Greetings all,

Welcome to my latest report. We’ve had a lot happen the last few months, and more is on the way. While I’ll let specific Councilors share some of their specific plans for the rest of the year, I wanted to touch on our events, an opening coming to the Dark Council, and ask all of you to share your thoughts on how to improve the Brotherhood.

Vendetta Updates

Our Vendetta prequel event, Tenixir Prison Break (and associated fiction), has recently finished. You'll hear more from us soon on results and concluding fictions. This event was meant to be a low-key chance to participate and shape aspects of the Brotherhood's story as we move towards the upcoming Great Jedi War. Our current plan is for the Great Jedi War to begin sometime between the end of May and start of June; you'll hear much more detailed plans from us soon regarding the Great Jedi War. The Great Jedi War will continue to develop our fictional universe, bring about some major changes to our Factions, and ideally set the stage for future Vendettas. As before, you will decide the fictional outcome of the War, and as before, your participation can earn you a place in the fiction. You’ll hear much, much more about the Great Jedi War in the coming weeks.

On the Clan front, you can check out the latest happenings in all clans via the latest Pulsefeed Aggregator - a quarterly feature to keep everyone updated with the on-goings of our Clans. Additionally, Plagueis and Vizsla successfully completed one of the first Feud's we've had in some time, their event A Fistful of Credits! We would really like to see more Feuds, particularly where units are willing to wager possessions. Feuds offer units a chance to test themselves against one another, and we encourage summits to reach out to Evant and myself if they are hoping to run a Feud after the Great Jedi War.

In order to help units with scoring and planning for major events, as well as make our Vendetta scoring system a bit easier to track, James has been discussing integrating some more scoring tools into the website for events. Additionally, the Dark Council will introduce documentation on the scoring system we use for Vendettas on the Wiki. Although we have provided a lot of information about this system in past news posts and emails to summits, we recognize the need to record this information some place a bit easier to access on the fly. This should make it easier for leaders to customize what we do for Vendettas in a way that is appropriate for competitions within, or between, units.

A New Headmaster is Needed

For nearly two years, Warlord Seraphol has been a key member of the Council and a stable hand in guiding the Shadow Academy. But recently, Seraphol has let us know that real life is taking more of his time, and he plans to step down at the end of this month. Seraphol will be missed on the Dark Council, and we will take the time to honor him when his tenure on the Dark Council comes to a close later this month. His decision and timing gives us ample opportunity to ensure a smooth transition in leadership at the end of the month, and give the new Councilor plenty of time to adjust prior to the Great Jedi War. As such, we are organizing the search for his replacement while he continues to lead the Shadow Academy.

To that end, we're now accepting applications for Headmaster. The primary responsibilities of the Headmaster are well-documented. We expect applicants to have significant Brotherhood leadership experience, but no minimum rank is necessary. Applications will be accepted for the next two weeks, closing on 4/26, and should be submitted to the Deputy Grand Master and myself (but see note regarding coding a bit later). Applicants should demonstrate a thorough understanding of the current Shadow Academy, its strengths, and its weaknesses. Additionally, we are open to radical proposals that could redefine the Shadow Academy or some of its roles in Brotherhood life; however, any applications proposing changes that may need coding must CC the Sensechal, James, for proper discussion.

A Call for Proposals

Not too long ago, change in the Brotherhood was driven by regular membership proposals, both big and small. Yet the last several years have seen a decline in proposals submitted by the general membership. While the Dark Council are the caretakers and developers of our core systems, the perspective members have from experiencing these systems is vital to improving - or in rare cases overhauling - those systems. Thus, it is often our members that drive the sparks of innovation in our club. We are happy with our major systems, but I wanted to specifically call members to submit proposals that can help make our Brotherhood a better place.

While I am particularly interested in proposals related to the New Member Experience (as in the first few ranks - the Novitiate Ranks), and how better to use our Factions to engage members, I will also review any proposal I receive - whether it is on areas as large as structural changes to our units, or as small as updating our documentation on a Wiki page, flushing out details of a Faction’s NPCs, etc. If you have found an area you think the Brotherhood can do better, now is your chance to be part of the positive change that has defined this club for decades. These proposals are aimed at the Brotherhood as a whole, and so specific things you would like done differently in your Clan should be directed towards your summits, instead.

So if you are one of the many members we have with ideas on how to make some aspect of our club better, here's how you proceed. Submit a proposal to myself, my Praetor, the Deputy Grand Master, and the Sensechal. Proposals should identify a problem, present data of some kind/description of the problem in depth, and propose a solution or a plan of action that will identify a solution (e.g. through gathering additional data or the like). Proposals will receive some discussion with relevant stakeholders, and feedback will be given. Authors may be asked to revise and resubmit proposals prior to acceptance. If a proposal is accepted, we will work with proposal authors and appropriate other members to implement whatever solution is identified.

Members unfamiliar with proposal submission should check out the Shadow Academy course and documentation on proposals, and two examples of good proposals include the ACC Coach’s Corner proposal and DJB Art Society Proposal. Good proposals, whether they are implemented or not, will be acknowledged appropriately depending on the member (e.g. contributing a recommendation to an award, or a dossier note for future usage). Some proposals may require more than one person - you can work as a team to write up the proposal, or we can work to put one together if your proposal was given a go-ahead. Proposals on our major fiction, graphics, and gaming systems are acceptable, but in such instances, the proposal will be run by the appropriate Tribune/Dark Councilor's office prior to any kind of go-ahead. As these offices have some of their own plans to adjust their systems, it may be wise to consult directly with a particular Dark Councilor before submitting a proposal regarding one of their systems.

A few final thoughts

All of us are no doubt impacted in one form or another by the global pandemic. Among the Consuls, Councilors, and members I have spoken to, many are caring for sick loved ones, doing double-duty teaching from home while working, or sick themselves. It is a chaotic time, and all of our normal routines have changed tremendously. I appreciate the patience all of you are showing to one another, and the leaders that run our club. If I have misplaced a request or have not answered one of your emails - just give the email a bump. Finally, some of our members have created a list of resources for the pandemic on our Discourse. A special thanks for Atty for creating the thread.

Look for more soon from me and the rest of the Dark Council. Stay safe and healthy all,

Telaris "Mav" Cantor

Grand Master