As someone who was not familiar with the Dark Broterhood not long ago, Alara has grown into becoming an example to other Journeymen within House Excidium. Her merits, from my point of view, are not to be judged from how many competitions she has joined to, or how many Crescents she has earned, but on her contribution to Clan Scholae Palatinae. She has filled the role of Battleteam Sergeant and helped building House Excidium's only Battleteam, Tacitus Athanasius, together with her former Master, and she is one of the two "new" members spearheading other new people into pushing their limits and getting involved in as many club activities as possible. As one of the upcoming stars of House Excidium, I consider Alara more than deserving this Dark Cross, both as a token of gratitude from the Clan towards her and as a proof that she is one of the models to follow in our House. Congratulations Alara, this is a well deserved reward.

Alara is one of the bright sparks in Scholae Palatinae. Her activity is consistent, and high, and spans across a variety of areas. She is truly at the heart of the Scholae Community, and the kind of person that makes the clan great; honest, kind, and caring for her clanmates. We are very lucky to have Alara with us, she has all the right qualities to rise very high in the brotherhood and it's time she was further rewarded for all her efforts in recent months.

Alara has continued to sky rocket in activity, awards, and communication with the Clan as time continues on. Though she has become busy as of late, she does what she can to stay in contact with everyone, and takes part in comps that have produced awards for the Palatinean Knight. As my Sergeant, she has contributed to Battle Team Tacitus Athanasius by giving ideas and helping with the wiki. Her dedication to Clan, House, and Battle Team hasn't gone unnoticed. She is great example to others, a very encouraging and helpful member, and awesome individual that has shown what Scholae Palatinae is all about: Working hard for the Clan while having fun doing it.

Darkblade's been with us a long time, even though he took a break in between, he's a Sadowan through and through. Since his appointment as Quaestor, Darkblade has gone through major improvement. He's learned how to deal with those who disagree, he's learned how to lead with skill.

He doesn't just lead his House, but his tried to Lead by Example for the entire Clan as well. He has, with a few others, increased our gaming numbers exponentially and is never far from any event in gaming. Even though he's not very fond of the fictional side of the DJB, he still makes an enormous effort to partake in the events which feature it. Even more astounding is that he's managed to make one of our more fictional oriented members take up gaming as his apprentice, resulting in a very well ­rounded member. I'd say his stint as a Master has been very successful.

All in all, since I've met him, Darkblade has grown both as a person and a leader, and I am proud to see him recognized for it. Congratulations DB, you've earned this. Never stop growing!

Rollmaster of Naga Sadow

Darkblade returned to CNS only recently, but since then has been a great asset to the Clan. Upon his return, he assumed command of House Shar Dakhan and began settling into his role in the House. But that didn't stop him from participating as much as he was able.

Darkblade has entered 80 competitions since his last recognition, and has been in leadership that entire time. He is driven and competitive, and it's that competitive spirit that often drives others to compete. I know that it has personally influenced me to play Galaxy of Heroes more, because the thought of Darkblade gaining easy Diamond Crescents until he overtakes me in them makes me sick. :P He's also led to me playing more pazaak (where the heart of the cards hates him), and even trying out TOR again.

And that's just me personally. Darkblade games, he ACCs, he writes in runons and fictions. He will enter just about any type of competition, leading from the front lines. This led to him placing third in the recent CNS event of Operation: Firestorm, but his Aedile was also first place. I think the two of them had a contest going on, and even though he wasn't first, Darkblade was still able to propel his members into the spotlight. In addition, four more of his members placed in the top ten of the event overall.

Darkblade's competitive spirit and do­all attitude are two things that make him great to have on the core Summit of Naga Sadow. They're both things I personally really appreciate him, and reasons I wish to add my own recommendation for this award.

Congratulations, Darkblade!

Consul of Naga Sadow

Darkblade is an interesting individual that has come to the collective clan we call Naga Sadow. When it comes to Diablo 3, he can power level your characters like a beast. He was kind enough to help me out with getting my characters more powerful and when it comes to friendly rivalry, he's proven to be a fun challenge in character and is fun to chat with on telegram. Whenever he is in telegram, you can be sure to hear some gaming tips about diablo 3 or some of his funny ramblings. So I would like to say congrats on your new award.

Tasha is about as upbeat and outgoing of a member as I've seen and that's a great thing to have around, 'especially when you report to a half­(mostly?)insane Sith Lord as your boss.

Aside from being a hard­working Quaestor and a constant participant, Tasha is always friendly. That may sound a tad cliche, but she's like the opposite of a PR nightmare. Tasha is, in my experience, always polite and friendly with members of other Clans, with members of CNS, with anyone in the DJB. She's patient and willing to work with just about everyone.

Unrelated to that, she's managed to make or help make CNS veterans and Elders in Marka Ragnos want to do stuff again, and some of us have been trying to figure that one out for years! Under Tasha's leadership, the oldest House in CNS continues to flourish and grow.

Tasha also games. A lot. Her and Bentre (who I spoke of in my rec for him) have lately led CNS in kicking everyone's ass in gaming. We might not win the most (or a lot), we might not have the best gamers, but our people have fun doing it and enjoy the experience. That's what matters most, and I don't think we would have that without Tasha. A quick check of her dossier shows thay she has earned 633 CFs and 254 CEs since her last award, and in all of those that I was around for she brought as many members along with her as she could and was positive and upbeat about the experience.

So, personally, what I most appreciate about Tasha is that she is outgoing, she is friendly and nice to everyone. She'll work with everyone. She has invigorated activity where I have failed. She's led the Clan into an area it historically did little in with her gaming efforts. Thus, I'm proud to add my recommendation for her to receive this award.

Congratulations, Tasha!

Consul of Naga Sadow

There is a lot that can be said. I will leave others to wax philosophical on her merits and hit on what most sticks out to me about her. She has worked quickly and hard since joining the Dark Jedi Brotherhood. She worked with Sang as an Aedile, worked even harder since becoming the Quaestor of Marka Ragnos. She keeps the needs of her House and Clan in her decisions. She does what she can to ensure her members have fun. She has taken time to bounce ideas with me, and always has time to help members in need. She puts in time and effort above and beyond what most members see or might even believe. Truly admirable.

With each step upward and forward she has lost none of her energy or fervor. I hope that she continues to improve and never loses her passion for her Clan or for people. I am glad to add my voice in this recommendation.

Aedile of Shar Dakhan

Tasha has been at the forefront of so much since I came to CNS that I instantly adored her way of doing things. She is kind, cares about her members and will do almost anything to ensure that those around her are happy and come first in every situation.

When I joined the Clan she was one of the first to welcome me and helped me settle in. We worked together and her enthusiasm for everything came across so strong I knew I found someone I wanted to work with. Upon being selected as her Aedile upon her ascension to Quaestor I truly felt as if I had found my home.

Apart from working upon numerous projects for the house including getting our wikis updated she also stormed ahead in the recent Clan events. In the run on alone she managed to keep the team going and got everyone involved from elders to journeymen utilising her knowledge of her house mates the best way she could to get maximum results. Placing herself in a few of the competitions as well as storming ahead in the gaming.

Recently she achieved GMRG rank XI and has been setting an amazing precedent for CNS gaming. On top of this she worked with me to create the recent House Event, Rest and Relaxation House Marka Ragnos style.

On top of all these things she has dealt with her own personal illness and hospitalisation. This didn't stop her. In fact she was on doing reports, running competitions and being as much of a clan presence as she ever was.

It's for these reasons and many more to come I am honoured to recommend her for this award.

Well done and thank you boss.

Ophelia

Tasha. My apprentice. It fills me with pride every time that I get to write you one of these. You're a shining example of what a motivated member can do if they keep a positive attitude, step into that ring every day and just bring their A­game.

You've gone from Aedile to Quaestor without missing a beat, and you've improved yourself at every step. Your devotion to your members, whom you consider as your family, has only increased from the time when you were just a wee apprentice. You've helped our gaming stats reach an all ­time high, and you're part of the reason that your House has a great fictional direction.

I'm proud to help you achieve this award. Congratulations apprentice!

Rollmaster of Naga Sadow

I would like to take the time to recommend Tasha to you for recognition. She recently became QUA of House Marka Ragnos, and her work is good. She busts her tail in competitions. She puts out nice and thorough reports. She is on top of rewarding her charges and creating competitions for them to play in. We expect these things from leaders and she delivers. Others can detail the statistics. I'd like to talk about her care and leadership.

What’s cool about Tasha is her depth of personality and profound care for the people in this House and Clan. She really does look out for those under her care. She has made it a point to engage the Elders and long­term Equites in the House and I’ve seen more activity from them recently than I have in years. That is great! We have fiery youngsters­ and older members who are getting their hands dirty again. It’s a wonderful combination.

I really got to know her in this last Clan runon competition, “The World Is Not Enough.” Tasha was a real pleasure to write with. She was welcoming of me stepping in and helping out with the runon coordination. She welcomed my help with fictions. It felt really nice to be seen as a valued member with something to contribute and that made me eager to help. I think Marka Ragnos is in a really good place with her at the helm and it can only get better from here.

Tasha, Congratulations on your award. You seriously deserve it.

Tasha! My in character rival, but real life respected acquaintance. Tasha has been around for awhile now, and watching her grow through the leadership ranks is a pleasant view.

She has taken to her position of Quaestor very well, having to immediately seek out a replacement Aedile and proceed with a Clan event. Immediately after Operation: Firestorm, Tasha announced a House only event which she worked fervently on to produce on time for her members.

Her devotion and dedication to the Clan and her House is inspiring to see, and no matter what she comes across, she is patient and looks to resolve any problems that might arise with complete honesty and with great care.

Congratz on your recognition, it is wonderful to see you growing so well into your role as Quaestor Tasha!

Other recs will talk about Marcus' accomplishments, about what can be found on his dossier, and about him fulfilling his duties to the club, so I will talk about the impact I have personally witnessed Marcus making on the club.

In CNS, Marcus is something of a central hub. This is sort of a role that Rollmaster allows, and Marcus has seized it. He's familiar with nearly everyone and outgoing enough that they are familiar with him. He also gets along well with them. As a result, Marcus is a great mediator and is someone that members know they can talk to if they have an issue.

This has personally affected me in that Marcus is able to greatly assist with the resolution of many issues, especially if my position as Consul makes them difficult for me to deal with. This makes Marcus an invaluable asset for the club to have.

In addition to that, Marcus is something of a tech specialist for the Clan, and he's probably mad that I'm making this public knowledge. He understands technology, computers, excel, etc better than most of us, and is quickly able to drum up any feasible thing we desire, including forms, spreadsheets, charts, and graphs. This saves me a lot of headache, especially considering that just looking at a page full of numbers makes me go cross­eyed.

Finally, Marcus is always likely to offer an honest opinion. He tells it like he sees it. I appreciate this because the last thing I want to be surrounded by is a bunch of "yes men." Even if we don't always agree, it is good to hear a different point of view and Marcus often points out things I had not thought of that are serious points that should be considered.

Marcus has dutifully served Naga Sadow for five months now since his last elevation, and I can honestly say that we would not be where we are, nor be experiencing near the success that we are, without his dedicated efforts to making this an awesome place to be.

Thus, I add my recommendation that Marcus be awarded this Grand Cross.

Congratulations, Marcus!

Consul of Naga Sadow

Marcus is easily one of the best professors in the Shadow Academy. His department contains almost entirely new courses in need of constant updating that also happen to be some of the most popular courses the Shadow Academy has ever produced. Since his last promotion, a mere five months ago, he has graded 280 exams, made countless edits and corrections, and almost single­handedly updated the DJB Wiki's entries on the new Orders to bring them and the course notes into greater alignment.

For the record, he now stands sixth on the list of most ­exams ­graded (excluding the prolific Grand Master dbb0t) with an average grading time of only 5 hours, despite having served as a professor for only seven months. At this rate, he will be at the top of that list by the end of the year.

Congratulation, Marcus. You're the hardest working man in the Shadow Academy!

I know I could delve into the things that Marcus Kiriyu has done as a member of the Dark Jedi Brotherhood, or as Rollmaster within the Clan. That would be easy enough, but I don't think it would do justice to the man.

Marcus­ or Myst as I have known him for years­ has been a constant force in one way or another during my entire tenure in the Club. It was because of his efforts that I became a member of the club for that matter. As I have continued my career as Battleteam Leader and now Aedile, Kiriyu has been a sounding board­ gruff but fair­ when I needed someone to bounce ideas off of. Many people may be emotional with things but I can trust that he will be mostly logical and fair when it comes down to it.

Putting aside the history that my friend and I have, he has been nothing but good for the Clan. He does what he can to encourage the same fair attitude that he carries himself with, and has no fear at telling you the way that things are. It's good to see his work being rewarded. Keep up the good work Mystacles/Marcus/Kiriyu/that jerk.

I am excited to what heights he takes his position and the Clan in future.

Aedile of Shar Dakhan

Please allow me to take the time to recommend Marcus to you for the awarding of a Grand Cross. I will let others lay out the statistics. There are many. What I would like to focus upon is his work as Rollmaster. Marcus has, quite frankly, been the best Rollmaster our Clan has seen in quite some time. His work, attitude, and ethics are stellar.

I’ve had the pleasure of having a few less than­ motivated apprentices over the past 2 years. Marcus probably thought I was a pain in the exhaust port for asking for more, but he took it in stride. He worked with me and found me a good apprentice. I expect them to work, and work hard. He found one for me that would. Things are coming along well and it is a good match.

In the past the newer masters got first pick. It is important that they get that experience, yes. Yet Marcus realized that us old­timers have something to give and are proven in our work. We are a valuable resource. He has found a balance, allowing the new folks that need experience to get it and us old­timers to continue to serve.

Marcus is on top of things. He takes his job seriously. He has seen, to date, 9 members achieve Knight under his umbrella and that really says something. There will be more to come I am certain. His work has made our Clan a great place by keeping the fire under the kettle as far as our Journeymen go. The Clan has become a better place by having him in this job. I can not think of another person more deserving of recognition than Marcus.

Congratulations Marcus, and thank you for your hard work and open mind.

­Macron Sadow, Consul Emeritus

Marcus, my fellow Dutchman. As Rollmaster, Marcus has totally owned it. Making sure that the new members are paired correctly with Masters who are most likely to contribute the most to their learning experience. I have been paired with two excellent Apprentices due to Marcus' immaculate Master/Student program in this way, which have both made it to Knighthood.

Further things to say about Marcus is that he is an excellent intermediary, having helped resolve issues I have had since stepping up as Quaestor. If it weren't for him I would never have been able to handle things as "smoothly" (im still rough :P) as I can now, and for that I am very thankful for him being on the Summit.

For all your hard work the past five months with no official recognition received, I hope this makes up for it! I really think you have more than earned it, and it's about time you got what you rightfully deserve!

When I first came to Naga Sadow, Marcus was one of the people who helped to guide me through my journey to knighthood. He always provided me with many challenges and was always there to provide assistance whenever I needed it. He could be a pain in the butt sometimes, however I wouldn't trade him for anyone else. He was tough, but fair and always had a knack for finding out your strength. Even though I am now an Equite and a Quaestor of a House, he will always be my master. I am honored and proud to be a part of awarding Marcus.

Congratulations on this award, you deserved it!