Table of Contents:

Fiction
Introduction
Goals
Hiring
Ever Onward

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Council Chambers, The Ascent
Arx, Arx System - Brotherhood Territory
44 ABY

The lean Sephi-Arkanian reclined into the seat of the VOICE, half-jokingly gesturing to Turel. After his attempted assassination in Kiast, Mihoshi Keibatsu, the acting High Councilor of Clan Odan-Urr, staged the man's death and smuggled him to Arx, the one place the Sephi nobility of the Vatali Empire wouldn't look for him, where he was put to work as the Praetor to the Headmaster. So it went for the first meeting he witnessed with the rest of the Council. In the first days following Dacien's mysterious trip for milk, nobody paid attention to the underpaid intern sitting in a seat of authority, save the Headmaster, who shook his head at the childish display of the man who ought to be dead by all accounts.

Meetings, discussions, cheese flights, and concerns about the ongoing situations surrounding the Clans, territorial disputes, several situations in which the half-Sephi hadn't been brought up-to-speed, and frankly, were beyond his scope, until one day he sat in the same seat and a dataslate was present with his name scrawled across it.

"Wait..." Masahiro faltered a moment as he picked up the encrypted slate and began to read through the data within. "Oh, this was so much more than I bargained for." The new Voice of the Brotherhood whispered as he tried to parse everything.

Introduction:

Just over eight years ago, I joined this club (at what I thought would be one of the lowest points of my life) and had the privilege of joining a great community of people, which at the time I never would have expected to grow into a second family for me (much less that I would find out I had actual family here). Since then, I've taken a couple of breaks, come back again, gone away, and come back to stay ~4 years ago now. When Nero first introduced me to this space, the closest thing we had to the roleplay I was used to was the ACC, and I was scared of its ruleset until my first match against Tali Sroka (Oh, hey, Atra judged that. Life comes full circle). Even today, it is still my least ventured aspect of the club. Not to say I don't enjoy the ACC for what it is; I've just valued others' time more than I've been willing to throw myself at them in challenges, while I've been creating things since returning, having been in pretty consistent leadership positions. It's time I fixed this.

My next chapter is one of gratitude, for everything Atra and Idris are choosing to entrust to me, for the cooperation of the Consuls in new projects moving forward, as well as you, the community, in brokering faith with me as I work with my fine staff and with all of you to deliver new and exciting content, features, and community projects through the years to come, in keeping with previous established traditions (like Lorefest and his exceptional report formatting for now).

Goals:

There are a lot of projects, new and old, that I hope to take care of during my tenure. Tackling these projects will require much communication. Communication with the community, with the Consuls, and with the DC. Just as when I was Consul of Odan-Urr, my @s and DMs are always open, there's even a fancy Staff Mailer if it's something that my Magistrates or Praetor (more on that in a bit) can help you out with. If I don't answer @s or DMs before noon, I apologize. Severe insomnia and AV design projects tend to keep me awake way too late into the night (I'm working on this).

These projects include, but are not limited to, continuing the processes of shifting to a more Clans-focused narrative, which will involve taking the time to learn and understand the stories and personae of the various units within The Brotherhood, what drives their individual conflicts, and how we best interweave these conflicts in a meaningful way. Following up on archival formatting for fictions. Increased fiction community engagement, and much, much more.

I would love to see the fiction side of the community continue to flourish, just as it has with the introduction of the Exarch and their Envoy Corps. Perhaps a few of our older systems could do with a fresh coat of paint, maybe some tuning under the hood is in order for others.

Hiring:

Apparently, hiring is in vogue. Atra Hired Iddy. The pair of them hired me. Kam lost his hands in a weird incident with some hat-wearing Llamas and is hiring some appeals panelists, too. COU is hiring a new PCON, and I have to hire a new Praetor now (Turel may have to as well, but this ain't about him <3). I'll be opening applications from now through the end of the day on 2026/2/10, that's 2 weeks.

Zentru'la has served with distinction as Praetor to the Voice since 2021, and just before Idris was tapped to become our new Deputy Grandmaster, Zen approached him about stepping down from this position come the end of January. First and foremost, I want to thank Zentru'la for everything and for cordially making me aware of the situation once I was settled in. This, however, leaves me in the same lurch I just left both of my partners in (apologies, Jack and Turel!) in that I now need to hire a new Praetor. I do not have a bucket load of expectations for my applicants, but I do have a few requirements.

• Familiarize yourself with the Duties of the Voice.
  • If I am out on leave, vacation, or injured for any length of time, my duties can and will fall to you in the interim.
• Understanding of the Character Sheet System
  • You're going to be operating around this, a lot.
• Communication.
  • Ask Jack/Mihoshi, I don't shut up, and if we're working together on a project, I need to know we're on the same page. You're also going to be working on a team with several other people, all of whom will need to be up-to-speed with one another.
• An Open Mind.
  • Sometimes we have to think out of the box, consider things outside of our own wheelhouse, or hear others out to see what they're trying to do. Having an open mind and a bit of patience makes it easier to work with the general public.
• Knowledge of the Recent Ongoing DB Storyline
  • This one's simple, we're keeping the story going, you have to know just what's happening right now.

Beyond these, I have no expectations of how long you've been a member, what rank you are, or what positions you've held. These can be determining factors in your resume if I have to choose between people with more or less experience, knowledge, or assertiveness, but if I'm looking at dossiers and not applications, either the race is tight or you've not given me enough to go off of already.

If you're still interested after reading all of that, submit your applications to me directly ([Log in to view e-mail addresses]). I'll do my best to make decisions within 48 hours after the period closes.

Ever Onward:

While I'm no stranger to leadership roles, both in the club and real life, taking this step feels heavier to me, likely due to the increased expectations in delivering the same kind of content I'd brought to Odan-Urr on a much wider scale. Thankfully, just as with COU, this is not a solo endeavor, and my primary purpose is to steer the narrative direction alongside everything all of you do. This community, this Brotherhood is built on all of our collaborative efforts. Gaming, art, and fiction all. I look forward to building on the amazing foundation you've all built through years and years of shared history and guiding the ship through the calm waters of this Era of the DJB.

To Idris, you've given me a stellar foundation and amazing jumping-off points to begin my term as the Voice of the Brotherhood. I hope that I live up to the reputation you built in this position and finish the projects you've left to me! It's an honor to work with you, just as it had been when you were Voice.

Important Links

• C-D4WG
• Fiction Archive
• Fiction Resources
• Fiction Center
• Fiction Rubric 3.0
• Character Notes Template
• Voice Feedback Form
• Voice Staff Email