging along, I found myself being mesmerized by this game's vistas, and sheer immersive quality.

The detractors are right in some respects... this is not the most detailed and hardcore of shooting games. Your customizations are limited and you are therefore held on a somewhat more level playing field with all of your opponents. The lack of heavy team support frameworks in the beta made team gaming kind of difficult; though I did love partner spawning, where it allows you to respawn right next to one of your friends. Ultimately, if you want the most realistic and engrossing fps you can get, you're going to find Battlefront lacking.

But for me... the sounds, the visuals, all of those things made this game amazing. You can hear Stormtrooper's armor clanking as they rush up a hill to attack you. The blaster sounds are right out of the movies, and the concussive WHUMP of the thermal imploder, or the crash of an orbital strike hitting the ground nearby... it was the gaming experience I have been waiting for since I watched the Empire Strikes back all those years ago.

I'm personally looking forward to playing this game a lot more in a month's time, and I hope some of you'll join me, and while I haven't entirely decided on whether of not I'll be forking out the cash for the season pass I definitely see Battlefront being a game that I whittle away what little free time I have left in.

Brotherhood Gaming News

In other DB Gaming News, there are a couple openings for the Magistrate positions within the Fist's Office at the moment. These positions will help the Fist in running the day to day operations of the office, such as approving gaming submissions as well as joining in on the discussion about CF/CE balancing, RoCs and running competitions throughout the entire Brotherhood. If you're passionate about gaming in the DB, this is a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor and work with the people who are responsible for making it all tick.

Also, for those of you who play Destiny, the Cluster of Earth values for the new Taken King expansion have been released.

We've also got a double dose of Gorefest coming up this month for everyone to participate in and get some extra gaming medals in!

The Competitive Side of Things

Taldryan Run Comps

• [Flash Gaming/Puzzles] Dozen of Games Taldryan: Round XI: Top Spinner Blitz: (2015-10-09 to 2015-10-16)
• [Other] Taldryan Consular Puzzle #6: (2015-10-14 to 2015-10-20)

DB Wide Comps

• [Fiction] Now's the time to strike! : (2015-10-05 to 2015-10-26)
• [Fiction] [INQ] All In A Day's Work: (2015-10-01 to 2015-10-31)
• [Fiction] [INQ] Deep Pockets: (2015-10-01 to 2015-10-31)
• [Fiction] Jinkies!: (2015-10-07 to 2015-11-02)
• [Fiction] Nightmares of Our Own Making: (2015-10-07 to 2015-11-02)
• [Graphics/Multimedia] Dark Brotherhood: The Gathering: (2015-09-17 to 2015-10-15)
• [Multiplayer Gaming] Star Conflict PvP: (2015-10-10 to 2015-10-17)
• [Multiplayer Gaming] GMRG Gorefest: September 2015: (2015-10-16 to 2015-10-18)
• [Multiplayer Gaming] Matchmaking for Glory #4: (2015-10-12 to 2015-10-18)
• [Multiplayer Gaming] Star Conflict PvP: (2015-10-18 to 2015-10-25)
• [Multiplayer Gaming] Diablo 3: Season 4 Greater Rift Ladder (Seasonal Characters): (2015-09-01 to 2015-10-31)
• [Multiplayer Gaming] Diablo 3: Season 4 Greater Rift Ladder (Non-Seasonal Characters): (2015-09-01 to 2015-10-31)
• [Multiplayer Gaming] GMRG Gorefest: October 2015: (2015-10-30 to 2015-11-01)
• [Other] Plagueis-Tarentum: Forged Alliances (Cooperative Event) (5 sub-competitions): (2015-10-12 to 2015-11-16)
• [Single-player Gaming] Mobile Monthly Gaming: Zombie Highway 2: (2015-10-05 to 2015-11-01)
• [Fiction] Antei Contract Bureau: Live! [2015] - Round II: (2015-10-01 to 2015-11-15)

Well folks, that's probably enough to be getting on with for the time being. Once again I want to apologize for the lack of reports lately. Life's been going through a bit of upheaval with a new promotion and therefore more responsibilities at work, and just the rigours of life, family and friends all at the same time. The remainder of my weekends until November are fully booked and I'll be lucky if I see my own bed for more than half the days from here till then, but after November hits everything should settle down just a bit. Hopefully I can take a bit of a breath and kick back into gear, but only time will tell.

In the meantime, thanks for putting up with me, and keep on kicking ass folks.