Over the last few weeks, I've been collecting nominations from Officer and Crew alike about who they think would best fit the role of First Mate, while also keeping my own eyes open as to who seems a likely candidate. There were two that really stood out in my mind, but in the end I made the decision to offer the role to Emryn. So please, everybody congratulate Emryn on his new rank in the crew, which is effectively my right-hand. To quote from the Forums thread about Ranks and Responsibilities...

"The First Mate is the right hand of the Captain, and is in charge of the ship and the crew in the absence of the Captain. The First Mate is the highest rank of Lieutenant a crew member can reach, and is effectively the voice of the crew in the ears of the Captain. A First Mate's position is a precarious one, and many responsibilities lay on his or her shoulders. The First Mate helps determine the crew's course, finds jobs, promotes members, demotes members, is in charge of overall discipline and order of the crew, and is often the person to apply punishment when needed."  -Ranks and Roles Forum Thread

    I have no doubt in my mind that this was the right move to make. Also, both Bosutar and Ilthilior saw promotions recently as well, from Mate to the rank of Boatswain. Expect to see more from them in the way of helping to plan events and the like.
    And finally, with Emryn moving out of the rank of Lieutenant and into the rank of First Mate, that means that an officer's position is open. We will not worry about filling the Lieutenant position right away, but know that I will be conscious of its vacancy when dealing with members. As always, feel free to nominate anyone to an Officer position. I am very open to the input and I like to know what you all think.

Thanks, everybody!

-Captain Dloin

        With the Pirates of Khaz Modan beginning to fill its ranks with enthusiastic, excited and quality members, the time has come to assess how the PoKM will handle its Role-Playing Events. Role-Playing has become a fine-line amongst the World of Warcraft community, with many people more prepared to list what they don't like instead of what they do like, more prepared to  outline what they can't stand instead of what they enjoy seeing. Role-Playing is something that has the capabilities to be extremely varied and open to many different play-styles, and the Pirates of Khaz Modan want to explore all of those styles.
        What does this mean for the PoKM RP Events? Well, I have decided that instead of running a continuous story-line of events like many other guilds do, that we will explore RP events from the stance of Role-Playing Series. Think of the Pirates of Khaz Modan as more of a television channel than an epic film saga. One week we may have an event from an RP Series that I, Dloin, am hosting. The next week we may have an event from a series that is being run by Sullis, or Emryn, or Ruonna, etc. Each series will show a different style of RP, a different take on what it means to RP and what RP means to the respective Officers running the events. This allows members from the guild to truly experience RP in more than one of its forms, and also encouraged the creative growth and development of our members and officers.
        A thread has been started in the forums concerning this subject, as well as your thoughts and feelings on the matter. Please use that thread, as all feedback is greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Slowly but surely, the guild is growing. As more swabs filter in, the core of the guild is becoming apparent, shaping themselves out as the active, the friendly, the helpful and the enthusiastic. After suffering from a dryspell in activity and recruitment, the Pirates now have more of a solid foundation upon which we can begin to build up a regular RP basis.

As such, the time for Role-Playing events is now! Ideas are welcomed, and encouraged. Anything in particular you'd like to see the Pirates do, then please let me know. Let's keep this going and alive, and not let it fall into inactivity again. There has been slight talk of the Pirates getting stranded on a desert island as they attempt to repair the Seastorm, and the idea seems to be well received thus far. Once the details are hammered out, it will be up on the events calendar for people to sign up for.

Also, be sure to check the calendar each day. As our guild friends and allies host RP events, we I get invitations that I pass onto the Pirates. These are great opportunities for some community-based RP. Flesh out your character and get to know the rest of Moon Guard in fun and interesting settings! Thanks goes out to Maxen of the First Regiment for hosting the Brewfest Barbecue events the last two Thursdays, as well as to Dalavesta of the Cult of Nerzhul for inviting the Pirates to the Grinning Skull Gambling Den as well as the public execution of one of the cultists. Not signed up for these events yet? What are you waiting for?!

Also, as always, I'm always open to nominations for members to our Officer ranks. Currently we only have one Mariner, and we could use a few more to help fill up the RP Events and help run the crew, since my schedule is often hairy at best.

Otherwise, thank you so much for everyone who's been sticking with it thus far! Together we will make this guild one awesome group of seadogs!

-Captain Dloin

Alright, so the first guild meeting for the Pirates of Khaz Modan was held yesterday evening at 5:00pm server time. Unfortunately there weren't a lot in attendence at first, but after a few active recruits were hired and a couple of old guildies came online, the meeting finally went underway at around 6:00. It was held via the Guild's OOC Chat Channel, and it was more or less an establishment of what the guild is about and what is to be expected from its members.

The following guild members were all in attendance:
Dloin - Captain
Falate (Partial Attendance - Late Arrival) - Resident Flower Picker and silent officer
Renduo - Drunken meatshield and fun Night Elf
Raptor (Partial Attendance - Left Early) - Silent Night Elf
Lune - Cheery, RPing Druid
Nehellena - Old friend and great RPer
Yorden - Ex-Syndicate Dwarf RPer

A lot of the information covered can already be found here on the website (check the forums for Rank Descriptions, Event Suggestions, and Officer Nominations, and there's a whole section of the site devoted to the Pirates' Role Playing events and stories). So, without running the risk of repeating myself for the third time, just browse through the site and familiarize yourself with what the guild has to offer (if you haven't alread).

Also, I understand there's a good number of guild members who view this site, but don't actually sign up as part of the guild. I encourage you to do so. The forums are a great source of information that I can check at almost any time, so I want the guild to use those frequently. Please make a free account here on Guild Portal, if you haven't already, and then submit an application to join the Pirates of Khaz Modan.

And it seems that the Pirates of Khaz Modan are attracting even more attention with each passing day. We are currently in an alliance with the RP guilds <The Duskwood Irregulars> and <Redridge Company>. Feel free to join the alliance's OOC Chat Channel in-game! Captain Dloin has also fallen victim to the a brief run-in with the Jade Syndicate, as well as been approached by a rival pirate guild, the Bloodsail Buccaneers.

That pretty much covers everything, so in closing, browse the forums and learn what this website has to offer!

So the Pirates of Khaz Modan are growing each day, with at least 22 members in its crew as of the writing of this news post. That's great news! As people filter into the ragtag crew of "free-traders", the likelihood and frequency of events, both RP and non-RP, will increase. I hope you're all as excited as I am!

In addition to our size growing, our reputation is as well. I've been hard at work with regularily posted Guild Adverts in the General Chat of Stormwind and Ironforge, and occasionally Wetlands, Dun Morough, and Loch Modan. The advert goes as such:

You see a notice nailed to the wall: "Be warned. The <Pirates of Khaz Modan> are wanted for thievery and smuggling. If you see their self-proclaimed captain, Dloin Steeleye, please report it to authorities immediately." ((PST for info!))

Players all over the Eastern Kingdoms are hearing of our guild, and some have even taken it upon themselves to role-play according to the advert. Dloin has already had a few people stop him according to these posters, which sets some great foundation work for the Pirates for RP in the future.

So what does the open ocean hold for the Pirates? Currently, we are without ship or regular meeting place. However, that doesn't stop us. Through back-alleys and side streets we find our ways amongst the regular folk of the Easertn Kingdoms. Soon enough there will be a Role-Playing experience for a few members to acquire a ship in which the crew can reside and find their true calling as pirates!

So, with the number of members growing daily, keep your eyes peeled and your ears open for some random RP opportunities with fellow Guild Members, and expect our first Guild Meeting to happen soon!