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Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Spotlight On... Voraniss


Voraniss


For those of you who haven’t been paying attention, Voraniss is a group that officially announced its existence to the Realms in late 2017. At Feast of the Leviathan the community watched this nation win the honor of ‘Best Upcoming Group’ and several of its members win individual awards based on crafting, storytelling, and role playing. It is a rare group that has made such an impact so quickly. And while one could argue that Voraniss has been given adequate praise in relation to its short existence, we’ve chosen to shine the spotlight on them in our first feature for a different reason entirely.

Leadership.

For as long as we’ve been playing this game and in this community, we’ve seen pretty consistent criticism of the garb and role playing immersion that can sometimes accompany events. That’s not to say the criticism is not unwarranted, but many times that’s all it is. Critical commentary which may or may not call out individuals, often without constructive notes to help others improve or explain why they need to do.

Criticism of that sort being the norm, it highlights even further the silent and powerful leadership-by-example that Voraniss is demonstrating. Despite their own incredibly high standards for their dress and role play, not once have we witnessed a member of the group calling out others for not being on the same tier as they are. The members of Voraniss are inspiring others by showing the very best of themselves all the time. This is a much harder task to undertake than simply voicing their disapproval, but it is a much much more effective one, as well.

Change happens slowly over a long time. Change for the better, especially so. The general thought about the trend of costume and immersion in the game is that it's improving on a lot of fronts through the diverse efforts of a lot of different people, but we shine our spotlight on Voraniss because of the example that they are setting is making a tremendous impact even in the few months they have existed. We truly hope that they continue to be an active part of our community and continue to inspire us all by showing us their mission.

Voraniss at the Black & White. Photo by David Harvill


Spotlight On is a new View feature that seeks to highlight some of the amazing efforts around our community to make the Realms better. The Spotlighters staff is always on the lookout for things worth celebrating but if you would like to point us in any direction for ideas, please send an email to spotlight.realms@gmail.com