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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Joshua Randall" data-source="post: 864148" data-attributes="member: 7737">Sister Sara Dellarocca, Priestess of Ishir, Co-Founder of the Company of the Red Kestrel, cursed her goddess, her brother, and herself.During the debacle in the ciquali fortress, Sara was certain her death was upon her. When Michael had ordered her to get out, she wasted no time in invoking the word of recall stored in her holy symbol – and the sense of relief she had felt at appearing in the familiar confines of the Temple of the Moon in Varetta filled Sara with a deep and abiding shame.Yet why should she feel shamed? It was Michael’s foolhardiness that had gotten the Kestrels in over their heads. Again. And gotten a lot of them killed – for the scrying pool could locate no trace of Kednor, Gunther, or Leta.Sara also harbored guilt for who she had scried next – not her brother, but the handsome sorcerer-knight who had come between them. He, at least, was alive. Her heart fluttered.Then, at last, with great trepidation, she focused the font on Michael, fearing that the pool would remain dark as it had for the others. But no – there he was, huddled miserably in a corner, his hand wiping away the blood at his mouth.Sara sank back, exhausted, and lay sprawled upon the holy ground. Once more it fell to her to rescue her brother, the great wizard Dellarocca. Once more, Ishir’s blessing of safety had left her thousands of miles from him.“Damn Michael and damn you, Ishir,” Sara muttered aloud. Damn yourself, a voice inside her seemed to answer.= = =Sionas was more helpful than Sara had thought he would be, given the falling out he’d had with her brother. He cast multiple sendings for her. The first, to Michael, was to let him know that help was on the way. The second, to Quaddla, the Daughter of Ishir, was answered curtly: I take no part in your family affairs. Sara blinked in surprise at that. Finally, almost as an afterthought, Sara had Sionas send to Brogun, the dwarven priest.He made no reply.“… would like to help, but my researches keep my busy here. And I’m afraid my spell selection wouldn’t be of much use in a fight,” Sionas was saying apologetically.Sara smiled sadly, thanked the Shaper for his assistance, and departed. She warded herself against the bitterly cold temperatures of the gods-forsaken Durenese winter and set off for the ciquali lair.That night at her camp, she decided to try entreating Brogun’s aid one more time. An animal messenger could carry a more detailed request, Sara decided. She would appeal to his love of battle and sense of adventure this time. Sighing, Sara pulled parchment and ink from her pack and began to write.= = =The two of them made a good pair. This time, rather than wasting their energies on an underwater assault as the Company had in its initial foray into the ciquali lair, Sara and Brogun strode across the causeway to the top-level entrance in broad daylight. Brogun put his shoulder to the door and they stormed into the guardroom. While the dwarf wasn’t as capable a fighter as her brother, his axe hit hard, and his spells were true. Between the two of them plus some summoned assistance, Sara and Brogun slaughtered the ciquali guards before the alarm could be raised.Then it was a desperate race through the fortress, trying to find and silence any remaining guards or patrolling warriors while finding Dellarocca. After a few more skirmishes, the two clerics located their objective. Dellarocca, along with several other human, dwarven, and crocaryx slaves, were finishing the construction of a room in the fortress, overseen by six ciquali taskmasters.Brogun’s soundburst was deafeningly loud in the stone room. Slaves and masters alike clutched their ears in pain as the dwarf’s stubby legs carried him into battle. Sara immediately made for her brother’s side, ignoring the intervening ciquali. Once there, she invoked the protection of Ishir upon him, then followed that up with a shield other for good measure.Meanwhile, the other slaves seized this opportunity for escape. Taking up their hammers and chisels, they shuffled as fast as their shackled legs would let them into battle. Brogun was hewing ciquali like grain, his strength enhanced by the might of Kirabá.The fight was over quickly; six ciquali were no match for two adventurers and a dozen angry slaves. Brogun found the key to the shackles and released the slaves from their bonds. “Follow me – to freedom!” he proclaimed dramatically.Dellarocca rolled his eyes and grinned at his sister. Sara smiled back, but there was pain behind her mirth. Once she had restored her brother’s health, he would want revenge. And what Michael Dellarocca wanted, he took.</blockquote>

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