Slags and his leadership team have turned Plagueis into a beehive of activity. In the last year, Plagueis has consistently sat at or near the top of the clans by participation rates in competitions. In fact, in the second quarter of 2023 an astounding 88 percent of Plagueians participated in at least one competition. What makes that (possibly unprecedented) performance even more impressive is that it followed an 80% participation rate in Q1 2023, and 75% in Q4 of 2022. Almost across the board, Plagueians boosted their activity by significant margins this year. That high octane performance recently secured a strong second place finish in GJW XVI, which Slags led from the front (or... two back from the front, but close!) as the Third Hero of the War. Although it didn't quite manage to match its Q2 participation rate, it still made an impressive showing by consistently ranking among the top three clans by participation in each phase.

Beyond general clan activity and the vendetta, Slags also led the organization of two Pro Bowls that involved six and then seven clans. Both events were very well received by participants and have become an annual club-wide staple. Organizing the Pro Bowls required wrangling all of the other CONs (or PCONs) to plan, implement, and score competitions, as well as work on event fiction. In all Slags has organized 52 competitions (many of those for the Pro Bowl). He has also participated in 98 and earned dozens of crescents, novae, and cluster (including a whopping 780 CGs!).

Lord Dacien Victae, 2023-10-20 13:32:06 UTC

Bubba joined me as DGM as my first hire as Grand Master. Since then he's helped me work through every decision I've made and over the past several years reached a point where he himself was as capable as I am at the role of GM. It's a combination of all his hard work and dedication towards seeing this community thrive and being my greatest supporter and friend that he has earned this recognition. Congratulations on this award, it's hard to find the right digital currency to award you for all you've done but this will have to do. Good luck and I hope you enjoy everything that comes next.

Master Aramis Taelyan, 2023-10-06 17:22:59 UTC

Idris has made himself the busiest member of the Dark Council. Not only does he oversee and participate in the regular processing of CSes and fielding of many, many members' questions, but he also conceived the Children of Mortis and wrote the vast majority of the club fiction released over the past year teasing the new faction and then revealing them in full for the War. He also brainstormed and is spearheading the in-progress revamp of the ACC, which, though incomplete, has significantly reduced match grading time in part due to his simplification of the grading rubric (which was a project in itself, combining and streamlining rubrics for the ACC, ROs, and regular fictions). He also lead the popular and successful revamp of the CS feat system, and has kept up a steady stream of competitions, including major DB-wide comps like the Shadows Unveiled series.

Xen, you've earned this through literal blood, sweat, and tears. Congratulations!

Lord Dacien Victae, 2022-08-05 14:15:34 UTC

Atra has over the past two years, spent time as the Combat Master, a member of the newly formed Vizsla, Praetor to the Grand Master and most recently finishing up a year as Regent overseeing the possessions systems.

As Combat Master, up to the end he spent time updating skills, feats and guides as he strove to improve usability for the systems. He ended his two years as Combat Master but continued his impact on the Brotherhood as Praetor to the Grand Master. As P:GM, Atra participated in a range of projects, including proposals for overhauling the Path system, and in running the Pulsefeed News Aggregate updates, which he now handles as Regent. Eventually, Atra would help establish and then join the newly formed Vizsla Clan, and continued to participate in competitions and events earning crescents and Novae for his quality efforts as a member. Atra helped to write numerous documents that would form the Clan's successful proposal and subsequent strong launch.

Then when the opportunity came up, he became the Regent. Immediately stepping in during a vendetta and picking up where Evant left off and keeping the list of projects going to build a complete experience and system. While reviewing and refreshing the staff to provide an experience for members who submit custom aspects to get what they want quickly and efficiently. This included being the Regent over two vendettas, Discord and later Homefront, along with a Prologue event to introduce a new faction Prison Break. His impact alone on these three major Brotherhood wide events was incredible and he contributed much to their success. As an organizer, a storyteller, an administrator and a leader. In addition to these successful events as a member of the Dark Council, Atra oversaw updates in policy to improve member experience, as well as large content expansion in lists of available items and availability of upgrades for members space vehicles. Along with a roadmap for great future plans.

For all his incredible contributions to the Brotherhood across a wide range of roles, I recommend for Atra a Diamond Sword. Congratulations!

Telaris "Mav" Cantor, 2020-08-27 19:40:34 UTC

The Dark Jedi Brotherhood has had four Grand Master’s since 2003. In these four, you can find many differences, but each has a common trait. They love the Dark Brotherhood. A Grand Master’s love for the club manifests in an inordinate amount of time spent on club projects, amazing amounts of patience, and a desire to make our club a better place for all members.

Our current Grand Master, know to all of us as simply Mav, possesses the required traits of a Grand Master in abundance. He manages a vast collection of members with varied desires, opinions, and visions and he does it with skill and élan.

I’m proud to put this recommendation in from the Star Chamber and award OUR Grand Master his second Diamond Sword. Congrats!

Mandalorian Declan Roark, 2019-09-29 00:39:35 UTC

Marick 'Wally' Tyris is without a doubt one of the hardest working members we have ever had the pleasure of working with. Since his promotion fifteen months ago, Wally has been tireless in his efforts to improve our fictional systems, overseeing numerous projects and updates to the Character Sheet System and the further development of our fictional enemies the Collective. Under Wally's guidance, the Voice office has released a new exam to ease members into their first character sheet, added new species to the selector, updated character creation guides and tools, and, in collaboration with other Dark Council offices, greatly expanded the fictional role and opportunities to members posed by our societies and other organizations. Wally has written half a dozen major fictional updates over the last year, along with editing every piece of major fiction that the Dark Council releases. He takes the lead on regular Story Group discussions and helps to shape our fictional direction on a daily basis. He's overseen numerous major competitions in that time span, including the Collective Chronicles that helped flush out our opponents, and was a major force in the Rite of Supremacy, managing not only three fiction competitions over the event, but also assisting on numerous "Miscellaneous" competitions, including the Knowledge is Power series and the Hero/Foil aspect competition. Wally regularly runs workshop and Inquisitor competitions for the Brotherhood as a whole, and is constantly improving members writing by offering detailed feedback. He takes every opportunity he can to help our members, such as when he assisted the Combat Master last June by acting as coach of one of the teams participating in the Coach's Corner ACC event. In addition to the mundane but incredibly important tasks such as 'just' keeping documentation updated, Wally has greatly expanded the resources available on the Wiki through numerous resources related to fiction, character sheets, and the Voice's office. It is for all of these reasons that we are happy to award Wally his first Diamond Sword.

Congratulations, Wally!

Grand Master Telaris "Mav" Cantor and Deputy Grand Master Vyr

Telaris "Mav" Cantor, 2019-03-24 18:39:15 UTC

The Diamond Sword of the Dark Brotherhood has been awarded 19 times over a period exceeding two decades. This award is reserved for leaders in the Dark Brotherhood who have displayed incredible leadership and serve as pillars of the Brotherhood. The Diamond Sword's prestige is such that the MAA staff cannot award it and only the Grand Master or Deputy Grand Master can approve the award for our members.

We take the awarding of these medals exceptionally seriously. The integrity of our awards system (despite it just being pixels) is extremely important to the Dark Council and the Star Chamber. This requires the award process for the Diamond Sword to be unanimous during discussions in order to assure the members in question truly deserves it.

The Herald of the Dark Brotherhood, Adept Morgan B. Sorenn, truly deserves the Diamond Sword. Vyr's consistent dedication to our club and his unbelievable work rate are true testaments to his desire to see the Dark Brotherhood succeed. Graphics for our website, graphics for our dossiers, graphics for our awards, graphics for our possessions, graphics for our War, and finding the right/talented artists to support our club are all tools within his kit-bag. Vyr has created a thriving art community, has achieved stunning success fostering our young artists, and has consistently come through with timely and relevant art to make our club a much more presentable place.

In addition to Vyr's traditional duties (traditional doesn't make sense in his case because he has exceeded the normal duties of the position of Herald by far), he has also worked extensively in our possessions system, our fictional updates, and the most recent creation of the Collective for the GJW. Vyr's ideas, sketches, and initial work laid the ground work for the enemy forces featured in the DJB's latest war. His efforts for the GJW were amazing and our club benefited from his fast and excellent work.

Vyr, Mav and I appreciate all of the work you have done on behalf of our club over the past year and we look forward to collaborating with you for a very long time.

Mandalorian Declan Roark, 2017-12-04 01:59:23 UTC

James Lucius Entar is a Grand Master in all but name. He has contributed more to our club than most of our Grand Master's and he continues to amaze all of us with his continued dedication to the Dark Brotherhood.

You get a Diamond Sword because you don't have one and because you are a boss. Thanks for all you do for our club. I really appreciate it.

Mandalorian Declan Roark, 2016-12-09 21:22:35 UTC

The Diamond Sword is awarded to members who have shown an impressive array of talents and qualities over a continued period of time. Telaris "Mav" Cantor has been displaying his impressive array of talents and qualities for over 17 years and it is past time for his armory to include the Diamond Sword. The Antei Combat Center fell into disarray and participation dropped to an all time low of 2 matches per month during 2012. This dramatic decrease in the ACC's role in our club occurred during our transition from a gaming club into a writing focused organization. The ACC's decline timed with our dramatic shift towards writing indicated a drastic change in the way we conducted business was needed. Mav served as the catalyst of that drastic change and ushered our entire club through dramatic changes. Character sheets morphed from simple stat based place holders into story enhancing character descriptions, ACC qualifications morphed from a long drawn out process into a streamlined ACC experience, and the ACC morphed from a technical rules based writing process into a entertaining story of combat. Mav's dedication on character sheets and the ACC have spanned over a years worth of effort and his contributions have made our club a better place. Mav, thanks for all you have done and for the improvements you have brought to our club. - Grand Master Sarin

One of the things I often cite as a rare trait these days is the ability for someone to simply do what they say they will do. Once upon a time this used to be the norm. These days it seems to be the exception. During Mav's tenure as Combat Master I'm pleased to say we have another rare instance of the former rather than the latter. It took a while, there were bumps along the way, but in the end Mav got it done and to the standard we set for him.

For keeping his word and doing what he said he would do I am grateful, the Voice and Grand Master are grateful, and the Club is grateful.

Congratulations, Mav.

Raken, Deputy Grand Master

Gavriel Kadesh, 2014-05-08 14:20:06 UTC

Muz Ashen assumed the role of Grand Master five years ago to the day. Since that time he has shaped the Dark Brotherhood and its systems in nearly every imaginable way. His persistent vision redefined the way we operated and created an organization that boasts one of the most complex online experiences on the internet. The systems that we take for granted; Robes, weapons, character sheets, combat arenas, credits, prestige, possessions, and countless others, have all been guided to completion by Muz's expert management.

Awarding any Grand Master is a difficult task, but Grand Master Ashen provides a unique challenge due to the longevity of his reign. He has received every award, every accolade, and yet he continues to produce ideas and products that enhance the entire Dark Jedi Brotherhood. After careful deliberation, multiple Dark Councilors determined that the Diamond Sword was the perfect award to celebrate Muz's fifth year as Grand Master. The Diamond Sword is awarded for members who strive to improve our organization as a whole and have done so with persistent longevity. In the history of our club, no one has deserved this award more than Muz Ashen. He is the personification of dedication, longevity, and dedication to improve the Dark Jedi Brotherhood.

I'm honored to write this recommendation and count myself among Muz's Dark Councilors. Congratulations old friend.

Grand Master Pravus, Voice of the Dark Brotherhood

Muz has always been someone I look up to. His dossier pin maybe higher than mine, but he’s always been the guy doing ALL THE THINGS. His drive, passion and skill has and will always floored me. Hell, Muz has been the Grand Master for half the time I have been a member of the Brotherhood.

What makes Muz special isn’t just his own work, but also his ability to rip the best out of people. It’s truly the case that if it weren’t for Muz I’d likely not have the drive to do what I do for the Brotherhood and I know I’m not the only case of this.

Muz is an exemplary leader, a shining example that everyone should try to live up to, and I for one would love to see him still on the iron throne in another 5 years (regardless of his protests…)

Congrats Muz, this is well earned, I only wish there was something more we could have got you.

Consular Cleric Solari, Head Master of the Dark Brotherhood

What do you give somebody who has nothing left to prove? Muz Ashen has been leading this club for five years now - over a quarter of the club's age - which is an almost unbelievable feat. I will leave it to my fellow councillors to elaborate on the plethora of contributions made by Muz that make the Brotherhood a better place. I will let the quantity and volume of these recommendations speak for itself, and only add that I wholeheartedly agree this Diamond Sword is very well deserved. Congratulations!

Dark Jedi Master James Lucius Entar Arconae, Seneschal of the Dark Brotherhood

Muz has watched over the Club from the Iron Throne (or while standing next to it) for over five years now. From the dates I've heard tossed around, that's nearly a quarter of its existence (if not more).

Despite this marathon run as Grand Master Muz continues to surprise members with new Events and ideas. In the past year we saw the Dark Crusade kick off, a brand new type of Event that challenged members and Units to prove their stamina over the course of 10 months. While the "main effort" of this offensive has slowed the fight continues on, with a storyline leading out Club into the next Great Jedi War.

Just before and in the midst of the Crusade Muz had to bring on board six new Dark Councilors. Some grizzled veterans of the Dark Council, others new faces to it. As these personnel changes occurred there Muz not only had to take on his "standard" tasks, if there is such a thing for a GM, he also had to mentor new individuals on how to step into their jobs (yes, I count as one of them). Through all of this he continues to find time to dedicate towards the Graphics work he continues to do for the club, out of pure enjoyment (or he's sadistic - probably this).

I've only scratched the surface of what Muz has been involved in. Nearly every project which has come forward in the past year has been influenced in some way by his valuable feedback. While this isn't the time to talk about projects to come, he's got no shortage of those planned either.

The Diamond Sword is awarded to a member who shows an "impressive array of talents and qualities over a considerable length of time". Even a cursory glance at the work Muz has done in his time as Grand Master shows he meets and exceeds this criteria. Thank you for your continued dedication to the Club Muz, and congratulations!

Sith Battlelord Valhavoc, Fist of the Dark Brotherhood

I would like to give Muz the Diamond Sword for his tireless devotion to the club. Muz is one of the few members we have for whom the work is truly the reward.

For over a year now I have watched the Grand Master constantly turn the lathe of improvement for the club. Be it his conceptualizing and organizing The Dark Crusade, his ground-breaking work on the Possessions system, or his ceaseless stream of custom art for the our members, Muz is always at work on something. But these projects are just one facet of what a Grand Master has to contend with.

Muz handles everything from evaluating leaders to analyzing statistics to arbitrating disputes. While working on the aforementioned projects. While doing all the above he also fields a littany of complaints that are without end and often, unfortunately, malicious in nature. While doing that Muz has had to replace nearly the entire Dark Council over the last year due to real life circumstances and personality issues.

While doing that he ran an unprecedented Vendetta lasting the better part of a year. A first of its kind, The Dark Crusade saw both skill and participation rewarded under a system Muz suggested as well as tactical and strategic planning required on the part of unit leaders. The scoring load of TDC was enormous and strained us all. But despite all Muz's other duties and responsibilities, he dug in with us every chapter and phase and completed more than his fair share of the scoring.

While building, running, amd scoring the Crusade, Muz was also overseeing the Antei Combat Center revamp. Being something of an ACC expert, Muz's input and help along the way was invaluable to getting a favorite activity back into action.

During this time our yearly Internal Reviews came due and Muz took point there as well responding to each unit with feedback and encouragement.

He has reviewed multiple proposals, overseen the new Lightsaber and Hand-to-Hand guide development, counseled troubled members, and written a plethora of award recommendations ensuring those under him are being taken care of.

Additionally, Muz worked hard recently to cover during my extended work absence by finishing the Crusade scoring and reporting. That was my responsibility, but I knew I could count on Muz to make it happen when I couldn't.

So for that and everything else Muz does, I would like to thank him with this token of my appreciation.

Raken, Deputy Grand Master of the Dark Brotherhood

Raken, 2014-02-22 01:42:35 UTC