Clan Tarentum

If you are reading this, then I extend the greetings of Clan Tarentum and my own. It is not often that one comes to us wishing to walk our path, a path that lies somewhere between life and death, darkness and light. It is not an easy path. Stray too far and your life will end, truly, in a fate worse than death. Death would be a blessing to those who overreached their potential, whose ambitions lied beyond their grasp. Make their mistakes and you may end up as one of the souls that we command as easily as others do slaves, or as one of the mindless undead whose sole purpose is to execute our will. Listen to your peers and take the advice of your elders, and you can make for yourself quite a name in Clan Tarentum.

I can sense your doubts. They were expected. Why would anyone wish to risk their very existence to chase after musty tombs and forgotten graves? The answer is a simple one. Through our years of research, we have been granted powers that can very well transcend Death itself. We do not fear Death like others, but neither do we seek immortality. No, we seek something more. Is it knowledge? Is it power? Is it wealth? It is all of these and none of these. You are here. You seek it as well.

The other Clans are woefully misguided. To embrace the Darkness does not mean to devolve oneself into a lesser beast. To count the Darkness as your ally does not entail becoming a mindless creature, whose sole desire is rage and destruction. To those who have reached true mastery of the Force and its Dark Side, this is well known. Passions easily fuel the Dark Side, but without control, passions can just as easily fuel demise. That was the Emperor's greatest mistake: his passion to destroy his enemies drove him to overconfidence. We of Tarentum vow to never repeat that same mistake. The Dark Side is not just power - our understanding of the nature the Dark Side binds us as a Clan. Through this, lasting bonds are forged. Only an act of betrayal can break bonds such as these, and woe be unto that former member of this Clan who would dishonor its name or its members, for his shall be the greatest reprisal. Because of this, no member of this Clan will ever abandon a Clanmate.

Let the warriors of Taldryan clamor and espouse their "victories" time and again. Let the scholars of Satal Keto trumpet their "findings." Of all the Clans, ours has stood above and apart time and again. Where was Taldryan when the Antarans first attacked? Was Satal Keto not forced to kneel at our feet, their banners delivered in triumph to Lord Khyron? What they called victories were pyrrhic at best.

Allow the other Clans their ego - we influence events from behind the curtain. Allow the other Clans their proud boasts - we are the ones who never flee from the field of battle. Tarentum has learned through the years to sit quietly, and watch as others crumble before us. To watch our opponents and not interrupt them as they make mistake after mistake: exposing their neck to our sword, their soft bellies to our spear. Then, as they lay there, our spear jutting from their back, bleeding and helpless, we pick them up, kiss their cheek and allow them to go home, broken and humiliated. Fearing further humiliation, they bow to us in the halls and streets. Having learned the cold and calculating way in which we have brought them to heel, they trouble us no more. Truly, a humiliated enemy is better than a dead one, for a broken enemy is akin to a servant, whereas dead one is merely replaced.

Among our ranks you will find the wise and the bold, the young and the old. Of Clans and Houses, ours has given birth to more Grand Masters than any other. Those in Tarentum understand what it takes to ascend the steps of power in the Brotherhood. There are those from whom you can learn, and, in time, those you can teach. That you are still reading shows that you are still interested. We await those whose destiny leads them to our door to join, learn, grow, and lead. We await others as well, but in the same way that Death awaits them all.

Waiting,
Master Zero Tarentae
Clan Tarentum