Zuza, Keeper of the Abyssal Chickens, might just be our most active member--she's certainly the most active Consul. Since her promotion to EQ4 less than six months ago, she has participated in 260 competitions and won Diamond Crescents in 130 of them plus Ruby Crescents in another 40. She's also earned almost 1800 CFs, 219 CIs, 39 CGs, and written almost 100k words in RPs. She has served as both P:HM and now P:EMS, and took up the mantle of Arcona Consul in January--a job she has, so far, performed impeccably.

Zuza is now also our youngest Elder, and the first with a 16000+ PIN. Congratulations!

Lord Dacien Victae, 2024-04-04 20:58:30 UTC

Zuza Lottson has—since the moment she was summoned to our material plane on the internet via a ritual that I can only assumed incorporated loud chanting, a coven of cats, and knife—been one of the brightest and vibrant aspects of the Brotherhood. I was fortunate enough to watch as she seamlessly infiltrated our ranks and made it seem like she had been there all along. Where the Journeyman and Equite ranks could be viewed as guardrails or walls to a new member, Zuza simply walked through them. Her positive attitude was instantly infectious, piercing through the veil of even the most jaded former DCers (me) and win us over. She became a beacon for what I thought could be the future of this club—a club where there were no boundaries and the old ways and biases and toxicity could finally be laid to rest. Even if I recognized that I was a representation nd a part of that history.

Still, Zuza never held that against me. I was fortunate enough that she seemed to like me enough to let me become not just a mentor, but a true friend that I know that can rely on me for help as equally as I know I can talk to her about anything. She showed me that there was optimism to be had, and reminded me of the things that made me unique when I was the youngest Elder (pin wise) and trying my best to punch through the

Zuza has not just taken the baton I thought had been buried beneath the attrition of time, but has lifted it high (like a knife she probably shouldn't have) and charged forward into the future, dragging everyone and everything she can with a can-do attitude and a smile.

“Leaders become great, not because of their power, but because of their ability to empower others”.

I've also gotten the double-edged sword of watching her grow as a leader in this club. I'm a firm believer that there are good leaders in the Brotherhood, and great ones. The good ones show up, do the job, and then either stick around until someone else takes over, or move on to something else.

The great ones—like Zuza—take leadership to another level by not doing the bare minimum or accepting the status quo. She was tepid about taking on the Rollmaster role, even with whispers of the position being sunset on the horizon. That did not stop her, however, from trying, and doing. And it just so happened that she managed that role through Arcona's largest growth period since...I was Consul back in 2010. As RM, Zuza helped make sure the flood of new members were greeted, sorted appropriately, and felt welcome in the Arconan tradition (that is, judging what spice level of trauma they were open to: mild, medium, abusive, etc.).

Change is scary for leadership. But Zuza has shown that she is not afraid to face it head on. When Rollmaster was sunset, Zuza boldly volunteered to lead a new initiative- the Selen Training Corps (STC). This took the idea of a non-Housed Battleteam as the new default "landing spot" for all new recruits to the Clan. The BTL, then, would take on that conventional Rollmaster roll and guide them and find the best fits for them. There were some bumps, and it wasn't a perfect landing. Zuza had some things slip through her grasp, and wether they were her fault or not, dealt with her share of speed bumps.

(I promise I'm getting to a point with all of this, but this is important so, let me have this Howie.)

To what should come as no surprise to anyone else that's spent more than 5 minutes around her, Zuza did not let this slow her down or break her stride. She adapted, grew, and eventually was faced with an impossible task and decision.

I know a thing or two about having a massive responsibility dumped on your shoulders when you feel you're not ready for it. I too had something happen to my Consul, who I looked up to and admired, that forced me to step up and take control of a Clan when I wish I'd had more time to sit, and learn, and have any kind of idea of what I was supposed to do.

Zuza faced something similar, and was asked to take on the mantle of Consul of Clan Arcona. That, by itself, is a weight of its own. But the circumstance was not ideal, no matter how you look at the situation. It’s even worse when you feel a close connection to the ones you’re being asked to “replace”, people you consider friends or like family. It takes a unique kind of courage, and will.

It takes even more to then commit to it. To plant your feet, dig in, and push. It is the willingness to sacrifice what you want for what should be. It’s delaying your own fun to help out others, to help manage them, to help mediate or diffuse an argument, to spark excitement and optimism when everyone’s eyes are downcast. It’s no longer just about you. And not everyone is comfortable with that.

Zuza has, in the short time since taking on Consul, rebuilt her Summit, worked diligently to be respectful of her predecessors in doing everything in her power to help give them the proper fictional and administrative transition. She has used her resources, made decisions, and somehow got swept up into running a multi-clan event in her first month in office. All while moving her life across the world.

"One does not ask to be leader, one is simply called to be a leader, and that is all there is to it.

I’ll let others cover her on-paper activity, and finish with some fun statistics from the Exarch’s office. Zuza Lottson was one of the first members to reach Rank 12 in the RP Players Trophy. She is now also one of the and as of this writing the leader of total Envoy Marks earned.16 RPs at 43,748 words and running 13 RPs at 56,624 words. You know, typical numbers.

Zuza is the total package. She is a once-in-a-generation member that trailblazer us forward to a brighter future. There is no one else I can think of that has earned this honor more than her. All joking, whimsy, and long winded essays aside, I am so proud of you. Thank you for being part of our weird little club.

-W

Exarch Marick Tyris Arconae, 2024-04-03 00:22:34 UTC

Given both the novella Wally's written and the similarly hefty recs I put in for her AK and EQ4 promo, there's really only one thing left to say about Zuza:

Service to the Brotherhood.

Alethia Archenksova
Headmistress

Headmistress Alethia Archenksova, 2024-04-03 15:13:14 UTC

To get the official-like bits done, Zuzaboobee served as our Rollmaster, both in the position itself and then as Selen Training Corps' Battle team leader (whose title is Rollmaster, tyvm) for several years. She was the official third upper summit member to myself and Qyreia, and a large part of keeping our Clan going and especially our most precious new members and old alike seen to. I probably said something similar to this in one of her promotions or awards, but she has been both a bridge and a rock for our administration, and then, after we got sacked, she didn't even hesitate to step up. She took charge in what was one of the most upsetting moments for the Clan in arguably a solid decade, managed the chaos, battened down the hatches, assured everyone, juggled communications, breathed into a bag over how much new responsibility there was to do her untaught, and did it all anyway, listening to me ramble, cry, and advise and turning around and organizing her summit and handling it all and stepping up. Because that's what Jenna does, is step up for folks. She's a fighter and an advocate. Sometimes she doesn't have the energy for all of it, but nobody does. She takes all she has and does it anyway.

I don't know if I ever said thank you for that, Jenna, properly, so thank you. You gave me hope. I saw the future in you. Not because we "made you" for it, nobody did that but you, but because I knew both I and our Clan would be safe in your care. Our club would be. You care about everyone and want this all to succeed.

You're the future.

You're amazing.

Thank you, and congratulations, grandprentice.

Emeritus, Arconae

Master Ruka Tenbriss Ya-ir, 2024-04-03 22:53:30 UTC

Based on the size of the other reccs, I'll keep this short(ish)...

Zuza is a special kind of member to work with and to interact with. She's got the dedication and drive to make the Brotherhood better that is not really rare in our members but always something to cherish and nurture. What sets Zuza apart is very hard to put into words if I'm being honest. She puts you at ease as it were. At the same time a Consul interacting with a Quaestor to see what's going on in a subunit, but you don't feel that distance or separation that's all too easy to fall into as a leader. It's easy to see why she's been so successful at nurturing our new members over her time as our Rollmaster and later our training unit Battleteam Leader. And now as Consul she's bringing that special touch to the entire Clan.

I hope that makes it a bit clearer. It's hard to get the words to convey the feeling. She took over running the Clan during a pretty chaotic period and instantly things started to calm down. It's like we were watching a storm rolling in, and as the rain started to fall, the clouds split and the sun started to shine again.

I've been here for awhile (most will agree). I've seen alot of types of leaders take their spot in our club's historical annals. Zuza is something special and I'm very honoured to get to see that from this close up. Congratulations on becoming elder(ly) at such a young age. Check your credit accounts, they call it a rank salary but it just became a pension!

General Ood Bnar, 2024-04-03 23:40:59 UTC

Ok, for real, two more Zuza stories. First, back in July 2023, Zuza and I had The Talk. Not the babies one, I think she knew about that already, but the "I've got a year to get at least one person ready for Bubba to hire as the next HM, and if it's not you, then you're in the way" talk. Blah blah disclaimer blah blah the GM doesn't always hire the praetor blah blah caveat caveat caveat, but either I am training my Praetor to run the office in my absense or I am failing to prepare for the inevitable and causing a problem for the club in the future. Zuza's reaction was, and I quote: "My initial take, I don't think I'd be suited for it. We've seen how well I handle just having to write one thing from scratch and im still honestly intimidated by the idea of even going for Consul at some point, never mind a high DC position". I challenged her to think about what she would use the power of a Council position to accomplish. She told me she didn't think she had anything and I told her to take a few days to think about it.

Less than 24 hours later, she was back with ideas. Good ideas. Ideas that fed directly into the proposal to create the Emissary position and the improvements to the club experience that she and Erin are working on now. I don't think the intimidation factor went away at all, but she got ideas on how to help the club in her head and that was that. P:HM ended up not being the right place for her, but leadership absolutely was. I don't know if she'll ever end up on the Council, but I do know that she's going to spearhead improvements to the club wherever she is on the org chart.

I like that story because it illustrates why Zuza does what she does. A lot of people seek out leadership positions because they want medals and promotions, or to implement their pet projects, or for the visibility and authority and fancy title. There's nothing wrong with any of that, although it can be if those people care about the perks and not the job. But Zuza doesn't really think that way or chase those things. She just cares about her community and wants to help. All anyone had to do was reframe the question from "Do you want the fancy job?" to "If you had the fancy job, how would you improve the club?" and everything since has been inevitable. That's the kind of person who will continue to benefit the rest of us no matter what position she finds herself in.

The other story is about what is euphemistically called the "leadership change." Taking on the CON job is always a daunting thing, at least if you care about your clan. I had it easy: an excellent Consul trained me specifically for the job, I had a wonderful summit, and I inherited the top unit in the club. It still terrified me. I didn't feel prepared. I made mistakes. I pissed people off. Zuza did not get the luxury of a managed transition like I had. She jumped from BTL straight to CON with an empty PCON slot. The circumstances surrounding the leadership change left several Arconans hurt or infuriated, and the rest were confused and no doubt nervous about the future. Nobody involved was thrilled to be in that position. Trust me, from the GM down to the rank and file, nobody wanted that.

But somebody needed to lead, somebody needed to step up and thread the needle between adressing the structural problems that led to the situation and continuing the many good things the previous leaders had done, to have frank conversations about where the summit failed and needed to change while celebrating and encouraging the Brotherhood's most active and enthusiastic clan. It was not an easy task, it was not one that I think anybody actually wanted to do. But Zuza did it. Arcona needed her and she stepped up. If there was anyone inside or outside the clan that didn't already respect her, she changed that very quickly. She was such a no brainer that the GM appointed her "acting" in the job before formally hiring her, which is something I think I've seen exactly once in nine years here.

You can't pass judgment on somebody' term in office three months in, but I think I can confidently say that Zuza is good at her job. She and Zuji are doing and will continue to do great things for Arcona, and there is no reason to think Zuza's energy or dedication will be limited to her home clan now or in the future. We are all lucky to have her.

Alethia Archenksova
Headmistress

Headmistress Alethia Archenksova, 2024-04-04 02:07:16 UTC