Introduction

Greetings Ektrosis! In some ways this is my second, first report but we’ll just go ahead and call this report number two for simplicity's sake. I will spare you all of the gritty details but after having some personal stuff to attend to this summer I am happy to be back as Aedile. With a second chance in hand I am trying out something a little different with my report format. The report you will find below puts the focus right where it should be, right on us members! My intention is that this format gives us all a little sneak peak at a few of our fellow Housemates each months, what people have been working on and few things for us to work on as a House. I am always in the market for feedback, good or bad, so please let me know how you feel about this format.

Submission(s) of the Month

In this section I will showcase a few pieces of work that have been completed by members of Ektrosis within the previous month. This could be a fiction you’ve written, a run-on you’ve participated in, a graphic you drew up, an ACC post, etc. Even if it wasn’t submitted for a competition, as long as it is Star Wars/DJB related send it in. I know none of you are shy so don’t hold back on me, show off a little bit! If you would like to have your work showcased next month just shoot me an email.

This month our submissions are from our outgoing Quaestor and new Consul of Taldryan, Rian Taldrya and the ageless wonder Raistline Taldrya Majere.

For the competition Armoury Expo, Category 3, the prompt was to design a new assault or heavy blaster or slugthrower. Below is Rian’s first place winning entry:

Raist has shared his first place entry for the latest installment of Maximum Brevity Series. This is a very sensual story, I encourage you to give it a quick read though. Fun side note, Ektrosis placed first, second and third in the latest round of MBS.

As a bonus, I’ll put some of my own skin in the game and share with you my GJW XII: Phase I fiction entry. It didn’t place but I really enjoyed writing this story: An Apathetic Hero

Member Spotlight

I want to thank Andan Taldrya Marshall, more commonly known as Crix or Crixxxie, for being my interview guinea pig. Being very new to Taldryan and Ektrosis myself, I really enjoyed having the chance to get little background info on Crix and his character. There is an amazingly rich history here and I love the idea of diving right into it. I look forward to more of these in the future and I hope you do too.

How did you originally discover the Dark Jedi Brotherhood and why did you decide to join?

• I actually found the Emperor's Hammer in late 1999 while looking for uniforms for a Star Wars-based guild on battle.net. I poked around the site and it seemed like a cool club, so I figured I'd join up and see how it went. 18 years and an Exodus later I'm still with the DB, but I don't play Diablo (ya, it was the original back then) anymore.

What is the OOC story behind your character’s name?

• I think I used a random name generator and kept at it until I found a first and last name that sounded good together. And Taldrya...cause I rock =P

Give us a one or two paragraph “elevator speech” on who your character is and what their motivations are.

• Andan is a Sith, but not your typical out-for-himself-forget-everyone-else Sith. His loyalty is to Taldryan first and foremost, and will do whatever he feels he needs to do in order to advance Taldryan's interests and goals, and he has no problem steam rolling anyone while doing it. He's cultivated a deliberate aloofness and air of superiority that he uses to keep others, especially non-force users, off balance. A lot of my inspiration for how I play Andan comes from how Vader interacted with naval officers in the beginning of Empire Strikes back - very intolerant of failure and swift to punish those who fail to meet expectations. As for his past, that's something that I keep tweaking and can never really decide on what I want his backstory to be. Right now, he's a run away with a broad sketch of some details between the ages of 15 and 18, when he joined the Emperor's Hammer and the DB.

Describe one event from your character’s past that defines who they are now.

• Coming out of the 8th GJW and having to take charge of House Archanis after the former Quaestor was killed in battle. It forced Andan to move from being a shadow agent to working in the open, and completely changed his relationship with Taldryan. He also looked at the sacrifice that my former character made and felt as though he'd have to live up to his standards in order to be worthy of taking on his role.

What would be your character’s most prized possession?

• His ship. Andan is very much a loner and values the flexibility that having a VT-49 allows him to do whatever is needed.

During your time in the Brotherhood, what has been your favorite event? (Vendettas, Feuds, intra-clan events, etc.)

• That'd have to be the 8th GJW. It's where Andan was really "born". I volunteered my old characters to be killed off in the GJW plot line and designed Andan to take his place. I set it up as Andan having been a shadow agent of Taldryan who was called up to lead Archanis after my previous character died. It was fun being able to whip the slate clean and redo my character from the ground up.

Who is one member of Taldryan’s past that newer members should know about?

• Yacks. No question.

Out of all your awards, titles and positions which one are you the most proud of?

• I've been in this club for 18 years and have managed to do a lot of things in that time. I've held a leadership position in every house of Tal that exists, or has previously existed. I've been Proconsul, I've been M:DGM, I've worked on a ton of behind the scenes projects. I've gotten some medals for stuff I've done and medals are cool, weapon awards are especially awesome, but the clan name is something totally different. It takes a unique contribution to the clan and long term dedication to earn the right to that name. There are only 30 people who have been granted the clan name and the list of who has it is a list of people who have made a huge difference to the clan over the years. Being on that list and associated with those people is a huge honor for me.

What traits do you think differentiate Taldryan and its members from the rest of the Dark Jedi Brotherhood?

• Our cohesiveness and openness to new members is what really stands out to me. I've been in a few clans over my time in the Brotherhood and have never felt more welcome than when I was in Tal. Even when I left the clan I was still welcomed back with open arms.

Magic wand time. If you could make one change to any aspect of the Dark Jedi Brotherhood what would it be?

• I'd get rid of Zoraan. Although he really set the stage for the Exodus in a number of ways, he was a horrible GM who did nothing to earn the support of the membership. His rebellion shows us why being responsive to the needs and desires of the members is so important - he wasn't wrong, but he failed because he didn't earn the support of those who were supposed to be following him.

True or True: Mav Is The Worst

• Super true.

Call to Arms

For those of you that don't know already, I enjoy playing games on the electronic computer boxes. I also think some of you do too. It would be very cool to get a standing "gaming night" going but I recognize that scheduling these events can be a challenge. My hope is that more people would be able to participate in a gaming night if it was on the calendar weeks in advance. To accomplish that I've created a survey that might help me coordinate all of our busy schedules. All members of Clan Taldryan please take a moment to complete the survey linked below if you would like to participate in a regularly occurring gaming event:

Taldryan Call To Arms Survey

If this event gets off the ground future version of this section will detail the dates and times, as well as the platforms of choice, for upcoming gaming events. This section will also detail the outcome of last month’s Call to Arms such as games played, clusters earned, etc.

Just A Moment with Justinios

Great Jedi War XII is now in the books. The 2017 holiday season has mercifully passed. If you are in the Northern Hemisphere the days are slowly getting longer even if it seems like winter may last forever. This time of the year tends to be hibernation season for me but there is no time for sleeping now! For those that have read Rian’s reports you have seen the sneak peaks at the upcoming clan event. I for one am very excited for this event, the Clan will be building a new home and new fiction but the activities and participation of us all will help drive the direction of that progress. In preparation for this upcoming event I have a challenge for House Ektrosis. Before my report next month let’s see if between us all we can place in the top three in at least ten DJB-wide competitions. Why? Just to prove we can do it and to remind the rest of the club that we are a force to be reckoned with.

Concluding Competitions

The biggest news of the last month or so came when Rhylance announced he would be stepping down as Consul of Clan Taldryan. I am using this month’s “Concluding Competition” to honor the service of out out-going Consul using the universal language of humor. The competition, DJB Snapple Facts: Rhylance, asks you to come up with a few statements about Rhylance that you might find on the bottom your favorite Corellian bottled drink cap. There is no need for them to necessarily be true...

Wrap Up

If you have made it all the way to the end I thank you for sticking with me as I work through this format. My main goal is to provide you all with a report that is both interesting and useful. If you have any suggestions on things that would be useful to see, especially if that aren’t items normally included in other reports, send them my way. In the meantime look out for more information on the upcoming clan event and check out the competitions page to see if we can hit that goal of ten placements before my February report.

Regards,

Justinios Drake