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[Rebel Script ⍺] Midnight Hunt - The Hand of Oblivion

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Posts

  • Endless_SerpentsEndless_Serpents Registered User regular
    Emmett

    You must get to the bottom of this. Your allies have slunk off for a moment. An ideal time to face the horrors without them.


    Emmett’s eyes only.

    Roll 1 + Observant.
    Should you be successful, you come to your senses.
    Anything less, dealer’s choice...

    You are grotesque. Act accordingly.

  • mrpakumrpaku Registered User regular
    Not gonna lie, kind of hope the shit hits the proverbial fan here!

  • AustinP0027AustinP0027 Registered User regular
    Leo is frozen in place, unsure how to react, when he feels his collar tugged away. His legs respond without him really thinking about it, grateful to Lynch for making a decision in the moment that he hadn't been able to react to quickly enough to make. Who knows what might have happened if he hadn't slunk back.

    He looks her in the face as well and just nods, understanding fully.

  • fadingathedgesfadingathedges Registered User regular
    edited February 2021
    Ok - so 2d6 total?

    Edit - wait, Observant doesn't add a die, so I have just the 5.


    Geth roll 2d6

    2d6 8 [2d6=5, 3]

    fadingathedges on
  • Endless_SerpentsEndless_Serpents Registered User regular
    Emmett

    Your instincts tell you time is of the essence! You sprint to the boat club and kick the door in.

    You’re met with a reception room, now black with rising damp. The chairs are coated in dust, wet from droplets falling from condensation on the ceiling. The air is thick, smells of rotting wood.

    Against your better judgement, you ring the desk bell once. A strange smile on your face in the darkness.

    Stealth is not an option for you.

    You blink. Your senses return to you.

    293u80bfs4hb.png

  • AustinP0027AustinP0027 Registered User regular
    Without warning, Emmett sprints forward to the Boat Club and kicks in the door. Leo is stunned for a moment, they had been moving stealthily on purpose, and he was pretty sure he heard a bell from inside.

    Looking at Lynch, his eyes widen and he starts to quickly sneak forward. As he gets closer to the door, he points to Lynch, then points to his eyes, then points to the door. Someone needed to cover Emmett, but Leo had other plans. He pointed to himself, then pointed towards the side of the building, to indicate he was going to look around.

    Then, with an assumption she understood him, he starts sneaking around the side of the building closest to the river, hoping to find another vantage point indoors given Emmett might have just barreled into a hornet's nest.

    I want to carefully walk around the side closest to the river. What do I see? Are there windows? Anything by the river that indicates a path like we saw on the other side?

  • Endless_SerpentsEndless_Serpents Registered User regular
    edited February 2021
    Leo

    bvu1bdr9dpyo.jpeg

    By the shore, through overgrown weeds and spiky brambles, you see two floating pontoons (floating jetty, built in this case from wooden barrels covered in planks) connected to a rotting pier.

    There’s a single boat still moored between the pontoons, held by slack, fraying lines.

    A little shack has been built on the pier, open to the elements. Beside it is a door leading into the club. There’s one long and tall window next to the door.

    What you don’t see, are any signs of crushed reeds.

    What do you do?

    Endless_Serpents on
  • AustinP0027AustinP0027 Registered User regular
    Leo creeps carefully to the open shack, pausing for a moment to listen before creeping towards the door. He didn't know the layout of this place, so he wasn't sure if the other side of this door was something Emmett could see or not, but he also knew that Emmett had made a good deal of noise so if there was anything in there it was probably look towards where Emmett had come in.

    With that in mind, but still knowing what they were investigating, Leopold carefully twists the door handle and try pull the door open slightly.

    Not pulling it open all the way, basically enough of a crack to peek through and that's all. If it doesn't open easily when he pulls, he won't try to open it (e.g. if it's stuck, he'll leave it be)

  • Endless_SerpentsEndless_Serpents Registered User regular
    Leo

    You hear movement. Nothing much, might have been a table being pushed.

    Through the window, you see into what might be the main hall of the club. It’s too dark to make out the details, but there is a large painting on the opposite wall. You’re surprised it hasn’t been stolen. Shapes, long and lithe, scuttle under things and around furniture. You don’t get a good look before they hide, and you’re certain one left this room for elsewhere—not to the room Emmett entered into, a different one.

    The door is locked, but it’s old, pre-industrial. It could be picked, though that’s quite the challenge.

    nb9obv2cme6m.png


  • AustinP0027AustinP0027 Registered User regular
    The door's locked, but the scurry of movement inside tells Leo everything he needs to know about leaving the door alone. He doesn't trust himself to pick the lock, and even if he did, what would he do alone if he opened the door to something on the other side. No, as much as he tried to put on a brave face when with others, by himself he was much more practical. That was probably something he should work on, as he had almost walked face first into something back there that Lynch had pulled him out of, only because he wants to prove to the rest of them that he can carry his own weight. He had been turned away enough times from fighting in the war that when he was able to start fighting Nightmares, he jumped in with both feet. Still, he had to admit to himself that he pushed the edge much more when he was around others than when he was by himself.

    Moving away from the door, he decides to avoid the window as well. He might be able to scope out the room, but he wasn't getting in this door anyways so he should go back to the others. Before I do... He wanders over to the boat nearby, taking a moment to inspect it. It might be a means of escape if they needed it, or maybe there was a clue here as to what's going on around this place.

  • mrpakumrpaku Registered User regular
    One of the “Professionals” they’d decided to pitch their lot in with tonight had started to go straight daft. A bell rang out from inside the Boat House, and the hairs on the back of Lynch’s neck started to rise up. She snarls to herself, “…why we don’t work with strangers,” recalling a conversation from but a few hours ago that she now felt vindicated on.

    Leopold, taking the initiative, squats and moves forward, turning to silently motion for her to watch for Emmett while he scouted the place. Lynch felt her irritation rise…but before she could make a countersign to tell him to hold back, the young man was gone around the riverside corner, quietly stalking along the side of the building…

    *Cursing* silently, Lynch pulls her pistol back out again and moves towards the broken door, leaning against it. Peering over the side, she sees Emmett standing at the bell…her eyes move across the counter…take in the door behind it…and then the chairs against the North side of the wall. Sweat subtly building on her brow, Lynch clutches the Pistol, waiting to see what *awful* thing might emerge to greet Emmet’s service bell…


    Lynch will crouch behind the door with her Pistol held hidden inside her sleeve jacket, providing cover for Emmet as she awaits what the bell has summoned. Should something come out and attempt to attack him, she’ll try to shoot it. Should *weirdness* occur and it seems like Emmett isn’t in full control of the situation, she will attempt to intervene non-violently to ensure his safety

  • Endless_SerpentsEndless_Serpents Registered User regular
    Leo

    The boat has an outboard engine. You pull a line with a handle to start it up. It’s hooked up to a fuel drum, you can see it’s still half full. Got enough room for five or so people if you had to, but they’d be crammed in. It’s full of rain water, but still afloat, so that’s something. No clues, unless hasn’t been cared for is a worthwhile clue.

    Getting that engine started will be a challenge for later, perhaps.

    Lynch

    It bursts through a door and into the reception! It’s dragging an oar through the dark!

    This is a challenge. Take the shot or Emmett won’t have time to react!

    “It’s too much!”, it hisses, “Don’t disturb it! My hidey hole! Shh! Shhh! Too big, it comes! I’ve seen!”

    This might have been a stealth kill had things gone differently... but now it’s real combat!
    It’s coming for Emmett!

    b4c7ra1yddl1.jpeg

  • mrpakumrpaku Registered User regular
    edited February 2021
    Her heart begins to beat rapidly and threatens to overwhelm, just like the first time. She swallows and girds herself once more as she always has...steady on, same as *any* man who wanted your head...aim for the eyes, and pray to God... suddenly *SLAMMING* the door aside, splitting the silence of the night, Lynch stands, and with the same motion, fires upon the hideous fiend...

    1 die for the Challenge, 1 Situational die for Surprising the Beast

    Geth roll 2d6 Shot in the Dark

    Shot in the Dark:
    2d6 4 [2d6=3, 1]

    mrpaku on
  • Endless_SerpentsEndless_Serpents Registered User regular
    edited February 2021
    Lynch & Emmett

    The nightmare drops, then leaps and spins, gripping the ceiling. It rushes Lynch down and batters her out of the club with one sweep of the oar. Without turning it jumps backwards and drops, putting Emmett into a stranglehold, its weight pressed down on him!

    “No! no no! This nightmare! No moon! No stars! Away, get away! Shh!”, it chatters, “I must hide!”

    Lynch, take the condition deafened. Your hearing is going to fail you for awhile, and deny you any dice bonuses related to listening and keeping balance. Mark a segment on a condition clock. If it fills, you’ll have a permanent debility. It can be healed with rest, though a doctor would help.

    Emmett! What do you do?

    Endless_Serpents on
  • AustinP0027AustinP0027 Registered User regular
    Would I hear this to be able to come running? Assuming even if I could, I'd be a "round" away or whatever you'd call it

  • Endless_SerpentsEndless_Serpents Registered User regular
    Yes! There’s no turn order, but I’d judge you’ve only enough time to get to the doorway, not to Emmett. You could take Lynch’s pistol right out of her hands while she’s down... but you’d better be a good shot!

  • AustinP0027AustinP0027 Registered User regular
    Leopold hears a crash from inside, this one similar to the door crashing Emmett had caused, which is then immediately followed by a pistol shot. He snaps into action, pushing himself toward the front of the club with all the speed he can muster. He rounds the corner in time to see Lynch battered out the door, her shot apparently not striking true. He considers snapping the pistol out of her hands and attempting a shot himself, but he doesn't want to slow down his rush to the door.

    He reaches into the inner pocket of his long coat, pulling out a metallic looking revolver with a large round opening on the end. Reaching the doorway, he points it at the creature that is on top of Emmett, squeezes the trigger, and squints his eyes as the bright light explodes from the end of the flare gun traveling towards the beast.

    Another -1 to equipment to have a flare gun. Seemed a better idea than throwing a knife or grabbing Lynch's gun. Assuming a challenge roll is needed here.


    Geth, roll 1d6

    1d6 5 [1d6=5]

  • Endless_SerpentsEndless_Serpents Registered User regular
    Leo

    The reception is fiercely illuminated in red! It is now so bright in there everyone is struggling to see.

    The nightmare tumbles off Emmett, it’s arms bending backwards at three separate joints to swipe away the flare. It jumps across the reception, toppling a few chairs. It howls at Leo, swinging the oar in rage—it shatters against the rotten floor.

    “Shh! Shhh!”, it rages.

    You’ve uncovered a weakness of this nightmare! It fears light and fire!

  • Endless_SerpentsEndless_Serpents Registered User regular
    Just to show you behind the scenes a bit:

    This enemy has two countdown clocks.
    Poise [X][X][_]
    Escalation [X][X][_][_]

    Once it’s poise is filled, it can be killed. I fill a segment whenever you roll a 6 on a challenge against it, if you reveal a weakness, and when you then exploit it.
    Escalation builds until the enemy takes on a new form or changes it’s current way of acting. When it does, it empties its clocks. I fill a segment when you roll below a 6 on a challenge against it.

    In this way your enemy’s have more in common with the game Seriko than D&D. It’s about making an opening to get a killing blow in, rather than HP damage.

    Because successful strikes are more important than just wailing on it, there may be times you opt to take further risk or go too far in order to increase your chances for success. You wouldn’t want the fight to escalate if you think you’re close to filling its poise clock, and therefore can kill it.

  • fadingathedgesfadingathedges Registered User regular
    edited February 2021
    Emmett stands staring at the bell, hearing, only the echo of its ring as chaos erupts around him. He looks up as the flares lances by behind him, towards the Thing. The ringing grows louder in his mind. Emmett raises a shaking hand towards it, and the temperature in the room begins to drop. The ringing grows louder. A nest of icicles erupts from the floor, each the size of the rotted oars littering the room, each progressively faster until a rush of icy spines is pursuing the Nightmare. The ringing. It slips and turns, but the ice pursues. Blood trickles from Emmett's ears.

    Sorry I was out today!
    So 2 is not great. Maybe it is ok for now. Is it worth taking extra risk / going too far?



    Geth roll 1d6 for Shiver

    Shiver:
    1d6 2 [1d6=2]

    fadingathedges on
  • Endless_SerpentsEndless_Serpents Registered User regular
    Emmett

    2 is not okay! Your effect will be twisted against you, and further escalate the scene!
    I’d recommend you go too far, this allows you to reroll your dice. There will be collateral damage no matter your new result if you’ve gone too far, but at least you’ve a chance to succeed.

  • fadingathedgesfadingathedges Registered User regular
    The Thing steps back, but the ice slows the further it gets away from Emmett. He pushes harder.

    Geth roll 1d6 for Going Too Far

    Going Too Far:
    1d6 3 [1d6=3]

  • Endless_SerpentsEndless_Serpents Registered User regular
    edited February 2021
    Emmett

    You now have the condition frostbitten. Add it to a condition clock on your character sheet. Should it be filled, you’ll be permanently scarred by the cold. For now it has no mechanical effect on you.

    The ice races across the reception, shattering floorboards in its wake! The nightmare jumps and clings to the wall to escape... then a huge shard of ice slices through its head, spraying blood outwards. It’s limbs droop, and it snaps off the shard a moment later. It falls down dead... you’re pretty sure...

    Then the ice keeps growing. Chairs are lifted by it, tiles flip off the roof and the guttering bursts as ice expands within it! The walls are now covered in shards of ice as long as swords.

    In the morning local authorities will check this place out, as it’s going to look like a bomb went off in here...

    This room is treacherous! Icicles are bursting out of the floor every few seconds, fast, sudden, and sharp!

    Any one of you, roll to leave this room. That’s either to get in deeper or make sure everyone is out. You have an extra die from assistance (since it’s for all of you), plus any aspects you can wrangle.

    Endless_Serpents on
  • fadingathedgesfadingathedges Registered User regular
    I'll let someone else try their dice - mine have . . . cooled off (sorry)/i]

  • AustinP0027AustinP0027 Registered User regular
    Leo watches as Emmett stands and...does something. Ice explodes across the room, taking down the nightmare but taking out the rest of the building too. It's too dangerous to stick around here, they need to leave, and Leopold isn't sure if Emmett can manage it.

    Snapping into action again, he speeds forward, grabbing the other man by the arm and quickly turning them both to the exit. Run to exit. Avoid ice spikes. Straightforward enough.


    Base die + assistance + Quick for making speedy exit

    Geth, roll 3d6 for Get to tha Choppa

    Get to tha Choppa:
    3d6 9 [3d6=3, 5, 1]

  • Endless_SerpentsEndless_Serpents Registered User regular
    Leo

    You narrowly avoid an icicle to the face, leaning back as you slide into the reception, kick off the desk and all but throw Emmett out with you!

    Success! With a compromise...

    While making your heroic rescue, you dropped your flare gun.

  • Endless_SerpentsEndless_Serpents Registered User regular
    edited February 2021
    Discuss what has just happened, as a group.

    Try to piece together something useful out of what that nightmare was yammering on about. It’s not common for them to speak, rare that which they say to be more than garbled mimicry.

    You’ve also found a boat in poor but serviceable condition. You could use it tonight, or perhaps even come back for it later.

    The midnight hours draw on...

    @AustinP0027

    Consider advancement:

    Once per episode, take an advancement when you share intimacy, your call, with another person. Intimacy includes showing weakness, revealing your past, expressing kinship, engaging in their planned action, or sharing something precious.

    Once per episode, take an advancement when you accept horror into your heart, say how to comes for you, and falter. Alter you looks with a bestial tell, and become grotesque.

    Endless_Serpents on
  • AustinP0027AustinP0027 Registered User regular
    Leo releases Emmett as they exit the door, pushing away from the now destroyed Boat Club. He stands in shock for a moment before snapping out of it and turning back to the others. “What just happened? That thing was....talking?”

    I’m good with claiming an advancement from risking myself to save Emmett

    I’ll be going deeper into Quick to grab the skill Agility.

  • fadingathedgesfadingathedges Registered User regular
    Thanks! Is Emmett still grotesque or is he ok now?

  • Endless_SerpentsEndless_Serpents Registered User regular
    edited February 2021
    You’re okay!

    Whenever that happens the three ways out of it are an ally physically saving you, talking you down or hunting you.

    Endless_Serpents on
  • Endless_SerpentsEndless_Serpents Registered User regular
    You hear a low howl far, far away. Perhaps you can remember a night with so many beasts lurking in the shadows, perhaps not.

    Emmett: Do you justify your actions? Have you ever seen a hunter do such Eldritch work?

    Lynch: What do you make of the nightmares speech? Have you begun to trust Leo?

    Leo: Do you consider taking the boat? Have you earned your place in the hunt?

    Tomos: Where should the hunt head next?

    The clouds have finally cleared. Only a few wisps still stretch across the sky. It’s a new moon, and the stars are bright.

  • mrpakumrpaku Registered User regular
    edited February 2021
    Lynch had been knocked from inside the Boat Club to land HARD along the cobbled walk. The wind was driven from her by the blow, and she thought so *this* is the end, then as she lay dazed.

    Through a dull haze of vision, shaking as her head rang like a bell, Lynch takes in the action that follows: the flare, the ice. Leopold running Emmet out, (mostly dragging him), as the older gentleman’s ear bled and his eyes looked far away.

    Lynch finally shakes off the concussion, and drags herself to her feet, very unsteadily. The ringing remains…it still sounds as though artillery had gone off just behind her head. Once, she has to catch herself against the wall of the club, her equilibrium shot. She tries to hide this from her new companions, but likely does a poor job of it: Lynch is not her catlike self at the moment. The woman tries to shake off her stupor, and digs a finger deeply into both ears while trying to BLOW the ringing from her head, to no avail.

    Noticing you all now staring, she attempts to speak in rapid-fire-fashion, in an attempt to take away attention from her clearly shaken behavior. She begins by addressing Leopold’s question: “It spoke…oh, it most certainly fucking spoke. I thought I’d imagined it, too, fer a moment, until you said something… The thing jabbered something ‘bout…darkness? Hiding in the darkness…trying to hide from something bigger that was coming? Maybe it meant…a Spirit? Or maybe even a bigger nightmare?”

    She turns now, face down with shame, and quietly thanks the young man Leopold. “Hey, nice work there, with the flare and getting yer’ man out…thing got the jump on me. Haven’t gotten got like that, in awhile.” Now she turns with a huff, and confronts Emmett the elder partner. “And I wouldn’t have gotten jumped if you hadn’t gone calling the damned thing, what the hell was that!? And the ice…what did you do in there??”

    mrpaku on
  • AustinP0027AustinP0027 Registered User regular
    Leo takes a deep breath, releasing it slowly to calm himself down a little from the adrenaline rush. "Something coming.... something bigger?"

    He trails off as Lynch years into Emmett, pulling out his journal and flipping through pages trying to find anything that would trigger any memories of something bigger that would scare other nightmares.

    Pinging @joshgotro in case they want to jump back in

  • Endless_SerpentsEndless_Serpents Registered User regular
    It’s probably just on account of it being the weekend. PbP is necessarily slow anyhow, it’s no biggie.

    Current Clues
    Leo’s notes reveal the foreign actor to be named Elijah Mille. Not wildly famous, they were a fine theatre performer and starred in the first radio drama, Who’s Who?.

    A large piece of shed skin. It was reptilian. It definitely came from a nightmare, one that was present at the crime scene. So that killed the actor?

    The weird script carved into the bridge made the dog-things circle it. Did they want to defend it, or were they entranced by it?

    The boat club lurker wanted to hide, so it said, but it couldn’t halt its urge to attack. It must have seen the murder across the other side of the river! Any nightmare that shares its general form will be weak to fire and bright light!

    Something defined as big in nightmare terms is coming to the city, or may even already be here!

    A troubling thought...
    Does the bullet at the crime scene mean the actor shot at the nightmare? But that would mean they were a hunter, right? Someone able to exist during the midnight hours. If not them, who?

  • fadingathedgesfadingathedges Registered User regular
    edited February 2021
    The ringing faded. Mostly. "Th-thank you." Emmett still shivered. "I don't know what that was. Something about that writing, then the bell. There are greater risks around us, I fear, than death." He took a deep breath and steadied himself. "Thank you. Give me a moment."

    Emmett used his elbow to break the glass in the door across the street, and reaches inside to open the latch. He disappears inside an old secondhand shop. The dim light shows his silhouette removing his shredded coat, donning a new one, then rummaging through the pockets for his wallet to leave some cash on the counter. He emerges from the shop in an old leather duster, worn but serviceable.

    Emmett is minus 3 items now (hatchet, knife, money for new coat/window repair).

    "Alright. First, let's be sure it's done. Then: to the howls, the woman with the candles, or somewhere else?"

    Emmett votes to approach the spirit, if she's still there.

    Emmett circles around to the closest entry to where the Thing would have died, and uses his hatchet to break through some rotted wood and ice, he tries to confirm It's death, and get a closer look to see if the skin matches the scaly bit they found across the river.

    Assuming help!

    Geth roll 2d6 for Review + Observant

    Review + Observant:
    2d6 7 [2d6=1, 6]

    fadingathedges on
  • Endless_SerpentsEndless_Serpents Registered User regular
    edited February 2021
    Emmett
    The thing is riddled with icicle holes, and its head is almost severed vertically completely. It’s skin... the only thing you can compare it to is an ant, or how you imagine an ant would feel if it was man-sized.

    It’s dead.

    Peering into the main hall of the boat club, you see no others of its kind. The door leading out to the pontoons is open too. Whatever else was here has fled.

    The only notable feature of the main hall is a massive painting.

    bdah62lkug4y.jpeg

    The painting depicts an ordinary man wading in the river on a lovely summer’s day.

    You take a look around the rest of the club, but there’s not much else to it. The eastern room has boating gear; oars, fuel canisters, unmaintained life jackets, a tool box with half its tools missing, little dodads that must serve some purpose if you’re interested in boats. You could steal a few things, if you like.
    It’s at the moment I realise character sheets need a section for found items! Those tools could come in handy; think taking out screws from a door hinge, or crowbarring open a hatch...

    Endless_Serpents on
  • mrpakumrpaku Registered User regular
    Lynch nods, and goes to assist Emmett as he moves to safely examine the thing’s body. But she’s as much watching the Veteran Hunter as she is looking out for the Nightmares: his strange behavior and talk of things beyond death has her on edge, and she’s wary to leave him unattended, out of a mixture of fear and curiosity.

    Whatever the foul thing was, it doesn’t seem to be the same sort of Nightmare as the creature from the river. “Think maybe it was ‘fraid of the same thing that we’re lookin’ for? Maybe that’s the “bigger something” that was supposed to be coming?…” Lynch isn’t so sure she believes this herself, but she likes to work through her thought process out loud.

    She takes the opportunity to address their next step: “…Think yer a damn fool, though, to be messing with Spirits,” Lynch mutters to Emmett, as he examines the corpse. “Damn things are unnatural, same as the Nightmares. And, last *I* saw her, looked like she was in mourning…if she was crying then, and howling now, what makes ya tink’ you she wants our company, eh?”

    Lynch thinks rousting the Spirit is foolishness of the highest order…but if she’s outvoted on that, she’ll reticently follow behind

    Lynch stops for a second and looks into the Main Hall. The painting immediately catches her attention, and she walks over, stroking her chin and licking her lips. “Nice work,” she whistles appreciatively. She takes in the shape and form, wondering if a friend of hers would be able to find a market for such a thing. Hmmm…swimmer, under a Black Sun. Though beautiful, something about the piece set flies about Lynch’s head, and makes her skin crawl. Turning to see where Emmett and Leopold were up to, Lynch approaches the painting, trying to roughly measure with her trained eye…

    Is the painting so massive that Lynch couldn’t, say, get a chair and use her Stiletto knife to strip it carefully from the frame, roll it up, and take it away with me? And if so, what would I need to roll to pull this off without Emmett and Leopold noticing?

  • fadingathedgesfadingathedges Registered User regular
    edited February 2021
    "There's something behind that painting, see there?"

    Do it! My roll spotted something but I don't know what.

    fadingathedges on
  • Endless_SerpentsEndless_Serpents Registered User regular
    edited February 2021
    Lynch
    The painting depicts an ordinary man wading in the river on a lovely summer’s day. The painting is large, metres in length. You could still cut it out, roll it up and fold it once if you want to take it.

    Lets see what the others do, and you can steal it in secret if you’re willing to be the last one to leave the club.

    You estimate it’s worth fifty to a hundred dollars, maybe more, if you can find someone wealthy enough these days to splash out on a painting!

    Emmett
    Your keens senses don’t fail you!

    Endless_Serpents on
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