The Tale of the Coin's edge

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== Episode 1: ==
=== Flashback ===
Daxi is taking a closer look at the Slip of paper that he stole from Nephrite Cobra. A prayer strip that essentially identified the bearer to Heaven as "Crystal Breaks the Waves". It had Bal-Sho's signature.
Reeds examined it and tried to contact the Auditors. 
Toumei plans to go to Lathe to pray at an official Dragonblood shrine so she can report this.
=== Back in the present ===
After Rustling Cricket was bashing his head in saying "Faster than you can run, deeper than you can swim."
Daxi snuck around the coast gathering intelligence. He hear that the insect Prince was the great grandson of Parcival, fought warriors of the Sun.
Barantulga and the other areas around the bay are recovering. Insect Rakshasa are trading with people. Dynasts are trickling out of the Realm back to the Periphery New settlements made by Bronze tide survivors.
Hephestia
Martial training
Working in the forge for most of the day, going for incredible artefacts.
trains with Cliff
Tokumei talks to Hephestia about the unhealthiness of her relationship with her dead husband. She talks to Reeds afterwards to ask if Tokumei had a point. Ending in them going out on a night drinking together. 
Reeds spends time in the swamp with his father and meditating at various shrines.
Tokumei goes up the coast with Dragonbloods to hunt and scout the lesser wyld creatures that were preying upon each other, but the older cities are starting to slow down and running out of food. They are running out of cities to consume. A herd of small cities cornered a large kingdom and took it down. 
Missionaries further north salted the earth and Marrul Vaar expedition avoided them.
Yen-sey moving dunes of glistening gold coins around pulverised remains of the cities around them. Coins are slowly turning into dross like stones and bits of bark. 
Dragonbloods give the Peleth territories a wide berth.
Tokumei spends time socialising with the Dragonbloods and finding out more about them whilst they fight the creatures of the wyld.
She heads off to Lathe aboard Daxi's ship in disguise with his blessing. 
Lathe is build out of the skeleton and shell of a vast creature. Inside the heart of the body was a grand shrine, which was established as part of his defeat. 
=== Epilogue ===
During Reed's travels he spots a fisherman who starts packing up and sneaking off when Reeds arrived. Seeming scared of Reeds, who decides to follow him. Everybody else seems fine with him.
He could smell the fisherman's camp, who was still avoiding him. The man seemed similar to him. 
He was not far from Glorious Reflection village (the place with the pools that show the future). 
This happened the day after the last.
The man the fisherman saw said "Don't mind me, I'm just talking to myself, or rather I will be."
The person the fisherman described said that they saw he was waiting for him.
== Episode 2: ==
Tokumei and Daxi headed to Lathe and as they approached they could see the islands are made from the numerous legs and other body parts of the same gargantuan creature. They made their way up through the city in disguise and purchased some sandalwood at the market to make an offering. 
Tokumei stepped into the vast beautiful temple inside the beast's shell and in the guise of a Dynast of House Cathak and approached the alter performing their offering, Invoking the name of the Celestial Lion of the South, whose reputation was impeccable. She burned the sandalwood and placed the Talisman that Bal Sho signed into the flames so that it could be conveyed to heaven with her prayer.
As a gong struck, time slowed to a crawl and the immense lion laid its paws upon the offering bowl made of half an enormous pearl. The Celestial Lion said that it was impressed by the boldness of such an invitation and the severity of the accusation and that he should bring somebody else into this: Canto 63:19 - an elegy for a life spent in wickedness, a martyrdom thwarted, a redemption denied. 
Appeared atop the Lion and came down. He explained that indeed, Bal Sho was the official in charge of overseeing the South West. For a time they had reason to believe he was running his own side hustle. There wasn't enough manpower to investigate. As long as the correct forms were used it was easy to overlook. 
Bal Sho had certain protections. The possibility of the end of the world is ever on the mind of Heaven. There are precautions for such things and people in charge of testing those precautions. The office of those in charge of testing the defenses of heaven are ones with a great deal of trust and authority put in them. When people have that trust, it's hard to challenge them. 
However thanks to the Talisman we have the means of proving that wrongdoing was committed. "I can't promise that this will be resolved quickly or thoroughly but it will be resolved. The wheel of heaven turns slowly but inexorably." Then the drunken sailor regained their wits and Tokumei gave her excuses. 
Meanwhile back near Marrull Vaar, Reeds was talking with the stranger. There have been more wild creatures coming out of the far South West. The stranger has been trying to avoid sleeping outside and staying close to fires at night.
Reeds spends some time whittling the bullroarer that he learned from the Tribes who wore large masks. Reeds sends three infallible messengers to Tokumei, Hephastia and Daxi telling them that he was going to visit Glorious Reflection Village to see Prajnia as he's not sure how long that opportunity would last. 
Glorious Reflection Village was a couple of days away. When he arrives, the village its self is deserted. With footprints leaving the village over the matter of a few weeks. He heads towards the headman's longhut which rests on short stilts to keep the snakes out. any offerings had been made as if people tried a ritual repeatedly. 
Reeds tried to investigate the ritual that was being performed, the ritual seemed to have been regarding keeping the pools well maintained and corrected, done as the people were leaving. round the pools were tightly knotted ropes that served as a boundary. Reeds approached in the morning light. 
Most of the pools are black, but there's one pool near the middle which is exceptionally clear. Reeds sees a reflection of Prajnia in the pool, looking up at him. 
Prajnia says that they almost thought he wasn't coming, but he seemed interested in talking. 
It had been a long time, so he only had a vague memory. Things did not go to Death Like Silence Revelations plans. He said that Death Like Silence's plans have many iterations, 
Prajnia sighed with pity, he didn't like being misunderstood. the background noise. He claimed to be curious, as Reeds was sometimes acting like how he remembered and sometimes not. Prajnia wanted to find out why, for research purposes,
Prajnia said that he felt sorry for Reeds and his naivety. He thought that maybe even without the bloodshed and death, Reeds might have started to hit on the right answer. But, even now, he doesn't see the shape of the world because he's too focused on the small things. Like an elephant being sorry about every ant they crush and saying a prayer for each one.
Prajnia had even forgotten Snails. "Ideals don't matter, it's the will that's important. You're imparting your will on the world. Like Reeds did with the Eye. If you want to stop what we are doing, I'm going to have to show you." He gestures for Reeds to sit and he did likewise, guiding him into Meditation.
Hephestia arrives to find him meditating and steps off Storm Wind Rider and sits down, carrying idow's Steely Remorse and The Good Deed, to wait for him to talk. 
Prajnia teaches Reeds that the surface of the water in the pools was locked to his will. He coaxs Reeds into holding the power as he slowly allowed him to hold it open. There's some subtle malice as he leads Reeds into expanding his will and influence upon the world, but he lacks any sense of aftercare, leaving Reeds strained and raw. 
Reeds caught glimpses of Prajnia's feelings and memories: 
* Sensations of the blood in the streets of Barantulga. 
* Tokumei screaming some sorcerous working amidst a fire strong enough to crack the streets.
* Images of Daxi and Hephastia spilling blood that flows like water down the street.
* The Spear Empress holding Luka Palash by the neck and ripping off his skin. Which shakes Reeds deeply. Prajnia noticed that this upset him and then closed off that part of his memories.
Reeds got the impression that Prajnia's teaching was intentionally eroding his self-esteem. He was trembling and sweating and stopped briefly, then goes back into meditation. 
Hephestia maintains a vigil for the next couple of days. 
Prajnia shows him the wall that needs to be broken to become like him. But Reeds stands up and walks into the pool. He then plunges into the water after the first couple of steps.
Hephestia feels that the world around here is like a scar tissue of the world, but she can't sense Reeds at all.
There's a few second of nothingness and then an explosion of everything, then soft sand between his fingers and toes, but then realizes it's ash beneath him and darkness above. Prajnia isn't there. As he stands up and looks around he can see out to the Bay where the seawater is black, cold and inky gloom and dunes of cold ash where they should be. The sky is dark and lit in grey twilight and there's an almost imperceptible cold drizzle. To the north, where Marull Vaar should be was the foothills of a giant metal monstrosity. A mountain range of jutting metal. The city at the end of time. Carceri.
== Episode 3 ==
Reeds stepped through the pool and explored the remains of Glorious Reflection Village, but many of the buildings had been knocked down as if a giant had swung by casually. There were no ghosts in the area.
He tried to scavenge for food, but the water was unnaturally cold and the few scurrying creatures were small unwholesome and evasive. He eventually found some trees bearing fruit, but the fruits were withered and waxy like an unpleasant prune.
As Reeds began to meditate, Eyepatch!Daxi saw someone he assumed was Prajnia. Moving stealthily through the undergrowth, he approached and put Shadowwraith to his throat, calling him "Broken Reed". Reeds was able to convince him that he wasn't Prajnia by mentioning Snails.
Daxi explained that it had been a long time. Heartless Reeds and Heart of Steel Unbroken were in Carceri. Tokumei was long since missing. 
Reeds needed ritual ingredients, to try to return to his own timeline. Daxi said he knew somebody who might be able to find some.
They took a coracle down river to the sea and Reeds filled Daxi in on the events from his own timeline. Daxi said he knew nothing of Bal-Sho but Reeds described him. Reeds speculates that there are more than just two timelines, and multiple copies of the circle. Daxi notes that this would explain how he's killed Prajnia several times - he assumed it was not sticking, but if there are many Prajnia that would also explain it.
They saw Heart of Steel Unbroken riding Prajnia's enormous beast creature. A thing the size of a warstrider that matched the damage to the village buildings.
They passed the city of Carceri. what was once Maruil Vaar is only the southern tip of the city. The city stretched off far up the coast. 
They approached the tower and the ghost of Trenshe, a Pterok Scholar, told them to go away as he had little worth taking. Daxi introduced himself and they came up. 
[------------------------]
At the tower Reeds found the ghost of Trenshe, the dead reptillian humanoid they had found in the tower during the Bronze Tide's invasion. Though desolate and hopeless after what he revealed had been centuries since his death from a Pelagothrope's spear, he greeted Reeds politely and showed him the surviving copy of the book. It seemed that the scholar, a Pterok Dragon King, had travelled from the far north to investigate tales of savage lizard people in the Grey Eye Peninsula's river delta, not realising the text was merely a pulp adventure novel. Finding what were known as the Delta Kings, a savage but very real group of descendants of the Dragon Kings, he had made his own notes in the margins of the book as he sought to teach them while investigating the ruins of Njorlona. Though his trinkets were meager, there were some ritual materials that Reeds could potentially use to return home. Reluctant to leave the safety of the tower, Trenshe nonetheless offered to help Reeds as best he could.
Having mustered the materials needed, the group returned to the ruins of Glorious Reflection, where Reeds would perform the ritual to reopen the portal home. He had every intention of trying to bring his new friends through to the other side with him, to escape the eternal limbo of The End of Time. As they did so, however, the colossus of flesh broke through the treeline, disintegrating Trenshe's ghost with a blast of baleful lightning from its maw as the Dragon King tried to flee. The last thing Reeds felt before he made it through the portal was Daxi's hand pushing him as the glaive thrown by Heart of Steel Unbroken hurtled towards the beastman's back, bellowing at Reeds to "RUN!" 
== Five Blades, Two Timelines, One Million Souls ==
Hephestia pulled Reeds out of the pool by grasping his hand, feeling as she did a furred paw and a light scratch. Reeds told her a little of what had happened, and the description of her alternate future self left Hephastia unnerved. They returned to Marrull Varr and gathered with the rest of the Circle inside Crystal's old bar, where they circle updated each other on their journeys. Hephastia took the opportunity to apologise to Tokumei, and gave her a Gold and Jade pin with the mon for "Teacher". 
Reeds told the rest of the Circle about his visit to the other side, and his meeting with their alternate selves, after which the Circle agreed to examine the Blade of Five Midnights to see if they could divine its workings. Hephastia insisted on coming with them despite Reeds' misgivings, as he secretly feared that the blade might have been forged using her husband's soul from one or more of the alternate timelines. 
When they got there and took the weapon out of its box, Reeds reluctantly poured his essence into the blade in an effort to understand its purpose. Reeds could feel the blade hungering for the essence he was channelling into it, an appetite far stronger and more actively predatory than any artefact he had handled before. Though he could not discern its exact workings, he felt the mind of the accursed blade and the overwhelming hatred it felt. A hate for reality itself, born of a fundamental inability to reconcile itself with the world around it, anathema to it and unable to exist without destroying it. This rage it channelled into its blade, allowing it to cut through the walls of creation and sunder it. 
Tokumei allowed herself to touch the side of the blade, and even in the single blade of the 5 she came into contact with she heard the wordless screams of thousands of people, some of whom she recognized, shredded down into threads of thought and essence and smelted into the soulsteel. Tokumei came to the sickening thought that the inhabitants of the city had been used to create each version of the blade. 
As she tried to heal her fingers from the cut, Tokumei noticed that where her fingers had touched the blade, the tips were simply... gone. As if the blade had removed her flesh from reality entirely. It took cutting her fingertips open again for the flesh to regrow. Reeds, meanwhile, smelled blood on the air and heard a commotion, and stepped outside. 
It had started to rain blood. 
== Blood on the Streets, Blood on the Rocks, Blood in the Gutters, Every last drop ==
Reeds stepped out into the rain and up at the clouds trying to recreate what happened.
The rainwater was transforming to blood after it left the clouds and as it hits the ground. 
It had the hallmarks of a spell upon the water its self. 
Tokumei attempted to draw a diagram to involke the four winds to mitigate the worst of the spell.
Hephestia goes up the pyramid with Widow's Steely Remorse and summons Cliff.
She tells Cliff that she knows that she has missed him ever since the day he left. But it's time for her to let go and she plunges the blade into the ground as Cliff fades from view and tells her "I'll be waiting for you."
Blade turns bright white and her anima banner changes, from working weapons to forging wedding bands, childrens toys and creations of joy and fellowship. Forming a Shining Beacon.
As she does so she hears a swelling sound as the pressure in the air builds up. Hundreds of singing voices pushing against them and the unseen singers harmonise into a bellowing wail. The sound of the wyld pressed against her will and sees a vortex of dark water pressing into the abyss. Coffins circling the void but never falling into it.
Hephestia commanded that people come from the city into her place of sanctuary. 
As she did this Reeds, came up to her and sensing her power he infused her with power and remembering an ancient mundra used to annoint the Gods infusing her with the mantle of Marrull Vaar. 
She sees the old throne of Marrull Vaar and as she sits down a new throne, seems to form beneath her. 
Bai Lu Dai and Tidebreaker witnessing this came up and said: "It's about Khungwa, he's sick but not body sick, there's something wrong with him." Tokumei goes off to find him to help treat him. 
Reeds runs off to gather people and make them aware of the situation and within a couple of hours people gather in the safe space Hephestia created. 
Daxi stayed behind to comfort Hephastia. He helped her with her grief and said that Reeds probably did this because he saw a problem and tried to slot in the person best suited to be able to fix the problem. Then how will they break this to Bellar. 
Tokumei goes to the docks to find Khungwa, he had been missing for a while and Tidebreaker went in to see him. The water is still turning to blood in these areas. The blood flows from the shore out into the bay. Out as far as the first of the mini-ports outside the area. Dead fish are fed on by seabirds. 
They heard him shouting "stop!" but nobody was with him. His home is on the shore. His Anathale wife was exhausted and allowed Tokumei in. Khungwa was throwing himself around the room and curled up in his room. He showed signs of extreme exhaustion. He was hearing a sound of the choir of voices from out in the bay. Tokumei took him up to the Hospital, 
Hephestia set up on her throne, let people through with her to clear themselves up. The Circle met to discuss things. Reeds suggested getting a water god to flood the city. but Tokumei pointed out that the water would just turn to blood as soon as it entered. 
Tokumei then suggested that we scout out the size of the affected area and send the weak and infirm upstream to Sweet Tea Village and establish a respite there outside of the area of effect of the curse. They would also need to speak to Bellar. 
Somewhere far above but also beyond us, in a hall of archways spreading out in every direction. In the rafters above there are spiders weaving webd in the rafters. Running down the hallway is a man with a concerned look with dark skin and ritual markings is whispered to by the messenger. He just replies. "What?" When he hears the news. 
== Don't Shoot the Messenger ==
Water sloughs off people in hephaestia’s zone but any blood that turns back to water turns immediately into blood again when taken outside.
Tolumei reports to Belar about the apotheosis, the sorcery with the potential attack and the area clear of the blood enchantment, which causes Belar to change her plans (she breaks a chunk off the table).  She also suggests that people can be evacuated to Sweet Tea Village.  Belar notes that no one has been there for a while and she has no people to check and Tokumei promises to look into it.  Tokumei returns to Hephaestia.
Hephaestia gives Daxi and Reeds their items.  Then Hephaestia takes Tokumei and Daxi up to the top of the pyramid and teaches her how to fire the weapon.  Tokumei asks how to see what to fire at and gives Hephaestia her telescope (which came from Hephaestia’s imagination) which Hephaestia uses to see the dark pit.  
Tokumei goes back to Belar and updates that someone will be sent and says “and Hephaestia would like to know when you would like to receive instruction in the use of the superweapon”.  This does not go well and Belar breaks the table in two.  She tells Tokumei in no uncertain terms that no one is to fire the weapon and it is not high up on her list of items to do.
Hephaestia and Tokumei catch up and debate what to do next, and the two hypothesise about what to do while Tokumei suggests that Hephaestia helps with the evacuation by sea as Hephaestia runs out of ideas of what to do.
While Reeds heads out to Sweet Tea village, the rest of the party heads down to the docks to check about any imminent invasion due to the song behind the sorcery they hear.  When rescuing a person who falls into the blood water, they find out the man saw something on the sea bottom.  A fish creature sitting cross-legged
Daxi uses a fishing net to fish the creature and makes it understand that if it doesn’t talk he will kill it.  The creature tries to, but struggles due to its gills and communicates in a roundabout way that its compelled to sing.  Daxi recognises it as someone he traded with who has been corrupted and kills the creature when it begs him to.  The name Anuung sul Radha comes up.
The three debate how to stop the singers, who are more like this one, surrounding the city and making the sorcerous working work.  Tokumei offers great suggestions such as pumping toxins into the water to kill them, or the berserker blood.  
Meanwhile, Reeds heads out to Sweet Tea village and notes that it is indeed still clear of zombies and wildlife has moved back into the area, which it wouldn’t do if they were still around.  Leaving an offering, Reeds heads further up into the swamp and leaves an offering to Igappo, who uncharacteristically comes to talk to him.  Igappo is thrashing and Reeds dives into the water to talk to him.  Igappo communicates that it is distressed because of the song.  Reeds asks which song, assuming it’s the one in merrull Varr, but Igappo answers that it is indeed that song, but another is answering it, directing it, Anuung sul Radha, and if he hadn’t grown so fat, he would swim out.  The children of the sea were defeated by the solar ones when he was still swimming in his first pools.
== I come back to you now at the turn of the tide ==
The corpse by the water had parasites inside their guts and a different type in their eyes. 
Tokumei takes some of the parasites puts them into bottles and sends them up to Hephestia.
Daxi went into the water to capture another one. Foudn a more mature form of the parasite showing white eyes.
They sent messages up the Bellar to inform her of this about this and organised the local fishermen to help hunt these creatures from boats.
Reeds coming back from seeing Agapo stops at the dam and checks in with the Spider God. Everything seems to be okay but he is very fraught.
Back in marrul Vaar Tokumei designs a drug to flush out the parasites from the eyes and trains the staff in how to extract the parasites. When one of the nurses pointed out an alarm. 
Responding to the alarm, Hephestia and Daxi went out in their 
They saw some ships coming into the harbour and several fishing vessels fleeing. The incoming vessels were vast water-boatman craft pursuing a series of large catamarans.
Sir Bedevier, grandson of Sir Parcival greeted the Exalted. His grandfather had hit Daxi in the past. He wished to pass his congratulations onto the other ships for winning the race. They announced they had come to help. So Hephastia advised them to land.
They then went off to the other ships. The lead vessel had Presad aboard who was not aware this was a race.
Reeds meanwhile met a caravan of elephants with Jaganath's forces led by Saddam, Jagganath's brother. Carrying civilians and guards. Flying the white flag of aid and support. Reeds gets off Snails and runs up to Saddam's elephant and is helped up. 
He explained that his brother received a vision in the night of wave of blood threatening to wash Marull Vaar away. They came to help. The carvan was filled with military engineers and supplies. 
The Circle and the visiting military dignitaries arrived at the palace and Bellar welcomes them in. She mentioned a peacock she sent as a gift to Jagganath. 
Sigottir had a bad omen whilst travelling around the blue hole in the bay. 
Prasad was among the leaders who decided to remain behind from the Bronze tide as they headed to Caul. His elder brother is king so his presence was less needed. He heard about the Zhaojun from Luca. The Tide made their way to the Caul to re-enforce those who lived there. A woman from the Western Isles said to send a message  appologising for her absence and sending friends in her place. As there was a war in Zhaojun, he believed that Marull Vaar would need our help. 
Pelagathropes - Aquatic wyld mutants. However the Nilbaran are a race of ancient seafolk. 
Sir Bedevere mentioned that during the time of the great hunt one of the fair folk generals led their forces beneath the waves but were cut down and this was likely the Nilbarans. 
Several other people died to Nilbaran spears like Cliff. 
Bellar welcomed all of her allies and invited them to rest and enjoy the food.
Reeds talked to the guild factor and agreed to let him use his businesses to repay an earlier favour as long as it was not for slaves. 
== Bellar's Questions ==
Bellar decided to Consult the Sister of the Ram in the Pyramid. 
The song beyond the Penumbra (Neverborn) - Dead and outside creation
Their servant: Death Like Silence Revelation (Serves the Song Beyond the Penumbra)
The future version of the PCs, serve Death Like Silence Revelation, but it's unclear why and how the city at the end of time is related to this.
The Sea who marched against the Flame - Kimbery (A Yozi in Hell) - the mate of Voice in the Trench
Voice in the Trench (Alive, undefeated and in creation) - Instigator of the Nilbaran war.
The Sister of the Ram (Soul of Voice in the Trench)
Lathe (Killed and turned into island)
Lintha ng Oroo (Killed and turned into island)
They made their plans to fight the forces of the Voice in the Trench.
== The end of the endless Horizon and the vigil of the faithful slave. ==
Aboard Snails they headed up to a delta to the base of the Grey Eye Peninsula.
They saw humanoid scouts on the dried mud flats of the area. 
Following the Eastern Shore.
There's a culvert in an area of mangroves with holes dug in the mud. Inside there's a patch of shore without trees but mud huts.
The fire of the village is still smoking but recently extinguished.
From the edge came a dragonkin warrior. Tokumei offered him a gift of a large clam from her sleeves. He was called Mago'wo and Tokumei explained that they were travelling North to fight the Fair Folk. They shared food and skills and were offered a polace to sleep for the night. One of their youths offered a wooden stick carved with letters. He said that first teacher said that words would protect against the Wyld.
They realised that the first teacher that they were talking about was Trenche who mentioned teaching the dragonkin in his book. 
After a nights rest they travelled North and reached the Endless Horizon.
Reeds shaped the wyld to cut through the distortion of space, whilst Tokumei perceived the flow of Rakshasa essence to guide them on Snails. 
Bird-like creatures circled above. Reeds forged land and solar demenses in his path.
Reeds struggled through to the Wyld and exhausted him until they passed a caravan of dead people. Finally reaching the control tower. Inside, Hephestia repaired the controls and began filling the batteries with essence. They all got sleep whilst an army of Fair Folk gathered in the distance with terrible bird and horse-like bodies.
At dawn they transported themselves to the sunken city. 
Inside the dark when illuminated their caste marks they found A Djala on a bed with a dead figure holding a book at the foot of their bed.
Faithful Shudra (Slave)
The intruders have taken the main chamber.
The book tells of the coming of the Dark Serpent (Death Like Silence Revelation) and the Nilbarans and a war between them and the original servants of the place, which Shudra helped maintain using the Necrotech leaving Shudra alone. 
Tokumei assured her that Shudra had done well and could now rest and once released he finally passed away. 
There is a tunnel that connects to the main part of Nilbara. This room is an observation deck. 
A diagram of a pit with a dome over it and a thread over it. The thread goes from one circle to another. It seems like the circles are a portal at either end.
There is an object at the bottom that is marked as "Demon" and "Core". There are other notes that Hephestia was better able to understand.
They reference a harmonic thread that powers a machine. The thread is moored at either point and so both tethers need to be activated at both ends simultaniously. It is tuned, so that when activated, it will set off a wave that will activate the machine.
Opening the shutters, Reeds could see a host of aquatic humanoids, marching towards the mainland and whales floating head towards the surface. Reeds recognised that they were arranged associated with leyline arrangements. 
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