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#1 gotten Dec 02, 2004 7:21:19

My esteemed brothers and honored guests, On October 31, 2003, a great tragedy befell the online Ravenloft community. The Vallaki bookshop that many of us visited on a regular basis burnt to the ground, and the Kargatane owners scattered to pursue their personal interests. Without a place to call home, hundreds of refugees fled in search of a site to fill the void. Many of these refugees found other websites dedicated to Ravenloft, and others began to create their own. In fact, six of these refugees gathered together and began discussions on creating their own website where their projects could continue. Thus, the editors of the Undead Sea Scrolls and the editors of Quoth the Raven joined together to form the Fraternity of Shadows. Like the phoenix, the legendary bird of resurrection, the website arose from the ashes of its predecessors. Struggling to live up to the high standards set by the Kargatane and having to slowly draw back refugees from the mists, the Fraternity of Shadows has slowly grow into what you see today. After only a year, we have gained more than 300 members. Some of these faces are old and familiar, and some of these faces are fresh and new. However, everyone who came here shared a common interest; all of them had thoughts and ideas on the Ravenloft setting. In the last year, the Fraternity of Shadows has released four issues of Quoth the Raven with a fifth issue scheduled to be released in January of next year. We, the Fraternity, have also created several areas for reviews, campaigns, artwork, and other contributions. Yet, most importantly, the fans have contributed to the success of these and other projects. We are rapidly growing, and there is great potential for the year ahead. So let me be the first to lift my glass in gratitude to all of you for your help and support this past year. Without your help, we wouldn't be where we are today. However, let this not merely be a toast but a challenge as well. Keep up the good work and see what the next year holds for the Fraternity of Shadows. Jason "Javier" True Master of Illusions Fraternity of Shadows ---------------------------------- Dear members of the Fraternity, On today, the one-year anniversary of this website, I must present to you some poignant news. While this is certainly a time for celebration and cheer, not all of the changes are happy ones. It is with a heavy heart that I announce that Nathan "Dmitri" Okerlund will be leaving our fold to make time to pursue other activities. Nathan has been an active and integral part of the Fraternity of Shadows, and his presence will be greatly missed. He has put in time and effort working on the Undead Sea Scrolls as well as contributing to the quarterly releases of Quoth the Raven. Nathan has also spent time adding to various conversations and maintaining the quality of topics on these message boards. In fact, Nathan has been our Infernal Enforcer for several months. Now, do not cry and despair too much, my brothers and sisters. While Nathan is relinquishing his title, he will not fade away into obscurity. He has assured us that he will continue to visit the Manoir de Penombre and share a glass of brandy with the rest of us. It will not be the same without his active presence, but we look forward to continue seeing his less frequent visits. On a similar but happier note, I would like to officially announce that David "Jester" Gibson has been invited to become the newest member of the Fraternity of Shadows moderators. Jester has contributed a great deal of time and resources to this website, and we are honored to have him step into a more active (and demanding) role. We expect great things from our newest member, and there are no doubts that he will succeed in meeting our expectations. Please make sure to take the time to provide your well wishes to Nathan and your congratulations to Jester. In the meantime, enjoy your stay at the manor and join in the festivities! Sincerely, Jason "Javier" True Master of Illusion Fraternity of Shadows ----------------------------------- The Fraternity of Shadows' LCotN project The Fraternity of Shadows has the pleasure to announce a new Children of the Night project! As you all know, there are more Van Richten's Guide than Children of the Night accessories. Some VRG are orphan and our soft hearts can't stand this situation. We plan to correct that, with the launching of .. . the Lost Children of the Night netbook project, covering entities inspired by: . VRG to the Ancient Dead . VRG to the Liches . VRG to the Hags and Witches . VRG to the Vistani . VRG to Walking Dead . VRG to the Shadow Fey . But also fans will be able to make expansion of the five previously released CotN. Got a cool NPC vampire (or werebeast, fiend, ghosts or created) that you wish to get in the LCotN? Following the CotN tradition, each final article will present a fully described creature or NPC (a 4-6 pages description), and a short adventure (2-3 pages). --- Inspired ? Send us a one page submission at [email]Joel@FraternityOfShadows.com[/email] (one page, font sized 12, line spacing 1.5). On this one page submission, describe the type of creature / NPC you wish to work on, with a few words on the short adventure. Be as descriptive as you can in order to give us the flavor and the scope of your planned CotN work, and cover the following CotN topics: . Appearance . Basic stat . Background . Current sketch . Personality . Combat . Adventure summary --- Preliminary LCotN schedule: Deadline for the preliminary one page submissions: January 31th, 2005 The best ideas will be asked to expand into a full blown article during the month of February 2005. The deadline to submit this work will be June 31th, 2005. Giving us large delays for revisions, suggestions & co, the Lost CotN netbook should be out (hopefully) at the end of 2005. The netbook will use 3.5 edition. --- The LCotN netbook should have as many chapters, as there are VRG. If a subject is very successful however, it could eventually justify a separate netbook. This FoS project is in addition to the planned Quoth the Raven (QtR) quarterly netbook releases. Thanks for your attention! David, Dion, Eddy, Jason, Joel, and Stephen