This clan has been exceptionally fortunate. Arcani has been blessed with great individuals who established its roots, and then subsequently more people of a similar caliber that built upon those roots to establish its rich history. Stringent ideals and a number of quality control measures have seen to it that only other great individuals have been able to follow. To claim long term membership in this clan has always and in every case been a matter of pride.

During Rome Total War, Merrick took it upon himself to establish a new clan under a clearly laid out set of personal ideals and directives. Integrity of character, professionalism, and quality of gameplay formed the first ideals that Merrick laid out. Many years later, his clan has evolved and grown, but in every way that matters is still the group that he put together in those early days of RTW. Merrick chose to name the clan after a unit in RTW. The Arcani use their wit and intelligence to attack the enemies of Rome. The Arcani are small in number but deadly in their ability. Staying true to this notion of an “elite band” was the fundamental principle of this clan and has carried forward to present day. Quality over quantity is our credo, and we intentionally avoid ballooning in size in order to maintain a superb quality of teamplay on the battlefields of Total War.

Another fundamental principle of this clan was the focus on integration into a single cohesive Arcani team on the battlefield. In the beginning, this was actually enforced structurally. There were two Arcani divisions: the Infantry Division and the Cavalry Elite. The Infantry division was made up of skilled infantry players who liked nothing better than to get up close and personal. The Cavalry Elite was made up of players with expertise in the use of skirmishing and heavy cavalry tactics. Both were taught to play as one entity with one playing as the cavalry and the other playing as the infantry. They all depended on each other to win the battle. They formed the collective entity which has also been retained to present day: the Arcani field army. As the game and community developed, however, certain rules were adapted community-wide into the game. This rendered the INF and CE divisions redundant. So, Arcani evolved and adapted as we always have, yet managed to retain each of its fundamental principles. Two new divisons were created: Legion Legio Fulminiata and Legio Equestrius (each under their own Command Leaders). Legio Equestrius was later replaced by Legio Eversanii. These were structural changes, but the clan itself remained truly “Arcani” in every way that mattered.

Throughout Rome Total War, the Arcani battled hard and fair in friendly competition with other clans. However, with the passion and competitiveness displayed at high level Total War play, eventually “wars” will occur. During this turbulent period in the community, Arcani fought wars with several clans like Apocalypse, Hell, Gerudo and VI Victrix. Eventually, common sense and good diplomacy ended these wars but in 2005 a war broke out with the clan Sith. This epic war lasted for 13 months. With the onset of Medieval 2 and the acceptance of an Arcani victory close at hand, the Sith approached the Arcani to arrange a truce. Over 13 months, a seemingly religious devotion on both sides to take screenshots for every victory was reaching a point where the clear victor was undisputably the Arcani clan.

With the war to end all wars having reached resolution, the Arcani vowed never to get involved in wars again. These so called “wars” were in reality rather pointless. So, the focus was shifted to tournament play. The voracious appetite of the Arcani legions would be fed through fierce professional competition. Immediately, the Arcani found success. We entered the last season of the Clan War Belt in Rome Total War and finished in second place. We have not looked back since.

On Medieval 2's arrival, the Arcani switched eagerly to the new game. Unfortunately, we lost members during this transition due either to technical limitations or the fact that some members simply did not like the new game. Nevertheless, our founding principals and fierce work ethic pushed Arcani's eagerness to be the best clan the Total War community had ever seen. The internal structure adapted to reflect this and in many ways the Arcani clan came to represent an almost para-professional organization. The Arcani became a more tournament focused clan than ever before and successes in this realm were never in shortage. In the first tournament of the new game the Arcani were heavy favorites in their league due to our great reputation from RTW. We finished in first place in our division and finished in the top four clans out of the hordes of clans that participated in that particular tournament.

Throughout Medieval 2, the Arcani gained new members due to our tireless efforts and para-professional organization and structure. While maintaining our core principle of being a small but elite band of brothers, we managed to find individuals with varying levels of skill from beginner to intermediate to advanced and developed them into truly elite world class Total Warriors. The good attitudes and personalities we demand were few and far between but we still managed to recruit some amazing members who now form the core of our senior soldier and junior officer class.

Our continued efforts to be simply the best had great returns on investment in the realm of tournaments, but one particular result stood out. In the most fiercely contested major tournament of Medieval 2 Total War, Arcani rose to the top and held out against some extremely stiff competition. Finishing as Grand Champions in the Total War Premier League and beating our Medieval 2 nemesis the “Hussars” in the final was a great achievement and one of which we are particularly proud.

Throughout the history of Arcani the leadership has changed four times, but the structure of Arcani itself operates more like a military organization than most Total War clans. The dynamics of the clan have not changed. Twice Merrick has led the clan with Chosen performing admirably as leader in between. Merrick then passed the torch to Kamikazii who led the clan to Christmas of 2008. At this point Kamikazii passed the responsibilities of leadership to Pirate who led the clan into Empire Total War. Pirate’s rise to leader was inevitable, given the length and quality of his service. We would have been a very different group, were it not for his steady hand guiding us even before he officially took the title of “Leader”. However, eventually Pirate’s responsibilities in other parts of his life saw his handing the title over to Spartican, an extremely long serving and extremely passionate individual.

Under Spartican, Arcani entered its darkest hour. Spartican and his Arcani legions withstood immense duress through their time in NTW. But, his tireless efforts and selfless dedication pulled us from those murky waters and saw our health rise to the point where we were poised once again to take control of a brave new world in Shogun 2. But it was the release of Shogun 2 which would mark the end of Spartican’s reign. Responsibilities of his own would have him pass the title on to another of Arcani’s most loyal and passionate sons: SalmonMoose.

Only those who have bled Arcani crimson and shown themselves to be truly passionate about our ideals day in and day out over the span of years ever take the heavy reigns that guide this clan. But when they do, they command a legion proud to serve them. The individual members hold their heads high and feel a genuine sense of pride to be at the service of the valiant lions that have been and forever will be Arcani leaders. We are their legion, and they are the hand that wields us. This is a relationship steeped in not only the clan's most fundamental ideals, but also the very nature of what it means to be men of valour. An Arcani leader has, through the crucible of self-sacrifice, become the very personification of all that we are. When we receive direction from this leader, we are not receiving direction from a mere mortal man. We are being swept into motion by the very essence of this clan. We follow them into the fires of hell and the certainty of death on the battlefield if that is their will.

And so, all these years later, Arcani continue to march to the beat of their Leader’s drum. The essence of this clan remains. All that is essentially “Arcani” has been developed, honed, and adapted, but the fundamental ideals and principles burn as intensely as ever. We are the few. We are the proud. We are the Arcani.