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Author Topic: The Hastening of Doomforests  (Read 426856 times)

Taupe

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Re: The Cleansing of Doomforests
« Reply #165 on: December 17, 2014, 11:41:45 pm »

Journal of Taupe Portallessons, Overseer of Doomforest

Week 1:

     I have been here only a week, and already trouble has started. While I expected to stay in my office and issue mandates and reccomendations it,s clear that this fort will need my ever-present vigilance and wits to thrive. I had hopes that i could make notes of the important events, and record them in my mensual reports, but holy hells, is this place crazy! I'll have to keep a diary to keep track of everything going on here...

     My first initiative was to order some doors placed in the caverns, and superfluous entrances to the same staircase blocked by walls. I also asked that we dig a pit to secure the cavern entrance further, in case the doors fail (hint: they will). doors won't stop large creatures, but until cave spiders and crundles learn to turn knobs, we'll prevent every single monster and their mother to simply walk into Doomforest. This has happened in the past, if the rumors are true.

     Next I decided to turn my attention to the milicia. do they have a place to train? I'm not sure. We migh be stuck inside for a long time, so cave adaptation will be a problem, so I'd like to set up barracks outside. A nice training tower could also double as a sentry to locate thieves and ambushes before they show at our main (and only) gate. Our soldiers are in a squad named swoardwaf 1, which neither include swords, not sound very dwarven. I random a new, cooler name, and spend the first few days overseing our military supplies, and attributing equipment to the members of The Kinetic Swans. Awesome names make the soldiers more courageous, or so my ministerial guide claims.

    I decided to see if we have barracks by ordering the Swans to gather their gear and go train. My plan goes to shit however, when reports come from down below. Now I know why the crundles were terrified earlier:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
     Before a door can be installed, a Mud man wanders into what i guess is to be our magma forge. The military cannot get to their good equipment, because it's there. I feel like we should let them train a bit before venturing down there. out of 6, none seem to know how to use his weapon effectively, and one of them is wielding a crutch, scar of a previous horrible battle. to minimize horrible deaths, I tell them to fisticuff or fight with what they have, and avoid the caverns for now.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
     But for some reason, an armorsmith was hiding down in the forge, stuck between a mud man and a hard place, and also a pool of magma. o avoid horrible death problems, I dispatch the military, to try and save him. He seems to be doing fine, however. Working the forge has made the man mighty, and after a few moments, he manages to drop kick the mud man's head apart from the body. False alarm, guys!

     ...Boy, i need a drink.

Week 2:



    I may need more than one drink, to be fair.

Week 3:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
     A general state of alert has been activated. The burrow is not up to dte, but the names are definitely relevant. Senshuken has claimed leadership of The Kinetic Swans, thanks to his atrociously high ability to not have fled when i asked who was in charge of defending us from this beast. A rookie mason from the latest migrant wave, just like the men he commands. Their gear is in the forge, at the bottom of the caverns. We have zero military equipment save for 3 iron mails and a helmet.

     I have ordered the cavern shaft to be sealed with giant blocks of basalt at the top, since going deeper to block stuff would just be sending our masons to die horribly, which is what I'm here to counter. While we briefly grasped a sighting of the horrifying creature, a mere second later it had vanished into the depths. we don't know where it is. At all. I'm fucking terrified now. the caverns are now the Snail's playground, because it flies and can go around anything. there is no stopping it. we can't even locate them damnd thing.

    On a slightly positive note, updating the burrow is teaching me which buildings were constructed most recently. On a deeply negative note, it also helped me locate an entrance to the fortress from the farming complex, which has no doors, no defenses, and no easily sealed corridors. Ugh, this place.

Week 3, continued:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
     I tried to discuss my plans for the overground barracks with Senshuken, and in return he mentionned me his plan to send a crippled soldier/mason down the cave to distract the beast. I object. he says he's already given the order. Damnit.

     The cripple returns, too horrified by the staircase corpses to proceed. He says there are 10 of his rotting friends lying down there, as well as his leg. What the hell. As a result, we still don't have the military gear, BUT nobody died horribly. Yet. Anyway, he says, miasma is coming down from the forges, and with dead crundles and mud men splattered over the armor pile, it's not that great an idea to venture there for now. where is the beast? We still don't know.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
     Meanwhile, the haulers can't get down in the mines, so they carry barrels of booze around. Then they stop, because they are terrified by 10 more corpses rotting in the brewery. Oh by Armok, what the hell is wrong with this place? So many unlawful horrible deaths! Well, Psychoangel at least had the sence to order a new graveyard, so i venture underneath the workshops to designate the incoming coffins as fit for burial.

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     After I return upstairs, I hear commotion. A bone carver has gone overboard and attacks his workmate. Senshuken manage to lock him inside a nearby room until he calms down. Why is this guy tantruming anyway?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
     Oh...

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     The room in question is rather nice. Incredibly nice, in fact. I'm told it was the Baron's chambers, before I gave him an additional office next to the workshops. Well, while the tantruming carver is locked up in there, migh as well make use of this room. I inform the dwarf, trough the door, that this bedroom is his if he calms down. He does so, and just... stands there, doing nothing. He seems truly broken. I leave a note to the haulers: I want a small stockpile of food, and another for booze, right in this room, in case we need to lock down the carver inside again.

''You can stay here as long as you feel bad, I inform the man. So can your wife. Just, yaknow, get better?''

Spoiler: OOC notes (click to show/hide)
« Last Edit: December 18, 2014, 02:11:19 am by Taupe »
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Senshuken

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Re: The Cleansing of Doomforests
« Reply #166 on: December 18, 2014, 12:09:06 am »

Do I have a military dwarf yet?... Because I'm willing to wait for a new, healthy dwarf to be recruited into Doomforests's army so he has the best chance of not dying if need be.
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Cause every silver lining has a cloud, and it won't be alright on the night; There's nothing at the end of the rainbow and there's a tunnel at the end of the light!

Taupe

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Re: The Cleansing of Doomforests
« Reply #167 on: December 18, 2014, 12:22:58 am »

Why not both?

Congratulation, you are now our military captin. You are ASLO a rookie mason who's equipment is separated from you by ten corpses, a group of troglodytes, and a giant monster from hell. Wish you luuck.
« Last Edit: December 18, 2014, 12:24:33 am by Taupe »
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Senshuken

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Re: The Cleansing of Doomforests
« Reply #168 on: December 18, 2014, 12:35:55 am »

Okay then. I have a cunning plan to get our equipment and save the fortress!.. Who's currently the most useless member of the squad?
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Cause every silver lining has a cloud, and it won't be alright on the night; There's nothing at the end of the rainbow and there's a tunnel at the end of the light!

Taupe

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Re: The Cleansing of Doomforests
« Reply #169 on: December 18, 2014, 12:37:13 am »

A guy with a crotch.

You want him to aggro the beast away so the rest can sneak into the forge, huh?
« Last Edit: December 18, 2014, 12:39:05 am by Taupe »
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Senshuken

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Re: The Cleansing of Doomforests
« Reply #170 on: December 18, 2014, 12:48:52 am »

Pretty much. One should never underestimate the power of throwing someone off the sled to the wolves when in a bad situation. 
« Last Edit: December 18, 2014, 01:03:34 am by Senshuken »
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Cause every silver lining has a cloud, and it won't be alright on the night; There's nothing at the end of the rainbow and there's a tunnel at the end of the light!

Taupe

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Re: The Cleansing of Doomforests
« Reply #171 on: December 18, 2014, 02:33:16 am »

Urist Turnedcog was speechless. The journal in his hands was almost empty, and covered in blood.

''Where is the rest? he asks his secretary.
-That's all there is, sir. An initial report, then someone over at Doomforest mailed us his journal. Nineteen days, then nothing.
-Do we have any reports? What did the messenger say?
-Well, sir minister, he's not exactly a messenger, and more like a random dwarf who fled.
-I want to talk to him, find out the truth.
-Sir, is that wise? The man is... not quite right.
-Insane?
-Yes, I'm afraid so, or deeply traumatised. He talks of corpses, a giant snail, and the return of the beast. And a civil war...

Urist spends a few moments walking in circle in his office. This is a catastrophe! Taupe is missing, and he hasn't been over there a full three weeks yet. ''The King will have my head when he learns we failed to secure such a promising colony...''

-Well, give the man a drink, and let him rest. I'll see him tomorrow, and find out what he knows anyway. Crazy accounts are better than no accounts at all.

Senshuken

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Re: The Cleansing of Doomforests
« Reply #172 on: December 18, 2014, 04:57:45 am »

Journal of Senshuken, Captain of the The Kinetic Swans

My attempt to secure my squads weapons and armor from that damn flying snail ended in failure due to poor teamwork and our new Overseer being a complete wuss. While I admire the fact that he appears to be sane and is taking an interest in trying to salvage what's left of Doomforests, his unwillingness to sacrifice one for the benefit of all might be problematic later on down the line depending on circumstances.

Despite the failure to reclaim our weapons, our decoy didn't die trying which has to be considered something of a blessing. Still, I would feel a hell of a lot better with a weapon in my hands and armor between my solders and the things trying to murder us.
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Cause every silver lining has a cloud, and it won't be alright on the night; There's nothing at the end of the rainbow and there's a tunnel at the end of the light!

Taupe

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Re: The Cleansing of Doomforests
« Reply #173 on: December 18, 2014, 05:08:19 am »

Over the night, a few other survivors make their way to the mountainhomes, each bearing rather similar tales about monstruous beast, curses, and the imminent fall of Doomforest. The Minister of Not Dying Horribly spend most of his day interviewing the refugees. One of them is a smith...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
''The milicia was mobilised, but without access to their gear, they were pretty much pointless. We only had a few weapons upstairs, the rest was still littered around or in the forge below. Successive mass-slaughters will do that, yasee...''

A troubling tale, but they already knew doomforest had some serious issues with horrible deaths. That's why the king got their ministry on the case in the first place. Maybe if I tell him that by the time we got there, the fort had already fallen... Would that lessen the damage to my reputation? The smith continues his tale:

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''the Forgotten Beast spent a lot of time behind the door, not touching it. For a time we all hoped it would hold, but after a day or two of staring at it, the Beast must have figured out what it was, and tore it to pieces. M'ster Taupe seemed like a decent enough fellow, and at least his idea of a door gave us  bit of extra time. Tis what saved me really. when I got at the top and saw 6 dwarves with no training holding to their sword with no armor on, I knew we were done. The masons tried to block the entrance, but I wasn't sure they'd have enough time. all me family was dead, sir ministry, so I had a pretty good idea of what was gonna happen to us. so I fled.''

And so was the tale of the weary blacksmith, one of the sanest refugee they had around. His story seemed to suggest that Doomforest met it's namesake (not talking about the forest yo) once the beast got into the fort proper. If only this was so simple... they had other, more troubling tales tho, of child murder and insanity. The whole story was a mess. The next dwarf on the list was a brewer, and he was greeted coldly by the minister.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
''We are told that your fort fell to a forgotten beast, is that correct?
-Oh, no, sir, not at all. The beast wasn't in the fort yet when I ran away. Twas the overseer going insane that told me we were dead if we stayed, yesir. So when i saw this polite man from the mountainhomes come here to help us and then beat a fucking child to death, i knew this wasn't gonna be pretty after that. they say he locked a bonecarver inside the baron's room so the poor guy would starve to death.
-Beating a child to death?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
-Not sure how it all began, really, but the overseer was just wailing on this child like he had gone insane, and tried to smash him against the wall a couple time. I grabbed my shit and I left before they could close the gate, tis true.
-You are talking about Taupe, the MNDH agent, right? why would he beat a child to death?
-Dunno. Never trusted him, tho. Too polite, to reserved, too snobby. First thing he did was take his nice office away from our great soap bringer, then he named Senshuken head of the military, which was a poor decision really. his first order was to sacrifice people down the shaft as a distraction so he could grab the loot down there and run away. Bloody coward, both of them!
-And what happened next?
-Dunno, sir, i was already gone.

Next is a guy named StupidElves. Stupidelves has a lot of things to say about hating elves in general, but even more so about his friend the trapper, who died because of a curse.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
''Ok, so, this girl Sazir, she was a trapper, but also pretty good with people. We were all trying to do some damage control. a monster was incoming, the best masons were trying to patch the caverns before it was too late, the overseer was taking care of Thikub cause he was kinda going crazy after losing his brothers... Me I was trying to bury some corpses to stop people from going mad as fucks, And Sazir looks at me, and she says ''run'' like dead serious. Now this is doomforest, and when someone says that, you fucking trust em, trust me man.
-And what were you fleing from?
-The wereantelope, sir. The fucking cursed beast of Doomforest. We killed the original, but someone must have been bit or stuff and didn't say so to the others, cause just as we were trying to prepare for da giant snail, this furry mad zebra shit turns a corner and starts to fucking tear Sazir a new one. Twas a full moon, that I saw clearly when I made a run for it straight to here. didnt grab any shit. Last thing I saw was that girl getting murdered by this thing. I saw a wereantellope clear the fortress once, wasn't gonna stay there for a second dish. I'm so fucking glad none of the other refugees turned into one as we fled. Twould have been some shitty luck.

Slowly a puzzle was assembling in the minister's head, and it wasn't portraying anything pretty. Just how many monsters are there in this fort? StupidElves is excused, and his replacement enters, a dwarf barely able to walk without fumbling to the ground. He looks mad, and even after a bath and some new clothes, he is still covered in blood and vomit. He's the one we got yesterday, for sure... The survivor sits down with pain, chugs the beer he is offered, and stares at the wall for a moment. ''So, hum, I'm told the fort fell to a werebeast, is that correct?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Sobbing and shaking, the man slowly tells a semi-coherent tale, about a trapper (no doubt the aforementionned Sazir) who tried to fend off a monstruos antelope. It's clear that the beast saw no real challenge or threat in the trapper, and started to merely toy with her, before it got tired and started to bash her head in repeatedly. The storyteller claims he was there all along, hiding under a wheelbarrow, staring in horror. Trying to learn where the beast came from only conjures up a darker tale still...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
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The poor man, who cannot even manage to remember his own name, claims that he saw a child carrying a body to the graves from the farms. When he passed the main gate and saw the sky, he dropped his hauled corpse, howled to the moon, and instantly transformed into a nightmarish mammal. After a while, it turned back to it's original form, but even as a child, he could still manage to wrestle down and brutally assault Sazir. The minister heard his share of tragedies over the years, but they all pale when compared to the details weaved into this tear-soaked story... He had met Sazir before, when his underling Taupe would bring his lovely wife to the office's parties. to think of her now...

At this point, the child was using Sazir's comatose body as a mere doll, shredding and smashing it for it's own entertainment...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
That's when Taupe the overseer tried to join in. He started charging and punching the dwarf, trying to free
his spouse from the child's grip. He almost succeeded, even tho the child's strenght and stamina were clearly superdwarven. He would have saved Sazir too, if not for...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
If not for a potter, one of the recruits under Senshuken. When he arrived, the first thing he saw was this crazy dude trying to strangle a baby with the rage of a thousand dwarves. He jumped on the overseer, stabbed him in the hand with hs sword, twisted, and soon the kid was free. It ran away to hide and stealthed back into the fort's population, all of those who knew of his identity dead or fled. After another blow to the arm, the potter brings her sword backward and aims for the head...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
...Taupe's head is cut clean off, and flies across the main hall, bouncing against the wall with a macabre ''plonk''. The man takes a long pause, then stares at the minister with an otherwordly look in his eyes...

''I fled... that's when I fled. I left my friends to die there, i... I ....
-it's fine, you did all you could. your story is invaluable to us. We may be able to save them still.''

No we are not. Doomforest is gone. As we speak, they may already be all dead...



Spoiler: OOC Notes: (click to show/hide)
« Last Edit: December 18, 2014, 06:00:15 am by Taupe »
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Drokles

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Re: The Cleansing of Doomforests
« Reply #174 on: December 18, 2014, 05:12:27 am »

Holy hell, this thread picked up its pace very quickly all of a sudden.

Quote
I seem to have a mid-summer save, which i assume is because PA couldn't finish? i can either run my turn up to next mid-summer, or do a year and a half to return things to normal. your call,
Make that a year and a half! Hey, you plan to reform this place, right?

Quote
PPS: Drokles, you may also rename this thing to ''The reform of Doomforest', if you so please.
Done!
Will make some further changes and updates to the thread in a few hours when I get home from work.

EDIT: Haha, Okay, maybe I should have read your latest update before writing that.
« Last Edit: December 18, 2014, 06:10:51 am by Drokles »
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On the rare occasions where this fort isnt under siege, wood cutting and hauling is our ultimate priority.

Senshuken

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Re: The Reform of Doomforests: The Ministry of Not Dying Horribly Intervenes
« Reply #175 on: December 18, 2014, 06:13:25 am »

Our prior overseers should feel proud of themselves. Normally a fortress only falls to one cause, but this... *Claps* You've truly out done yourselves. Three causes of death at the same time? Genius!
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Cause every silver lining has a cloud, and it won't be alright on the night; There's nothing at the end of the rainbow and there's a tunnel at the end of the light!

Taupe

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Re: The Violent End of Doomforests - I Bet Nobody Saw it Coming
« Reply #176 on: December 18, 2014, 06:27:30 am »

Quote
EDIT: Haha, Okay, maybe I should have read your latest update before writing that.

No, this wouldn't have been so hilarious

*    *    *
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Sazir's head is still shaking as she sits in her bed. resting has made her restless somehow. So has the horrible decapitation of her husband, and her serious beating by a child. No, a wereantelope... The situation is dire, and as the widowed wife of a governing officer, it falls upon her to take up the role of Overseer and manager.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
She will need to keep a close eye on those insaner dwarves, and rotate them around in the fanciest room they have available to raise their morale. She issues a work order for the installation of a new door. Someone got so mad, they litterally tore a golden door to pieces. There goes one fancy object in this room, I guess...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
She asks that the body of her late husband be put to rest in the crypt. Would the engraver be so kind to decorate and smooth the place if he has time? Much appreciated. Slowly but surely, people are moving the bodies down there. There has some that are still out of reach, tho... We'll need to engrave memorials to the dwarves in the stairwell, otherwise ghost will be another of our problems... she orders 10 slabs to be carvd, which should make their total 15 once they are complete. Should be enough for now.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Trashing doors is really fucking dope when you are a giant snail. The FB's constant stops to pound various door-shaped objects purchased time which the masons used to lock down the caverns. Praise be the doors. Now all that remains is external invaders... And some inside the fortress as well... She tries not to think about the latter.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Instead, she focuses on securing the fort from sieges. Sazir orders farm-thing-place sealed away from the exterior. All workers are to use the underground tunnels. Then she commands the masons to build a ramp, to later add a second layer of blocks to the farm's wall. We don't want goblins climbing in there, not now...

She spends the rest of the day overseeing the construction of the tower. She's not sure this is a valuable use of their workforce, but keeping some dwarves outside will allow people to not all be together when shit hits the fan. Plus, it seems like they'll need to isolate themselves for a while. Sun-fearing soldiers would be a bane for Doomforest, and having them train outside so they don't forsake sunlight is important. It was also my husband's wish... once it is complete, i will have it host a memorial...

The day has been long, and her body is still hurting from everywhere. She decides to lie down to catch some rest. much deserved rest. today was a harsh day, and there are more to come.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
But not for her... An instant after she spots the tiny red eyes from across the room, the murderous child is already upon her.

*    *    *

« Last Edit: December 18, 2014, 07:22:08 am by Taupe »
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Drokles

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Re: The Violent End of Doomforests - I Bet Nobody Saw it Coming
« Reply #177 on: December 18, 2014, 08:08:32 am »

To think that tragedy would ever befall Doomforests so dramatically.

Our prior overseers should feel proud of themselves. Normally a fortress only falls to one cause, but this... *Claps* You've truly out done yourselves. Three causes of death at the same time? Genius!

It's like we've carefully engineered this moment over the course of several years.
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On the rare occasions where this fort isnt under siege, wood cutting and hauling is our ultimate priority.

Senshuken

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Re: The Violent End of Doomforests - I Bet Nobody Saw it Coming
« Reply #178 on: December 18, 2014, 10:27:44 am »

Two questions: Firstly, is Senshuken and his lot still alive? My understanding was that they were dead.

Secondly, did we finally manage to get that little transforming shit?
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Cause every silver lining has a cloud, and it won't be alright on the night; There's nothing at the end of the rainbow and there's a tunnel at the end of the light!

Taupe

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Re: The Violent End of Doomforests - I Bet Nobody Saw it Coming
« Reply #179 on: December 18, 2014, 02:24:32 pm »

The fucking kid is not dead, but sending your team on it was my idea. This is moving rather slowly, since i spend most of my time browsing the fort while paused, or facepalming.  I just woke up, but this thing kept me awake and pondering until like 7 am.

Begin week 4!
« Last Edit: December 18, 2014, 02:26:47 pm by Taupe »
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