Consul Report #12

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1. Holonet - The Hutt Expansion
2. Recognition - XP and the Brave New World We Live In
3. Dark Council Commentary - A summary and reaction to recent Dark Council activities
4. Spreadsheets and Reviews - Let’s See It In The Sheets!
   
5. Collaborative Conversations - Inquires from the front
   
6. Spotlight Competitions - A selection of competitions recommended by the Consul
7. Next Steps - What comes next
   

Prologue

This Deal Is Getting Worse All The Time

Claudius the Hutt’s Throne Room, Koudooine

Before the events at Club Antonia

“Who does he think he is? This deal is going to get us all killed or worse,” Vos grumbled as he walked. The Devaronian Majordomo of Claudius the Hutt fingered the medallion around his neck absentmindedly as he kept a graceful pace next to the hoversled of Gaius the Hutt. Despite being a minor member of the clan the Hutt was still a Hutt and, therefore, had more of a voice in certain matters.Vos turned, not for the first time trying to make eye contact while not appearing to stare at the scar that covered the Hutt’s right eye.

“If you could just talk to your cousin. Perhaps, show him that the spice trade is at risk because of this new venture,” Vos said, as they turned a corner. Vos was careful not to slip on a patch of ice. Despite their attempts to maintain a somewhat temperate environment this forsaken ice world kept creeping back in. He made a note to have a service droid dispatched later to fix whatever heating coil was malfunctioning.

“The spice trade isn’t impacted by this venture,” Gaius the Hutt responded, reaching into a bowl on his hoversled and pulling out some sort of frozen amphibian popsicle that he began sucking on. “Frankly, the spice trade is booming as Sqygorn is getting people hooked on it first. I don’t see why you’re so set against this,” Gaius said between licks of his amphibiansicle. They turned the final corner and walked through the massive doors into Claudius the Hutt’s throne room.

Read the full Prologue & Act 1

Summary:

• Claudius the Hutt has set his sights on expanding into the slave trade within the Caperion System
• Kamjin and Thran are near to open conflict as the military background Emperor struggles to grow into a true political Emperor
• Zax Keevo, the would be musical sensation is officially an outlaw within Scholae Palatinae space.
  

Commentary:

So it’s been a hot minute since I’ve published a report and that’s completely on me. Between real-life work changes, and a return to business travel, and some pet projects gaining significant momentum I’ve relied upon Discord to stay engaged with you all and my apologies as I know that’s not going to reach you all.

We’re going to dive into a few topics during this report but the most important one is above. The long teased Hutt Expansion is finally here. I’m finalizing the timing but the goal is to have it start near the conclusion of the May 4th competitions and conclude before our usual summer event(s).

The goal is to be lean with two weeks of competitions, one or two competitions that span the whole two week period, with Act 2 of the story dropping with the second week of competitions. This’ll yield some low effort competitions that still give you an opportunity to develop your character and how you’ll react as the situation develops.

Since my last report we’ve introduced the XP system. If you haven’t yet I’d recommend the Recognizing Members Shadow Academy course and reviewing the XP Policy wiki page. What this ultimately means is that you’re recognized earlier for the activity you’re doing and not relying upon our quarterly review process.

We will continue with our quarterly review process to ensure members who have completed the XP Ladder (e.g., received every medal up to an Amethyst Kukri) are still recognized for their activities.

With that, let’s recognize the amazing contributions both within the quarter and through a lifetime of activities.

Ruby Scepter

• Reiden Palpatine Karr
  

Sapphire Blade

• Cello
  
• Kadrol Hauen
  
• Lucyeth
  
• Sykes Jade
  
• Thran Occasus-Palpatine
  
• Ulfsark
  
• Xendar Thendaris
  

Grand Cross

• Aldaric
  
• Cello
  
• Czarnian
  
• Ellac Conrat
  
• Kadrol Hauen
  
• Kah’ri Marru
  
• Lucyeth
  
• Nefarious "NeMo" Moniker
  
• Rayne Palpatine
  
• Reiden Palpatine Karr
  
• Sykes Jade
  
• TheBlackxRanger
  
• Thran Occasus-Palpatine
  
• Xendar Thendaris
  

Steel Cross

• Arthadonis Kalderis
  
• Cade Tezo
  
• Cello
  
• Elaine Conrat
  
• Ellac Conrat
  
• Kah’ri Marru
  
• TheBlackxRanger
  
• Xendar Thendaris
  

Anteian Cross

• Arthadonis Kalderis
  
• Cade Tezo
  
• Czarnian
  
• Elaine Conrat
  
• Ellac Conrat
  
• Garo Korden
  
• Kah’ri Marru
  
• Morrigan Ryukossei Jade
  
• Sykes Jade
  
• TheBlackxRanger
  
• Titius Osseus
  
• Wattrik Cronis
  
• Xendar Thendaris
  

Dark Cross

• Aldaric
  
• Atashi Rain
  
• Aticus Jade
  
• Dukwtape
  
• Elaine Conrat
  
• Garo Korden
  
• Honsou Kessen
  
• Kah’ri Marru
  
• Morrigan Ryukossei Jade
  
• Talon Jade
  
• TheBlackxRanger
  
• Titius Osseus
  

Congratulations to you all! To summarize, that's 56 medals within a quarter (plus Reiden). What’s also staggering is the, exactly, 2,500 gaming clusters (CE + CF) earned by the clan. Our clusters break down as follows for the quarter.

• Earth - 762
  
• Fire - 1,738
  
• Graphite - 206
  
• Ice - 237
  

This includes 177 crescents, 32 of which were Diamond!

With all this activity we also recognized three of our members being knighted!

• Elaine Conrat
  
• Cade Tezo
  
• Titius Osseus

Our additional promotions are as follows:

• Kah’ri Marru - Equite 2
  
• Ellac Conrat - Equite 1
  
• Czarnian - Equite 1
  
• Dukwtape - Journeyman 3
  
• Honsou Kessen - Journeyman 2
  
• Atashi Rain - Journeyman 2
  

There’s been a significant amount of activity from the Dark Council. To help you digest it I’ve outlined the significant items below, my summary of the report, and addressed questions where applicable from within and without the clan.

DGM #4 - An Honorifics Update and a Thank You

This’ll go down as a lesson in “release it all at once” as the site removed the old honorifics (e.g., Knight, Master, General) from being locked to the alignment a member had elected there was some initial negative reaction that was resolved when the ability to choose any honorific was made available.

Our own Reiden quickly grabbed being ‘General’ which was previously locked only to the Loyalist faction. Any opportunity to grant more choice to our members is a good one.

Voice Reports - Multiple

I’d encourage you all to review the latest reports from the Voice’s office. Which has seen two new species added (again, more choice!) in way of the Kushiban and the Kessurian.

In addition, we’re starting to get the chapters regarding the Galactic Happenings. I’m sure you’ll all find the next easter egg hidden within Idris’s work. Remember…the mother is out there.

Let’s go to the sheets! Now, you may ask why I continue to pull in this type of information and…I’m a nerd…but, beyond that, it’s hard to see the forest for the trees sometimes. We are a thriving community within Discord but our engagement exists beyond it.

While you can review the sheet and the numbers, which are excellent, on your own time I’ll call out a few key takeaways.

1. Growth - We’ve grown by 5 members since this time in 2022. That’s a 10% growth in clan size but, when looking at retention we still have an opportunity. The best way to sustain growth is to invite friends (which we’ve seen from Honsou, Atashi, and some of our other recent joins).
   
2. Roleplaying - We saw a massive jump in our Clusters of Ice which has been driven by the clan’s interest in Roleplaying. I attribute this to the absolutely amazing events Thran has run and the worldbuilding he’s been doing there. Thran and I have had discussions on how we can continue to leverage this activity for the clan in future competitions.
   

Remember to log your questions at #Askkamjin within the Clan Scholae Palatinae Discord channel

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In the event that you succumb truly to Mavirus, tripping and falling on Thran's dagger, do you have a succession plan? - Atra

I’d like to rebuttal the possibility of my eventual death, whether by the Mavirus or Thran, we all know it’s absolutely going to happen. Thran’s simply not going to let Kamjin live. This is something Thran and I talk about a lot…in fact it may be one of the most frequent conversations we have.

Succession planning, not him killing me…well, maybe that too. This is something that’s important for all leaders to plan for and I think of it in the following terms.

Ready Now - These are individuals who are ready to immediately assume your position. They’ve demonstrated the skill and talents necessary to continue to meet the objectives necessary for your role and have the respect of their peers, leaders, and members. In my situation, this is naturally Thran.

Ready in 1-2 Years - While this is how I speak of it at work, with the shorter turn-arounds within the DJB this could be considered in months. These are individuals who have begun to develop and demonstrate, with consistency, the skills and talents to fulfill your job. Usually these people would be considered ready now to fulfill the role of the individual who is your first level successor. For Scholae Palatinae I see our Quaestors as fulfilling this role with Rayne and Reiden both having these skills.

Ready in 3-4 Years - These are individuals who may not yet be in a leadership position today but are demonstrating a desire to move into such roles and have shown the emerging talents necessary to grow into a leadership role. I won’t name individuals here but I have one Thran and I discuss and several we are keeping an eye on. I encourage people who aren’t in a leadership role to raise their hands and talk to us (Reiden, Rayne, Thran, or myself) about their desires so we’re aware and can help create opportunities for you.

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What’s the sustainability plan for the Monolith’s power usage? - Kah’ri Marru

You won’t have to worry about turning the lights on. I’m sure Thran could give you a more detailed answer, as I’m almost confident he’s thought it through. I’d remind you that we’re not eco-warriors. We’re cutting down part of the formerly protected forest for a spa resort.

If the core becomes unstable or some fish die in our aquaturbine…shrugs. Not gonna stop me. That or we could take a continent and set up a bunch of these.

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Competitions by Scholae Palatinae Members

• May the Fourth 2023
  

Spotlight Competitions

• Lets Build A Puzzle
  

You’ll start seeing the competitions start being added next week. The goal is to have Act 1 and Act 2 start as the May 4th competitions come to a close. I hope you all enjoy the fiction. There’s a lot more to be revealed and some exciting opportunities for you all to make decisions on how you address what is happening in the Caperion System!

Until next time, stay Sithy my friends!

As always, I have an "open door" policy, please DM me on Discord at any time.