imagine this was the temporary banner because reasons

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"The Consul and Proconsul demand your presence, sir."

"Oh is that right?"

"I don't believe it was a request either." The soldier’s tone had more than a hint of urgency.

Go on, see, the presence was less hissing, almost sing-song despite its raspiness, it must be fun to come at the beck and call of the man and his Jedi pet. Bentre scratched at the side of his head, his eyes cast down at the ground in thought. For a moment he wrestled with the idea of blowing off the summons before he looked up again. Locking eyes with the Warhost member, he gave the most sincere-looking smile that he could muster.

“Alright then, lead the way.” Bentre watched the man proceed out the door before following after. His mind started to reel. He hadn’t been back that long- so what did Locke have against him now? Was there anger stemming from his deposing the O’Maille-Versea as he had? Or was it anger that branched from his returning unannouced? Could it maybe be that word has just reached Locke that Bentre had left without checking out via Tasha'Vel? The voice in his head whispered almost inaudibly, adding to his irritation. With so many questions, the trip from Aeotheran to Sepros was going to be long.

Stahoes followed for several moments as he was led through the Lion’s Tooth. Lost in his own thoughts, Bentre studied the architecture. The sound of trickling water ticked at the Corellian’s ears, bringing him back to attention. He was now standing in the entrance hallway of the citadel, marching toward the entrance. As his eyes adjusted to the dark of night outside, the Shadow realized that the Consul himself was standing outside in the Courtyard.

“Thank you, Captain Telum. You are free to return to your normal posting.” The Consul turned as he spoke the last words as Bentre and the soldier drew closer. Locke’s green eyes studied the Sith standing before him.

“Nice trick. You didn’t even have to look backward to know I was coming.” Bentre’s tone was jovial.

“I hope you take your new duties more seriously than you seem to take authority,” Locke shook his head.

To read the rest of the brief fictional update for Bentre you can click here

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The Changing of the Guard

I keep trying to think of some unceremonious or zany way to open this report but alas I find myself surprisingly wanting. You find folks know me as Bentre (or Benny) Kairn’tel Stahoes, and I am your shiny new Rollmaster. Now I am sure that to a lot of you, I need no particular introduction. To those who can’t remember me, I am that jerk that was the Aedile of House Shar Dakhan. Before that I was that jerk who led Devil’s Shroud. Before that a jerk in Sapphire Squadron. :P

But on a serious note, I have been tasked with the wonderful, and dare I say slightly daunting task of Rollmaster-ing the wonderful Clan Naga Sadow. Now, normally my report might be a little lengthier, and hey to make up for my brevity I tried to (more or less seriously) answer all of your questions in the back-by-popular-I-hope-desire ’Ask The Rollmaster section.’ So without further ado or fanfare, here we go.

What Can You Expect- A Brief Overview

I have what I have termed a four-leaf approach to my newfound position- a clover if you will. One leaf, a large part of this is continuing from the ‘first contact’ point as Rollmaster with new members and doing my best to integrate our new members into the Clan at large.

The second involves recruitment of new members. That starts from a personal level- as I am gaming in various communities, to telling folks all over about the fun of the Dark Brotherhood. From there, we will be making efforts to spread the good news of the Cult of Sadow!

The Master-Student program, the third leaf ties directly into retinament- which serves as the fourth leaf of the clover. In my brief observation, those paired with Masters who take a vested interest in their students seem to have a much higher retention rate. Those who get involved with the Clan tend to hang around for longer periods. With that in mind, I will be deploying what I am terming “MAster-Student FORm for the improvement of clan’S Retention And Dramatically Owning Whatever we do” or MASFORSADOW. On a serious note, I call it MS1.3. My plan is to ensure that Master and Students are paired with people who are more ideal for them and help retain members. There is more involved than just what concerns Journeyman, but I will announce that as we roll into our first regular report.

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Now as a treat of sorts, you asked and I answered. Now we open on our first edition of #AsktheRM!

Ask the RM

DD (Riku) asks: What do you plan to do to get new blood? With the Clan slowly declining do you have plans to get us back up and active?

How did I phrase it when asked the same question by Locke and company? I think it was: "I can troll about games and spread the word of the Cult of Sadow like a good laddie." Beyond that, making Clan Naga Sadow a fun place to be I think will act as a way to keep people involved, as that would assist with retention. I can attempt recruitment wherever I game, wherever I play, and in what communities I find myself. I mean, I am sure we can come up with other fancy ways, but starting with fundamentals- make fun and make new friends- is always solid. And to be frank, I wouldn’t say our Clan is in decline, but we certainly have room for growth.

Sang asks: Litten, Popplio or Rowlet?

Litten. I [almost] always choose fire type. Neither of the others particularly struck my fancy this generation.

Locke asks: What do you see your character as doing now that he's RM? WHat're his goals? Is he going to stay mostly in his HQ or be out and about? Most importantly, is he going to continue the RM tradition of trying to stab Locke in the back?

Oh, I knew this one would come out sometime. What do I see Bentre doing now that he is Rollmaster? All sorts of Rollmaster-y things obviously. I also see him as continuing to train his own body in a way he felt less able to as Aedile for reasons I never managed to fully explore. A lot of his time would be spent at his HQ as I imagine he would throw himself into his newfound task, but he wouldn't be tied to a physical location exactly out of any reason except perhaps convenience. That would be subject to change as Benny sees need of course. Given the amount of work that can be done with a cellphone imagine what he could do with a datapad connected to the Holonet. Most importantly, just remember I tried to stab my last boss in the back.

Sang asks: Can I rely on you if I make a move4powah?

DD (Riku) asks: can we finally kill the Jedi?

Well, I don't know Riku? Can you? :P

Aexod asks: Poe or Wedge?

Wedge. I can't quite wrap my head around the Poe-fanboyism.

DD (Riku) asks: SCARS or ARCs?

SCARS, but then again I always felt a bit luke-warm about the Clone Troopers, so possible bias.

Aexod Burgoo asks: Taylor Swift or Katy Pery?

Well, I find Katy Perry's voice less irritating, but both sound like elevator music to me, or "popcorn" music. I prefer metal. Give me Amy Lee, Tarja Turunen, Inja Scharf or Sharon den Adel over either anyday.

DD (Riku) asks: favourite Kardashian? Locke likes Courtney

Garak! Or wait, you meant Kardashians, not Cardassians...yeah...just no.

Marcus the Betrayer asks: what new stuff you planning to bring to the table?

I want to breathe a lot of fresh life into the fictional background of Clan Naga Sadow. I want to ensure that our newbies and oldies have a place and spot within the Clan. Giving folks a sense of purpose and belonging. Running events to cater to our Novitiates, Journeyman and Equites alike. Encourage more gaming however I can. Are any of these things necessarily new? Not really. I do have an energy and a drive to explore every option and avenue that I can though. Rollmaster gives me a slightly different kind of challenge as I am usually the sort to try and take something and run with it. I might have to pace myself slightly differently.

I would have mentioned things with the Blackguard and possibly changing how the Master-Student program works post-Knighthood, but I don't think they qualify as "new" exactly. Still, I am always looking for exciting new ways to go at things, so I figure I will have some surprises for everybody.

Marcus the Backstabber asks: what's the best way to get a student, keep a student, and make them 'graduate'?

I have to admit that it makes me smile knowing I get to plug the wonderful Master-Student form that previous Rollmasters have been so keen of as a way to become a Master- as a start. Though this one is slightly changed from the previous time-tested formula of old. If you are asking me from personal experience how to keep a student and help see them graduate? For me, it is in becoming friends with individuals, taking an interest in their interests, seeing where they are interested in growing, where their strengths are, and helping them to realize the person that they want to be. I was very blessed for lack of better term in the fact that two of my students were very receptive to this approach. I had a third student who had to take leave due to real life, but you have that too. My biggest point to hang on though would be: "always encourage, never get discouraged."

Darkblade asks: with the current history between DB and Bentre, how do you plan on staying alive now that you are a fair target?

Do you really want to chase a wolf about? I plan on staying alive by keeping out of melee range and keeping alert. Given said history, I believe that Darkblade shows more target than Benny. Short answer would boil down to surviving. I don't forsee Bentre planning too far ahead, but he would have some brief contingencies plans if the Anzat tried to assassinate him for some unbelievable, inconceivable reason. :p

Firith asks: #asktherm when are we going to have more FFA's in JA? Coz, well, clusters matter.

As soon as I can get my work time, sleep time and play time worked out? I am perfectly game for JA. I miss it as a semi-regular bit that we did. Soon as we can work out a regular time, we can do it. I just might need the help of somebody in a less wonky-feeling timezone to help keep things rolling when I am wrapped up. :P

A New Age for Sadow

Ideally, I am hoping that we will enter a new golden age for Naga Sadow. The fact is, that I cannot cause this to occur on my own. At the risk of sounding like a terrible cliche, it is you lot who make this all possible. The position of Rollmaster, like that of Consul and Proconsul, are pointless without all of you wonderful lot! (I feel like I have been saying those words a lot recently, but they are no less true here)

If you have any thoughts, concerns, angry tirades or words of admiration that you would like to throw our way, feel free to email me or contact me on Telegram at @djb_benny. We are in for exciting times and I am glad to share them with all of you!

Serving Sadow From the Darkness,