<strong>Sedianna</strong><br/><br/>I swear, jumping and spinning through the air as I use the butt of my spear to launch myself through the air, over the heads of the two surprised male cultists.  My hair nearly throws me off balance, but I manage the landing, and whip the spear around, using the razor-sharp tip to nearly behead them as I cut through their necks.  I nearly fall down immediately afterward, panting from the effort of getting this far.  For forty years I'd been a Maiden of the Shrine of Neress, a remote temple to Iomedae's order, but never had I expected the events of the past few nights!  I look around the dark stone hallway again and flinch, remembering what had happened.  Two nights ago the temple had been attacked out of nowhere by dozens of cultists, which seemed to know<em>exactly</em>what they were doing.  Most of the high priestesses had been killed, and dozens more were injured.  To make it worse, they had stolen the Orb of Calamity, as many called it.  Within was sealed a powerful demon, which could<em>not</em>be allowed to return to the world.  I stand up again, aching with fatigue and over-strained muscles, and thanking the heavens for the enchanted spear I wielded.  Thirty warriors had accompanied me to attempt the retrieval, all those that could be spared from protecting the wounded.  We had lost ten to ambushes, and I knew that at least six more had fallen as we approached the hidden temple.  The sheer<em>existence</em>of such a place was horrifying, yet knowing that the Orb had been taken within...I shiver again.  The others had told me to go on, and were holding the main gates against the rest of the cultists.  I doubted they could hold it, but I had to make certain their sacrifice was worth it.  Iomedae would protect them, now I had to do my part.  I push open the doorway, and then gasp in shock.<br/><br/>The room wasn't that huge, maybe forty feet across at the most.  But the hexagonal room was incredibly finely crafted, of black, unholy stone.  Pillars around the room had carvings of fell symbols and beasts.  The walls were  carved with images of demons of the ancient past.  Built into the floor was a silver pentagram, obviously part of a massive ritual.  And of course, in the center of the room was a large stone altar, with bloodstains across it and the manacles built into it.  They were currently unlocked, but on the altar, unconscious, was Deidre.  A fellow acolyte, and quite faithful at that, no one had known where she had gone during the assault.  My blood chilled as I realized that she had been kidnapped, and my naked friend was laying on the altar, a tiny amount of blood trickling from her womb.  Had she been raped?  Regardless, the distraction drew my gaze from the seven female cultists surrounding her for a moment, doing...<em>something</em>.  After a long, horrified moment, I tear my gaze from Deidre and glare at the cultists furiously, all of them wearing long robes and using daggers, not the best garb for combat.  My voice rings out, somewhat tired but still filled with my anger. "Iomedae cleanse the darkness!  In her name!"<br/><br/>And with that I charge in close as the cultists scatter in shock, intent on protecting my friend.  There was no way I would let them use her in their evil rituals!