As the Dark Council gathered for the evening, William Flechette Cantor Taldrya stepped forth from his place in the shadows. Looking around the audience chamber where the Council was gathered, Flechette cleared his throat.

"I have a few announcements for our grand Brotherhood," Flechette said. His eyes radiated beneath his hooded cloak, and the various pins and sashes that adorned his robe echoed what little light there was in the room, glinting like miniature supernovas in the dark chambers. Pulling his cloaked hood down from his head, his almost-human features peered at the rest of the council.

"Brother Flechette, speak to our assembled body, then," Telaris Cantor said from his seat near the Grand Master and Deputy Grand Master.

"Out of necessity, several changes have been made to the way we recognize our Brothers," Flechette whispered, his voice echoing throughout the acoustical Council room. He looked around the council and addressing each shadowy visage that sat in the umbric room. ..

A few changes are being made to the medal system. They are as follows:

• The Legion of the Scholar (LS) is having two changes made to it.

  • First, the Grand Legion upgrade now requires 15 Legions to be earned.
  • Second, a new upgrade has been added for members who have reached 30 Legions: the Legion of the Scholar w/ Exalted Legion. This is denoted by (LSE).

• The Cluster of Fire changes made a few months ago will be reflected in the Dark Side Compendium once Jac receives the updated HTML and has time to change it.

• The Crescent system is being revamped. Under the new system, there will be five levels of Crescents.

• The first level is designed for major events, such as the Independence Games or Capital Gains, and has the Diamond (1st), Ruby (2nd), and Amethyst (3rd) Stars.

• The second level is for major competitions that require a lot of effort from those who participate, such as Krath Monthly Topics. The second level has Ruby (1st), Amethyst (2nd), and Sapphire (3rd) Stars.

• The third level is for "normal" competitions that require effort to participate or attend, but isn't necessarily a competition that would require hours and hours of work. Most Clan competitions would fall into this category, and melee nights will also. Third level competitions receive Amethyst (1st), Sapphire (2nd), and Emerald (3rd) Stars.

• The fourth level is for low-effort competitions that are designed to be quick and fun. These consist of things such as "Top 10 Lists" or word-puzzles in reports. Fourth level competitions receive Sapphire (1st), Emerald (2nd), and Topaz (3rd) Stars.

• Fifth level competitions are trivial competitions that require almost no effort. Examples are guessing lyrics or a single-image caption competitions. Fifth level competitions have Emerald (1st), Topaz (2nd), and Quartz (3rd) Stars.

When a new competition is approved, it should have a suggested level for awards, which will then be approved or modified by the DGM. In addition, if a competition receives 3 or fewer submissions, it is automatically bumped to one higher level. This new system is designed to allow competitions to suitable awards its participants based on the amount of work required for the competition rather than the scope of the competition, as it was previously. These changes should soon be reflected in the DSC along with the LS and CF changes.

In Darkness,

   ->  OE William "MiSFiT" Flechette Taldrya Cantor