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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Seravin" data-source="post: 3088827" data-attributes="member: 6783">Another Point of ViewAesiphon waited and prayed.  As one of the Defender’s Own, Aesiphon was knowledgeable of the virtues of duty, courage, and compassion.  She didn’t so much understand the virtues as embody them.  An angel and divine guardian, Aesiphon had protected the most holy relices of Crown’s Vigil for over a decade without mishap.  The Defender’s presence filled the vault and the church above with warmth and strength, and provided all the sustenance that the angel required.  Meditation and reflection substituted for rest.  The guarding was her duty for another decade and a half and she could not imagine, much less think, of doing any less.   Even now with those virtues in conflict.   The desecration of the cathedral above was a sword blow that had driven all warmth away, like a soldier on the battlefield whose lifeblood ebbed away.  Omniscience was not given to Aesiphon but she had learned all the sounds and sighs of the great cathedral that she basked under.  The loss of each priest, the taking of each life, had stabbed at her and the call of compassion cried out for her to comfort them.  Duty demanded that she not be distracted and protect the relics.  Worse had come soon after; three presences that defiled the building just by being there.  Dark things smelling of death and blood and terror.  Aesiphon had smelled their like in the past, before she had taken up this recent duty.  Fiends.  Devils.  Creatures of Tresh.  The call of the Defender then burned within Aesiphon’s heart, demanding that she confront the creatures and defend the building.  Again, duty demanded that she stay and protect the relics.Conflicts like these can lead to madness.  Duty versus duty is a terrible strain.  Fortunately, Aesiphon was also blessed with courage.  Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to wait when every fiber calls out to charge.The smell of blood and the stink of terror filled the halls.  The cries of pain and gibbering madness echoed in every nook and cranny.  The dead walked and an alien presence began to warp the very walls.All the while Aesiphon waited and prayed.As the fourth dark presence began to make itself known, a General of the Pit, hope came and banished the darkness.  Bright light washed over Latina’s alter; again and again until suddenly the door between worlds was shut in the very face of the general.  Sarath had sent his champions.The three creatures of Tresh were then banished; first one, then the second, and finally the third.  It happened almost as fast as it took to notice and understand that the darkness was fading.  The weight upon the desecrated building lifted, despite the still alien presence.  With the banishment came the battle song of Deverat, he who was the Song of Angels and the war cry of two guardian angels.Deep in the waiting meditation Aesiphon tracked the song and the war cries and peace begin to fill her heart again.  The alien presence that had crept in was banished next.  The song of the lesser relics hidden in the small chapel soon followed as they cried in joy at being found by worthy champions.Aesiphon smiled.Then there was the creak of the stairs as Sarath’s own made their way into the crypts.  The walking dead were laid to rest in twos and threes as the champions wandered the halls.  Finally the champions found the hidden door that they had passed and came into the outer chamber of the vault with its altar and the statue of the Defender.Preparing herself, Aesiphon entered the statue and gazed upon the champions of the cathedral.  The one in the lead wore the regalia of a warrior-priest of Sarath.  The dark-haired man was surveying the room with caution.  Only a little behind was a warrior who also wore the symbol of Sarath, and bore the Song of Angels.  Behind them were two women, a white-haired half-elven bearing the grace and power of Avia and a human woman with as much presence and bearing as any mortal that Aesiphon had ever watched over.  Behind them were two guardian eagles.Seeing nothing amiss in the hidden chapel the two warriors took the relics liberated from upstairs, a sword, a shield, and a pouch, and laid them upon the altar.  The two warriors then saluted the statue of Latina and all four mortals bowed low in respect as they muttered a short prayer to the Defender to protect these items from any stray interlopers.Courage had been rewarded and duty had been fulfilled.  It was given to the angel to know that the lost priestess would be found and cared for soon.  Grace more certain than knowledge filled the angel Aesiphon and she raised the statue’s arm in benediction as the blessing flowed through her to the champions of Sarath.</blockquote>

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