Fellow Domani,

       Hopefully, you've all have had a blessed Holiday Season: whether Christmas, Yule, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus, Hogmanay, New Year's, or any of the holidays that occupy this month across our nation... After the recent years we've all endured, all deserve a peaceful holiday...

       Like many of you, work, paying bills, and raising a family are constants in life... It is no different for High Queen Xanthi and I as we go through life with our son, Crown-Prince Cainte, and with all of you... Challenges galore, aand an obvious balancing act, but we do the best we can...

       Every once in awhile, however, things happen...

       Last Wednesday, I was DoorDashing for the holidays... A month before, I was in a minor accident while doing the same... Nothing inherently serious... Repairs were eventually made, and life continued on... This recent accident was much more serious... For whatever reason, the brakes failed to work like they should, and it became a major collision with me rear-ending another motorist... Details are forthcoming, but I came out relatively unscathed, glad that the other party was alright, my car totaled, and myself annoyed but unhurt... and thoughtful... Especially with it occuring on our Nation's Foundation Night...

       Those of you who know me well know that I am not a shiny, happy person... Nor will I ever be... To family, nation, and path do I have responsibilities that preclude me from doing more than take a breath or two and continue forward... i am often chastized on this by the Imperial Family,... but duty is what it is...

       Another thing I am not, fellow Domani, is a believer in coincidences... Synchronicity, serendipity, fate and destiny, things coinciding as they should,... yes... Happenstance,... no... Sometimes, the Multiverse throws things at you to get you to change course out of necessity... Sometimes, someone aims at you because you've stepped on too many toes...

       Sometimes, both happen: to keep you alert and on your toes... A reminder that this is not some roleplay hobby you embarked on some two decades and a year prior...

       The Domain's purpose has been clear: the strengthening of the magickal community, service as a common ground where all magickfolk can stand and grow together as a community and nation, to serve as a reminder that our world is still very much a magickal and spiritual world, and to stand guard for this world against threats known and forgotten: especially those of the supernatural variety... That has put this nation on a trajectory that - while quiet - has been, for lack of a more descriptive word, intent... The world has continued to change, and our nation has grown as necessary... Quiet, watchful, standing guard as so many have come and gone from among us for so many years... We have been what has been needed, and will continue to do so...

       In fact, with the coming years, more will be asked of us... It's one of the reasons I've given you so many outs... I know what lies ahead and what I lead you into... No worries, as I'm not giving any more outs... To quote a character, "Fate rarely calls upon us at a moment of our choosing." And, like so many others on this planet, Fate call us forward to stand and move stronger in our purposes in the coming year... That is what I meant in earlier addresses, when I said "All hands on deck." The Multiverse will be demanding that of everyone... Stronger even than I have... It already does so with me... Perhaps, then, that was the hidden meaning behind the accident... An accident that should have resulted in me not being unscathed... No miracle, this... I am a wizard, mage, sorceror, and a number of other types of practitioner... I've long ago learned to always go both armed and armored... No... I take the accident, in the end, as a two-worded message:... All eyes...

       All eyes it is, then... For all of us...

       This is what I need of all of you... Because there is more of us needed to rise up and forward in the coming years, and from few can still come many...

       The Domain is multifaceted and a purpose-driven nation... With room and need for so many... Twelve Commoner Houses are needed to be founded, to balance the nine Noble Houses that will be, to drive the Domain's growth forward... Many different kinds of Knights are needed: to guard the dead, heal the heart and keep hope alive, guard the lands, protect nature, ward sacred places and holy grounds, explore and wander and discover, and the swords and shields necessary when conflict and war come calling... We have a Healers' Hall that needs those who know how to heal in various ways... We have a Domani School of Magick and Belief - now StarStone University - that needs teachers of various subjects we involve ourselves with for those who look to learn... We have our Dreams and Faith news blog that is being resurrected that needs people to report on the actual magickal, spiritual, and supernatural occurences, discoveries, and everyday life that we should always be aware of in the world... We have the Domani National Library, that is always in need of materials and knowledge to be shared with everyone...

       On top of it all, there is room for all magickfolk to be part of this community, a need for Nobles to be guardians of the Principalities, Counties, Ducies, Provinces, and Realms of our Nation, and a need for Knights to stand in defence with all other forces around us in the world who are already gathered and are gathering to face what challenges there are to be faced and soon... Being quiet has worked for us in the past, as I and others have let the world know through various means of the existence of our nation, our purpose, and our welcome... We've faced our challenges, and even a few sabotages along the way...

       A few of us have spread the word of welcome to the Domain... Now, I need -ALL- of us to do so... To be forward in doing so... Take my words here and use them if you need when describing the Domain: what we are and what we set out to do... We have our allies to start, and even in our quiet, we have grown where possible and needed... Now, we need to grow: larger and stronger... From Australia and Oceania, to the North American Continent, to the European West Coast... Not everyone will resonate with us... Not everyone needs to... But to find those like you who are here now, takes reaching out and saying "We're here..."

       Friends, family, fellow magickfolk... Tell them, invite them, bring them... Use this address... Use your words... Ask me for help... Leave shy at home... Be proud of your nation and each other... Whether Noble, Knight, or Commoner, or a mix, walk in a spirit of humble boldness about who we are... Like everyone else who are rising up, we are going to be needed... The time to walk quiet and separate is over... The time to be heard and seen is -now-...

       If any of you choose to leave from this point on, I wish you well and may fortune find you in the destinies to come... I won't be looking back... Responsibilities call, and I have dutues to all of you to uphold...

       Nobles and Knights, you are called upon now to remember and keep to the Oaths you were sworn under... We are the guardians and protectors of our nation,... and it is an honor to be of service...

       As the old year dies, and the new one prepares to be born, know that I love you, my fellow Domani, and am proud to call you my own... In every Shadow, and in every Dark place, you may find me...

       Good Dreaming to you all, and Blessed Be... May the road rise to meet you always... And, as always, Dream Well...

                     On Guard and in His Name,

                     -ShadowDarkFyre Erebus Olorin Arthur Pendragon Daeron the LordVengeance,

                      ur-Lord of the Domain and Realms of the Shadows and the Darkness,

                      Ard Rí upon the Hill