"The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why do we stand here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty Sith! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me beard, or give me death!"

The Bearded Tome: Chapter 18, Verse 51

Headlines that you need to know

• Gathering Darkness Prologue Ends Soon
• Ektrosis Aedile Position Open for Applications
• New Shadow Academy Courses and Positions Open
• Fading Light ACC Round 3 Result Progressing
• GMRG Guardsman Positions Announced

Gathering Darkness: 3 Days Left!

The second event of Gathering Darkness is fast approaching a close. Our protagonist Cole Drayson was left off in dire straits, having to face off against One Sith agents before fleeing Corellia with his recently obtained intelligence on Taldryan. Flight Into Danger is your chance to tell the story of Drayson, and his exploits to escape the evil One Sith clutches.

You can sign up for the competition here and get more details. Entries are due at 2359 GMT on the 12th of July.

Ektrosis Aedile Positions Open

As we all should know by now, Ektrosis suffered a great loss recently with Quejo deciding that he needed to step down from the position of Aedile. Quejo was an able deputy to Halc, but sadly real life reared it's ugly responsibility filled head, and Quejo needed to step down. In recognition of his efforts, Quejo was recently honoured with a Grand Cross of the Dark Side. Well done Quejo.

As much as we hate to lose him, we must move on. Rian recently announced the opening of applications for the position of Aedile within House Ektrosis. For anyone looking to get their noses in the door of the leadership, you're not going to find a much more experienced teacher in the DB than Halc.

If anyone is unsure whether they want to apply or not... just remember one thing: impress us. All the details in the world are meaningless beyond that simple bit of advice. If you have ideas and drive, we can help you learn the skills. Just impress us, and you've got a great shot.

Read Rian's news post for the specific details and application dealine. I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone has to offer in their apps.

Shadow Academy Updates

The horrible sadist that is the Headmaster spent the week awarding a buttload of Scrolls of Foundation to his staff, and torturing your Proconsul about taking a test. It's been horrible.

Thankfully, to go along with his cruel and unusual treatment of yours truly, a lot of new stuff popped up in the SA this week. You can read the full details in his report and the new department announcement, but here are the highlights!

New Courses to Take!

• Leadership: Writing Proposals
• Leadership: Writing Reports
• Leadership: Rewarding Your Members

Positions Open Within the Shadow Academy!

• Professor of the Deparment of Communications
• Docent of Leadership Proposals

I'm sure there's some other stuff. But mostly it's Bubba being mean. Like a mean old meany.

Fading Light: ACC Results Trickling In

As some of you have noticed, the results for Round 3 of the Fading Light ACC Tournament have started to trickle in. Both Sarin and Mav are busy as all hell irl, and I know for a fact that Sarin is for some ungodly reason getting grading in while he's supposed to be enjoying Disneyland. So we appreciate his efforts in that regard anyways. Mav.. who knows what Mav is doing. But he's always off somewhere arguing for some lost cause.

Taldryan's doing really well so far this round, with Rathus, Zoron and Halcyon joining Jac and myself in the Round of 16. I think the only outstanding match we have left is Shad, so lets all wish him luck!

GMRG Fourth Echelon Results

For the first time, the new format for picking Guardsmen of the Dark Council has been activated. Picked from members of the DB who have distinguished themselves above all others and earned the rank of GMRG:X, 9 warriors rose to the top.

These 9 Warriors have now been selected to serve as the honour guard of the Dark Council for the next three months. Congrats to everyone, especially Taldryan's own Quejo for being chosen.

Competition Roundup

As usual, there are a lot of competitions going on in and around the DB at the moment. Check em out if you're looking for something to do!

Taldryan Competitions

• Strictly Business: Ends July 14th
• Hunt the Jedi #9: Ends July 15th
• Dark Side Adept Cult Leader Visits: Ends July 19th

DB Wide Competitions

• Blood and Glory, Round 1: Ends July 21st
• Such is Life: Ends July 31st
• GMRG July Gorefest: Runs July 18th to 20th
• Assault on the Shadow Academy: Ends August 5th
• DJB Fantasy Football League: 2014: Starts August 1st

That's it for this week folks. I hope you all had a great holiday last week.