Hi all,

I wanted to give a quick update as it's been two weeks (yes, it has!) since the deadline for Rise to Greatness. I hope everyone is enjoying their time away from SCW and recharging. For me, I've been focusing on teaching prep and some professional opportunities and admittedly, for the first time ever, took two full weeks away from SCW.

That said, I'm diving back in and wanted to give you a sense of the timeline and when we'll be returning back to things.

Expect the SCW Rise to Greatness Pre-Show up this week. I will be judging in the next two days and planning both shows. The tentative plan is to have Rise to Greatness XVIII complete by the end of next week - this will be a bit more fluid as I will be writing lectures during this time too and have some other teaching responsibilities, and so hence the vagueness.

That said, the planned first Breakdown back from hiatus will be Thursday, August 26, 2021.

A schedule for the next year will be completed this week and I will be sending it to J to upload to our calendar whenever she has time. I will also be separating posting the revised roleplay rules as SCW enters its 19th year of operation.

Finally, I see some new faces on the fed Discord and on the board. It's great to see you joining SCW and I hope, after our hiatus, you'll not regret your decision!

Well it is here - Rise to Greatness deadline has passed and our yearly break has now official begun. I know the last year has been a challenge at times with the pandemic and other challenges. Thank you to everyone who kept through and playing this game we do here in SCW.

Here's how things will shape out for the next little while:

I will be spending some time judging and writing for Rise to Greatness. Shows will be up as I complete them. One thing for certain is that the main show, Rise to Greatness XVIII, will not be up until at least August 15. When it is posted, that will be the official end of the hiatus, allowing it to be fresh in our minds when we come back into things.

In the next few weeks, I will be developing the schedule for the next year, and continuing my plotting. I will also post further confirmation about what the new roleplaying rules will look like upon our return.

But, more importantly, take some time away from the game (or at least SCW) for a bit. If the weather isn't mindbogglingly hot, and it's safe to do so, go outside, see the world, curl up with a good book (I hear Josh has one!) or catch up on professional wrestling or whatever you want to do. Take a break from the game and hopefully in roughly a month's time, we can come back to SCW and start another kickass season of the game we enjoy.

Wrestler's Alias: KEZ
Pic Base: Asia Argento (w/ face paint)
Height: 5'6”
Weight: 160
Birthdate: c. 1986
Current Residence: Kill Devil Hills, NC


Physical Description: Smaller of frame than her sister, but dense and calloused and hardened. In contrast to the reserved and elegant Lilith, KEZ wears the results of her violence openly and appears ready to fight at any given moment. Her knuckles are worn smooth and there are multiple scars visible behind her trademark face paint. Her similarly black hair is shorter and more haphazardly swept back, with dark eyes peering from behind the makeup.




WRESTLING INFORMATION
-------------------------------------------------
Wrestling Style: Wild brawling
Alignment (Face/Tweener/Heel): Heel
Theme Song: “blood in the trees” by Ophrys




Finishers: “Alekhine's Gun” and “Halcyon Arrow”


Finishers Descriptions (If Needed):
“Halcyon Arrow” - small package driver
“Alekhine's Gun” - Rocker Dropper


Signature Moves: “Play Dead” and “Furnace Room Lullaby”


Signature Moves Descriptions (If Needed):
“Play Dead” - knee trembler
“Furnace Room Lullaby” - Curb stomp against the bottom turnbuckle


Common Moves:
(*- the move is usually accompanied by a barrage of fists, elbows, or knees)
suicide dive
stinger splash
repeated elbows or knees
headbutt (never off the top rope)
double stomp
body scissors*
surfboard stretch*
clothesline
front chancery*
sling blade
spinning backfist
senton






Strengths: strong for her size, high tolerance for pain, often in a constant state of trying to hurt her opponent more (digging an elbow into their face during a pin, raining down punches during holds, etc), her wild, borderline careless style can lead to surprising innovation


Weaknesses: quick to anger, not one for strategy or tactics, her sloppy technique leads to things like the occasional weak bridge or loose cradle, is prone to getting herself disqualified


Entrance:
Calming music rises in the arena before being cut off by a harsh drone and pulsing, distorted drum. With the shift in music, the arena goes dark. In the darkness, KEZ emerges into the arena. Her expression as she glares down at the ring appears somewhere between intense focus and a thousand yard stare as she marches toward the ring. She barely registers any awareness of her surroundings at all until she reaches the ring, at which point she rolls in under the bottom rope, sheds her tattered denim jacket on the floor at ringside, and crouches in the corner waiting for the bell.

Biography:
In the years preceding the lich house tag team, "The Vicious Kind" Keziah Morgan had a very particular reputation in various independent promotions in the southeast. Her perpetually angry disposition and rumors of incidents of showing up "in no condition to compete" seemed to have less to do with her tumultuous relationship with the local bookers than her alleged pathological need to be combative. Her father's passing and her sister's subsequent joining her in wrestling initially only made things worse. But a few years afterward both vanished from the business entirely, only to reemerge after another few years. Her new in ring persona, simply going by KEZ, came with a much more reserved personality outside the ring. Inside she's been as violent as ever, and has adopted a relatively verbose writing style in lieu of cutting "promos," but so far nothing has hinted at what happened during her years away from the ring to facilitate the drastic change in both demeanor and general appearance.

Wrestler's Alias: “Our Lady of the Underground” Lilith Morgan
Wrestler's Real Name: Lilith Morgan
Pic Base: Eva Green
Height: 5'9”
Weight: 137
Birthdate: c. 1983
Birth Place: Kill Devil Hills, NC


Physical Description: The taller but more slender of the two sisters. The physical demeanor with which she carries herself is often less that of a fighter and more of a trained dancer, equal parts grace and severity. A close inspection would reveal the hardened details resulting from her years in the ring, but with clear, deliberate effort to minimize them visually. Her long black hair and pale skin create a contrast around her luminous green eyes, perpetually in a calculating expression.




WRESTLING INFORMATION
-------------------------------------------------
Wrestling Style: European
Alignment (Face/Tweener/Heel): Heel
Theme Song: “blood in the trees” by Ophrys




Finishers: “Petrine Cross” and “Defixio”


Finishers Descriptions (If Needed):
“Petrine Cross” - Vertebreaker
“Defixio” - Michinoku Driver


Signature Moves: “Spring-Heeled Kick,” “Turn of the Screw,” and “Skeleton Key”


Signature Moves Descriptions (If Needed):
“Spring-Heeled Kick” - Scorpion Rising axe kick
“Turn of the Screw” - Cross Rhodes
“Skeleton Key” - cross-arm kimura


Common Moves:
superkick
Frankensteiner
Tornado DDT
Yakuza kick
moonsault
bulldog
European uppercut
Samoan drop
double knee drop
German suplex
missile drop kick
Northern Lights suplex


Strengths: not susceptible to mind games, under only the rarest (to the point of functionally never happening) of circumstances will she get carried away or flustered in the ring, knows how to strike at joints and pressure points to maximize damage to compensate for her stature


Weaknesses: less hardened than her sister and tag partner, meaning at the end of the day her slight frame leaves her at a disadvantage when taking damage from larger opponents, if her strategy falters she'll take a back seat and let her sister's violence take over until she can come up with a new plan


Entrance:
Calming music rises in the arena before being cut off by a harsh drone and pulsing, distorted drum. With the shift in music, the arena goes dark. A lone spotlight cuts through the blackness to reveal Lilith Morgan, in veil and funeral coat, standing at the entrance. She lights a tall, white candle and strides deliberately to the ring, keeping the flame lit close to her chest. As she reaches the ring steps, she stops to speak some words to herself before extinguishing the flame. Her veil and coat are dropped by the ring steps with the candle placed on top before she enters the ring to ready herself for the match.


Biography: Lilith followed her sister into wrestling following their father's passing. She is the more trained but less experienced of the two. She's almost pathologically measured and quietly intense, her brow seeming to have a permanent furrow. Her calculating ways are purported to be both the cause of the contentious relationship they've had with various management figures and the reason they haven't been worse, with her rigid sense of control being a source of friction and her methodical thought process minimizing fallout from KEZ's more erratic tendencies. Less is known of Lilith pre-lich house than her sister, but since the team formed in earnest she's become more of the public figure. This more public persona does not extend to any personal details.

Tag Team Name: Lich House


Members: KEZ and Lilith


Alignment: Heel


Gimmick: Cultists


Entrance Music: “blood in the trees” by Ophrys








Entrance Description: (Tag Team)
Calming music rises in the arena before being cut off by a harsh drone and pulsing, distorted drum. With the shift in music, the arena goes dark. A lone spotlight cuts through the blackness to reveal Lilith Morgan, in veil and funeral coat, standing at the entrance. Behind her and to the side stands KEZ, face painted for battle, wearing a tattered denim jacket over her ring gear. Lilith produces and lights a large white candle, holding its flame near her chest as the two make their way down the ramp to the ring. Lilith calmly strides down, making sure to keep the candle lit, as KEZ walks behind her and to the side, looking ready for violence. As the two approach the ring, KEZ rolls in under the bottom rope and gets to her feet in the middle of the ring as Lilith climbs the steps, extinguishing the candle with her thumb and forefinger before entering the ring herself. Lilith discards her coat, veil, and candle in the corner along with KEZ's jacket as they ready for the match.




Primary Finishers:
Sin Eater: top rope reverse bulldog (Lilith)/back suplex (KEZ) combo


Mercy Seat: Powerbomb (KEZ)/neckbreaker (Lilith) combo




Signature Moves:
Crèche and Burn: Powerslam (KEZ)/Backbreaker (Lilith) combo


Stations of the Cross: Full Nelson (Lilith)/Jawbreaker (KEZ) combo




Biography:
Keziah and Lilith Morgan are the eldest two of three sisters. Lilith, the older of the two, followed Keziah into the business after their father's passing. For the first few years, they mostly just coexisted in the same promotions, occasionally teaming but often involved in entirely separate feuds and barely interacting with one another. Then, after a multiple year absence with no contact or documented evidence of their whereabouts, the two returned and became a tag team almost exclusively. Keziah started being billed simply as KEZ and donned her now trademark black and white face paint, and they adopted the ring name "lich house." During their various stints in lower level promotions, they often had combative relationships with management, usually pertaining to the tight control Lilith maintains over the team or KEZ's violent outbursts. In public, Lilith will invariably do all of the talking. The opposite seems to be true when it comes to the written pieces they put out in the days leading up to their matches - KEZ appears to do the bulk of the writing with Lilith having some sort of contribution - but this is so far unverified. 

Their private lives have occasionally been the source of some mystery and notoriety. They're incredibly taciturn on the subject, with much of what is "known" about them being a result of hearsay and rumor from their hometown and surrounding areas in the county. There is no shortage of said hearsay and rumor.

Let this be a bit of a prelude to Rise to Greatness, and a full disclosure to my SCW family.  Yes, this is really planned to be my final match as Jake Starr.  For one, in character, dude is OLD!  Olek brought it to my attention once, and it's kind of to that "does anyone REALLY wanna see the old guy anymore" phase.

I would personally like to thank EVERYONE as the person and the character of Jake Starr, for making this run so much fun.  I started to struggle to make anything make sense or be interesting, like many of you do so easily, so I finally came to the conclusion that Jake Starr had run his course.  So I decided I needed to write this final chapter.  I knew if I didn't, I would always have this lingering annoyance in the back of my mind, thinking "what could I do to wrap him up."  This is going to be that.  It wouldn't have been possible with EVERYONE in this SCW family of ours.  And I personally would like to thank James for being willing to go at it one more time.  Many thanks, my friend.

Now I also wanted to be honest about something else.  I don't plan on stopping RPing.  I'm not trying to "surprise" or "hide" myself by coming back, but I have been mentally working on fully developing a new character, too.  I don't know when (completely honest here) that will come to fruition, but I'm not disappearing, but Jake Starr is going to finally go to his retirement home lol.

I just wanted to say this because I've seen a lot calling it a full career.  I'm not there yet, and that doesn't make me special.  Probably makes me more stubborn and dumb, but I think the new character will be different from Jake, and not just "Jake v3881181818."

Again... Thank you all for making my dream of what Jake Starr could be a reality.  I needed all of you to make it a reality.  Much love and thanks for pushing me, knocking me down when my ego got too big, and helping me when I was in creative ruts.

PS: Sorry Doug... I don't think the Jake vs. Cid will ever happen and become SCW Inception.

Associated Press Immediate Release: July 21, 2021 – 12:03 PM, New Orleans, LA:

AP has learned that earlier this morning Jude Nelson, the man charged with Aggravated Assault and Second Degree Rape of SCW wrestler and former World Champion Bree Lancaster... has plead guilty to both charges in front of a judge. AP is told the Change of Plea Hearing is the result of a plea agreement reached between the New Orleans DA's office and Nelson. As per the terms of the plea agreement, Jude Nelson has been sentenced to 30 years in Louisiana State Prison. He was taken into custody immediately after the ruling.

Bree Lancaster and actor Dominic Teller were married this past weekend, and were not present for the hearing.