"O Everlight, may you shine on Aspex Ibarra, and show him the error of his ways, before they are shown to him. May you drain his heart of hatred and fill it with hope. May you stand between him and his victims, and keep him from victimizing himself more. Amen."

Holy Sarenrae,

I know that You command us to forgive our enemies and help them seek redemption and only set them on fire if they try to release Rovagug. I am not sure that I can manage that but I am trying.

On the third someone burned down my shop. I don't know who it was. I don't know if they were going for me specifically but I think they probably were, neither of the buildings on either side was as badly damaged. By the grace of the righteous gods my family and I were not in our room above it and escaped unharmed, but I think that was pure luck.

Every time I think about it I start to be angry at them, both for what happened and what could have happened, and I keep wishing that I knew who it was so that I could smash up their house too, or that the Watch will catch them and burn them to death, and I think that probably means I am not doing a good job of forgiving them. Probably I should be trying harder but I don't really know how.

...That's probably not good enough, is it.

Uh. I don't think I can stop being mad at them but if the Watch does catch them please help them to choose the Final Blade so that they don't go to Hell or the Abyss. If the Watch doesn't catch them please... tell them not to burn down other people's shops? And probably don't tell me who they are. If you have a way to help me be less angry at them all the time I don't think I actually want to be this angry but that's a prayer for me not a prayer for them.

"Hey Sarenrae, I heard that some people were trying to release Rovagug. The asshole my wife is fucking, definitely a Rovagug cultist. His name's Josep Pau and he lives at Ragathiel and Heaven."

I know that it is not exactly the intention of this ritual to pray for men with whom we had no quarrel in life, but I can think of few gods more suited to what I am asking for. My older brother was condemned to Hell several decades ago, shortly after my own death. While I lived, he was a virtuous and honorable man, and though I know there is little to be gained from baseless speculation as to Pharasma's judgments it was rather shocking to me to learn what had become of him.

I expect there is little You can do for someone in his position, and I will not ask You to extend Your hand to prevent his suffering when You surely would have done so were it possible, but if there is anything at all that remains of the virtues I once admired in him, please help him to preserve it. If someday the armies of Heaven defeat Hell, and it is within Your power, please help to ensure there is someone left to save. I do not know if the day will ever come when Cerdanya is so much less desperate that it could possibly be conscionable to have him restored to life, but if that day may come, guide me in cultivating the wisdom, fortitude, and compassion that I will need.

Dear Sarenrae or to whom it may concern, I'd like to pray for the Queen, the Archmages, and all her heirs and ministers and nobles, and all who work for her willingly, that they all die quiet and quick natural deaths.

“For my enemies, Sarenrae, not naming any names but you know who I’m talking about. I don’t know if there’s a cure for being a sad little Galtan, but if anyone can heal them of it, it’d be the goddess of healing. Maybe try some dewormer, that’s my guess for why they can’t handle a fight or execution. Some kind of stomach worm from all the snails they eat. Give them long lives, keep them in good health, so they can see me winning over and over.”

”A special request for the enemies who sacked my city. There’s a lot of Galtan soldier boys who took some liberties while being greeted as liberators. Send them a remove disease spell or two, they certainly need it. Heal any of them who got wounded, too, so they have no excuse to skip being conscripted into that river kingdom war.”

”One last enemy, there’s this kobold, broke into my house and tried to kill me. I’m teaching it to read and write, since my last notes taker ran off to Andoran as soon as it got free. So keep the kobold in good health.”

“Not sure what the point is praying for more enemies. I already have enemies, just not allowed to fight them. So, uh, send me enemies that count as outlaws or monsters. Not too picky about the specifics, a cool fight is a cool fight.”

This seems like her kind of prayer, all right. She buys one of the expensive candles and lights it.

May all household tyrants, the ones I know of and the ones I haven't met yet, see in horror the harm they've done, and may they spend the rest of their lives recanting publicly, she says. And may spite grant me the strength to keep going through it all.

She watches the candle burn steadily, and has to suppress a laugh that's too close to a sob.

Oh, also, can You guide the Convention to keep abortion and infanticide legal, please? I won't stop either way but I'm worried they'll decide it's Good to force women to birth and keep children they hate and that's so much worse for everyone involved than a quick clean end. I think You know that already because Your priest said you hate all kinds of Evil and that certainly counts as one of the worst.

Lisandro lights an expensive candle for “the lich Eriape, princess of the badgers” and a smaller one for “any of her surviving minions”. It’ll probably be a while until Sarenrae gets to try to claim whatever’s left of their souls, but this one did seem unusually repairable for a lich. So it’s worth a try.

Naturally he will drop by regularly to audibly pray for the healing of the lady Jilia and her swift recovery from her present indisposition. 

Lisandro recognizes that voice from the floor, and scowls. 

Hm, when an Anarchic and Good rebel leader figure publicly calls out a political opponent, that is a plausibly deniable signal to wizards of similar temperament, to get that guy. Lisandro isn’t sure what sorts of mischief a wizard can get away with inflicting before running into legal trouble, the laws here are too new. Maybe a handful of his most competent servants are vulnerable to being hired away, that’s usually legal. 

The irony of contemplating this in a temple to forgiveness is not lost on him. So he probably shouldn’t actually go through with it… unless…

She drifts nearby. "Welcome to the temple of Sarenrae," she says to Lisandro.

“[Praise the Sun].” His Kelesh is a bit rusty, but he can pronounce a traditional Sarenrite greeting fairly well, before switching back to Taldene. “I didn’t expect to see the Dawnflower’s temple this far northwest of her usual territory.”

She smiles at him. "All people feel the warmth of the sun on their skins. Cheliax needs it now more than ever."

“Certainly. I favor starlight, myself. But here and now, it seems help from anywhere is… mostly welcome.”

He's simply curious; perhaps a fan of mischief, but she's not going to tell.

She'll nod to his comment. "Speaking of help, will you fold linens with me? We are still recovering from last week, and yesterday's ceremony, and many of the basic tasks to keep the church's hospital running are falling behind."

She is ostentatiously dressed, as befits a cleric of her circles, gold brocade along the edge of her shawl and thick golden jewelry adorned with massive sapphires, and Lisandro is dressed in high wizard style. But it is often important to remind the wealthy that they can contribute in ways beyond money, and that they are appreciated for something besides it. No one wants to be seen as a walking bag of gold.

Is this some kind of sales tactic where the first ask is tiny and eventually it leads to ‘can you teleport a team to Ustalav tomorrow morning’ because that has happened to Lisandro before. He is watching out. (Though he will still help, and probably could be talked into Ustalav if they actually need that.)

“Last week was certainly eventful.” He says, like someone who did at least a few dramatic rescues during the riots.” As for the linens, I’ll get right to it.”

Lisandro will never be too proud of a wizard to do some laundry work. He remembers where he came from, how he kept food on his table between adventures. He is too proud of a wizard to do mediocre laundry work. So he works with an unseen servant in addition to his own hands, and throws in a few prestidigitations. By the time he’s done, everything is crisply folded and smells slightly of lavender.

Ugh, the count is back.

"Your Lordship, our healing facilities are second to one in the city, but the afflicted must come themselves for our magic to have any effect. Are you interested in buying a potion you could convey to her, or sponsoring a house call?"

"I don't think a channel would do it, unfortunately. A powerful spell like a Heal would, can you cast them?"

"That is beyond my abilities, but I could Send for a cleric of sufficient strength or read a scroll, if the need is great enough. I would recommend going through the Archhealer's office instead."

"Thank you, ma'am. I have always been taught to seek healing both through prayer and through more direct means. Will you join me in prayer?"

"We do things a bit differently than in Taldor," she says. "Set your own heart right first, before you turn to the hearts of others, so that you can meet them with a spirit of temperance and patience. I would happily pray with you for your strength in facing the challenges other pose you."

"No, thank you; I would not be pleased to come here with prayers for another and pray for myself instead, though it explains much that such is the Qadiran custom." 

"May your prayers please the Healing Flame and move her to action," she says serenely, and turns away, taking her own advice and praying for her own patience.

He'll return to his prayers for the Archduchess's recovery.