The broadly bright cityscape of Chyron was purely visible from the apex of the Taldryan Citadel, newly-minted Consul Seraine "Erinyes" Ténama’s office. She had been in the position only a short while, yet much was already happening with the Clan under her helm. The fair-skinned Zeltron sat somewhat lazily and with an uncharacteristically poor posture, slumped in the comfortable onyx high-back chair behind the dark brown desk she conducted most affairs at. A crystal glass filled with unapologetically dark liquor and several chunks of ice was pressed to Seraine’s lips with her left hand as she took a drink that even an oversized male Rodian couldn’t scoff at. The Adept’s eyes scanned the screen on a small terminal atop her desk, reviewing the most recent reports coming in from the various parts of Taldryan as she waited for her holo-call.

Several of the reports caught her eyes immediately. Erinyes was unsurprised by the efforts of TEAD Technologies to secure an external licensing deal with a large arms corporation, being that the Sith had orchestrated the meeting while still Proconsul. Instead, she was more drawn to the reports that one of her point men, Nihlus Vexrii, had fallen from grace a couple weeks ago and lost his connection to the Force. The report mentioned something of a Dashade named Zxyl, whatever that was. Still, Vexrii’s knowledge was valuable and of use to Taldryan. Ténama made a note to check in and enlist the cyborg with the military, putting the Sphere of Research and Intelligence firmly under overarching supervision of the military.

Sitting her glass down on the desk, the Zeltron reviewed several of the more interesting reports. There were now boots on the ground on Ostara, coming to the bottom of whatever dark power idles there. While several teams had been dispatched, it was likely only one would get to the bottom of the mystery.

Perhaps...

The Sith smiled for a moment. Maybe an interesting development there could speed the relocation of Taldryan’s main assets off of Chyron, providing some distance between them and the people of Caelus - and more importantly, any prying eyes. As she read about the successes of the first-ever Independent Battle Team Tavros, a smirk grew to life across her lips as thoughts swirled in her mind. Tavros had been conducting clandestine missions for Taldryan for months now to provide it with plausible deniability in dark or otherwise sticky operations, and had been almost a beacon within Taldryan since its inception. This report affirmed what she already believed; she needed to expand on Tavros’ success, and develop something further.

Sitting forward, Seraine tapped the button near the base and answered the call. The blue-hued image of a staunch chin large enough to break boulders attached to the rest of a Twi’leki head appeared before her.

“General Zentru’la” began Erinyes in a serious tone, before musing “Or former General as I hear these days.”

“Consul Erinyes,” Zentru'la’s flickering image returned the formal salutation with a military salute.

“I've read Bale Andros' report of your team's exploits on Sentinel Station,” Erinyes cut right to the chase. “And the fight between you. What I don't know is your business in our system. What do you want with Taldryan?”

Zentru'la completely understood Ténama’s concerns over a high-profile foreign war hero turning up in Taldryan territory unannounced. In the circumstance, she was being more reasonable than he would have been had the situations been reversed. “We fight a personal vendetta against the Collective, wherever we can hit them hardest,” said the General “The Scholae Empire has grown stagnant. We're more effective following our own path.”

“But now you're off their payroll,” said Erinyes, seeing straight through the General and mercifully advancing the conversation. “And you need credits to continue your little vendetta.”

“We operate as mercenaries,” Zentru'la responded. “Looking for jobs that fit with our mission.”

“Our motives are aligned,'' Seraine flashed a smile. “We could do with someone like you. A company of mercenaries that work on our behalf... and someone to lead them.”

“We're done with following clans and brotherhoods,” voiced Zentru'la flatly. “We follow no leaders except ourselves.''

“Oh no, you misunderstand,” said Erinyes. “I'll offer contracts, not give orders. And pay handsomely for them, with funding for your own battalion, and the honorary title of General.''

Zentru'la furrowed his brow. “What's the catch?''

“You can't take any contracts against Taldryan or its allies. Beyond that, we won't interfere in the daily interests of the company. We've received reports of a new pro-Caelus group in the Imperial Sector. They've been a constant thorn in the side of our Community Outreach projects. Find them, eliminate them, and consider it a done deal.”

Cutting the holo-link between her office and the Twi’leki General, Erinyes initiated the encryption process on her terminal before she sprung to her feet and called the twin elder lightsabers, Glamour and Grace, to her hands.

There was a certain Dashade she needed to acquaint herself with.

Report #1

Hello everyone, and welcome to my first report as Proconsul of Clan Taldryan. Most (if not all) of you know who I am, but I’ve got a short introduction written up for our newer members or those that don’t. My name here is Zxyl Venzos (formerly Nihlus Vexrii, Formerly Anubis, formerly formerly formerly… You get the idea. You can call me Zxyl, or Noobis, I’m indifferent to either choice). I’ve been around the block a couple times now, having served recently as Quaestor and Aedile of House Ektrosis, and a while-back Aedile of Independent House Taldryan. I’m here to help each and every one of you in revitalizing and keeping momentum on Taldryan’s yuuuge upward swing, because we’ve all got a part to play.

The above fiction is a partial introduction of my new character, Zxyl, and it furthers the plot a little while New Pursuits wraps up. Expect these micro-fictions throughout my reports, and possibly some of Erinyes’ as well, in addition to our bigger releases.

As a member of the Clan Summit, I’ll be continuing to provide support and muscle to the rest of the team in a much more visual manner than I’m used to, being someone that prefers to work behind the scenes. Nethertheless, you can always find me on Telegram as @awildcanuck or email me (at [Log in to view e-mail addresses]) if you have something that needs my attention. So, let’s get to the meat of my report.

Ongoing Biznes

New Pursuits & Beyond

The New Pursuits competition is in full swing. This fiction competition directly follows the Unsteady Ground Competition Series that Erinyes ran as Proconsul, and sees the Clan plotline move ahead with the inclusion of our new Fictional Divisions.

In this competition, we see the Force Mystics division tasking members with the discovery of a dark power previously unbeknownst to us on the moon of Ostara. TEAD Technologies attempts to set up a licensing deal out-of-the-system with a high profile arms company. The SRI investigates a signal coming from a planet close to the Caelus System, and the Community Outreach division attempts to coarse a pro-Caelus group from taking further action against Taldryan.

Going forward, Clan competitions (including some more than just fiction) will feature several diverse prompts that the members are allowed to choose from. Winning entries will be chosen to further the clan plotline, and help steer this ship.

The Clan Taldryan Story Group

Created by the Summit, the Clan Taldryan Story Group will mirror the responsibilities and endeavours of its inspirations; the Star Wars Story Group and Dark Brotherhood Story Group. Together with the Summit this new story group will help shape and guide the overall narrative of Clan Taldryan’s fictional development going forward, helping drive member innovation both in competition entries and their own prompts. Members of this new Taldryan Story Group include the Summit; Erinyes, myself, and Bale Andros, and the members of the various fictional divisions.

Ektrosis Quaestor Applications Open

As Erinyes posted previously, we are in search of a new Quaestor for my favourite house, House Ektrosis! This will be no ordinary Quaestor position, and we’ll be pushing the envelope of what’s expected of the successful applicant. Some heavy fictional world-building is required, and the applicant who’s successfully appointed will be working closely with the rest of the Summit and Taldryan Story Group.

If you think you’ve got what it takes and have reviewed the job posting in its entirety, you can email Erinyes ([Log in to view e-mail addresses]) and myself ([Log in to view e-mail addresses]) your completed application. Applications are due by the first week of April, so don’t dilly-daddle!

An Opening On The Summit

In a turn of events, we were forced to accept the resignation of Aarush Solaar/Quejo as the Clan Rollmaster earlier this month. Aarush has been a long-time member of our clan, having previously also served as our Proconsul. We hope his RL endeavours go well and see him back here soon. After some careful deliberation amongst the Summit following the opening for the position of Ektrosis Quaestor, we settled upon opening the position of Clan Rollmaster for applications. However, there are some changes being made.

First, let the same expectations as the earlier Quaestor posting apply here; this is no ordinary Rollmaster position. In addition to the basic duties; including new member guidance, organization and overseeing of our master/student pairings, and new member recruitment, this position will require you to have some worldbuilding skills. If you’re looking for a position where you’ll be left to do your own thing without any pressure from above, this probably isn’t the job for you. However, if you’re someone who has a vision for a better Clan and is willing to work with the rest of the integrated Clan Summit (CON, PCON, Tavros BTL, and eventual Ektrosis QUA) to make it reality, Taldryan will welcome you with open arms.

Some of the things we are specifically looking for in your application:

• You must be a member of Clan Taldryan. This is not an external posting for Clan Rollmaster.
• Previous DB leadership experience, or an equivalent, is required. This is not a position for people who want to learn how to be a Rollmaster; you will be expected to hit the ground running. (If you’re interested in learning how to lead in the DB, there will be future vacancies for positions that will allow you to learn as you go, but this isn’t one of them.)
• You must be open to incorporating Taldryan’s traditions into your ideas for progress. While Clans obviously need to change with the times in order to prosper, we also value our ties to our past.
• Your application must include detailed examples of how you…
  • Plan on supervising master/student pairings and progress.
  • Plan to revitalize Clan Taldryan’s external-club (we don’t poach members) recruitment process, including possibly using social media.
  • Plan to increase new member retention, and guide new members through to JM4.
  • Will contribute to the overall fictional narrative alongside the Taldryan Story Group and Summit. You can check out recent Taldryan storyline information by visiting the Unsteady Ground competition page, the on-going New Pursuits competition page, and the wiki page for our fictional divisions.

To ensure we have a full and cohesive summit to operate with applications for this posting are due by April 6th, 2020, at which point we will deliberate the applicants for both Rollmaster and Quaestor simultaneously. Again, applications can be emailed to Erinyes ([Log in to view e-mail addresses]) and Zxyl ([Log in to view e-mail addresses])

Brotherhood Wide - Tenixir Prison Break

As a transfer of various prisoners including Collective war-criminals between the Severian Principate and the Dark Council is underway, all hell has broken loose on the Principate’s secret prison planet of Tenixir. With the Tenixir Prison Break in full swing, Brotherhood forces have been sent to the planet to quell unrest and rescue our Deputy Grand Master, Evant Taelyan.

Join the rest of the Brotherhood in this open, un-restricted event that allows members of all different clans to form teams and travel to the planet below. There are several competitions to choose from, and the decisions you make could have a lasting impact on the overall Brotherhood storyline as we move into the next Brotherhood-wide vendetta event through this prelude series.

• Main Competition Page
  • Event 1: NPC Creation Competition
  • Event 2: Pirate Logo Graphics Competition
  • Event 3: Rescue Fiction Competition
  • Event 4: Run-On Fiction Competition

Ongoing Projects

In this section, I’ll detail the progress on a couple different projects each report to give you a sense of how fast things are moving behind the scenes for us. While not every project will be featured, it’s likely the same projects won’t be featured over and over and over again every month. For this report, this section is going to be rather small as we settle into a new groove with the Summit.

Kasiya Rework

Rian and I have recently started work on a complete Kasiya re-work, shifting this moon of Perune from the premise of a simple water covered moon to something even more exciting. While this is still in the writing phase, discussion among the integrated Summit has produced this important tid-bit regarding this specific location within the Caelus System.

At launch of the re-work, Kasiya will be open to all members of the Dark Brotherhood to visit and include in their fictional works, with the planet still under overall control/shepherded by Clan Taldryan. How this will work and how it’ll be made enticing for other Clans’ members to visit will be detailed once this project is completed, but we hope to see it as a widely used location going forward. We’re excited to share this expansion of this less-than-used location with you, and see what stories you will bring to this revitalized and repurposed world.

New Clan Antagonist

While I don’t want to reveal too much about this, I feel it deserves a little mention.

The Summit as a whole is working on a new antagonist to face off against Clan Taldryan inside the Caelus System, and provide a working foe for the Summit to play around with and members to use without altering the club’s overall narrative with the Severian Principate or Collective. This new antagonist will lead their own micro-faction, a group that once resided within Caelus prior to Imperial occupation.

Recent Activity

Since Erinyes’ first report as Consul, people have been busy!

• Vodo Biask Taldrya ran 1 competition and participated in 1 competition, earning himself a Crescent with Sapphire Star
• Aylin Sajark participated in 2 competitions, earning herself a Crescent with Ruby Star x2
• Cymbre Kall participated in 13 competitions, earning herself a Crescent with Sapphire Star, and Crescent with Amethyst Star x2
• Rian Taldrya participated in 1 competition
• Seraine "Erinyes" Ténama participated in 2 competitions
• Arvalis Raith participated in 1 competition, earning himself a Legion of the Scholar
• Crysenia Orainn participated in 1 competition
• Bale Andros ran 1 competition

Closing

The closing of my first-ever Proconsul Report is going to differ from the rest that will follow, because instead of talking Brotherhood-related things I’m going to touch on something that’s affecting millions (soon to be billions) around the world.

It’s my sincerest wish that the lot of you aren’t living under a rock, and are aware of what's going on with the current COVID-19 pandemic. If you are, you likely know that a lot of countries and their territories are practicing social distancing, staying at home, and other measures to try and counteract the spread of this virus. If you are unaware, I recommend you do some reading.

Because this is a virus that originated in animals, humans have no natural immunity towards it, which is why it’s spreading so fast and hitting us so hard. The only thing that you can do as a single individual is try to limit your exposure, and limit the spread if you happen to be one of the infected chaps. Hard times are going to befall many of us as the economic impact from this spreads, but I wanted to explicitly state (if it wasn’t already a given) that we want you taking care of you and your family first, leaving any Brotherhood activities until you have the free time. The club will still be here when you get back. It isn’t going anywhere.

And with that, it’s a wrap.

In Darkness,

Zxyl Venzos
Proconsul of Clan Taldryan