Beards are the beginning of wealth. Beards are the beginning of health. Beards are the beginning of spirituality. Searching and beards are where the miracle process all begins.

The Bearded Tome: Chapter 23, Verse 46

This week's except from the Bearded Tome teaches us how to get rich, get sexy, and get in touch with our spirits. Also how to make miracles: With beards. Try to think about that this week while you're off being awesome.

Headlines that you need to know!

• Fading Light Round 2 is Fast Approaching
• Star Conflict, the Dark Brotherhood and You
• Star Wars Around the Web
• Rollmaster's Corner
• Competition Roundup

Fading Light Round 2 is Fast Approaching

Well, in case you've been living under a rock, I'm going to once again try to impress upon you the fact that the next round of Fading Light is (maybe?) fast approaching. While the soft date we've been given by the DGM is in fact a soft date, the boyscouts have something with their whole "be prepared" motto. So until we know differently? I'm going to pretend that these things are going to happen Friday.

What does that mean for you? Obviously it means that you're going to need to go ahead and get yourself qualified for the ACC. My moles deep inside the ACC tell me that the Beta Stage of the development has progressed past the "will be ready soon" to "will be ready VERY soon." This may or may not have anything to do with the upcoming ACC Event in Fading Light, but I'm not going to bet against it.

Along with the ACC Fundamentals and ACC Qualification exams you're going to pass to in order to get qualified and be able to participate in the next round, you're also going to need an active character sheet. The audaciously handsome Combat Master recently released an announcement about the Character Sheet Approval Guidelines that should help make that process easier.

Star Conflict, the Dark Brotherhood and You

Big news from the Fist office this week, in that the DB is playtesting another game in order to be included as an official game. I haven't played the game yet, but according to steam Star Conflict is "an action-packed, massively multiplayer space simulation game that puts players in the role of elite pilots engaging in a widespread interplanetary skirmish. Three thousand years have passed since the first colonists left Earth. Now the galaxy is divided between the militant star empires and independent mercenary groups. "

I know some folks from Tal have jumped in on this already (hi Zoron!) and might be able to tell us a bit more. If I get time later in the week, I'll probably give it a go and see if it can live up to the glory that was X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter... but I doubt it.

Anyways, there is a competition going on that will net you 3rd level crescents as well as CFs. More than that though, if this tickles your fancy your feedback will help the Fist office determine the viability of this game as a recurring platform within the DB.

Mount up!

Star Wars Around the Web

The Headmaster is dead, Long live the Recruitment Tribune!. I mean, obviously Solari isn't dead, he's just changed job titles and gone to play with the lighties, but he and some other folks have been ramping up the amount of Star Wars news and awesomeness that shows up on the news page. One of the biggest things he's announced is a planning thread for any Dark Brotherhood members who might be attending Celebration Anaheim next year.

I've personally never been to a Star Wars con, but I'll admit they do tickle my nerd heart's fancy. If you're interested in attending, I'm sure Solari and the Recruitment team would love to hear from you!

Some other news out there for those of you with lil Sithlings running around the House, including the release of new kids books and some celebrations taking place on Star Wars Day at Disney Stores.

Rollmaster's Corner

Hello! I have returned from Seattle. It was delightful – and mountains are pretty. Also, the green areas of the Pacific Northwest are far more pleasant than the grey/brown vistas of central Alberta. Also beer is delicious, the underground tunnels of Seattle are super cool, and Boeing aircraft are very large, and the facility to make them even larger.

Now that I am back, Journeymen (and women!) as well as Masters, expect to get some pestering emails from me in the next few days. Hell, if you’re feeling fancy (to masters!), send me an email with a status update.

Journeymen progress

Here are some notable accomplishments of our clan's journeymen (and woman!) in the past week:

• Novice sir bru was promoted from Apprentice to Novice this week! Congratulations!

• Protector Kooks: Kooks was promoted to Protector a few days ago! Congratulations! Kooks also completed the Old Republic Advanced Shadow Academy course!

• Guardian Catmatui: Earned 22 Clusters of Fire!

• Jedi Hunter Retden: Earned a Crescent with Emerald Star for placing in Aiden Dru’s puzzle competition!

Competition Round Up

Taldryan Competitions

• Taldryan Gate Keeper Trials, April 2014 – Fight for the honour of being the commander of Taldryan’s Honour Guard!
• The Wardens Weekly Puzzle #4 – Another installment of Aiden Dru’s ongoing puzzle competitions!
• Ektrosis Report: Hunt the Jedi #5 – Halc has posted a report, that means another competition!
• Easter Sunday Funday! – It has been decided that Quaestor Kazmir is the Easter Bunny. Go write a funny story about it!

DB Wide Competitions

• Ice. In Summer. – An NHL Playoffs bracket (Go Habs!) hosted by our own DJK Zoron! Don’t you want to make history – Of course you do!
• Star Conflict – Valhavoc is hosting a Star Conflict, earn Clusters of Fire and crescents for placement!
• Caption that Doge #2 – There is a picture of Wally’s (of Arcona) dog. Give the image a caption
• The Most Dangerous Bounty Hunter Game – A fiction competition hosted by Plagueis’ Zednich Wolfram.
• Beat The Bounty Hunter....... – An upcoming competition hosted by the Brimstone – it starts April 7th!
• Rampaging Raiders – A Fist of the Brotherhood office sponsored Old Republic raiding competition!
• Monthly Mobile Gaming: Smash Hit – Another monthly installment of the Fist of the Brotherhood mobile gaming competitions.
• Diablo Monster Erradicator – A Fist of the Brotherhood sponsored competition - Kill as many hell spawn as you can by the end of the competition and you win the prize.
• Club Firsts: Diablo 3 Torment 6 DJB Group Malthael Kill – The first full group of DJB members to defeat Malthael (Act V End Game Boss) on Torment 6 Difficulty will all earn a Pendant of Blood.
• Club Firsts: Diablo 3 Torment 6 Solo Malthael Kill – A Pendant of Blood will be awarded to the first member to defeat Malthael (Act V End Game Boss) in a solo game on Torment 6 Difficulty in Diablo 3

Well, that's this week's report. I just wanted to end off with a hint toward some plans. I realize that the ACC may or may not be your favourite activity in the DB for some of you. Despite the fact that the Fading Light tournament will be entirely ACC based, the Summit is going to have you covered. We're currently planning a few supplementary competitions and events to run concurrently with the ACC tournament to make sure everyone can keep involved and happy and stuff :D

Also, congrats to Aidan Kincaid for progressing to the finals of the ACC Beta tournament.

That's it for this week. Take it easy folks!