I've known for some time that this day was coming, but it doesn't make it any easier. Shikyo has been a constant companion, a consistent voice on the Dark Council for years now. I've trained him as Herald, and walked him up through to become one of the best heralds that the Brotherhood has ever seen. We've worked together to overcome obstacles and challenged each other to become better at what we were doing for as long as I can remember.

That goes back pretty far. Sarin telling me that I needed to find another herald, because he wasn't going to let me say no to Deputy Grand. Then Shikyo having the nerve to step up, and sign up for me to train him on how I do things, as opposed to the old way. It wasn't the easiest thing, to learn literally at my elbow for those months. Then Kaine telling me that his heart wasn't in it any more, and making it easy for me to tell Sarin that Shikyo was ready.

There's this old saying: "When elephants fight, it is the ground that loses." For years now, Shikyo and I have been trading blows, seeing who can come up with the coolest stuff for the DB. But rather than lose, every winter, the DB gets to enjoy some of the results of that ongoing competition. More and more of his work will filter out as certain other projects get completed and coded in.

Lots of people here may recognize his work and understand on some level how much time and energy goes into it. Many people will talk about how LONG he's held down the gig, even through deployments, college courses, career changes, girlfriends and all the other things real life throws at us to distract us from our work here. Some may even snark. But in the end, it's the work that matters.

It's the work that we recognize with medals, with promotions. Today, we honor Shikyo with a Diamond Sword, one of the rarest sacramental weapons in the Brotherhood. Today, we thank him for his six years of service on the Dark Council.

Today is about the work. It's about the 3 am teardowns and starting over from scratch. It's about staring at the list of work and trying not to panic while you develop a plan on how to get it done. It's about working so hard that you have to replace your mouse on a Saturday night. It's about taking the abuse from people that can't do the work and you can. It's about having a great idea, then hating yourself as you try to get it accomplished. It's about deciding you're done, only to get dragged back in by another great idea, the sense of duty and the drive to put more of your work out there. It's about staring at tiny details that no one will ever see in the final graphic, but you have to do it, because you know they're there.

Thank you, Brother. We'll be here when you're ready.

Muz Ashen, Dark Lord of the Sith