Chief Diplomat

The Chief Diplomat was the person in charge of the diplomatic aspect of the clan before January 22, 2011.

The rank of Chief Diplomat was replaced by the current rank of Minister of Diplomacy, when the clan implemented Departments.

Powers and Responsibilities
When the Chief Diplomat was an active rank, the powers and responsibilities of the person were:
 * Overseeing all diplomatic aspects of the clan
 * Acting as a representative to the clan's union
 * Checking to ensure clan allies still exist
 * Searching for new allies
 * Managing Ambassadors
 * Keeping tabs on all clan allies
 * Being involved in all diplomatic affairs of the clan
 * Upkeeping the clan's diplomatic identity

Appointment Process
The appointment process for the ranks of Chief Diplomat and War General were a combination of an election and an appointment. Whenever the Grand Elder saw it fit (due to the current holder's inactivity, incompetence, etc), the clan would hold an "election" for the Chief Diplomat. Coinciding with a Council election, any individuals who were interested in becoming the Chief Diplomat could announce their candidacy for the position from Saturday to Tuesday at 11:59 pm EST. After the candidacy window was closed, the Grand Elder would ultimately pick from that list of interested people on who should become the Chief Diplomat (the Grand Elder would consult with the Grand Disciples and Council). The person who was selected to become the Chief Diplomat would hold that rank until the Grand Elder decided upon another set of elections.

History
The rank of Chief Diplomat was created along with the rank of War General on May 1, 2010. The two ranks were created to alieviate some stress and extra work that Sword had to do in diplomatic and militaristic aspects of the clan. The Chief Diplomat was to be in charge of doing everything diplomacy-related within the clan.

Sword opened up the candidacy window for the first Chief Diplomat on May 1, 2010, but the first Chief Diplomat would not be appointed until the following Saturday (May 8). Several members opted to run for the position of Chief Diplomat, and Sword (along with Council) decided upon Darth KoA (Shadowabyssl) to become the clan's first Chief Diplomat.

Darth was effective in being Chief Diplomat for the first few weeks of his time in that position. However, as time went on, he became increasingly inactive to the point where he would log on maybe once a week. Sword decided that Darth could no longer fulfill his duties as Chief Diplomat, so a new Chief Diplomat needed to be selected. The War General rank was also becoming inactive, so Sword decided to have another round of Chief Diplomat/War General elections from July 24 to July 31.

On July 31, Purest Telum was selected to become the next Chief Diplomat. Because he was new to the position, Purest slowly filled into the role of Chief Diplomat. Purest was able to stabilize the diplomatic affairs of the clan, and put some activity into diplomacy, where Darth had been inactive before. On September 15, Purest resigned from the clan during the Alerion instability period, and the rank of Chief Diplomat became vacant.

The position would stay vacant for almost a month, as Sword had not called for elections yet. On October 8, 2010, Sword called for Chief Diplomat/War General elections again. By this time, Purest had joined the clan again, and decided to become a candidate for the Chief Diplomat position. Sword knew Purest had experience being Chief Diplomat and decided to appoint Purest as Chief Diplomat for a second time. During his second time of being Chief Diplomat, Purest was instrumental in bolstering and organizing the clan's diplomatic affairs. He was very effective at his position of Chief Diplomat and the clan benefitted from everything he was able to accomplish as the head of diplomacy. The clan allied with many new clans - alliances that would hold strong for months and months to come - including The Knights Templar, the Onyx Empire, The Roman Empire, the Renaissance, and the Kingdom of Fiends. Additionally, the clan's diplomacy was carefully organized under Purest's diplomatic leadership.

On January 22, 2011, Sword implemented the concept of Departments and Ministers in the clan, and the rank of Chief Diplomat would become obsolete and replaced with the rank of Minister of Diplomacy. Because Purest played such a large role in strengthening the clan's diplomacy, he was nominated by Sword to become the first Minister of Diplomacy. The 35th Council of Aether unanimously voted to appoint Purest as the first Minister of Diplomacy with a 12-0-0-0 vote.