End of the War!

GJW XIII has finished and we await the results. See Mav's report for more updates on the time frame for this. I had great fun participating in this one, particularly in the solo and co-op fiction events (thanks Aylin for writing a co-story with me and battleplan team Aylincia Sajorm). Also a public thanks to everyone that helped to put it together and chose to spend their summer running it.

Thanks to everyone that's participated in both the war and the general encouragement of clanmates in the war chat. One of my favourite parts of these events is watching everyone come together as a unit and supporting each other. I've seen some great submissions from across the clan and optimistic that a lot of people will be bringing novae home when everything has been graded.

Most importantly I hope that everyone enjoyed participating in the event. It's important in these competitions that we don't lose sight of the fact that the club is supposed to be about having fun, and that should always be emphasised over ticking boxes. And even more importantly I hope people still got out and enjoyed the last of the good weather this year.

End of the Eli!

I told Mav before the war and I've told a few people since then. I'm stepping down as Consul. I've been in this role for 2 years now (we can't all be Xen) and feel it's right for a change, both for the clan and myself. I'm finding I don't have as much drive for the position as I used to, and the clan needs somebody more dedicated to the role. I'm also in the position right now where I would enjoy the club more without the pressure of CON responsibilities, which is never a healthy place for a leader to be in, and to remain in position would go against the philosophy I've always encouraged: that the club is about having fun and you should do only what you find fun.

Not gonna write a huge euology for myself. I did some stuff. Some of it was good. Some of it wasn't. Sometimes I didn't do stuff and it was bad, other times I didn't do stuff and it was good anyway. "It was the best of times. It was the blurst of times". Thanks everyone that helped. Even Jorm.

What now for CSP?

In terms of leadership: keep an eye out for a Mav update on this. The position will probably be open for applications, and I'll obviously be available to advise throughout the process, although probably won't be officially involved with selection. I'm happy to chat with anyone interested in the role, giving a brief on where we're at, what's working / not working, etc.

In terms of clan fictional direction: in my phase 1 fiction for the war, I detailed how Eli vacates the Empress spot. Whether the new CON wants to use that as a launch pad is up to them, but I'll always be around to advise on fictional direction whenever needed. Whether the new CON wants to carry on from where we left off, or steer the clan's fiction in a completely new direction, I'll be completely on board and excited to write in whatever future fictional setting comes to the clan.

The story can be found here https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zQVF9MPz71-W0e4syho4bxYJo3MtQ7KR/view - with a TLDR below. I'd appreciate it if people read the fiction before the rest of the report though, as it gets a bit... "twisty... very twisty..." and the TLDR might spoil it.

TLDR:

• Eli 'defects' to the collective to try to steal one of the crystal shards which the Collective are.. er.. collecting... for reasons. Bad ones.
• Rath Oligard calls her bluff and has her launch a false flag attack against Lyra using Scholae ships, forcing her to either abandon her mission or land CSP in the "bantha poodoo".
• She goes through with it.
• Severian Principate get annoyed at CSP cause their Empress was seen blowing up Lyra Colony buildings
• CSP protest their innocence by declaring Eli a traitor that sided with the Collective and tried to frame CSP
• Severian Principate demand CSP back up their words by getting rid of Elincia
• Zentru'la does the job, and brings back her lightsaber (containing the crystal)
• Eli dies a terrorist in the eyes of the Severian Principate, and a traitor in the eyes of CSP, but her death averts a full on war that we couldn't win
• Eli is posthumously stripped of her Palpatine title, and it is given to Zentru'la Palpatine.

Everything after the false flag attack is orchestrated by Eli to both avoid a war vs the Severian which would result in our obliteration and steal the crystal, at the cost of her life and legacy.

What now for Eli (OOC)?

I'm not going anywhere, and will still probably be as active as before if not more, just with a focus on doing stuff rather than providing opportunities to do stuff.

• Finish my YMCA battle with Jon Silvon which has overrun due to the GJW (sorry Jon!)
• Finish Eli's wiki page
• Set up Zentru'la as my new main going forwards
• Develop a new alt, got a lot of ideas floating around in my head. Now that we all have characters aplenty (main + free NPC + lots of people have bought an alt + other NPC slots) I think the time has come where having a villain character is a viable option without separating yourself from the clan. I'm open to collaborating with the new CON on making this more of a thing if they're interested, and subsequently other like-minded people. If not, then I'll go with a giant wookiee that rides a krayt dragon and dual wields lightsaber chainsaws. Atra said this is fine as long as he wears commando armour and proclaims everything "For the God Emperor". He also said that was 'a work of comedy and not a thing' but I'm ignoring that bit for now.

AskTheEli

Can be done in the comments section cause I can't be bothered to run a telegram one and then format it in Markdown. Questions welcome on anything. Consider the comments section an 'Ask Eli Anything'.

Final real thoughts from Eli before resigning

As members, this club is about fun and fun should always be paramount, but not just mean fun within the club. The DB should enhance your life in general. If you would enjoy participating in a comp, but it's sunny and you'd enjoy going to the beach more... then get out and go to the beach. "Winter is coming". The club isn't going anywhere though. Don't feel guilty or like you're letting your clan down or anything silly like that if you prioritise other hobbies than the DB. We're here to provide an opportunity to have fun, never an obligation to make use of them.

Now my song is getting thin, I've run out of luck. Time for me to retire now, and become a duck.

Eli.