Ranks Of The Mighty Pen

[Jechum]

Initiate: The beginning of the Pen journey, and still getting used to The Pen is Mightier than the Sword culture. While Honored Guests are always welcome, The Initiate has posted an application, and been accepted by our Elder of Initiates. As an Initiate our expectation is that you write and explore. Work on developing your skills, and begin to explore the community. Non-voting rank.

Page: Promotion to the rank of Page indicates you've been consistently active and have shown a willing to give to the community by revising and developing your own works, incorporating critical feedback if you agree (it IS your work), or by providing helpful or constructive feedback on another's works.

As Jechum put it, Pages are members who are still growing, developing, promoting, and showing they can play well with others. Respect is a very important value at the Pen is Mightier than the Sword, and criticizing a work or an idea without criticizing the person is a developed skill. Non-Voting member.

QuillBearer: One must show a dedication to the Pen and must show further improvement over the rank of a Page. Quill Bearers are most of the way to Voting membership, and should show a good amount of activity and responsibility. Quill-bearers do a Quill Quest to be promoted to a Voting member rank. Since Quill Quests often benefit the Pen as a whole, limited Moderator permissions may be granted at this level for the duration of the Quest.

 

Voting Membership:

 

Troubadour, Poet and Herald: On completion of a Quill Quest, the member choose what they feel is their current primary area of strength. While they help to determine the future and direction of the Pen through voting, these ranks recognize a person's desire to continue to develop and grow. Vote counts as 1(one).

Troubadour - Often coming from the Assembly Room, the Troubadour is a story-teller.

Poet - Often coming from the Banquet Hall, the Poet is, well, a poet.

Herald - Often coming from the Conservatory, the Herald is a Role-Player, a player of characters and enjoys the interaction of multi-authorized threads.

 

Skald - The Skald is one who has shown mastery of two of the three initial Voting ranks. Recognition is granted by a selection of the Voting Membership comprised of the holders of the specific Rank, the Skalds, the Bards, and the Elders. For example, A Herald wishing to become a Skald might focus on Poetry, and when ready, request the promotion. The existing Poets, and higher Ranks, would vote, and a simply majority would grant the recognition. Vote counts as 2(two).

 

Bard: The Bard of the Mighty Pen is a Voting Member who has shown mastery in all three areas of writing (Storytelling, Poetry, and Role playing). This is the highest Rank a member may achieve off individual merit, and it is correspondingly difficult to achieve. Voting on advancement to Bard is restricted to existing Bards only. Vote counts as 3(three).

 

Elder Vote counts as 5(five), and LoreMaster (votes only in case of a tie): These ranks are not promotions, but rather support roles taken on by dedicated Voting Membership in support of the community as a whole. An Elder or LoreMaster who finds their time taken by other concerns, or who wishes to devote more time to develop themselves or work on their own project, may always "step-down" to their prior Rank, without prejudice. We are primarily and first an environment of safety - pressures should be internal spurs to growth as a person, not from other members.

 

Non-Voting Positions:
Ancient: These are Elders who have stepped down due to the inactivity of Real Life, but still make themselves available for occasional advice. Their opinions usually carry great weight at The Pen.

 

Moderator/Administrator: These are Rank-independent positions of service. Some trustworthy members are comfortable with detailed technical functions but prefer reading or working behind the scenes over developing as writers. For security reasons, due to the power of these positions, the earliest a person may be considered for these technical support roles is Quill-Bearer, and that if it is necessary for their Quill Quest. Otherwise, any Voting Member may volunteer to be considered for one of these roles.