HERALD OF THE SECRET ORDER

Report #1
October 18th 2025

Welcome! This space will serve for providing updates on current projects being worked on by the Herald's office, highlighting items for membership that may be of use, and keeping track of future efforts and where they currently sit. Let's get started!

Dark Side Compendium

The Dark Side Compendium has been updated! This update has been going on for some time, and was intended to accomplish three tasks. Specifically:

• Bring the Dark Side Compendium up to date with the Path System Handbook
• Remove any active reference to the Dark Brotherhood
• Remove any information about any systems that are no longer active (even if they are intended to return in the future)

You'll find that the Dark Side Compendium is now in line with the Path System Handbook - this will remain the case for any future updates. Everything technical (if not everything flavorful) in the Path System Handbook should now be in the Dark Side Compendium. This means that there's been quite a few additions to the DSC that should prove to be useful! I've found the ability to sort tables around on the Abilities and Paths page to be helpful when building out my character. And take a look at the Getting Started page if you're a newer member who needs some guidence - or perhaps an older member that could use some help remembering where to go with all these new links!

Some minor DB references remain - mostly notably the tag at the top of the DSC pages. And Dark Side Compendium won't remain the name of our organization's manual either, but some changes are being saved for a more expansive wiki update in the future, one that will focus a bit more on astetics and theme than content. Please check out the projects list below for more information!

For now, this update should ensure that the information on the Dark Side Compendium and the wiki in general is up-to-date and accurate. The goal of this office will be ensuring that that remains the case permanently, moving forward.

If you have any questions/suggestions/comments about the Dark Side Compendium (or the Secret Order's presence on the wiki in general), please do not hesitate to use the #herald-inbox channel on the Discord server!

Last Call for Dark Voice #2

The Herald has traditionally run the newsletter in the past, and I'm proud to say that the Dark Council has agreed that this office will resume ownership of that task again.

Previous calls for submissions were issued earlier this year. If you had something you wanted to include, you're more than welcome to send it over to me now. But, otherwise, we'll look to highlight some of the great Creative Works that have been submitted this year by our members forging their own paths to Knighthood.

We'll look to establish a more regular caedence for the Dark Voice moving forward. Thank you for your patience!

Earning Experience Points from Arts/Fiction

This office is tasked with awarding experience points for any art/fiction created for the Secret Order. In order to earn EXP, however, we need to see it! So to make sure your art/fiction/other creation makes its way to the Herald's office, you can...

• Post it to the #herald-inbox channel on the Discord server
• Post it to the #artwork-and-writings channel on the Discord server
• Send to me directly (via Discord DM or email)

Note that any creative work (submitted via the appropriate Shadow Academy course) will be awarded experience automatically as well.

While ideally any competition organizer that creates a fiction/arts competition should forward all entries to the Herald's office, please do not depend on that. The worst case scenario is that we'll receive something twice, and that's perfectly fine. The important part is that we get it at all!

Please reach out if you have any questions!

Projects

This section will be included in each report, to give an idea of active projects the Herald's office is working on, as well as highlight some of the work completed since the last report.

Recently Completed Projects

• Dark Side Compendium Q&D Update - Complete! Dark Side Compendium is up-to-date with all information from Path System Handbook v1.2 available on the wiki. All erroneous/outdated/inactive information should be removed.
• Creative Works Management Overhaul - Complete! Creative Works are now represented by Shadow Academy courses (Creative Work #1 and Creative Work #2), with completion marked and visible in ID line

Active Projects

• Dark Voice #2 - In Progress. The next issue of the newsletter will be managed by the Herald. All assets have been retrieved, items for inclusion being compiled now.
• Awards Redesign - In Progress. Overhaul of current awards/medals appearance.

On-Deck Projects

• Compendium Overhaul - To Do. Compendium will be renamed and rethemed more closly to the Secret Order and the Path System Handbook.

Backlog Projects

• Robes Redesign - Planning. Overhaul of current robes. May coincide with Award Display project.
• Awards Display (Grants of Arms) - Planning. Introduction of awards display. May serve as replacement to historic Grants of Arms.

Staff

The Office of the Herald is...

• HERALD Inqisitor Locke Setzer
• MAGISTRATE TO THE HERALD Acoloyte Visas Vamain
• MAGISTRATE TO THE HERALD Squire Mordred

That concludes this report! As always, please feel free to make your voice known using the #herald-inbox for any questions or suggestions you may have.

In Darkness,

HRLD/INQ Locke Setzer/DC-4/Dark Council
DS/ED/RSx2/GCx2/SC-SoI/SE/DC/MoT-8rh-15gh-16bh/MoI/MoS/MoC-poc-goc-soc-8boc/SN/Cr-D-Rx5-Ax14-Sx9-Ex3-T-Qx34/CF-G/LS-G/SI/CoS/CoLx5/CoB/LoAx9/OV-25E
{IU:CW/1/2, DBCORE, LSC, LST, TLC}