Marcus is a member who has been extremely important to Naga Sadow's success over the past year, and especially in the past seven months since his previous elevation. During that time, he has served distinctly as the Clan's Rollmaster, while also serving as a Shadow Academy Professor and, more recently, as Praetor to the Headmaster. While performing both duties, he has also continued to be a steadily active member.

As Rollmaster, Marcus has continued to manage Sadow's Master/Student program, using a form to pair Students with Masters who are interested in similar activities in the club. He has adjusted and updated this form as time goes on, based on feedback. He has also kept up with our pairings and made sure that the masters routinely report in. This has ensured that everyone has properly kept up with their students and are helping them advance well. Marcus' efforts have helped seven students reach Knighthood (or the equivalent) over his time in the position since his last elevation.

Marcus has also brought more recognition to our Journeymen in a couple of ways. First, he has consistently given special recognition in his reports. He would choose a Journeyman who had done particularly well and give them a special callout in their own section. In addition, Marcus distinctly expanded Journeyman promotions from just a single rec to the Rollmaster, Master, and members of their House's Summit. He took the initiative to examine how this was working out in other Clans and brought it to Naga Sadow as a clear process, rather than just something like "hey let's do this." While these recs are not required, it was found that they had a positive impact on the members' excitement about getting promoted.

In addition to the above roles, Marcus has also been a key member of the Naga Sadow Summit and a great mediator in conflicts. He is always honest with his opinion, and is able to point out where something might not work or where it would work well. He has been able to mediate disputes and issues with members, and gives me the sense that he is really approachable to our membership. This has allowed a lot of things to be worked out before they could become much bigger issues. Finally, Marcus helps in ways that many others cannot, by quickly and efficiently producing spreadsheets, polls, and charts for the Clan. One case that exemplifies this is that we typically request Marcus write a poll and results sheet after each event we run, and he is able to quickly produce these.

On the general participation front, Marcus is no slouch. He's completed a total of 31 competitions, for which he has earned nine Crescents, including two Ruby, five Amethyst, and two Sapphire. He has also earned a Pendant of Blood, 80 Clusters of Fire, 9 of Ice, and 76 of Earth. He has also earned 16 Scrolls of Foundation for work on the Shadow Academy, and graded 312 courses, while passing eight courses and earning two degrees himself. He has also earned a Grand Cross, for many of the things mentioned above.

He has also organized or co-organized 15 competitions. Many of these are included in the event: "Operation: Firestorm." In this event, Marcus was one of the three main judges. He assisted in judging the 13 sub-competitions, especially proving helpful with the Run-Ons and Fictions. This included 37 entries of fiction work and 58,621 total words of fiction to read and judge. Marcus also helped plan the plot and coordinate the design of the entire event, which resulted in 20 participants, who made 92 total entries throughout all competitions.

Overall, it has been an amazing experience to have Marcus has Rollmaster of Naga Sadow, and filling his shoes will be difficult. I look forward to continuing to work with Marcus as a member as he moves on to focus his work on the Shadow Academy as Praetor.

Congratulations Marcus, on your promotion to Equite II!

Consul of Naga Sadow

(Now I really need to start watching my back…)

Epis Locke Sonjie, 2016-06-16 22:35:28 UTC

Hmm, what to say about my former Master…

Marcus is the kind of person who will push you past your limits to help you go above and beyond what you thought you were capable of. He can be tough,driving master, but he sees the potential a person has and tries to cultivate and bring it out to where they can see it and continue to thrive. When I first started, he was the first person to approach and work with me. Because of him, I have gone further in my training and leadership to become the Quaestor of Marka Ragnos. He is always willing to help and if you let him, he can show you what you are capable of and how to work through weak points. He's an awesome guy and I am pleased to see him get promoted. Congratulations on a well-deserved promotion you earned it!

Tasha'Vel Versea(QUA) of Marka Ragnos

Tasha'Vel Versea, 2016-06-08 20:23:00 UTC

Marcus has had a massive impact on Naga Sadow during his term as Rollmaster. He has been a major part of our summit push towards our current fictional development. He has assisted in running Clan events and has jumped at the chance to serve members outside of the Clan through the Shadow Academy, first as Professor of Core Studies and then Praetor. Locke speaks of Marcus' achievements and I speak about the man. Marcus is a driven individual who has given Locke and I major headaches in the past, as he is not a yes man. Marcus will argue and argue because he wants the best for the Clan and the Brotherhood. He ensures that we completely study the problem/issue/change and its effects before we do anything. I'm thankful that Marcus has spent the past few months as our Rollmaster. Our Journeymen have been well looked after by him and I'm sad to lose him. For his hard work, dedication to the Clan and Brotherhood, I'm pleased to see Marcus raised to the rank of Savant.

Congratulations, Marcus. I hate you with a passion that can only be matched by the blazing inferno of our sun. <333 You've made me proud, despite being super annoying. Go enjoy yourself and fiddle with your CS.

Proconsul of Naga Sadow

Professor Sanguinius Tsucyra Entar, 2016-06-08 22:36:01 UTC

I'm not sure it's possible to have a better Praetor than I do in Marcus, end of story. In the little less than a month since I hired him, he's almost single-handedly coded the notes and/or exams for the three new courses we've launched (with more very soon on the way), he's taken Ood's direction to finish the creation of the GDrive organizational structure we're using for course backups and creation, and begun the audit of his assigned courses. To say he dove in upon being hired is an absolute understatement.

Hiring Marcus as my Praetor was the best idea I've had so far in my short time on the job as Headmaster, and is likely to remain my best idea for quite some time. Our efforts to audit, organize, and modernize the Shadow Academy will succeed in a large part because of his efforts. I'm happy to add my voice to those calling for his promotion. Thank you, Marcus, for all you've done and continue to do... and congrats!

Adept Farrin Xies Tarentae, 2016-06-09 05:17:01 UTC

It's sad to see Marcus leave as Rollmaster, he has paired me with two very good apprentices, as well as numerous other members. His Master/Student program worked out very well and I believe he put a lot of work into finding suitable matches. I hope this promotion shows everyone's gratitude for your hard work these past several months.

Quaestor of Shar Dakhan

Morax Darkblade, 2016-06-09 12:54:47 UTC

Marcus is one of the Brotherhood's rising stars. When I hired him as CORE professor, he made an immediate and important impact on the Shadow Academy by rewriting the CORE courses to reflect the new Path/Order system. Solely on the strength of those five new CORE exams, Marcus came very close to leading the SA staff in exams graded by the end of my tenure as Headmaster. Along the way, he also continued to revise and edit his courses and exams, and to work with the Voice on modernizing the DJB Wiki Order pages -- experience that he also carried back to his CORE courses, further improving them.

I've now watched him enter the big leagues as Farrin's first praetor, and I am impressed. Without a doubt, Marcus, you have earned this promotion and more. Congratulations!

Lord Dacien Victae, 2016-06-09 14:43:52 UTC

Marcus has quite frankly been the best Rollmaster that I have yet seen in this Clan. He is on top of his duties, prompt, responds to requests and emails quickly, and genuinely cares about his charges. I wish we had ten of him. He is a model of service work, helping in the Shadow Academy as well as organizing many competitions. He has paired me with an Apprentice that fits well and that is one of his strengths- finding the right “fit”. I’m truly sad to see us lose him as Rollmaster but look forward to his work as Praetor. He leaves some very big boots to fill. You have more than earned this promotion, Marcus. Congratulations on achieving Equite III.

-Macron Goura Sadow, Consul Emeritus

Adept Macron Goura Sadow, 2016-06-11 12:24:29 UTC