Our Elders are those among us whose contributions and attitude are so exceptional that they inspire a dedication and appreciation for the Brotherhood in all of us. They make wide-ranging and variable contributions, but they are always members whose names are instantly recognizable. And our outgoing Fist, Kalan Amak, aka Dracaryis, is one such members. He has served on the Dark Council for a total of nearly three years. In that time, Drac has seen Grand Masters and Deputy Grand Masters come and go; but he has remained constant. Drac stepped into his position as Fist under tumultuous circumstances - not once, but twice. In both cases, Drac brought us much needed stability and transparency. More than that, Drac manned one of our most thankless Dark Council offices as the steward of our gaming systems.

Throughout his time as Fist, Drac strived to bring clarity to our gaming policies and procedures. He earned numerous accolades during his career, including an Emerald Dagger most recently. As Fist, Drac brought endless activities to our members, organizing or co-organizing hundreds of competitions over his career (including more than seventy such competitions since his last promotion!) Drac was a valuable and objective advisor, offering useful feedback and being an ever-present voice in discussions. And, as all good leaders must recognize, Drac knew when he needed a break - and so in June of 2019, Drac stepped down. However, he returned as Praetor to the Grand Master, where he remained a valuable advisor to the Grand Master and Deputy Grand Master.

When Drac stepped down from Fist, his activity did not cease - it just shifted in focus. As a member of Clan Vizsla, he helped our Third Clan take its place in the Great Jedi War through personal activity and commitment. Drac participated in another two dozen competitions beyond those in the War, helping to drive Vizsla’s initial activity surge and maintain it throughout the War. He was one of only a small handful of members to complete all the competitions in the War, and he earned three Novae during the event.

But most importantly, when the Brotherhood needed him most, Drac put aside retirement to take up the mantle of Fist once more. As the Great Jedi War concluded, numerous irregularities were found in gaming competitions, and we needed someone familiar with the system that was trusted by all of us to resolve lingering concerns: Drac was that natural choice. And so, Drac exited retirement for a brief return to the Dark Council and immediately combed every gaming competition by hand. Over the course of a single weekend, Drac committed dozens of hours to hand validating every submission to gaming competitions. Following his validation of gaming War results, he moved on to hiring an experienced and competent staff so that the next Fist would have an office already equipped to handle day to day operations. As Drac leaves the Fist office for a second time, he once more leaves the club in a much better place than it was when he took the mantle of Fist.

Throughout his career, Drac has continually demonstrated his dedication to the Brotherhood. It is our honor today to recognize his enormous contributions, and elevate him to Elder!

Telaris “Mav” Cantor, Grand Master
and
Evant Taelyan, Deputy Grand Master

Telaris "Mav" Cantor, 2019-11-02 21:23:53 UTC

It takes a lot to hold down a job on the Dark Council. There's a lot of data to manage, new projects to keep track of, policies to write, test, rewrite, and implement. And given the very nature of gaming, the adjustment of clusters of fire can be a salty proposition. Kalan Amak, better known as Drac, did that job for a few years before retiring to help start a new unit, participating in every competition in their first war, leading from the front, showing the members how it is done. That's just a lot of work in general, and yet, here he is, retiring again. What really stands out to me on that is that he saw an urgent need of the Brotherhood, at the very dramatic end of the war, stepped in without any issues, and blasted through the work needed in a hurry. That speaks to his dedication to our club, to our members. Professional, reliable, effective, all are markers of what I think of as elders in our club.

You see, elders aren't made by proclamation or by button presses on our admin panels. Drac was already an elder, looking at his acts, his demeanor, his motivations. I am glad to have been given the opportunity to put some nice words down to thank him for it as we update our site to reflect what we know. Thank you for your work, Drac. We appreciate you. Hopefully this beats out the '...and all I got was this' T-shirt.

~Muz Ashen, the Lion of Tarthos

Lord Muz Ashen Keibatsu, 2019-11-02 21:20:03 UTC

Kalan Amak, aka Drac, aka Chuckles, has served at his current rank for over a year. In that time he has been Fist, a member, and Fist again. Drac excelled in each of these roles as a contributor, creator, and active participant.

Drac established firm, but fair rules as the Fist. He set the standard for introducing new games, testing those new games, and balancing them against our existing games; he cut out nearly all of the toxicity that once existed in DB Gaming chat rooms; and he put up with a great deal of nonsense with incredible elan.

As a member, Drac did nothing more than help create a new Clan, participate in every single vendetta event, and then answer the call to help the DJB when an emergency Fist was required.

Drac has done the things we ask of our elders. He has changed the club for the better and he has left a lasting mark. Congrats buddy.

Mandalorian Declan Roark, 2019-11-02 21:20:30 UTC