The Cluster of Ice (CI) is awarded for works of fiction, telling stories and describing imaginary events and people including competitions, unit fiction updates, the Antei Combat Center and run-ons. The requirements detailed below outline the policies in practice regarding awarding these medals.
It is a ditanium disk treated by a special process that gives it a frosty coat, with rings embossed to support a stylized symbol of ice, and powdered sapphires to give a glistening appearance to the highlights.
Requirements
All Cluster of Ice awarding activities are required to have an obvious and valid connection to the Dark Jedi Brotherhood or Star Wars universe, with valid entries graded based on Story and Realism. For example, if you — as competition organizer — want to have a fiction take place in an alternate universe to the Star Wars universe, you need to ensure that the prompt specifies that the participants are to write as their Dark Jedi Brotherhood character. This is to ensure that Realism can be graded accurately by adhering to member Character Sheets, while also giving creative freedom to the writers to explore an alternative universe for fun.
They must also take the form of one of the qualified activities below.
List of qualified activities:
- Fiction Archetype Competition
- Fiction Update
- Antei Combat Center
Fiction Archetype
Competitions created of the Fiction Archetype can be of the fiction or run-on type. Each type has a specific set of requirements for approval and Cluster of Ice awarding per below. in addition to needing to also pass the Voice Competition Approval Guidelines. Following the conclusion of any fiction archetype competition, the submitter must review the word counts of each entry for accuracy before submitting to the Voice staff for review. The Voice staff will process the request for Clusters of Ice, or remand accordingly with feedback.
Additional notes:
- Bonus Clusters of Ice: Occasionally, the Voice may offer additional Clusters of Ice for participation in specific Fiction Archetype competitions as noted in the competition details.
- Word Count Reviews: Competition organizers should review the word counts of each entry for accuracy and remove words automatically counted by the site, that aren’t part of the entry itself such as Dossier ID lines, prompt repetition, or explanatory notes and information left by the author that are clearly not part of the entry. This should be done prior to submitting to the Voice staff for review.
- Competition Approval: Competitions must also pass the Voice Competition Approval Guidelines before being considered for Clusters of Ice.
- Organizer Submissions: Competition organizers are allowed to submit to their own competition, but cannot place.
- Self-Submissions: Competition organizers must make their self-entered entries public/viewable for transparency to the other participants. Failure to do so will result in remands, and any attempt to game this system is subject to intervention from the Voice and possible CoJ action.
- Submitting Word Counts: Please provide a comma-separated list of data elements. These take the following form:
- Fiction: PIN#WordCount (e.g. 1294#900,8#1000,50#850,1400#600)
- Run-On: PIN#WordCount#NumPosts (e.g. 1294#900#2,8#1000#3,50#850#2,1400#6000#4)
Fiction
For Fiction type competitions, one (1) cluster is awarded for every 500 words written in a valid entry upon completion of the competition. Because partial Clusters of Ice are tracked and awarded when a whole Cluster of Ice is earned, there are no word count requirements on fictions to award Clusters of Ice.
Co-Op Fiction
Per the Voice Competition Approval Guidelines: Co-op fiction events should have a five hundred (500) word per participant minimum and incorporate some method by which the word count for each participant can be measured. When a word maximum is used in a co-op fiction, it can only be an overall one, not per participant. This means that while a Co-Op Fiction competition may use a platform like Discourse, they are still graded like any other Fiction competition in terms of awarded Clusters of Ice.
Run-on
For Run-on type competitions, Clusters of Ice are awarded at the same one (1) Cluster of Ice per 500 words of fiction. There is no maximum for clusters awarded in a run-on. There is no maximum number of posts allowed in a Run-On, subjective to the specific requirements of the competition itself to be a valid entry, resulting in no maximum number of Clusters of Ice that can be awarded in a Run-On fiction event.
Text Roleplaying Sessions
Clusters of Ice can be manually awarded for every 500 words contributed to a text-based roleplaying session. These sessions must still utilize the member’s character sheets, and stay relevant to the DB universe. A log of the session must be supplied with the request along with the individual PINS and word counts already tallied by the submitting party. These requests should be sent to the Voice Staff mailing list for verification, approval, and processing.
Poetry
Poetry no longer award Clusters of Ice. To run a poetry competitions please use the "Regular Competition" option and select poetry from the competition types. Poetry should still have a topic or theme in addition to format/style of poem.
Special Note: So called 'Epic Poetry' that are long form and narrative in structure can be approved for Clusters of Ice utilizing the standard Fiction option. The rules should include information about the structure, making it no different than when a Fiction requires to be written in first person, or be only dialogue.
Fiction Updates
Fiction Updates made by members of their respective units and validated and approved by that unit’s leadership will be awarded Clusters of Ice at a rate of one (1) cluster is for every 500 words written. Because partial Clusters of Ice are tracked and awarded when a whole Cluster of Ice is earned, there are no word count requirements for Fiction Updates.
Brotherhood Fiction Updates
All "official" Brotherhood fiction updates, such as Brotherhood Plot updates and Vendetta fiction as approved by either the Voice of the Brotherhood, the Deputy Grand Master or the Grand Master
Dark Councilor Fiction Updates
All “official” Dark Council office fiction updates, as submitted by the appropriate Dark Councilor to the Voice for approval. Must be published to discourse (forums), or a news report, with URL and dossier # of the author with word counts to the Voice's office. Fiction must be relevant to the Dark Council office, advance the fictional story forward in some manner and incorporate more than one member to qualify.
Clan Fiction Updates
All "official" Clan fiction updates, as submitted by the appropriate Consul to the Voice for approval. Must be published to discourse (forums), or a news report, with URL and dossier # of the author with word counts to the Voice's office. Fiction must be relevant to the Clan, advance the Clan fictional story forward in some manner and incorporate more than one member to qualify.
Fiction Archive
For a list of fiction updates, please reference the Inquisitorius Fiction Archives.
Submissions to the Fiction Archives must be published in PDF format. Each unit leader and dark councilor is responsible for their respective folder with oversight from the Voice.
Antei Combat Center
Clusters of Ice are awarded for battles fought in the Antei Combat Center (ACC). One and a half (1.5) clusters per post for each combatant that does not time out, with a bonus of one-half (0.5) a cluster to the winner, when battles conclude and are judged. The following details yields for completed battles:
| Antei Combat Center Matches
|
| Type of match
|
Winning
|
Not Winning
|
| 2+2 posts |
4.0 |
3.0
|
| 3+3 posts |
6.0 |
4.5
|
| 4+4 posts |
8.0 |
6.0
|
Additional notes:
- Partial Clusters of Ice: The formula for awarding Clusters of Ice for ACC matches allows for partial clusters to be earned. These are tracked by the site following any match, but only when a whole cluster is earned with one be awarded to the member.
- Timed Out Matches: When a match times out, Clusters of Ice will be awarded at a rate of one and a half (1.5) clusters per post made prior to the timeout to the combatant who did not cause the match time time out. The combatant who caused the match to time out will get zero (0) clusters.
- Bonus Clusters of Ice: Occasionally, the Voice or Combat Master may offer additional Clusters of Ice for participation in specific competitions or events related to the ACC. Details on earning these will be made clear in competition or event details.
Former Upgrades
These medal upgrades are no longer in use, but are preserved here for posterity.
| Upgrades
|
| Quantity
|
Description
|
ID Display
|
| 1
|
Cluster of Ice
|
CI
|
| 2
|
Cluster of Ice w/ Blue Flame
|
CI-BlF
|
| 3
|
Cluster of Ice w/ Red Flame
|
CI-RF
|
| 5
|
Cluster of Ice w/ Green Flame
|
CI-GF
|
| 10
|
Cluster of Ice w/ Purple Flame
|
CI-PF
|
| 25
|
Cluster of Ice w/ Silver Flame
|
CI-SF
|
| 50
|
Cluster of Ice w/ Gold Flame
|
CI-GoF
|
| 75
|
Cluster of Ice w/ Platinum Flame
|
CI-PlF
|
| 100
|
Cluster of Ice w/ White Flame
|
CI-WF
|
| 125
|
Cluster of Ice w/ Black Flame
|
CI-BF
|
| 150
|
Cluster of Ice w/ Sapphire Flame
|
CI-SpF
|
| 200
|
Cluster of Ice w/ Amethyst Flame
|
CI-AF
|