The History of the Arcani

as written by }Arcani{_Pirate||L||

Arcani was formed by Merrick at the start of Rome Total War. Merrick chose to name the clan after a unit in the game. The Arcani unit uses surprise and intelligence to attack the enemies of Rome. The Arcani in this unit are small in number but deadly on the battlefield. Staying true to this notion of an elite band of brothers was the first fundamental principle of this clan.

In the beginning, 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. Thus was born another fundamental principal of this clan: sheer excellence in teamplay.

As the game and community developed, certain rules were adapted community-wide into the game. This rendered the INF and CE divisions redundant. 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.

Throughout Rome Total War, the Arcani battled hard and fair in friendly competition with other clans. However, this is a Total War game and eventually wars will break out. 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 an Arcani victory close at hand, the Sith approached the Arcani to arrange a truce.

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 2008. At this point Kamikazii passed the responsibilities of leadership to Pirate who now leads the clan in Empire Total War.

Arcani in Empires, under the reign of Pirate, will be returning to a more friendly and less tournament-oriented status. This does not mean the Arcani will shy away from the fiercest of competition, though, as we stand ready as ever to train and fight as hard as ever. But a more fun and casual approach to gaming will also be encouraged to create a warm, friendly, and honourable environment for all Arcani and friends of Arcani to play in.

With a solid core of dedicated friends and relationships built throughout years of gaming together, the future of Arcani in Empires and beyond will burn as brightly and fiercely as ever.  

Hail!

~ye ole Pirate~