Shadow Academy Society

Shadow Academy Society
General information
Founder(s):	Headmaster Solari
Leader(s):	Rhylance
Headquarters:	Lyspair
Historical information
Founding:	37 ABY
Other information
Affiliation:	Dark Brotherhood Shadow Academy
Era(s):	Dark Jedi Brotherhood Era
[ Source ]

The Shadow Academy Society is a secret society within the Dark Brotherhood that was created in 37 ABY to bolster the activity on the Academy and to offer the members a new way of enjoy passing courses and earning degrees. The creation of this society was part of a project of renovation launched by the staff of the Shadow Academy, and was the result of the efforts of many members of the Dark Council, being founded by Headmaster Solari with the support of Grand Master Muz Ashen and the Seneschal James Lucius Arconae

History of the Shadow Academy Society

After the Dark Crusade in 37 ABY and the amount of casualties taken by it, winds of change crossed the whole Brotherhood, a drive to instruct more powerful members and improve their chances of survival. Since the very beginning of the Dark Brotherhood, the Shadow Academy had been a place where new members were trained and taught on the basics of the organization before departing to their respective units, but not many members used to come back to improve their knowledge, looking by themselves that knowledge instead taking advantage of the vast collection of data that the Academy possessed.

Realizing this fact, the Headmaster, Solari, approached the Grand Master, Muz Ashen, with the idea of fixing this problem and turn the Shadow Academy into a place of knowledge for all members, from the newest Initiate to the Elder of the Brotherhood.

The result of the dialogue in the Dark Council about this subject brought forward the idea of the Shadow Academy Society, a semi-secret society that would put the knowledge of the Shadow Academy at the service of all members of the Brotherhood. The Headmaster, though, aware of the knowledge contained within the Academy's halls on Lyspair, created a set of ranks within the Society to limit what kind of knowledge the members would have access to. This would prevent young, inexperienced members to dabble with advanced and potentially dangerous knowledge until they were ready to understand its complexity.

After a long period of time working in absolute secrecy, the foundations of the Shadow Academy Society were laid out and the most prominent and successful former students of the Academy started receiving invitations to be initiated within this new society. Officially, the knowledge of the existence of the Society was made public at the end of 37 ABY, and was received with great enthusiasm by the Brotherhood, specially by the members of the Krath Order and scholars all around the organization.

Rank System

The Rank System was set in place as a safeguard for those members who wanted to access all the knowledge contained within the Halls of the Shadow Academy. Eleven ranks divide the members of the Society by the knowledge they possess as they advance in their learning process. While the lower ranked members only have access to study simple scrolls, as a member is elevated through the different ranks they see their access granted to datapads, forbidden books and ultimately, the most coveted sources of knowledge, holocrons.

Rank Elevations

The advancement within the Shadow Academy Society is measured by Academy Credits (ACs), which are obtained by passing the different courses offered by the Academy. The value of each course in ACs depends on the complexity of the course, though their exact value is not known by anyone but those in charge of the Society. To advance through the later ranks, where the knowledge is potentially more dangerous, the member is also required to be in possession of different degrees, from Dark Mavens to Dark Sages.

It's important to note that courses not offered anymore by the Academy (legacy courses), don't reward any ACs as the knowledge they provide is mostly obsolete, replaced by newer discoveries and courses.

Rank Chart

The following table shows the requirements to reach the various ranks in the Shadow Academy Society. Ranks 7 through 10 can be achieved either by fulfilling their respective requirements; or by fulfilling the requirements of the rank below, in addition to having an average course score of 97%. Each attained Sage degree lowers the average score requirement by two percent points, down to a minimum of 91%.

Rank
SAS Rank	Abbreviation	Required to earn the Rank	Reward
Enrollee	SA:I	Obtain 1 ACs	SAS Warbanner Tasset
Freshman	SA:II	Obtain 10 ACs	Sith Scroll
Sophomore	SA:III	Obtain 20 ACs	Datapad
Junior	SA:IV	30 ACs and a Maven Degree	SAS Warbanner Pattern
Senior	SA:V	50 ACs and two Maven Degrees	Researcher robes
Super Senior	SA:VI	70 ACs, 2 Maven Degrees and a Savant Degree	Sith Tome
Graduate	SA:VII	90 ACs, 2 Maven Degrees and 2 Savant Degrees; or Rank Boost from Rank 6	Cubed Intensity Holocron
Graduate (cum laude)	SA:VIII	110 ACs, 2 Maven Degrees and 3 Savant Degrees; or Rank Boost from Rank 7	Fellow robes
Graduate (magna cum laude)	SA:IX	130 ACs, 2 Maven Degrees and 4 Savant Degrees; or Rank Boost from Rank 8	Pyramidal Holocron
Graduate (maxima cum laude)	SA:X	150 ACs, 2 Maven Degrees and 5 Savant Degrees; or Rank Boost from Rank 9	Lanvarok
Graduate (summa cum laude)	SA:XI	150 ACs, 2 Maven Degrees, 5 Savant Degrees and 1 Sage Degree	Dodecagon Holocron
Graduate (egregia cum laude)	SA:XII	SA Society Rank XI and 99% Average	Sith Sword

Prominent members of the Shadow Academy Society

• Kell Dante, member of House Scholae Palatinae, was the highest-ranked member of the Society upon its opening.
• Ood Bnar, member of Clan Arcona, was the first person to reach the top rank of the Society (egregia cum laude). He did so on the 31st of December 2013.
• Darkblade holds the most Academic Credits (263).

For a current roster showing all members of the Shadow Academy Society and their ranks refer to the Shadow Academy Society Roster.