Hello, everyone, and welcome to the latest Dread Lord report. We are more than fifty days into quarantine where I am, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. Meanwhile, let's focus on what's been happening in the Ascendant Clan and what's to come.

What makes Plagueis Plagueis?

First of all, I want to thank everyone for responding to my last report with an answer to the question posed above. Knowing how you view your clan is crucial to how we build our lore, run our sub-units, and boost recruitment.

After we looked at all your comments, the summit and I hunkered down and created an "elevator talk," as it were, for anyone interested in joining Plagueis. If you don't know what that is, imagine you are in an elevator wearing a job uniform, and someone asks you about your job. You only have the time in the elevator to explain what it is. So this is what we came up with:

Clan Plagueis is uniquely dedicated to the dark side of the Force and the pursuit of personal goals in general. As a warmonger, Plagueis draws inspiration from the CIS, who were determined to pursue their own path distinct from that of the corrupt Galactic Republic. As a predominantly Sith group, Plagueis runs a feudal society up to and including the subjugation of weaker peoples and the usage of slave labour. This provides a unique and interesting sandbox in which to explore the limitless potential within you.

So, key points here:

1. Plagueis is dedicated to the dark side, though remember, your character could be a darker or lighter shade of...well, dark side. What's important is the idea of our individual characters seeking and pursuing individual goals, and having that coalesce into the overall strengthening of the clan.

2. We are warmongers. We like war. We like to resolve conflict through war. And war can take on various forms. Actual combat is one form; so is economic warfare. So is psychological warfare. So are misinformation campaigns and propaganda. The CIS is a good inspiration for that. We want to connect further with the CIS's legacy beyond just, "We took their planet."

3. We have slaves. Sure, we call them "assets" around others to be politically correct, but they are slaves. We have a feudal system in the clan itself (yes, we have castes), and we utilize it.

Obviously, there is nuance to be found within all three of these points. In truth, how your character interacts with these elements is up to you. So we're looking forward to seeing not only how you work within the clan's overarching personality, but also how you'll promote the clan and encourage new members to join.

Speaking of...

Recruitment & Retention

I want to be frank here, in both a caring and real way: I love y'all. I love the current membership we have and how strong it is. However.

We haven't retained new members in a long time. Sure, we've had new members show up, but they haven't stuck around for long. So now the next question for all of you is: How do we recruit and retain new membership for the future of the clan?

Once again, the summit and I have been brainstorming, though most of our ideas center around recruitment. This is what we have:

1. PlagCast when it restarts? Maybe an episode explaining what Plagueis is and why it’s awesome (NOTE: I plan to restart the PlagCast in June, after the war. Thanks for your patience)
2. Some kind of easily digestible ad, a poster, video etc.
3. Lore guide for writer-types to familiarise themselves with history but mainly current events. Good for new and experienced members (Scudi's already been working on this).
4. Find Star Wars forums and social media groups where we can potentially promote Plagueis and subsequently the Brotherhood.

If you have ideas, not only tell us, but put them to use! We want our clan to get bigger and better.

Another War, And How We Win It

Guess what, folks - we've got another war coming. This vendetta will take place at the end of this month and go into June.

Here's the thing: We kill it at participation and participation ratio when it comes to wars. But we never seem to get above fourth place. I believe that is because, although we do all the things, we don't necessarily place in a lot of them. So how can we get the best of both worlds?

My advice is to prioritize how much effort you put into each war comp. Not much of a writer but great at gaming? Do a minimalist fiction for participation points and then crank out the clusters. Love doing art but struggle at multimedia? Create a masterpiece for the graphics event and whip out a participation ribbon-garnering audiobook for the multimedia. Stressing out too much about doing your best work for all events is just going to tire you out. Know where your strengths and skills lie and turn them up to eleven.

So basically: Do all the things, but do well at the things you're good at.

Now, that's just my advice, and if you feel like you want to put 110% into every comp you do in this war, who the heck am I to stop you if you don't crash? But if we're aiming for placement, we gotta strategize. That will get us to First Clan.

Any other advice y'all have for placing and participation for this war, feel free to share! And hype it up!

Upcoming Events

As I do in every report, I'm going to provide an updated timeline to events we are planning following the upcoming war. Here goes.

1. The Pro Bowl. Once again: Our hope is that the fourth Pro Bowl - which includes an old friend, Taldryan, and a new challenger to the bowl, Naga Sadow - will commence on July 20th with its prologue week, and then we will have three weeks of competitions from July 27th to August 17th.

We've actually confirmed our three organizers for the Pro Bowl, which is super exciting.

1. A developing event being run by Scudi. She's been outlining things and will provide more info as it comes along.

2. The arrival of Laren Uscot. Oh, yes. It's happening, folks. Most likely around Halloween. Curse his sudden but inevitable betrayal.

3. Another Nightmare Before Sithmas? We'll see.

DB Haps

Here's a slew of links for relevant Brotherhood-wide reports and competitions.

Reports

• We got a new di Plagia.
• Mav's April update
• Someone was caught cloning. Oops.
• I released the closing fiction for the PLA-VIZ feud.
• Results for the Tenixir Prison Break event
• Tahiri's Rollmaster report
• Voice Report #5
• TuQ's Proconsul Report
• Regent Report #5
• May the 4th be with you!
• Combat Master Report
• We got a new Headmaster, and Bubba got to keep his gaveling job.
• Wanna be Left Hand of Justice?

Competitions

• Fist Shelter In Place 2020
• ACE GFX Event
• ACE Fiction Event
• Combat Writing
• May 2020 GMRG Competitions

Ask the Dread Lord

Vodo Biask Taldrya asks: When are you going to do trivia?

Every time you ask, I add an extra week. We're in June now. ;)

Azmodius Equesinfernum asks: How was your day?

Well, I woke up about two to three hours ago, and now I'm writing this report. So...#goals?

Arden Karn di Plagia asks: Since I can't recall ever asking this: What's your favorite variety of otter?

I mean, I don't discriminate, but I love North American river otters. They're just so wiggly and squeaky and cute!

Teebu Nyrrire asks: Martini. Shaken or stirred?

Hey, man, the only martini I'll drink is a chocolate martini. And you shake those. So I guess that answers your question, actually.

Pravus asks: Why you skip my hangout? Why you no love me?

Sorry, boo. I was tired after playing Don Pedro in an online reading of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. Had to wipe off the drawn on facial hair and everything. Yes, I dressed up for a video call.

Also, I was eating this mean bowl of spaghetti, dude. I mean, can you ever say no to spaghetti?

Aleister Mavros asks: EXPLOSIONS?

EXPLOSIONS!

Andrelious J. Inahj-Mimosa asks: Does Ronovi consider Andrelious' ongoing mission to retrieve Kooki a distraction?

Definitely. Ronovi isn't the type to understand romantic love (or at least, she's suppressed her feelings so much that she can no longer understand it). Basically, if Andrelious's hunt is an impediment to his self gain and worth, she firmly believes he's wasting his time.

Scudi Ferria asks: What is the most recent thing to prompt Ronovi into saying, "Thanks, I hate it?"

Aleister being a complete arrogant tw*t. And hoarding the best Whyren's for himself.

When do you get time to yourself? Asking for a friend.

IC, Ronovi has her own quarters in the Pinnacle where she drinks herself stupid and ignores calls. OOC, almost never. But that's because I adore being with the wifey - much to her introverted chagrin.

Will you watch Clone Wars Season 7?

I haven't even watched Clone Wars Season 1.

Why is Ronovi?

Because why not.

What does Ronovi see as a weakness of Plagueis?

Its inability to kowtow to the Dread Lord at all times. She's sort of into the absolute power thing. That, and the fact that many members don't like the whole warmongering mojo, which comes in various forms besides combat and makes Plagueis awesome.

Do you subscribe to the idea that had there not been prior lore dictating how it went that Tyranus would've been a better Sith master than Palpatine?

I'm...indifferent.

Ronovi has quite a few friends outside Plagueis; how does this affect how she sees the clan?

Ronovi doesn't exactly consider these people friends, but instead as, "people I can trust to shank a b***h for me without shanking me instead." In truth, she has next to no actual friends in the Brotherhood currently. Dralin is long gone, and Laren's turning out to be a traitor leaves a bad taste in her mouth. Tasha'Vel might be the closest to a friend she has, but she's also in it for the fancy sushi outings.

Still, she's definitely played nice with a few outside Consuls, like Bentre and Erinyes, and this absolutely plays into the idea that she wants other clans to play nice with Plagueis back. If she wants Plagueis to become a formidable empire, she needs allies. And the other clan leaders she fraternizes with are probably more than happy not to have Plagueis buzzing around their heads like a goddamn murder hornet.

Seraine "Erinyes" Ténama asks: Do you have plans to add other dread-related titles to Plagueis' hierarchy in the future, like "dreadnaught", "dreadlock", or "dreadful"?

I mean, if we get a dreadnaught ship some time, that'd be cool. Dreadlock is either a hairstyle or a strange name to give a pirate ship's brig. And dreadful...just sounds kind of dreadful.

We can only push the shtick so far, I think.

Scarlet Agna asks: Do you have a favorite hobby?

I have many! Writing, singing, playing guitar, acting, bicycling, eating, drinking, watching online videos for hours on end, more eating, more drinking...I'm very productive, y'all.

Conclusion

And that's a wrap for this month's report. The summit and I will definitely be hyping up this upcoming war, and once June rolls around, we'll be waist deep in action...vendetta action, that is.

...Yeah, get your mind out of the gutter.

'Til next time!