Hello, my lovelies, and welcome to another Clan Arcona Consul Report with another really long and frakkin’ awesome title! Because our esteemed Melons of Selen, your very own Pecan, Esca, is busily moving right now (like legit sending us pictures of his U-Haul full of stuff), I’ll be flying solo this report!

THAT’S RIGHT, BOYS AND MANLADIES, IT’S JUST YOU AND ME! BUCKLE UP, PUT ON YOUR DANCIN’ SHOES AND YOUR SMILING FACES, AND GET READY FOR SOME FUN. ‘CAUSE IT’S GONNA BE FUN. AND SMILEY. OR SO HELP ME THERE WILL BE LOBOTOMIES.

I AIN’T EVEN GONNA GO WITH THE USUAL DENIALS. HOLD ON TO YOUR GUNS AND YOUR PRETTY FLORAL BONNETS AND COME ON WITH ME, PEOPLE. CAUSE Y’KNOW WHAT?!

Take my love, take my land, take me where I cannot stand

I don't care, I'm still free, you can't take the sky from me!

Uuuuunless it’s non-canon, in which case, you don screwed, son. :P

Somebody must’ve put something in the Voice staff’s coffee, because holy rainbow fluffcakes have they been busy. There’s fiction updates, there’s a new society (OH YEAH, FICTION!), and there’s ACC and ACB madness! Oh. Mah. Gawd.

So...where to start? Why, by telling you this: U-G-L-Y, You ain’t got no alibi, you ugly! Hey, hey, you ugly!

(Or so Grand Master Pravus and his cohorts on the Dark Council think.)

I keed, mostly. Our esteemed Voice, Evant, got the go-ahead from our Grandmaster to release the largest fictional update the Brotherhood has seen since the end of GJWXI! Titled Undesirables, the fiction brings back Damon Nix and Darth Necren (those pesky NPCs from the War) and centers on the elimination of the Krath and Obelisk orders, certain “impure” races from the Shadow Academy newlings, and other such undesirables from the Brotherhood’s ranks. It’s a purge, ladies and gents, no ifs, ands, or buts about it — but that’s Dark Jedi for you, truly dark ones indeed.

How would your character react to such events? Would they care at all, or be affected? I know Atty, righteous sweetheart she is, would be appalled. She might even find some friends who shared her sentiments, and look into helping all those potential undesirables...but who knows? It’s certainly something to think about!

I highly suggest you read the fiction (linked above) if you haven’t already, and consider all the possible character development you could explore as the Brotherhood fictionally advances! Exciting, no?

And speaking of scary agents of the Grandmaster and fictions...

NOBODY EXPECTS THE PRAVUS ATTY INQUISITION!

In his latest update, Evant released the new Fiction Society! /me squees Introducing the Inquisitorius, a new Brotherhood society much like the Royal Guard for our gaming enthusiasts. Here’s an excerpt about them from their wiki, linked above...

---

The Inquisitorius was a society formally established around 39 ABY by Grand Master Darth Pravus. It was formed following the Eleventh Great Jedi War as a way to protect the Iron Throne with a severely crippled fleet and army. It became clear that the Dark Council needed to address threats in a more systematic fashion. Darth Pravus turned to his Voice of the Brotherhood, Evant Taelyan, and tasked him with making his vision of a secret society a reality.

Potential agents of the Inquisitorius were identified by showing loyalty and service to the Brotherhood or their Clan. Once identified, they were put through a period of evaluation to determine if they were reliable and powerful enough to carry out the responsibilities of the Inquisitorius society. Then, once inducted, continued acts or loyalty in service to the Dark Jedi Brotherhood would see them elevated in the society to higher ranks.

---

You can also check out a new Shadow Academy exam detailing the new society’s history and the society roster to see where you and your friends place in the rankings! Just look in Evant’s post for all that goodness and more!

As if that isn’t enough, the Fiction Society comes with all sorts of new goodies like the GMRG and SA Societies do: new robes, weapons (a sweet Sith dagger), communicators, and even — BY THE FORCE! — societal tattoos! Be sure to give the Herald staff a round of applause for these when you’re drooling over your dossier selector.

Rivalries has ended! F-F-FINISH HIM.

I’d like to give a quick shout-out to Wally, the ACC staff, and all my fellow Rivalries participants. Dear sweet baby sunshine bunnies, that was intense. For all its glory, Rivalries has finally ended, and our Combat Master has announced the results, along with some match highlights, judge’s favorite picks, best judgements, and some ACB updates! Shout-out to our very own Terran Koul for coming in fourth, and to our friends from Odan-Urr, Turel and V’yr who claimed second and third place! #ARCCOUhype!

An extra shout-out to our boi Alaris Jinn who performed a EPIC RAP JUDGEMENT to Atra and Turel’s Epic Rap ACC Battle. Watching this made my day.

It was an amazing run overall, and I’m personally excited for not only more ACCing, but also how nicely the new CSs worked out, and for singular endings now that I’ve tried them. If you haven’t tried the ACC before, get involved! The new exam is streamlined so you can get qualified faster, and it’s a lot of fun.

And, if you just plain want to ACC more and need an opponent...fite me! (I’m still waiting on that battle, Sarin! :P)

There's no place I can be, since I found serenity

(Can you all tell I recently had a Firefly marathon yet?)

Finally, I want to point out our Grandmaster’s most recent report and the Deputy’s own report. Sarin’s report featured so many awards that I can’t even list them all — big time ones at that! Take a look and drop a congratulations to all the hardworking folks out there who earned some major sacramentals, promotions, and accolades for their efforts in making our club a better place.

The GM report also features an immense breakdown of promotions and ranks statistics throughout the last few years, and an extensive AskTheGM section where he addresses some large concerns that have arisen amongst all the changes recently. Be sure to read it if you haven’t.

The DGM report also includes some statistics, with more reviews at the Clan level! We took home the most writing clusters and crescents out of all the units, hells yeah! But, we can do better! Let’s work on crushing those participation numbers next round, eh? ;P

Also included in Mav’s report was the reveal of the new Test of Identity to replace ye olde Test of Lore. This is what our new joins will be first encountering! You can play with it too, if you’re curious, but it won’t change anything on your dossier.

I’ll leave it at that for now, my darlings! A lot is going on, so be sure to keep an eye on the newspage, on your inboxes, and on IRC/Telegram announcements to keep up!

Other news, reports, and happenings:

• GM Report #43
• DGM Report: Test of Identity and Unit Reports
• Herald Report #5: Sound of Change
• MAA Report: A New Sub-Era
• Voice Report #8
• Voice: New Species + Granted Languages Note
• Voice: CS Languages + Lore Note
• FIST: Taken King Destiny Clusters of Earth
• Seneschal Report - September
• Combat Master Report #6: Rivalries Results and More!
• Qel-Droma September Report
• Nighthawk Report 004
• Soulfire Report: There’s a competition?
• Shadow Gate Report #3
• Tyrant Sword Report #1: Attention on Deck!
• Odan-Urr Proconsul Report - September
• DJB Fiction Update - Undesirables

Take me out to the black, tell 'em I ain't comin' back

...Cause there’s competitions to be doin’!

As you guys know, if you’ve even glanced at all the emails and fiction updates, Brae Brae and Uji/Donny, along with Celevon and Vic/Terran, are running a series of competitions called the Fall of SCEPTER. Though nearly finished, the second round has been extended until this weekend (oh thank god). There’s a couple short fiction comps, some gaming, a wiki to flesh out the bad guys, and even a simple gfx comp (before you run screaming, it’s merely a logo design. This is your chance to make an established Clan enemy with kittens on their armor, unicorn onesies with rainbows, or all-plaid jackets because you’ve always wanted to stab that hipster holding up the line at Starbucks because their vegan latte had regular milk in it. Simply design a small logo to your heart’s content.)

While SCEPTER comes to its close along with September, however, there’s October to look forward to — and October means Halloween! The summit is already planning a large series of Clan-wide gaming comps for next month, along with some holiday competitions for tricks and treats. I can’t stop giggling over some of the prompts. Get excited and go enjoy!

That said, you’ll all have heard of the Invicta Games throughout previous reports this year. Given that September was a lot more intensive than we’d expected, between SCEPTER, Rivalries, the ACB release, other big changes, and pesky things like school/college restarting...we’ve decided to let you guys cruise a bit. Believe me, burnout can happen to anybody, and it can happen fast. I’ve run myself into the ground trying to do All The Things before. It’s not fun, and we’re in this club, ultimately, to have fun (also, it’s not a War yet :P).

So! Rather than taking place next month, the Invicta Games will be postponed until after the next Great Jedi War in December/January. You can expect a call for competition submissions to be put out around January/February thereof. If you have ideas in the meantime, write them down and save them! We’ll be ecstatic to have them in a few months’ time.

Otherwise, we’ve seen some awesome fiction from comps like Strands of Fate and plenty of goodness at the BT level from various ROs and web hunts. If you’re still looking for some activites to do, check the competitions page here.

Recognition

Promotions!

• Kordath Bleu d’Tana was promoted from Mystic to Savant! (That means EQ1 to EQ2). Congrats, Buddy-boy Blue!
• Several of our beautiful new joins and returning members have been rocking it in those new JM ranks, including Cyrus Grand, Araffin, Xena Azara, Trin Valen, Rym, Dash Rowsdower, Eringuard Edmons, Violet Cuscuta, Drevis Monarch, and Dorn Adler’ax. Keep going, lovelies.

Awards!

Lots of good stuff this time! We had several of our people joining in on larger Brotherhood projects or just lending a hand, from the Herald staff to the ACC revamp, and they got shinies accordingly! Plus, there’s just rewards for your general amazingness. Bask in your glory, Arconicorns.

General Awesomeness:

• Steel Cross for Mako Henymony
• Steel Cross for Kaiburr
• Dark Cross for Xenna Azara

Herald Fabulosity:

• Anteian Cross for Mks Ehn
• Anteian Cross for Celahir Erinos
• Dark Cross for Socorra Erinos
• Anteian Cross for Mirus Hi’ija

Combat Center Baddassery:

• Amethyst Kukari...Kukru...Kukri...pointy thing for Wally!
• Steel Cross for Terran Koul/Vic
• Dark Cross for Mirus Hi’ija
• Dark Cross for Adem Bol’era
• Anteian Cross for me — er, I mean, Atyiru Caesura Entar.
• Dark Cross for Kordath Bleu d’Tana

Shadow Lady’s Helpful Hint: I like project work. The MAA likes project work. Errybody loves project work. Look around, look for things you’re interested in, and get involved! Write and execute proposals, or join a team! There’s always stuff to do! Check out our volunteer section below too!

In The Land of Melons

Sadly, our beloved letter E can’t be with us this time, but I wish him the best of luck in his move! Hope none of your stuff gets broken, bruh. Safe travels. :P

However, to make up for his absence, you can stare at this awesome commission of Arcia he got for his birthday, by artist nunchaku! CHECK IT:

Projects

Alright, people. Since I’m takin’ over this section this time, I ain’t gonna be gentle. Lady Billowy Cloak is unhappy. Lady Billowy Cloak hasn’t seen NEARLY enough volunteers for Wiki work or Recruitment! Let me ask you, Arconans:

WHERE ARE YOU?

Because y’all know that I know that you’re damned well better than this! We’re the First Clan! Someone says “War” and we’re prowling like bloodhounds and revving our engines! We’re frakking fabulous. It’s time we got to documenting how awesome we are and drawing in more younglings, that they may receive tigerblood and know greatness.

Go to your inboxes, right now. Look for Esca’s announcements and calls for volunteers. Reply. I’m counting on you, my friends. Arcona isn’t one person. Arcona is us.

Are you with me?

Then let me hear it.

Recruitment Office

We’re still exploring some given suggestions about checking out deviantart, fanfiction, and various social media-type sites. The best recruits, however, are always direct recruits. I’ve seen a lot come in this last month, and it makes me happy.

Now, I know the song — you’ve already asked all your friends that would be even remotely interested, and they’ve seemed meh or said no. I know that feel. I’ve exhausted all mine too. It’s discouraging but whattaya gonna do? Go make more friends just to recruit them to your online club? That’s freaking hard. I know it. :P Most of my best friends are right here already.

But we gotta keep trying! I’ve started talking to my classmates about the club. I am now known as “that chick with the...uh...Star Wars forum! Right?” in my Speech class. It’s not much, but it’s a start. Keep your chins up, and in the meantime, think up some ideas for that random recruiting online!

Mentorship Program

I’ll leave this section mostly alone since my Pecan summed it up well last time. We’ve begun putting together our program and reviewing our initial ideas to create some modules to help people improve their skills in all the different aspects of the DJB, from writing, to art, to even leadership! Stay tuned!

Antei Contract Bureau

As Wally stated in his CM report, this is still very much a thing! Rivalries and other comps kept us all busy, but for our writers out there — and even our questioning or doubtful, hell yeah! — there’s still the brilliance that is the Antei Contract Bureau. Want to write based on your own crafted prompt? Want feedback? Want CIs?

Do. The. Thing. (™ Varric Industries)

The first quarter is wrapping up right now, and the second should launch soon! It’s your chance to get in there and claim the crown for the next round! Whoop whoop!

Wiki Updates

We’ve got our pages marked with the Arcona Article Improvement tag and the reason for their tagging. Now comes the grind! Esca put out a call previously, and while we have a good list of folks, we still need more volunteers. If you’re at all interested, or want to help out, please contact he and I at [Log in to view e-mail addresses] and [Log in to view e-mail addresses].

The Adventures of Atty and Arcy...a.k.a. Ask the A-Team

Well, okay, just Atty this time. Boooo, I know. :P

Maxie/Mks asks, Your first question is, WHERE WERE YOU?! D:

• Aww sweetie, lol. I took a short (read, five-ish days) LoA while my mom was visiting me for a bit from Ohio (for reference to non-US citizens, that’s roughly 1300 miles from Houston). Real talk, I miss her, and my other family who are all in Ohio, a lot. It was really nice seeing her, even for a couple days. She was actually here for a work thing, so it was happenstance, but serendipitous at that! I’m back now though, so it’s okay. <3

Vic asks, @AttyDJB What was the Shadow Matriarch's favorite thing about Houston?

• Shadow Matriarch...I’m keeping that. Well, straight from the queen herself: “Do you mean where we went or what we did? Both times or this time? I liked the Renaissance fair and the waterwall and the museum and the park. If it was this time, when we went to roadhouse and played farkle. :) Is that what you meant? Any time spent with you both is the best”
• Mom’s are sweet, y’all. Tell yours you love ‘em. :P That’s an order.

Donny asks, @AttyDJB - When do we intend to rally the forces of the Arc - Cou - Tar alliance into destroying all opposing clans one by one?

• Mwahahaha. Soon™. It’ll be a feat in and of itself to get COU and TAR to play nice together, but I bet we could somehow manage. ;P AND THEN WE’LL TAKE OVER THE WORLD. I mean, uhm, sunshine and hugs. Yeeeeeeah.

Sang asks, @AttyDJB Do you have a wizard hat and robe?

• I have been informed that this is some sort of meme I may not want to answer. :P But, no, Atty does not have a wizard hat or robe. She has cool Jedi-esque robes from the Herald. wink wink

Andrelious asks, @AttyDJB How do you feel about your new Sith Dagger, Grand Inquisitor? :P

• 
• In which Atty plays darts with daggers. No Ryns were harmed in the making of this comic.

Wally asks, @AttyDJB In a battle of Rainbows vs Sunshine...who wins?

• This is like Sophie’s Choice, bruh. Batman v Supes. Vegeta v Goku. Link v Ganon. One will always win, sure, but which? I guess I’d have to say sunshine, since rainbows are made of it! #science

Wally asks, @AttyDJB Is it true that Atty has a magical hat that grants +50 Sunshine and boosts her Charisma?

• I’m not saying yes, buuuuuuuuuuuuuut…
• 

Kat asks, #AsktheAtty If Atyiru were on Earth, what would her favorite holiday be?

• Oh, interesting question. Probably Christmas, because it’s got so much good cheer, generosity, and joy steeped into its modern incarnation (holiday season stress aside). I imagine she’d love every second of it. I can picture her in a Santa costume with handmade presents for everybody, sipping eggnog, singing carols (and “volunteering” the clan to go along as a choir), and generally dancing the eve away.

Wally asks, @AttyDJB How does Atty (character) feel about being a Grand High Inquisitor?

• Like this is a lovely and high-up position to rain down sunshine from. Seriously though. :P It would be good to use her influence to change things more positively, if possible. She isn’t exactly thrilled with some of the recent happenings at the GM’s behest. :P

Viv asks, @AttyDJB what are you dressing up as for Halloween this year?

• Honestly, I'm still debating it. Were the party Vic and I going to not themed, I'd probably attempt Link and run around saying only "hyah!" all night. Since it is, though, and the theme is "steampunk," likely steampunk Belle (a la Beauty and Beast). I'm open to suggestions, though. Cautiously. :P

Adam asks, @AttyDJB From what sources do you draw influence for Clan events and such? Is it more of a personal effort, or are the ideas for events shaped by every summit member?

• I would defintely say there’s a certain balance between personal inspiration and summit contribution. Things might start with one person’s ideas, and stick close to them, but it ultimately becomes a team effort no matter what, and those ideas and their execution are influenced by that team, whether its a QUA/AED pair or the entirety of Arcona’s summit — or heck, multiple summits. Me, personally, though? I tend to draw a lot of inspiration for things, both in event creation, art, and fiction, from music. My contributions from our event with COU, for example, basically came from the song Sound of Change by Dirty Heads. I have playlists for just about everything, especially character-wise, and sometimes that bleeds into the events I run.

Adam asks, @AttyDJB As new as Tyrant Sword is, fiction indicates that the fate of the ship and its crew is very much tied to the will of the Shadow Lady. Does this relationship extend beyond Mirus and Rhiann, or do you communicate with the crew mostly by proxy through the captains?

• Atty would definitely communicate with the rest of the crew too. She loves people too much. They’re all trusted by her and under her protection, as far as she’s concerned — but by extent, she also expects good from them. No murdering. No cruelty. Make your profits, but make them mostly clean. Things might not always go that way, and she might not always be happy, but that’s the premise. While particularly endeared to the Hi’ijas, everyone is equal in her “eyes,” and Tyrant Sword is not only a benefit and boon to the Clan, but a wonderful opportunity in freedom of adventure, something Atty appreciates.

Ernor asks, @AttyDJB how do you get Sleeper stimulant?

• I have...literally no idea what you’re asking. :P Google tells me this is a Destiny thing, though, so from Destiny’s wiki: “It is obtained by collecting various relics from the Golden Age scattered across the various worlds of Destiny.”

Vyr asks, What is your opinion (and in general Arconan opinion) about the ARCCOU alliance OOC, and how has it influenced your Clan ( its members, policies, etc.), if at all? Positively or otherwise? Elaborate.

• I’ve noticed a pretty positive opinion towards our alliance OOC. The Odanties we’re buddies with are awesome people, and I’d love to see even more interaction in our Telegram channels — it’s a bit different from IRC, less intermingling, I think, that we could do well from! We are each of us, after all, different sorts of misfits, pervs, and crazies. :P The alliance has been a large step in really reinforcing the Clan’s more gray identity, and so you could say it changed policy in being something of an impetus for some of the path slots we took, some of our fictional outlooks, and various wiki projects. Beyond that, there’s some fictional ties between various members, which I adore. In my personal opinion, I love everything about it, because I’ve gotten lots of good friends out of the whole thing, lots of opportunities fictionally, and a badass ally that we could call to in future events. I mean, how awesome is it to think of ARCCOU going against two other clans or more?

Turel asks, #AsktheAtty, What are you plans for after the GJW? COU-ARC vs CNS-PLA? :P

• Speak of the devil. :P What the hell, it might be a logical nightmare, but I’d actually LOVE to see it happen. What do you think, Alora/Locke/Teylas? Interested? ;)

Vyr asks, Meet me at the bar? ;)

• 
• sobbing intensifies

Kat asks, #AsktheAtty What is it like having the hottest bunch of people under your command?

• Worth every second I spend talking to HR about "not groping the staff, male or female, moderately consensual or otherwise." (I'm kidding, please don't smite me, Ceiling Jac, please please please.)
• In seriousness, it’s a daily pride and joy to serve you all as your Consul and watch all that you accomplish. I simultaneously get to feel like a mentor, mother, friend, and sister on any given day, and whatever else there is, whether I’m banging my head against a wall, laughing in stitches, or literally cheering in the middle of a classroom lecture about dumping tea into harbors, there’s always that pride. This, you insane, wonderful, ridiculously amazing people? You’re my family. And I am proud of that. So yeah, you could say it’s good to have y’all under my command.

Kat asks, @AsktheAtty Are you totes excite over the Fiction Society and all it's shiny new toys?

• Totes excited, as my above ramblings about it may have indicated. I live and breathe for writing. It’s my voice and my whole soul. Having a society where I can get badass Grand Inquisitor titles and cool shinies just for doing something I love...yeah, yeah I’m excited. :P I wonder if this is how hardcore gamers feel about the GMRG.

Maxie/Mks asks, @AsktheAtty How long until we synchronise?

• Well honey, kinda depends on your cycle, but no more than a month or two, surely. :P

Kat asks, #AsktheAtty Should we all set up appointments with you and the little old lady to do our Inquisitor tattoos? Or can walk in appointments be made? Do you work together, or do we need to go to different shops to get them done? Are you partners or competitors? How DOES a blind woman do an intricate tattoo?

• The little old lady and I have tea every evening. She’s the master, but I do a damnfine job too. :P We’d totes work together, probably in the same shop. I imagine she owns it, and I just come by for special occasions or appointments, or when avoiding work. And as for how a blind woman does intricate tattoos...the same way she does open heart surgery! Lolololol just pray trust me.

In Closing

The Adventures of Atty and Arcy: The Comic!

No comic this time, because you got doodles up above and I’ve been slammed this month. :P Instead, have a picture of our cat, Farah, in a box, because reasons.

Arcona Invicta!