House Ludo Kressh is one of two currently active houses in Clan Naga Sadow. When the Dark Brotherhood had order-specific houses, Ludo Kressh was the sith arm of the clan.
House Ludo Kressh's Quaestor is currently Krath Archpriestess Xia-Long, and its Aedile is currently Sith Warrior Malisane De Ath.
History
Eagleye - 1st Quaestor
The first Quaestor of House Ludo Kressh was Obelisk Warrior Eagleye. During his tenure, a temporary base of operations for the house was established on the planet of Ullyr in the Phare system.
However, soon after the formation of Clan Naga Sadow, many leaders left the clan, and power shifted several times. Proconsul Bob-Fett took a voluntary demotion to lead House Marka Ragnos. Obelisk Warrior Eagleye and Guardian Manesh were the only two applicants for the Proconsul position. Given his vast experience, Eagleye was the obvious choice for Proconsul, and he was promoted.
This left a void in House Ludo Kressh. For unknown reasons, the Aedile of House Ludo Kressh, Dark Jedi Knight Khaine Seth, did not apply for the vacant Quaestor position, and the position was given to newly promoted Sith Warrior Manesh.
Manesh Sadow - 2nd Quaestor
Manesh Sadow stands at the longest continuously reigning Quaestor of House Ludo Kressh, with a term of about 16 months.
Two months into his tenure, Grand Master Khyron proclaimed that houses in the Dark Brotherhood would be order-specific. House Ludo Kressh at the time consisted of members of all orders, after the restructuring, the house would be the Sith arm of Clan Naga Sadow. Many leaders of houses lost their positions during this restructuring, but Sith Warrior Manesh and Dark Jedi Knight Khaine Seth remained Quaestor and Aedile of House Ludo Kressh. This was perhaps by sheer luck instead of any demonstration of skill (Manesh had only been Quaestor for about two months prior to this change).
Hoping that there would be no further disruption in the Dark Brotherhood, Manesh and the members of House Ludo Kressh proceeded to build the house. Manesh always felt that in order to gain the trust and loyalty of his members, almost all efforts in the house would have to be cooperative. Therefore most decisions were considered by all active members of the house before being finalized by Manesh.
Back in those days, house communication and record keeping wasn't as automated as it currently is. Those circumstances, combined with the healthy size of the house, necessitated the need for a house rollmaster. The first roll master of the house was Dark Jedi Knight Kale, inherited from Eagleye's reign. In addition, a unified communications system, otherwise known as a “mailing list” was created to improve the efficiency of the house communications system. It was initially Kale's sole responsibility to maintain this mailing list manually, however he grew to become a third leader of the house. At the time, the house was so active that several members complained about the bulk of communication.
Three squadrons were formed, and after approval from the newly appointed commanders and the general house membership, they were implemented. Manesh started his career in the Emperor's Hammer Corporate Division and remembered the squadron names then. He therefore used the same squadron names in the house: Emerald, Sapphire, and Diamond. After the names and commanders were established, members were assigned.
About 18 weeks into his tenure as Quaestor, Manesh was promoted to Sith Battlemaster (SBM). A month later, DJK Khaine Seth retired as Aedile and was replaced by newly promoted Sith Warrior Kale, the rollmaster. Soon thereafter, the house deliberated for months, and with hundreds of emails, as to what kind of base to build, and what kind of facilities it would need. This involved a lot of petty bickering, and many changes. However, the decisions that Manesh made were final.
After hundreds of emails, the final base was established. The base built was an underwater base, with over 20 levels running deep underground. It might be considered one of the most well thought out and intricate bases in Dark Brotherhood history. (See: House Ludo Kressh Ullyr Base)
One of the more persistent and (and some say troublesome) members of the house was Jedi Hunter Goatham. The damned most active and eager-to-please member of the Dark Brotherhood, according to Manesh. Since Goatham needed an outlet for his enthusiasm, Manesh created the Shadow Academy Motivator (SAM) system, with Goatham in charge. The SAM system was similar in function to the current Envoy system employed by the Dark Brotherhood.
During Manesh's tenure several Consuls and Proconsuls resigned. These things happen naturally over the passage of two years. Manesh was offered the Proconsul position many times, but stubbornly refused. However, he knew that by staying in his position, he was holding back Aedile Kale. He eventually recommended Kale for the Proconsul position. At some point Kale became the Proconsul of Clan Naga Sadow.
Choosing a replacement for Kale was a tough decision for Manesh. DJK Bond and DJK Goatham joined the Dark Brotherhood around the same time (although Goatham joined slightly earlier). Bond completed the Shadow Academy faster, and Goatham got in trouble for whatever reason. They were both extremely active. Goatham was the Shadow Academy Motivator, and Bond was the rollmaster. They were two outstanding members of the house, however Manesh chose Goatham as the new Aedile. That decision haunts the Clan to this day. Bond remained as roll master.
Manesh's reign was also known for the many aborted DB-wide competitions. Therefore the house did not have many opportunities to prove itself against the rest of the Dark Brotherhood. However, there was Operation Darkfall, a DB-wide competition in which HLK members ranked pretty well. The house was the 2nd ranked Sith house, and Clan Naga Sadow ranked 3rd.
Manesh created a point system to help standardize promotions in the house. It was eventually removed by DGM Astatine. There was a Great Jedi War, and Clan Naga Sadow placed 2nd in that competition, and House Ludo Kressh was an integral part of that effort.
All in all, Manesh served under almost a dozen Consuls of Clan Naga Sadow, and four Grand Masters of the Dark Brotherhood. He was promoted to Sith Battlelord during those two years. So what could have possibly ended what seemed to be the never ending tenure of Manesh? Well, he was offered a position on the Emperor's Hammer High Court of Inquisitors (HCI), and this required him to resign his position as Quaestor. Replacing him was SW Goatham, the seemingly perpetual Aedile of HLK.
What about Bond? DJK Bond was promoted to Sith Warrior, but shortly thereafter transferred to House Marka Ragnos. He felt that remaining in the house, and taking the position of Aedile, as Manesh requested, would produce a schism of power in the house. In order to avoid that, he transferred to the Krath house, Marka Ragnos, amicably.
Xanos Sadow - 3rd Quaestor
A Dark Jedi Master now, Xanos Sadow, known then as Goatham, stands as one of the most prominent leaders of Clan Naga Sadow. The leadership skills that benefited the entire Dark Brotherhood were formed as Quaestor of House Ludo Kressh.
With Bond's transfer, Goatham's first job was to appoint a new Aedile and Rollmaster. With several well-deserving Dark Jedi Knights in the house, only one could be chosen. Goatham eventually chose DJK Scithe as his Aedile. SW Bond returned to the house as Rollmaster.
The first main challenge Goatham faced was a decline in activity in the latter months of Manesh's tenure. Goatham solved this quickly by starting up competitions and promoting activity on the run-on. One of these competitions was a competition with Clan Arcona, in which House Ludo Kressh crushed House Oriens Obscurum.
The design of the house's base was further refined by DJK Scithe, with detailed plans. In addition, the many of the rules and guidelines designed for HLK members were improved and were made more consistent. In addition, Goatham and Scithe implemented several extensions of the squadron system in the house. The Ullyrian Home Guard housed the retirees of the house, and Ruby Flight housed the elite pilots of the house. In addition, a ladder system was created to help determine where the members of Ruby would come from.
With the implementation of these new policies and a superb victory against HOO, Goatham was promoted to Sith Battlemaster (SBM).
Goatham sought to engage the house against some of the more renowned clans in the Dark Brotherhood. He challenged House Archanis of Taldryan, one of the most famed Sith houses in the Dark Brotherhood, and Ludo Kressh once again succeeded against one of the best houses in the Dark Brotherhood.
During this competition, former Aedile of House Ludo Kressh, SBL Kale, was appointed Consul of Clan Naga Sadow, after the resignation of KAP Trevarus Caerick.
With two victories in line, Goatham sought to maintain and expand upon the momentum of the house. Clan Naga Sadow challenged Clan Satal Keto, another strong Clan in the Dark Brotherhood. However, the competition was not organized properly, and even though the results clearly showed a CSK victory, the competition was considered a draw. It was a very sober conclusion to a winning streak for the house.
There was a small conspiracy involving the abuse of Fred the Seal, the Sapphire Squadron Mascot.
The house was finally given a chance to prove itself when a DB-wide vendetta was announced. This would put the house and clan against the rest of the Dark Brotherhood. In the end, the house placed 3rd among Sith houses, with its main strength coming from the mission creation portions. Unfortunately, Clan Naga Sadow placed 5th overall.
Shortly thereafter Goatham was promoted to Sith Battlelord. In addition, future QUA of HLK, Malik was named QUA of House Ronin of Alvaak. Outside of the house, a new Grand Master of the Brotherhood was named, Firefox.
After the vendetta, the Dark Brotherhood overall fell quiet for a while, however the house continued running regular competitions. For bolstering the house over almost a year, Goatham was awarded the Sapphire Blade, an award most members only dream of.
However, all good things must come to an end, and after 13 months at the helm of House Ludo Kressh, Goatham was promoted to Proconsul of Clan Naga Sadow. Replacing him was long-serving Aedile, newly promoted Sith Battlemaster Scithe.
Scithe - 4th Quaestor
At the same time Goatham appointed Scithe as his successor, he also named Sith Warrior CrimsonAngel as Aedile. Something Goatham started and Scithe was committed to continuing was the development of the House squadrons as a source of activity in the house.
Unfortunately, the early weeks of Scithe's tenure was plagued with a decline in activity in the house and the resignation of Aedile SW CrimsonAngel. After losing the position to Goatham over a year earlier, SBM Bond was appointed Aedile.
These patterns seemed out of Scithe's control, and got even worse when several members, including 2 squadron commanders, either went rogue or left for other houses.
The Sith High Warrior ran a competition for all of the Sith houses in the Dark Brotherhood. However, the house squadrons did not do very well in the competition.
Even Bond, who originally wanted the position of Aedile so badly, resigned from the position, and replacing him was SW Abel Malik.
[Missing data from the 2nd half of 2002]
At some point Goatham was made Consul of Clan Naga Sadow, and Trevarus Caerick returned as Proconsul of the clan. Abel Malik resigned as Aedile of House Ludo Kressh and was replaced by Sith Battlemaster Malik (not the same person).
A Great Jedi War was announced, the first such large competition announced in a long time. Midway through this competition, Scithe resigned his post as Quaestor of House Ludo Kressh. He felt that he didn't have the ability at the time to invigorate the membership of a house, and hoped that perhaps someone new would be able to do so. Sith Battlemaster Bob replaced him as Quaestor.
Scithe was the final leader from the legacy generation of House Ludo Kressh.
Bob - 5th Quaestor
Bob would have a very short (six week) tenure as Quaestor of House Ludo Kressh. However, they were six weeks full of DB-wide activity and an increase in activity in HLK which started in the final month of Scithe's tenure.
This was also a month where tensions would stir between the Dark Council and the Emperor's Hammer leadership. After only six weeks, Bob resigned as QUA of HLK.
Malik - 6th Quaestor
Malik's promotion to Quaestor came in the aftermath of a schism between the Dark Brotherhood and the Emperor's Hammer. The Dark Brotherhood seceded from the Emperor's Hammer in an effort to reestablish itself as a sister organization to the EH as opposed to a subgroup. The Emperor's Hammer leadership did not agree with this decision, and this disagreement created a split. Two Dark Brotherhoods were formed, the original, loyal to the Dark Council, and another, loyal to the leadership of the Emperor's Hammer.
Many members of Clan Naga Sadow and House Ludo Kressh found their loyalty to the Emperor's Hammer stronger than their loyalty to the Dark Council, and decided to join the Emperor's Hammer Dark Brotherhood (EHDB). Many members of House Ludo Kressh left, leaving only a handful remaining. After an AWOL check, even fewer members remained. The house was at its weakest point yet. Without the Dark Brotherhood's tie to the Emperor's Hammer TIE Corps, and a lack of platforms for the Sith order to use, potential new members were few and far between.
Malik proved to be ever vigilant, producing reports as if there were dozens of members, even if there were only 6 dedicated members.
The only major competition during Malik's tenure was the 2nd Sith War. House Ludo Kressh placed 4th out of 7th in this competition.
To help Malik rebuild the house, Sith Battlelord Manesh, former Quaestor of House Ludo Kressh, returned to activity, eventually assuming the role of Aedile.
Manesh - 7th Quaestor
Near the end of the 2nd Sith War, Malik became Proconsul of Clan Naga Sadow. In his place, Manesh became Quaestor of House Ludo Kressh. The house continued to suffer from a lack of new members. In addition, any promising new members were diverted away from the house for various reasons. This forced Manesh to make due with what he had. In fact, the remainder of this chapter will focus on individual members, because that was the focus of the house during this time period.
Prior to his installment as Quaestor, Manesh convinced Sith Warlord Jeff “Tiger” Loruss and Sith Battlemaster Smitrock to transfer to the house.
The first task was to pick an Aedile, and Manesh chose Sith Warlord Jeff Loruss.
Overall, the clan became bolstered because of efforts to increase activity in regularly scheduled Dark Brotherhood multi-player events. However, during the first major DB competition in Manesh's tenure, the 3rd Sith War, Manesh found himself earning the vast majority of the Clan's points. He did not get the support from the Clan he was hoping for. In the end, the Clan placed 4th in the Sith War.
During the Sith War, SBM Smitrock left. SWL Jeff Loruss left shortly thereafter. Manesh figured that with House Ludo Kressh only numbering eight members, there was no point in appointing a replacement as Aedile.
These developments eventually demoralized Manesh. He realized that as a solely Sith house, House Ludo Kressh might never regain the kind of membership and activity it once had during his first reign as Quaestor.
Despite overwhelming activity on his part during the Sith War, Manesh was so jaded by a lack of enthusiasm from his other members (including members from other houses who were allowed to participate in this Sith War) that he was not as active when the next Great Jedi War came.
Realizing that other Clans were closing houses down, particularly Sith ones, Manesh figured that when he resigned as Quaestor, it would be the end of the house.
J'Rai Sadow - 8th Quaestor
This was not to be. Following similar actions by other clans in the Dark Brotherhood, Consul Malik Sadow and Proconsul Tissaya Luna Argat decided to close House Primus Goluud and incorporate its membership into the new multi-order House Ludo Kressh.
Taking up the reign of the house was Krath Epis J'Rai Sadow, former Consul of Clan Naga Sadow. He was the first Krath Quaestor of the house.
While his first responsibility should have been rebuilding the house, the clan was still embroiled in the Great Jedi War. He named Dark Jedi Knight Dessan as his Aedile. However, a couple of months later, Dessan was removed from the post. Rai, like Manesh, decided that there wasn't enough activity in the house to demand an Aedile.
Despite all of this, with some time, House Ludo Kressh returned to a healthy level of activity.
Rai started to feel ill, and decided that he needed a new Aedile to help him run the house. He chose former Tissaya Argat Sadow, former Proconsul of Clan Naga Sadow, however, she quickly left the position almost immediately after getting it.
As Rai fell into illness, a new House summit was needed.
Bob - 9th Quaestor
Filling in the house leadership void was SBM Robert Daragon, in his 2nd term as Quaestor. He immediately chose Obelisk Exarch Raistlin Sadow as his Aedile.
Bob's first order of business was closing Diamond Squadron and creating a new squadron, the Iron Fist Brigade, as an Obelisk battleteam. He later brought the Night Death Phyle to the house for the Krath members. This is the battleteam structure that the house has today.
Bob ran various competitions, and for the most part, the House was active. The Independence Games came, and the Clan did well, taking a close 4th. More importantly, the camaraderie that currently pervades the house started with Bob.
Near the end of Bob's term, the house exploded with activity unseen in many years. However, Raistlin stepped down as Aedile and was replaced by Dark Jedi Knight Macron Goura.
However, all good things must come to an end. Bob stepped down as Quaestor of House Ludo Kressh and was replaced by Aedile Macron.
Macron Goura Keibatsu - 10th Quaestor
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Xia-Long "Sildrin" Sadow - 11th Quaestor
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