Kote Ky'ram: Ad Vizsla Immortalis Update

An Ad Vizsla Immortalis Update

Greetings Vizsla & Friends,

I hope you all are doing well this Memorial Day.

As a global community, each of us comes from a nation with a different day of remembrance. Regardless of the day it falls upon for your nation, each is important for recognizing the efforts and sacrifices individuals made for causes greater than themselves. As benefactors of such selflessness, the least we can do is to take time to collectively reflect upon what was fought for and sometimes lost. And as such, I'd like to take a moment to reflect upon those in our community who are honored by this Memorial Day.

Given the amount of American veterans that exist both within Vizsla and the club at large, I want to recognize how grateful we all are for the brave men and women amongst us that have served in uniform.

As an individual who grew up through this online community, I have learned from many of you that the sacrifices endured are not limited to the battlefield. They exist in early mornings or late nights spend training while your families eat with an empty seat at the table, they exist in months or even years long deployments that take you away from valuable time spent with your loved ones, and these sacrifices also exist in the harm caused to the body that will continue past enlistments dates.

Even though I am not American, I too share in the benefit of those American veterans responsible for coalition efforts with my nation. More importantly though, as a member of this online community that is home to so many fine men and women; I've been blessed by the time and friendships each of you have shared in your off-hours. Today, let us remember and honor the selfless service of these members.

I hope you all have a meaningful Memorial Day and thank you for your service.

Kote Ky'ram

The kote ky'ram, also known more simply as the Mandalorian death ceremony, was a funerary ritual performed by the Mandalorian culture in ancient times for warriors who died with the highest honor.

When translated into Galactic Basic from the Mandalorian language of Mando'a, kote ky'ram meant "glory death," and was typically reserved for warriors who fell in battle to Jedi or impossible odds.

The death ceremony saw the fallen warrior's body placed upon an elevated pyre, to better ensure their spirit would be able to join those of other Mandalorian paragons.

As the deceased was cremated, clan members shouted war cries and tales of their fallen comrade's deeds to the sky, before beginning a night of drunken celebration and feasting in the warrior's honor.

In Memoriam

On this Memorial Day, I'd like to remind you all of Vizsla's tradition to mark this as our day of Kote Ky'ram.

In the past, we've had one-off competitions or full on events; mostly just to nerd out in a Star Wars way on Memorial Day.

Today, I'd like to invite you to reflect upon our dear, departed friend.

Last year, many of us were both shocked and saddened to learn about Matt's untimely passing. In efforts to honor him, he was bestowed with the title 'Ad Vizsla Immortalis'. However, given the haste to acknowledge such mammoth of a man - some things like a proper wiki page for the title were left lacking.

I'm happy to announce that this has been remedied.

A wiki page has been created to acknowledge the title, it's requirements and codify it's recipients. While I hope we never have to update this page again while I'm Consul, it's only a matter of time before another member is included so we've establish an 'in-universe' lore item to reflect the title and the 'forever adventure' its recipients depart upon. Each of these members will have a personal token added to the fireplace mantel, a place to house the item until they return to us.

My Thanks

Kora: Thank you for creating an image of the fireplace in Saga where we can house all the left behind tokens of our depatured friends.

Azler: Thank you for creating the wiki page to house this information and image.

Dracaryis: Thank you for identifying the token for us to use to honor Matt/Declan.