Session 41: The Shrine of Ioclithis
[Dec 19th, 2023] – Rarehunt 29th, 713 G.R.
In the city of Milania, Winter begins to descend towards Spring and the Moonlit Blades continue their operations. Draco and Ernault are able to secure much coveted tickets to the premiere showing of “the General’s Daughter” at the Meragia Theatre, where the Emperor himself will be in attendance, along with perhaps every senator and prominent noble family. Draco also secures a contract for the Moonlit Blades to supply secretive security for the event.
Isolde begins to frantically search the city for any signs of Sigfried, but she cannot find anything. Meanwhile, Ferelin continues to study the occult and learn about the Cult of Sethma. He has a horrible dream that shows the city descending into chaos as plague and pestilence overtakes it. He then notices that their is a shrine dedicated to the dragon-god Ioclithis, a precursor to Sethma. He suggests they investigate the shrine, believing that the Cult of Sethma may be operating from there.
The Moonlit Blades learn that Byron had fallen in battle in his homeland as Jaquin arrives to present his axe to Draco and the others. These new arrivals decide to stay and join up, and the others welcome a number of new members to the crew.
The first is Jaquin Thévenet, a revolutionary and close friend of Byron. He seems eager to disrupt the status quo, but otherwise is respectful towards Byron’s friends. He grew up poor and desperate and has learn to be a sneakthief. He wants to get his bearings in this new city.
Next, is Raoul Dufour. He is a wise, if not wily priest of Hermaen, though he oddly does not seem to care much for the lawful order that his deity expects. However, he seems wise in the ways of religion and he is eager for coin and influential connections.
Next, is Dietrich Gunderson, an Angmarian former criminal who is trying to get his life back together. He has a keen and observant mind that sees beyond the surface of things. He currently seems somewhat aimless and wants to make a real connection to people.
Next, is Felix Didier, another Verlander and friend of Byron. He seems overly gruff and unnecessarily intimidating, as if he is always threatening violence. His harsh outlook and previous stint as a bandit makes him particularly dangerous.
Last, is an elven archer named Rael who ran into the others on his way towards Milania. He had heard stories of an alchemist through Byron’s friends and wants to eagerly meet this Silatoris. He hopes if he proves trustworthy to his new friends that they will help him find a cure for his ill parents back in Highwood Forest. The learned Aulathunmar seems oddly practiced in arcane magic, blending magic into his arrows.
The Moonlit Blades split into their assignments. Draco, Ernault, Isolde, Castor, Felix, Dietrich, and Lars prepare for the Emperor’s upcoming show. Ferelin, Raoul, Zhorn, Afaen, Scalanis, and Rael decide to investigate the shrine of Ioclithis. While Sila, Kit, and Jaquin decide to research more information about Hilnan Cainorin and his background.
The last group learns that the Cainorins go back into antiquity, perhaps even before the Noman Empire. However, the latest family patriarch, Hilnan, became a recluse about 20 years ago and has been desperately hunting down Stelmar artifacts. Since the void star appeared, he has been buying as many as he can, especially from the Ariana Consortium. When the Historical Society refused to sell the artifact key to him, it and the assistant working with it disappeared. Professor Angalarie suspects he is involved somehow. Hilnan has a famous Spring party where he invites the latest authors, artists, and other celebrities. The Professor suggests the heroes try to gain an invite somehow to investigate his mansion for her missing assistant and the missing artifact.
The second group, led by Zhorn, head to the Shrine of Ioclithis. The small shrine is somewhat suspect as Raoul notices that one of the sacred candles is missing, suggesting a invitation of disease rather than its prevention. The odd behavior of the caretakers combined with the strange depictions in the stained glass windows suggest it is not a mere shrine to ward off disease. The group decide to return later that night, where Raoul is able to suggest he is a member of the Sethma cult. However, this eventually falls apart and the heroes are forced to kill the cultists. They then descend into a secret stairwell into a place depicting the signs of a Sethma cult known as the Putrid Hand.
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Session 42: The Putrid Hand
[Jan 2nd, 2024] – Rarehunt 30th, 713 G.R.
The heroes finish off the rest of the cultists in the dining area. They then begin to search the vicinity, finding the cultists have a flair for poisons. As they explore deeper, however, they find themselves assaulted by more cultists, this time led by a woman covered in spikes and chains who seems to revel in pain and suffering.
The heroes are forced to pull back as the cultists blast them with dark magic. Afaen goes down, but Raoul is able to revive him. The others concentrate on the painbringer as Zhorn and Scalanis cut at the plaguelord cultists. Eventually the heroes are able to take down the woman and the remaining cultists, but not without suffering some injuries.
Raoul spends his time treating the injuries as the others explore the immediate area. They find more poisons and drugs in the quarters of the painbringer. They then decide to head to the training room where they find even more poisons and evidence of stealth and assassin training. The next chamber appears to be a ritualistic altar room with a large stone altar covered in blood. They realize the cultists have been kidnapping people and intentionally infecting them with diseases before releasing them back into the city under the effects of various drugs.
They then find a small prison chamber after Rael successfully bypasses a trap. Ferelin then discovers a secret compartment under the altar where he finds a few treasures and a strange magical dagger dripping with poison. They then discover a hall heading to another ornate door, but decide to ignore it for now.
The heroes head down the eastern hall, but are assaulted by a strange mental affliction that brings illusions of painful past memories. This causes Rael to rush forward to flee the visions and the others follow. Zhorn begins calling out to Zlatan as he watches the young man die again before him. This commotion attracts more cultist guards and a battle breaks out. The heroes find themselves cornered and caught between the guards who close in on them.
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Session 43: The Eminent Chaos
[Jan 9th, 2024] – Rarehunt 31st, 713 G.R.
The heroes desperately fight back against the lowly thugs of the sinister cult. They eventually defeat them and spend some time to patch their wounds. They then begin to explore the cultist lair. Scalanis finds an active message-board where a note indicates the thugs should “procure their legionnaire uniforms as soon as possible”. Ferelin and Raoul find the magical password through the haunted corridor. The heroes decide to pull back to the kitchen and rest for about 40 min, at the end of that time they think they hear a door open in the distance.
They find a secret door leading into the sewers, but decide not to pursue any fleeing cultists. They then explore the library area, where Zhorn discovers a secret door and Rael finds a note referring to a Abyssian plant called shadowthorn that the cultists have acquired. The heroes then explore an opulent bedroom, likely belonging to the head-priestess, someone called Arsinia Plaguebringer. Scalanis finds a series of letters hidden under her bed, it seems she was corresponding with someone else frequently. No one can understand the letters, however, as they appear to be using some sort of code. However, Ferelin’s name is mentioned on one of the yellowed parchments.
The heroes discover the ritual room Rael saw previously. Ferelin explores the magical dais, but is infected with a disease. Rael and Raoul determine that the altar has a profane aura to aid the Sethma cultists. Afaen and Scalanis explore a nearby office finding lit candles, suggesting someone fled from here recently. They also find a note:
“…we won’t have help this time. The wizard woman has seemingly disappeared with her artifact. We are on our own this time. Sethma will bless us as pestilence falls upon the city…”
Ferelin then finds a few magical scrolls. The heroes pass through a guard room, where Scalanis finds a map showing various wateyways in the region. Zhorn notes that the Dominfectum Reservoir might be their next target for poisoning. The heroes then find a blood-splattered prison and torture chamber where they find a key that may belong to the the reservoir entrance gate. They then find a corpse that might belong to a former aquaduct worker.
The heroes then explore the bedchambers, where Scalanis finds a journal and Ferelin finds an ancient ritual book. The ritual is a powerful blight that uses shadowthorn to cause mutations in the population. They are able to decipher the simple cypher of the journal and learn that cultists are performing this profane ritual tonight.
The heroes try to rush out of the cultist’s lair, but are accosted by two Painbringer priestess. A deadly battle is fought, with Zhorn, Scalanis, and Afaen all going down, but they manage to capture one of the priestesses as the other flees. Rael confirms from the priestess that they are indeed about to perform the ritual as they speak.
The heroes patch themselves up well enough to leave and rush towards the city to find the other Moonlit Blades and head over to the reservoir to stop the profane ritual.
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Session 44: Profane Rituals over Water
[Jan 16th, 2024] – Rarehunt 31st, 713 G.R.
The heroes led by Zhorn return to the office of the Moonlit Blades, finding everyone absent, since it is nearly 2 am. They then head over to the Wise Chestnut Inn next door where they find Draco and Ernault having a final night cap after a long night of carousing with the nobles of the Emperor’s court. Draco is quite inebreited, but Ernault is of sound mind. Raoul, Zhorn, and Afaen decide to stay behind with Draco, being too injured to help stop the cultists.
Sila gathers everyone he can, including Castor, Jaquin, Kit, Scalanis, Ernault, Dietrich, Felix, Isolde, and Rael. The ten of them march quickly through the streets of Milania to the gates of the Dominfectum Reservoir. There they find numerous legionaire soldiers standing guard, odd enough at that time of night. However, Dietrich points out a few obvious flaws with their uniforms, things that would never be tolerated among the legionarii.
calanis walks up to them wearing the tapestry of Sethma and call “Hail Sethma” to the men. This rouses them to attention, unsure how to react. Then one of the men recognizes Scalanis and shouts for an attack. The false legionnaires draw their swords and a fight breaks out. The heroes quickly dispatch the disguised cultists and Felix stays behind to hide the bodies in case anyone comes investigating the sounds.
The others rush through the gate, using the key they found in the cultist’s prison cell. They find numerous robed cultists performing the profane ritual they found in the ancient text. The dark magic seems to be hovering over the influx fountain of water pumped from the river into the reservoir. They rush along the sideway, fighting against the lowly cult thugs.
Rael and Sila try to blast at the cultists, but they eventually complete their ritual and whatever magic they unleashed, it is underway. The heroes push through cutting down the thugs and facing off against the deadly priests. Arsinia Plaguebringer leads the cultists, blasting at the heroes with a deadly cloud of blood that seems to kill Kit instantly. The others press on with Ernault and Scalanis getting past the priests trying to stop the ritual. Ernault is successful in slowing it down and Sila comes to help him.
However, Arsinia then blasts the heroes with a giant burst of dark magic that sends Sila, Ernault, Castor, Isolde, and Jaquin sprawling to the ground. Scalanis and Dietrich try to stop Arsinia as Rael supports from afar. Doubt grows as it seems unlikely they will stop Arsinia and stop the ritual from taking hold, releasing the Shadowthorn essence into the water. The entire city of Milania could then succumb to the mutagenic power of the abyssal essence.
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Session 45: Night at the Theatre
[Jan 23rd, 2024] – Rarehunt 31st, 713 G.R.
The battle with Arsinia looks dire, but the heroes gain a surge of confidence. First, Kit awakens and arises, having coughed out the remnants of the sanguine mist. Next, Felix arrives, having finished hiding the cultist bodies. Dietrich then is able to awaken Isolde and Sila to get the back on their feet, and Sila then revives Ernault. The healing tonic also revives both Castor and Jaquin. However, Jaquin flees with his injured leg and bruised body.
Ernault focuses on disrupting the evil ritual by blasting it with his cold elemental blasts. Dietrich realizes that Ernault’s holy devotion greatly enhances his power against this evil force. Scalanis continues to dart in and out, slicing at Arsinia, who tries to block attacks with a magical shield. This at least seems to keep Rael’s magical arrows from striking her. Just as Arsinia seems to be regaining power to strike her enemies down, Isolde shouts a prayer to Solarus, summons her courage, and slams Arsinia with an energy mace. Arsinia flies back into the wall behind her, felled by the blow.
The heroes are able to stop the ritual and the mutagenic power from releasing into the water. They return to the Moonlit Blades HQ to update Draco and the others on their success. Draco contacts Sergeant Quintis and shares their evidence they collected from the shrine and the legionnari begin an investigation into the matter.
A few days go by as many of the heroes recover from their injuries and diseases. Rael speaks with Sila about the disease afflicting his parents. Sila identifies the disease as a common Elven wasting disease, treatable with the right treatment. Sila prepares a treatment concoction for Rael to bring home, but the elf promises to return now that he has had a taste of adventure with the Moonlit Blades. Meanwhile, Isolde speaks with Ernault about her faith and decides to head to the Dawnlight Temple of Solarus to learn more about the sun goddess. Afaen says his farewells as he decides to return home to Kalavar and face justice for his crimes.
Sila and Raoul go over the tome of rituals from the Putrid Hand. Raoul tries to learn the ritual, but finds it too complex. Zhorn works with Anadine and Dodak to learn more about the Arcaneum of Beast-Study, believing this Elven site is linked to lycanthropy. Ferelin and Draco search for signs of Cauis Cilnius, looking at public and private records of his financial transactions. They learn that he recently paid for freight to be shipped from Milania to Ashara. Draco decides to arrange an infiltration of his estate again during the show at the theatre. In far off Aelgard, Aki fails to find the dragon on Hethroth’s Hond and decides to return home to Milania.
The night of the theatre event arrives, with Draco and Ernault attending with Castor, Isolde, Dietrich, Felix, and Lars serving as hidden guards. They dress up as best they can, trying to hide weapons and armor with their garb. They arrive in the late afternoon where drinks and snacks are served. Before the show, the heroes meet with two individuals who seem to be inquiring about services with the Moonlit Blades.
The first is Kaeso Asinius, the last in line to a well-connected noble family. He seems haunted by something and only suggests that he has a job that requires extreme discretion and suggests that people may get hurt if the Moonlit Blades do not act.
Draco then meets a nervous middle-aged woman, named Caetronia Bruscia. She eventually tells him that she needs to escape to Ashara as soon as possible, as she owes significant debts to the Emerald Teeth, a crime syndicate that has been growing in power in Milania since the fall of the Braided Hoods. Draco offers her protection after the show until they can arrange protected travel to Ashara.
Finally, as night falls the evenings festivities begin. Draco and Ernault take their seats, where they briefly meet with Draco’s grand-father, Marcus. The emperor and his retinue then arrive just before the show begins. The play last three hours, with the finally being a wedding ceremony where the audience is treated as if they are attending the wedding. Actors shuffle through the audience, passing out flowers and tassels for the wedding scene. One actor stops in front of the emperor, throws off their gown, revealing a dark outfit as they then stab the emperor in the chest.
Chaos explodes at the auditorium as half the crowd cheers the wedding, whiel the other half is aghast at the assassination attempt. Draco and Ernault rush to help the Emperor, healing him with their divine blessings, but he seems to be poisoned and is getting worse. Moments later, numerous tears in space appear and numerous black winged creatures step out. Dietrich identifies them as Lúungo, creatures from the Plane of Time. The creatures seem to focus on the heroes and the emperor’s retinue.
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Session 46: Grand Regicide
[Jan 30th, 2024] – Hearthrest 2nd, 713 G.R.
The chaos around the auditorium grows as people up on the cafe balcony disappear towards the gates and the nobles and senators in the auditorium scramble up away from the grotesque Lúungo. Ernault and Draco are forced away from the Emperor by his palace guards, who finally arrive. They try to revive him with an antidote, but it doesn’t seem to be strong enough to nullify the poison.
Meanwhile, Castor, Draco, and Imperator Claudus frantically search the backstage storage and preparation areas. They find a stagehand that has been seemingly killed, but no sign of an exit for the assassin. Isolde, Dietrich, Felix, and Ernault desperately fight against the remaining Lúungo, now with the Palace Guards trying to help. However, they soon find the Emperor has gasped his last breath, coughing blood as his skin turns a pale green. Young Crown-Prince Evolon watches the whole grisly spectacle as the Lúungo attack him and Felix. Evolon is slashed across the face by one of the creatures, but Ernault rushes to his side to heal him. Felix is knocked out as Ernault and the palace guards take out the other Lúungo.
Elsewhere in the auditorium, Lars is slain by the Lúungo and his body thown down from on high to the auditorium floor. Likewise, another Lúungo slays Marcus Aureus, Draco’s grandfather, sprawling his lifeless form onto the stage in a morbid mockery. Isolde and Dietrich desperately fight two Lúungo, but Dietrich is knocked out after succumbing to a temporal malaise, his body and mind split between multiple timestreams. Isolde manages to fell the foul creature, but finds herself attacked by another Lúungo.
Draco returns to the auditorium to find Ernault desperately trying to stop the last Lúungo and they manage to slay it together. With the battle seemingly at an end, the Imperator has the gates closed and held as they investigate what happened, he asks to Moonlit Blades to help him in this task. Draco, however, is quite consumed with his grandfather’s death. But Dietrich and the others proceed with a thorough investigation of the area.
Ernault recalls seeing an elven nobleman make eye contact with him just before he reached the Emperor. He checks with the ticket office and confirms that the nobleman was in fact Hilnan Cainorin, likely visiting from Ashara.
Draco confers with the Royal Coroner that the Emperor was infected with wyvern poison, an extremely rare and expensive toxin. Dietrich checks out the body of the dead stagehand and learns that he was slashed with a unique serrated blade and was then kicked in the back, leaving a faint footprint. Upon further inspection, the footprint had a bit of a strange goo on it. Dietrich collected it for further analysis. Felix speaks with young Evolon, thanking him for helping him find his courage. Meanwhile, Castor and Draco discover a secret entrance in the storage room that leads to a small crawl tunnel that has been intentionally collapsed. They believe the tunnel connects to the sewers.
After the Moonlit Blades share their evidence, the Imperator opens the gates for the remaining guests to leave, but declares the city of Milania to be closed and locked-down until they can solve this mystery. He hopes the assassin is still in town. He offers a 1000 silver bounty to find the killer. He thanks the heroes, especially Draco and Ernault for trying to save the Emperor. The heroes return to their office to discuss the situation.
Meanwhile, on the other side of town, out in the countryside, Scalanis, Sila, Kit, and Zhorn head to the estate of Cauis Cilnius. Rael joins them, deciding he will wait a day before heading out to the Highland Forest. They reach the manor and it looks much the same as before. They sneak over the wall and through the estate’s courtyard. Zhorn sends Timothy to spy through the windows, where he sees those Kalruan men, likely werewolves, hanging out in the house. The place seems more disheveled and many items appear to be missing from the shelves.
Zhorn and Rael sneak in through a front window, as the others sneak in through teh back door, following Scalanis. However, they are overheard and a fight breaks out, but at least the werewolves are caught off-guard. Zhorn and Rael try to push through from the south as Scalanis, Sila, and Kit try to defend themselves.
Then a mysterious stranger appears. He appears to be an elf, but he is covered in thick clothes and a mask hiding his face. His armor and crossbow are covered with strange gear-like contraptions and clearly homemade modifications to Stelmar artifacts combined with other strange inventions. It appears the stranger, named Ryo, was a momentary prisoner of the werewolves. The stranger joins the heroes in the fight.
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Session 47: Return to Werewolf Manor
[Feb 6th, 2024] – Hearthrest 2nd, 713 G.R.
Scalanis, Sila, Kit, Rael, and Zhorn find themselves in dire straits as the werewolf thugs in Cauis Cilnius’s manor lash out at them. The fight gets deadly, with Scalanis temporarily knocked out and the others forced to pull back to the courtyard. Soon all the heroes are running away from the werewolves, trying to take advantage of their bulky size and slow gait to put distance between them. Rael and Zhorn escape out the front, with Zhorn flinging himself over the wall.
Meanwhile, Ryo escapes entirely, heading over the wall and catching his breath in the nearby woods. Kit and Sila try their best to escape, eventually pulling to the northeast corner of the estate where they meet up with Rael. Zhorn leaps back over the wall to help them, finding two werewolves chase him on the other side. Scalanis awakens on the floor, alone, and heads upstairs momentarily until he finds another groggy werewolf. He rushes down the stairs and joins the others outside. The heroes make a final stand against the encroaching werewolves and manage to fell them.
After the fight, Ryo introduces himself and explains that he was captured by Cauis’s thugs during his journey to Astonia from Enaarvis. He came to study more of the Stelmar artifacts, excited to learn more about their power now that the void star has activated them. The heroes find that Ryo has incorporated much Stelmar magic-technology into his protective armor and specialized crossbow. Ryo explains that a horrible magical disaster nearly killed him some time ago, and now he relies on this technology to keep himself alive. He briefly shows his horribly scarred face.
The heroes look through the manor, finding only some purchase orders for a logistics company that has seemingly moved much of Cauis’s personal items to Ashara, Eshlien. It seems the wizard has vacated his manor house for the time being. The heroes try to return to Milania, but they find the city oddly locked down. Zhorn sends a letter with Timothy to update Draco on their status.
Meanwhile, back in Milania. Dietrich leads an investigation on Draco’s behalf to explore the sewers to try and find a connection to the tunnel in the theatre. However, the group gets horribly lost and don’t seem to find a connection there. They expect to try again some other time. They decide to get some rest for the night. The next morning, Ernault and Draco head to the Gilded Crown Inn where they have learned that Hilnan Cainorin is staying. They manage to meet with him for brunch. They find he is a charming and curious elf, quite eager to invite them to his famous Spring party at his manor in Ashara at the 1st of Rainfall.
Dietrich, Castor, Felix, and Raoul continue their investigations into the murder. Dietrich confirms the substance he found on the stagehand’s back was indeed sewage. Castor brings them to a friend from the blacksmithing guild to discuss the strange weapon marks. The man confirms that such marks would have to be created by a southern curved blade, his guess would be a serrated sabre, and only the Crimson Blades are known to use such weapons regularly.
The group then heads to meet with a black-market poison dealer, a Selicean woman named Kuta Jaiteh. She admits she sold wyvern poison to a cloaked man over a week ago. He had a serrated blade and smelled horribly, again linking the sewers to the murder. Raoul tries to get the woman arrested, but the guards seem less than enthused to do so.
The heroes regroup at the Moonlit Blades office trying to figure out what to do next.
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Session 48: To Catch a Murderer
[Feb 13th, 2024] – Hearthrest 3rd, 713 G.R.
With all the evidence gathered by Dietrich and the others, they realize the assassins are likely holed up somewhere down in the sewers. They decide to try another foray into the depths to find this assassin. Draco is quite preoccupied with everything going on with the death of his grandfather. He asks Castor to lead a team down into the sewers. Dietrich, Felix, Isolde, Raoul, and Ernault join him.
They head down into the wet, smelly tunnels. This time, Dietrich is able to find his way through the labyrinthine corridors to where the collapsed tunnel in the theatre likely headed to the sewers. They find evidence of a small camp with items suggesting the assassin had been there, including a curved whetstone for a curved blade and the discarded bottle of wyvern poison.
Isolde finds some tracks, faint footprints of sewage on the floor. Dietrich and the others follow them deeper into the sewers. They seem to cross to the far side of town, somewhere under Blackfish they believe. They then find a large, ruined cistern chamber with a lone figure standing in the torchlight.
The figure throws off his cloak and he reveals himself as a Crimson Blade assassin. He refuses to speak about his contract and the heroes charge in towards him. However, out of the darkness, three more Crimson Blade assailants strike from the shadows. The main assassin disappears in globe of impenetrable darkness.
A battle ensues and the heroes find themselves surrounded by the dark rogues. Ernault and Raoul try to hold the south line as Isolde and Felix do the same for the other side. Raoul is able to dispel the darkness, but the assassin has diseappeared into the shadows. When he reappears, he strikes quickly, infecting the heroes with his poisoned blade. Raoul nearly succombs to the poison, but is barely able to pull through. Ernauly shrugs off the sleep poison that affects him.
Eventually, the heroes prevail over the rogues, and they knock one of them out unconscious. The main assassin, knowing he’s lost, flicks his blade to Felix’s throat and asks for an exchange. He offers vital information in exchange for his life. Castor agrees and the assassin explains that a strange older woman with magical skill came to the Bloodmasters of the Crimson Blades and requested the Emperor’s death. Normally, the Crimson Blades never perform politically-destabilizing regicides, but they made an exception. The assassin doesn’t know why, but suggests it must have been something of considerable value to them. The assassin then disappears into the darkness.
The heroes try to interrogate the living rogue, but she doesn’t provide any information. They knock her back out and carry the three bodies of the assassins back to the Moonlit Blades headquarters to grab the others. They all head over to the Legionarii Castle, a crowd of onlookers begins to follow them. They present the assassins to Imperator Claudus. He immediately bestows on them their bounty and opens the city again for travel.
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