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The Compendium of the Brotherhood is a compilation of various resources and links to better facilitate you with the various aspects and parts of the Brotherhood. Much can be found via the Dark Brotherhood Codex, though direct links can also be found below with minor explanations and pictures of each area.
Center of the Brotherhood
The Center of the Brotherhood (resource links at the very top of every page) provides a wide array of information available to both yourself and everyone, even those who are not part of the Brotherhood. From the various sections at the top, you can view the contents by hovering your mouse icon over them.
The Codex of the Brotherhood
The Codex is the central source of information relating to the heart of the Brotherhood, covering everything in detail from the infrastructure of the Brotherhood, Dark Side Lore, and the Rights of the Brethren. Located to the right of this section, you will find a small version of the Codex that will link you to the appropriate sections within it.
Dossier
Your Dossier.
A dossier, defined, is a collection of documents about a particular person. This is exactly what a dossier is within the Brotherhood. Your dossier is a collection of all of your Brotherhood information, ranging from your Shadow Academy results, recent history and some of your real life information. From the main page of your dossier, you can see an overview of your entire career within your Clan and the Brotherhood. This includes your ID line, your current robes and lightsaber (gaining more options for both as you progress in rank), your personal information, any positions you might hold, and any awards you have earned. Your dossier is also editable, which we will cover within the next section.
Understanding your Administration Panel
This is what controls your fate.
As stated above, the Administration Panel is your main source of controlling the primary aspects of your character and your dossier within the Brotherhood. From here, you can perform many different tasks. Some are based on positions you may hold, such as being a member of the Dark Council, or an Aedile within a House. The various tabs available for you to use are:
Character Information
The robe selection tool.
From here, you can change several details about your character, including your character's name and character sheet. You can also change your Order and transfer into different houses and clans if you do desire.
There is also a "My Account" link that you can click on to change the more technical aspects of your dossier. You can change your email address as well as your password here.
Dossier Information
The Dossier Information section allows you to change multiple aspects that affect you firsthand. From here, you can edit basic information on your profile, such as your location, gaming console information, and contact information.
You can also select which robes you want to appear on your dossier, as well as customize a warbanner once you reach the rank of Guardian. Starting off, you will not have very many choices to choose from, but as you progress through the Journeyman ranks you will unlock additional robes and warbanner options. Once you reach Knight, you will have the option of adding a lightsaber to your dossier as well. At the rank of Protector however, you will have the option of adding an armory lightsaber if your Clan has one.
You can also view all of the Custom Lightsabers created by the Herald; those who are ranked Equite 2 and above may request these.
Competitions
The Competitions is where you can perform most tasks related to activity that require the website. From here, you can View or Submit Gaming Scores depending on if you participate in Gaming. you can request a Competition for others to participate, though you will need approval from your House Summit should you not be in a summit position yourself.
Antei Combat Centre
The Antei Combat Centre is where you fight other characters of the Brotherhood through the use of the character sheet system. The Antei Combat Centre section on your administration panel will not appear until you have qualified for the Centre by completing the relevant Shadow Academy courses. This will be explained in more detail later on in the compendium.
Character Sheet
Example of a character sheet.
Characters sheets also appear on the administration menu. These are used primarily for the Antei Combat Centre, however they can be referenced for other fiction writings too. The character sheet shows the factual and statistical information of you character as well as their physical appearance, feats and personality. The statistical information is laid out in tiers, and this is used to illustrate your character's Force and Skill powers. As you progress in the Brotherhood, more options become available.
The link to the character sheet on your administration tab shows you past character sheets you have used and also character sheets that you have created but not used. This allows you to revert back to a previous character sheet as well as working on another character sheet at the same time as having one.
The Shadow Academy
- "The Shadow Academy is perhaps the most overlooked part of the Brotherhood. With courses ranging from Star Wars history to writing skills to knowledge of combat, any new member can find the opportunity to learn something new regarding our club and the Star Wars universe. Many exams are necessary to take in order to join certain parts of the club, and many others are extremely useful if you wish to become a better writer or reader. Plus it doesn't hurt to show off good grades and awards on your dossier, too."
- ― Ronovi Tavisaen, Praetor to the Headmaster
The Shadow Academy is the primary learning center of the Brotherhood, where you first began your journey after you complete the Test of Lore. The Shadow Academy is full on opportunities, hosting a wide array of exams on numerous topics. At the time of writing, the Academy is split up into thirteen departments each with a different Professor. Examples of Academy content includes the entire history of the known Galaxy, exams on each of the six Orders and even information on how to use Internet Relay Chat expertly.
As you progress through the ranks, you will notice that several exams are requirements for other things. The Shadow Academy has taken advantage of degrees, incorporating their courses in Dark Side Degrees that users may display proudly on their dossier. The Antei Combat Centre and the Grand Master's Royal Guard also require specific exams to be passed in order to gain entry.
Dark Brotherhood Wiki
- "The DJBWiki is one of the greatest resources available to Brotherhood membership, on par with the forums and Shadow Academy. Some of the greatest advantages of using a wiki,are that it a) allows you to create and record your character's history, b) allows you to improve your writing abilities, and c) brings members together. Some positions will require that you have knowledge regarding the DJBWiki, as it is used to store (simply put) a ridiculous amount of information pertaining to all sections of the Brotherhood. It is rare that you will find Brotherhood information you're looking for that isn't on here. There have been many times where members have worked together to write/improve articles, bringing the quality of the work that you'll be reading during your stay here in the Brotherhood sky high. It can be used for projects for your House, the Brotherhood, or even for personal use."
- ― Anubis Annedu, Ex-Wiki Tribune of the Dark Brotherhood
The Main Page of the DJB Wiki.
The Dark Brotherhood Wiki is the second main source of information next to the Codex. It contains information related to the actual characters of the Brotherhood, used daily by our members. The wiki currently hosts several thousand individual pages, including information regarding Clans, their militaries, NPCs within the Brotherhood and much, much more. Thankfully, the wiki is extremely easy to navigate through the use of interlinking and categorization of pages.
If you are interested about learning more about the Brotherhood wiki, or how to competently create or edit a page, take a look at the various Wiki-based courses over at the Shadow Academy.
There are quite a few rules and procedures when it comes to creating articles and uploading information. However, the Wiki Tribune and his staff would be more than happy to help you should you have any questions in creating articles or trying to find specific articles or resources. The wiki takes some time to get used to, but it will be all the better with your contributions.
The Activities of the Houses and Clans
To maintain basic activity within the Brotherhood, you have to participate in Clan activities, whether this be in the form of House competitions or if it is a Clan-wide event, like a run-on. Activity can take the form of almost anything, with the most common activities being in gaming or writing. Regardless of their strengths and weaknesses personally, it is advised that during Brotherhood-wide events, like Vendettas or Great Jedi Wars, members try and participate in as many activities as possible, as participation is just as important in terms of scoring as winning.
Writing
The most common of all activities found on the Brotherhood is fiction in the form of writing. This can take numerous forms, whether it be in a run-on, a stand-alone piece or even poetry, you can bet that the majority of members have taken part in a fiction event. Moreover, this fiction serves a greater purpose than just participating in competitions and getting awards, it is also used frequently in ensuring that the Brotherhood's history is constantly updated with exciting stories and battles. Each character is developed through fiction as well, and as a result it is not only a activity to do for your Clan, but also for yourself. There are numerous forms of fiction that we will take into account below.
Stand-Alone Fiction
Written by you and you alone, this style of writing normally details an adventure with your character and possibly other characters as long as it remains canon. Stand-alone fiction pieces as usually found in lower level competitions, however it is not rare for the Voice himself to sponsor such competition. Furthermore, stand-alone fiction pieces are one of the optional requirements for promotions as writing such pieces helps further develop your character.
Cooperative Run-Ons
These run-ons are written almost exclusively on the Brotherhood forums. They consist of two or more individuals participating in a story where each person controls each of the characters in posts and writes from various perspectives, including your character's and other members' characters. As a result, you would usually get a much more developed story as the multiple perspectives that it is written from really improves the quality of it. It is a very unique form of writing and very fun, but it also is a great learning experience as you work with other people to create a story.
Unit-level Run-Ons
Also found on the forums are the Clan-level run-ons. These will be created by the House or Clan summits and are given a starting point and sometimes and ending goal, however this is not always the case, as doing this will limit members in their writing by creating several boundaries. Thankfully, the quality of the storyline here is also better than the previous small-scale run-ons we mentioned, as there are usually dozens of people participating in Unit-level run-ons, gaining even more perspectives than before. There are various rules imposed on unit run-ons in order to maintain continuity, restrict godmodding, and keep the plot strong and consistent.
Brotherhood-wide Run-Ons
Coordinated by the members of the Dark Council, this style of run-on generally occurs during major events and only happens a few times a year. The general structure includes multiple sessions being used to create even more of a story-line, and in the past, the Dark Council have gone one step further by splitting participating members up into smaller teams to allow several teams from one unit to participate, giving them for of a chance to succeed.
Poetry
Poetry is a form of writing usually in a specific structure and format using rhythmic language in contrast to prose. Poetry has been known to employ meter and rhyme, but this is by no means necessary. Poetry is an ancient form that has gone through numerous and drastic reinvention over time. You will find various opportunities to submit poetry to competitions and vendetta events.
Antei Combat Centre
The Antei Combat Centre is an extremely important feature of the Brotherhood, especially since it reconstruction in 38 ABY. Here, you get to truly explore your character's combat capabilities against other members of the Brotherhood. These battles are extremely customizable in that you are able to pick things such as the venue of the battle, the weapons that you use and much, much more. These duels take the form of a run-on, where one member posts, followed by his combatant and then back to the first poster again. The battles usually finish after four posts, but there can be days in between posts to allow to maximum quality. The Antei Combat Centre sees some of the best fiction in the Brotherhood as seen in past tournaments. The Combat Centre is primarily why Character Sheets exist, so you are able to correctly write your opponent how they see their character to be, along with their respective tiers of powers and abilities.
On a final note, death in a battle will not be classed as canon, unlike other Brotherhood fiction.
Rewards
Writing fiction doesn't just give you Crescents or Novae for competition and event placements. On top of this, you can gain Clusters of Ice for almost every single fiction piece you write for a competition, run-on or Brotherhood-wide event. In the past these were much harder to get, but with changes in 38 ABY, the Voice began to implement an automated function to award Clusters, with the amount depending on what they were writing for and how many word they wrote.
Gaming
In the Brotherhood, members utilize gaming as a way to both submit activity for their relevant units and to socialize with other members. Members can go against each other in PvP gaming, or team up together for PvE gaming, both of which are recognizable for activity in the Brotherhood. One limiting factor however, is the platform and the game itself. Currently, the Brotherhood supports gaming for the PC, Xbox 360/One and Playstation 3/4. There are numerous genres supported too, ranging from your classical "shooters" too your important "Star Wars games". To see which platforms and games are supported, take a look at: Tier 1 Gaming Platforms and Tier 2 Gaming Platforms.
Gaming members compete for fun and social reasons, as well as the Brotherhood based awards that you can gain for participating. The general rule of thumb is, the more games you win, the more rewards you get. Thankfully for those less skillful, even if you lose, you get a reward for participation. So no matter if you are a newer player or a veteran of gaming, everyone can reap the rewards of gaming. This moves onto the next point, the rewards. For general gaming activity, you earn Clusters of Fire and for the more prestigious award, for maxing out a character in one of our platforms, or being the best multiplayer gamer over a certain period, is the Pendant of Blood. Such rewards can be found on your dossier and they come in handy for the Grand Master's Royal Guard.
The Grand Master's Royal Guard is a Brotherhood society that is filled with gamers, with achievable ranks and awards built within its system. Only the best achieve the top rank, but they also get the best reward, the honor to serve one of the Dark Council as their own personal guard.
All of the gaming within the Brotherhood is run and operated by the Fist of the Brotherhood. When you do begin to participate in the gaming side of things, please follow the Rites of Combat.
Gaming Events
There are innumerable gaming events in the Brotherhood with usually dozens of competitions being held concurrently, ran by either an ordinary member or even a Dark Councilor. Each month however, the Fist of the Brotherhood will organize competitions with very high rewards, exceeding the usual Crescent rewards. A detailed list of said competitions can be found on the main website, under the "Main" drop-down box.
Grand Master's Royal Guard
The Grand Master's Royal Guard is a society of members who serve as Guardsmen of the Brotherhood; defending important figures of the Brotherhood by training vigorously. The Royal Guard is centered exclusively around gaming, with advancement only possible by participating in gaming events, competitions and just general gaming. In the past, advancing was based on how many Clusters you gained in a month, however at this moment in time, progressing is based on total amount of Clusters, with some ranks requiring Pendants of Blood as well. Again, the general rule of thumb; the more games you win, the more rewards you get within the Royal Guard is based on participation and performance within each individual month, determined by the amount of Cluster of Fires earned over the month.
Graphics
To best explain this activity within the Brotherhood, we go to one of our senior artists, Tlaloc Elols; ex-Aedile of House Tarentum:
"Graphics. What are their purpose? What makes them wrong or right? What make one better than another?
The answer to all of these questions, is realism. With the graphics that are needed for the DJB, we don't want abstract art, or anything like that. Someone want's a light saber? Cool, yeah they don't exist in real life, but you can still make one look real. If you can make it look real, then you can do it right. Graphics are hard, they're complex, and they're time consuming. They're also rewarding. When person A finishes his report, and person B takes a screenshot of her gaming score, you just have an image that hundred of people my look at, and just say 'Wow.'
My motivation to do graphics is simple. Some stuff appears in low quality, others not done so well, and the way it is it needs to be fixed. I'm sure many of you have the same feelings towards pictures all over the DB. Not everyone is an artist, that can sketch out a beautiful portrait, but you 'can' do this. This isn't as much talent, and it's a bit more science. It is complex, but it can be learned. It's tough. It takes time. It takes some talent, but doesn't gaming? Doesn't writing? This is just another way that you can participate and be active throughout the brotherhood.
Advancing in the Brotherhood
The Path to Knighthood
The journey to reach Knighthood is one that is long and arduous. However, by the time you read this you will already be at the second rank in the Brotherhood, Apprentice, if not already at a higher rank. From the moment you joined, you were already on the path and continue down it even now. As you gain ranks within the Brotherhood, each new rank comes with new requirements over the predecessor rank. The majority of those that reach Knighthood succeed because they were trained by a master. While it is indeed possible to reach the rank of Knight without a master, it is definitely recommended to do so, as they are able to tailor a route to Knighthood according to your skills and preferences. On top of this, they can offer invaluable information, guidance and general help.
Ranks of the Brotherhood
Within the Brotherhood, there are sixteen different ranks, split into five different tiers. The first tier, the Novitiate Tier, is the starting point for all new members. It is comprised of four ranks:
The Second Tier, the Journeyman Tier is the final stretch toward Knighthood, where members can really start to get involved in the activities of the Brotherhood. It, like the Novitiate Tier, is split up into four ranks:
The third tier, the Equite tier, is a much harder ladder to climb. These promotions are more rare, and instead of looking at promotion times in terms of weeks, Equite ranks are viewed at in terms of months, and the very top Equite ranks can take some people years to achieve, even if they are active throughout this time. A general point to note is however, that those in leadership positions in their House or Clan are viewed at in a much better light than those who don't. The ranks within this tier are unique as their names are affected by which Order your character holds allegiance to:
The fourth tier, the Elder tier, is the second highest tier achievable, where the most devoted and dedicated of members reside. Those who hold the ranks of the Elder tier are the most knowledgeable, skillful and prestigious of all the members of the Brotherhood. They have worked the hardest and for the longest, usually taking numerous years in the highest Equite rank before even being thought of as a possible Elder.
The final tier, which is nomination-only, is the Grand Master. The Grand Master is the central leader of the entire Brotherhood, as well as the leader of the Dark Council. The requirements to gain this position are much higher than any rank that can be earned. For those who do gain the position of Grand Master, the rewards and involvement in the development of the Brotherhood outweigh the trials it takes to get there. Once an individual attains the rank of Grand Master, when it comes to retirement, they hold onto the rank in memory of their time served.
Promotion Guidelines
A tiered listing of the Journeyman ranks.
Once you have begun your journey, you have already started working towards the requirements of your next promotion. Basic activity will net you your first promotions though Apprentice and Novice.
After that, the requirements become more difficult and demanding. Some requirements are similar to those you needed for earlier ranks, such as how many Cluster of Fires, Clusters of Earth or Clusters of Ice you earn. One rank may require twenty to achieve the goal of the requirement, but the next may require fifty of them. This is the general rule of thumb for most requirements, with each rank requiring more and more of each individual item, until you reach Knight.
After you have been knighted, there are the Equite and Elder tiers to move up into. As explained before, these are not based off of a checklist of requirements, but more on general activity, participation in events, performance in events and holding onto a House or Clan leadership role.