[RP] Surprise visit!

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Dwayberry
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[RP] Surprise visit!

Post by Dwayberry »

Motherhood was tough. If in the past, you could just focus on raising children, nowadays you were expected to run a workshop, tend to your fields, socialise in the tavern, keep up with goings on of town and viceroyalty, shop for food, control your children, keep your spouse happy, and let's not forget, behave like a responsible adult. And even if one mother managed to accomplish all of these things, was there still room for a personality?

Dwayberry had been concentrating on about half of these tasks after her second child came along. It hadn't been good for her marriage, or so she felt, nor for her social life. And so she had started to visit the tavern again, and planned to visit Bravia, hoping that would please the husband. Of course, one delightfully imperfect human being cannot simply add a few tasks to the pile of routine activities without dropping a few others in the process. And so, as the socialising returned, so did the boredom and unease of behaving like a responsible adult. Sure most tavern conversations didn't disappoint her, but where was the thrill? Where was the excitement of riling people up, and not knowing the outcome of one's actions? Yvyrm and zyrk hunting had its limits as far as excitement goes, the usual outcome being Dwayberry won, and the only unknown factor was how much richer the deceased creatures would make her.
She badly needed to do something dangerous and exciting.

But there was still the issue of the children. Dwayberry could no longer just get in trouble and leave her precious children to fend for themselves. And that is why she'd make sure to get in trouble in Bravia. That way, Nocturne would be there for the children if needed.
Now, one may argue that a mother should set a good example for her children through responsible behaviour. However, Dwayberry believed just as much could be learned from examples of how not to do something. Depending on the outcome of the situation, Dwayberry could end up showing her kids how certain actions lead to certain consequences.
Last edited by Dwayberry on Thu Feb 15, 2018 8:59 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Dwayberry
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Re: [RP] Surprise visit!

Post by Dwayberry »

"Your father will be so surprised when he sees us!", Dwayberry said.
"Won't he know already that we're coming?" Patience asked.
Dwayberry smiled, refusing to let her good mood be spoiled by such a possibility. "Of course, he could be choosing to spy on us. But he has been so very busy as of late, and he knows I like to surprise him every once in a while, so then he decides not to spy on us and let me do my thing."

They had just left the Widu market square. Aldwyn carried provisions in his rucksack, Dwayberry had a children's sleigh strapped on her back to pull the children through the snow if needed, and Patience carried whatever else Dwayberry decided to bring deep within the shadows of her small bag. A small distance away, the oranges in Widu's orchard sharply contrasted with their surroundings. It was one of those boring looking winter days, where the snow is mostly melted away, but the dark grey sky promises more precipitation in the foreseeable future.

Dwayberry felt excited. She had to contain herself to not walk too fast for the children to keep up, and decided to use the extra time spent walking thinking about what she was actually going to do once they'd reach Bravia. She had concidered setting up camp on the road between Cork and Bravia and try to rob somebody, but she wasn't sure which part of the road belonged to Bravia and which part belonged to Cork. Cork was where the dark elf lived. She hadn't seen Rieron in ages and wasn't sure what he was up to these days. Perhaps he had fathered more children, who knows. It had been quite some time since she had gotten into a fight with his family, yet she didn't care to repeat that yet. Her physical condition wasn't what it used to be after her many months of distraction. She was gradually getting better now she - embarrassing as it was - asked Aldwyn to remind her daily to eat her meals, but she had still had a way to go, and being mauled by a Dalakoi would be a very boring way to announce her presence to Nocturne.
No, she'd better get to Bravia first, assure the children were safe, and then do something there.

A few feet behind her, Aldwyn and Patience were discussing their surroundings. Patience remembered certain parts of the journey through what Dwayberry had seen during pregnancy. Which means there were also a lot of subtleties she did not recognise. Aldwyn pointed out an owl's nest in a hollow orange tree.
"Wow, did mommy never notice that?" Patience said.
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Dwayberry
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Re: [RP] Surprise visit!

Post by Dwayberry »

We'll chop this wood as long as they'll pay
And if there's no pay, we'll say nay
We'll land our axes in this wood
But only if the pay is good
Yes, only if the pay is good!

If they don't want to pay us well
They can take their stingy rears to hell
Cause there'll be no more wood to be found
When we burn this forest to the ground
We'll burn these woods straight to the ground!


"And did they do it, mommy?" Aldwyn asked. He heard the answer to that question many times, but whenever they sang that song, he enjoyed hearing the rest of the story about the Staunchville woodcutters' resistance.
"No. I think there may have been some smaller fires, but nothing like the whole forest. it would have been stupid, to burn their livelihood and risk the whole town going up in flames. But they didn't accept the small pay either, so the council in Bravia took their business to Cork. That's why Cork became a large town and Staunchville didn't. Eventually they needed to make a living somehow, though, so the families that were too proud to lower their wood prices went into the mining business. Shows how desperate people can be," Dwayberry chuckled softly, "And now still, the forest between Bravia and Staunchville is much denser than the one surrounding Cork."
"That would have been some fire, if they'd done it," Patience said with a twinkle in her eyes.
Dwayberry smiled. Her daughter may be very much a shadow creature, but in some ways she took after her mother. "It sure would, and you'll see some big fires some day, but we won't make any fires tonight. W'll stay at an inn." She pointed to the city walls of Cork visible at the end of the road.
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Dwayberry
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Re: [RP] Surprise visit!

Post by Dwayberry »

"I'd like to know what kind of dessert you have today."
"Don't you wanna know today's meat?" The inkeeper's partner pointed a fat thumb over his shoulder to the pig on the roasting spit. "Or today's soup?" He pointed at a large cauldron at the other side of the room.
"I can see the meat and knowing this place, today's soup is yesterday's soup. I asked, what kind of dessert do you have today?"
The man scratched his head. "Bread pudding soaked in orange liquor."
Dwayberry rolled her eyes. "Ugh, I understand your lack of enthusiasm now, but it'll have to do. Bring us some of that, first, please, but leave off the liquor. Don't let me find even a drop of liquor or I'll make a scene. I have two small children!" She raised her voice, causing already some heads to turn towards their table. The children giggled, being used to their mother's problems with booze and her strange eating habits, such as eating dessert first.
The inkeeper's partner let out a sigh, which he covered up by clearing his throat shortly after. "Of course, madam. Anything else?"
"Yes, soak the children's in a normal, booze-free orange juice and mine in klahua, please. And then a good portion of everything else," Dwayberry waved her hand in the directions of the meat and soup. "Just put it out on the table, we'll share."

Later, Dwayberry lied on the bed in the room she paid for. The children were playing in a large tub filled with warm water. Dwayberry had one hand on full stomach and shot a glare at Aldwyn. He noticed.
"Oh, mommy! You asked me yourself to remind you to eat everything!"
"I know, I know..." she sighed, "I'll realise that as soon as my stomach pain is gone, sweetie. I'm not used to these amounts of food anymore. Who knew it would only take a few short months of not eating properly?"
Poor Aldwyn looked concerned now. "Do you want me to rub your tummy?"
"No, thank you. I'll order a mint tea and it should be better soon. You play with your sister."

Patience grinned and splashed water at her brother, and disappeared in a shadow as soon as he turned to retaliate.
"Cheater!" he laughed.
Dwayberry slowly got up and suppressed a burp. "Are you kids old enough I can leave you in bath safely while I get my tea?"
"Yes, mommy,"
they replied in unison.
Dwayberry smiled as she closed the door behind her and descended the stairs. She often felt wealthy when she counted her money or when she bought expensive clothes. But sometimes, very occasionally, she felt even wealthier when she realised how sweet her kids were.

"I'd like a large mint tea. Could you bring that up to my room?"
The innkeeper eyed her and replied after a pause. "Naturally! Of course, it would be faster if you took it yourself, seeing as you're already here, downstairs."
"Well, yes, but I want to go straight back up. My children are upstairs." Dwayberry stifled another burp.
"I see. One mint tea, room service, very well then. Would you like a bucket too, just in case, dear?"
"No... thank you."

As she turned to go back upstairs, Dwayberry heard the innkeeper mutter "How irresponsible."
The innkeeper was right, of course. Irresponsibility was the price she had to pay for being more like her old self again. Next stop, Bravia, husband, strawberry pies, and a little illegal activity or two.
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Dwayberry
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Re: [RP] Surprise visit!

Post by Dwayberry »

Unlike someone who would prepare for a serious revolt attempt, Dwayberry did not bother to gather any intelligence on the town hall's defences. In fact, she only decided she would attack Bravia's town hall after throwing a die to help her make the choice between the town hall and the castle.
Upon arrival in Bravia, she had led the children straight to Nocturne's house for a warm welcome. They had spent a day as a happy family, as any normal family would. Tell stories, play with the cows, visit the market, eat strawberries, duelling the husband, all those things. Nocturne had surprised her with a bouquet of roses and she, in return, had told him about an upcoming surprise. He had been mildly curious, and there was a good chance he knew what she was up to, at least to some degree. She had mentioned in the taverns that she wanted to try someone in Bravia, had even spontaneously invited Alder and Argenth to come along, but they had both declined. Alder out of fear that they would actually win, and Argenth, well, he was probably too lazy or just preferred to not spend time with her, Dwayberry was not sure about that. With Nocturne, the walls had ears, but she never mentioned whether she was going to attack the town hall or the castle, or on which day, so the element of surprise was still somewhat in her favour.

As soon as she recovered fully from her duel with Nocturne, Dwayberry sent the children to the strawberry fields and went to bed early herself. She wouldn't go to the town hall until very early in the morning, only several hours away from dawn. It was the best chance one might have of the guards being drunk or asleep.
When the time came to get up, she rose quietly as to not awake Nocturne. If he noticed her leaving the bed, he was not concerned enough to ask about her reasons.
After some consideration, she decided to take the stone axe she bought from Rannek. Having originally bought it to hunt zyrk and yvyrm, she never intended to use such a ridiculously large and heavy weapon, but there hadn't been any regular axes on the market that day. Now, if anyone may be out on the streets and ask about her reasons for bringing that axe, she would just say she planned to hunt.

Dwayberry fought the urge to whistle a tune as she made her way to the town hall. Her heart was beating faster than usual in excitement. It had been too long, way too long, since she had done anything like this.
The road leading to the town hall was quiet. She remembered approaching this same building, years ago, accompanied by a bunch of loyal town folk, on a mission to reclaim the town hall after the undead mayor of that time proved to be a traitor and ran away with the money. He had told her about his plans in the tavern, and she had silently decided to await him on the road to Cork and rob him. But he changed his plans, stole and fled several days earlier than planned, causing Dwayberry's own secret plan to fail.
The revolt that had then followed was one of her very few successful ones. But she had not operated alone.
On her own, she had always failed, and she expected to fail this time. It didn't matter. She was the record holder of failed revolts in these parts, and that counted for something. She wore the title proudly, and meant to uphold that record. Which was just another good reason to execute a failed revolt every once in a while.

When she got close enough, Dwayberry hid in the bushes and watched, looking for a sign of guards. Right now would be a good moment to figure out how many of them were actively guarding. She expected to get into a fight with them, but did not intend to kill anyone, or, even less desirable, get killed herself in the process. As soon as they proved too strong, she would either surrender or make a run for it. With a bit of luck, they would not even recognise her. All of a sudden, she regretted the choice of her weapon. An axe like this may install fear into the opponent, but surely that would be more effective for a six feet tall, heavily muscular man. All this axe did for Dwayberry, standing little over five feet and still being rather skinny at the moment, was make her far less agile.
"Oh well..." she muttered to herself.

Dwayberry waited until her legs began to ache. She still had seen no sign of any guards. They were probably inside the guardhouse on this cold winter morning, drinking and playing games. So very predictable.
Time to move forward.
Dwayberry got up, took her axe, and approached the town hall. On one of her previous revolts, in Fenia City, she had climbed the wall up to the mayor's office. That, however, was no option this time, with this stone axe.
She would try to break through the front gate.
As she sneaked past the guard house, she could not help herself, and pressed herself to the wall, carefully moving to the nearest window. She looked in. No-one?
So there was no-one in the guard house, and no-one to be seen near the gate.
"Where are you hiding?" she whispered, looking around. She frowned. She didn't like the idea of guards sneaking up to her. She could be hit over the head, on her sensitive spot.
Dwayberry inhaled and exhaled sharply. Did she lose her skill so dramatically that she failed to locate the guards, who were probably spying on her and planning at what point to attack her from behind? She wished Nocturne were here, he could have helped her locate those buggers.
Now that she was standing here, with her stupid big axe, she had two options. Run for it immediately, or go for it first.
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Dwayberry
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Re: [RP] Surprise visit!

Post by Dwayberry »

Dwayberry ran forward. She swung her axe at gate, crying out to add more force to the blow.
But rather than slamming it into the gate, she let the axe miss by a few inch, and spun around due to its momentum. She lowered the weapon and looked around. Still no sign of guards. If they had been spying on her, they should have made their move by now as it was clear what her intentions were.
Could it be there was actually no-one guarding the town hall from the outside?
They must be inside then, yes, hiding from the cold weather.
Dwayberry casually pulled a pin from her hair and began to pick the gate's lock. It didn't take long for it to give way. This was always the easiest part.

She picked up her axe, and opened the gate far enough to enter. She entered quietly and stood still to listen. Still no sign of anyone approaching. All was dark in the hallway, save from some moonlight flooding in through the windows that weren't closed with shutters.
Dwayberry blinked. This was most unexpected.
She took a candle from the wall and lit it, then began to climb the stairs towards the office rooms. As she reached the top of the stairs, she even dared to whistle softly. And when she entered the quiet mayor's office, she let out a chuckle.
"Unbelievable, there's no-one here. There really is no-one here and no-one is defending the gods-damned place."
She used the candle to light those along the walls, then sat back on the mayor's chair, behind the desk. "I suppose I am the bloody mayor now, huh?"
Dwayberry couldn't help herself. Her failed revolt - had failed. And thus she succeeded, sort of. She burst out laughing, and laughed until she had to wipe the tears from her eyes.

Dwayberry never planned to be a mayor, but now she was here, she could just as well take a look around, and make the most of it for as long - or short - this may last. First, she gathered the belongings of the previous mayor, Redkipp was his name, and tossed them out of the window. The servents that would arrive here in just a few hours from now would probably be the first to find it. Dwayberry browsed through the logs showing the inventory, the movements of cash, the lists of citizens. She put up her feet on the large desk as she studied the information she now had access to. The names of those in the current town council didn't ring any bells, and they didn't appear to have official meetings very often.
"Well, that should change if I stick around here for a little longer..."
Dwayberry took her own notebook, and started to jot down some plans.



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Dwayberry
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Re: [RP] Surprise visit!

Post by Dwayberry »

After a short while, there was a polite knock on the door and an equally polite voice spoke. "Sir? You arrived early this morning. Would you care for some tea and breakfast?"
Dwayberry looked up from her notes, and closed her notebook with a grin. "Oh, yes please!'

The door opened and in looked a very surprised servant. He paled when he saw the stone axe resting against the mayor's desk.
"Surprise! I'm taking over!" Dwayberry smiled and waved. "You are one of the town hall servants, are you not? Loyal and serving whoever obtained the position of mayor, be it by fairly winning the elections, or by unfairly taking over by means of revolt, am I right?" she casually rested a hand on her weapon.
The servant nodded slowly, not taking his eyes off the axe.
"Now, here is a list of what I want to see done. Are you paying attention? Alright, first of all, change the locks. Mayor Redkipp is out, mayor Dwayberry is in. Then, spread the news of this successful revolt. I want to read about it in the newspapers. I want the people of Secfenia to know about it before I meet them face to face." She got up and took the axe, not failing to notice its effect on the poor servant, and strolled up and down the office as she continued, "I want you to instruct a sculptor to erect a statue in my honour. Nothing too big, just a nice little statue that properly shows my features, as a little reminder of this fine day. Oh, and the sheriff is fired. She failed at her job of managing this town's defence. I am taking over as sheriff, too. Put some militia job ads up, offer a good pay, let's say, thirty-four freznics. That should be enough, right? Way more that a field job would pay. Alright, hmm... what else, yes! I would like bacon, eggs, and a strawberry cake with whipped cream with my tea. That would be all for now, please send the sculptor up to my office once they arrive." She smiled and waved off the servant. "Dismissed."

The servant left and Dwayberry sat back down, a bright smile on her face. Who knew this was all she needed to have her appetite return?
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Dwayberry
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Re: [RP] Surprise visit!

Post by Dwayberry »

After enjoying her well-deserved large breakfast, Dwayberry had put up some inventory for sale. All for fair prices, of course, as she had no intention to do actual damage to this town. Not to her old strawberry town, not to her husband's town. But the longer she thought about it, is was a disgrace that this townhall had been so poorly defended. They were lucky it was her who walked into the town hall, and not someone with actual ill intention. There was nothing preventing her from taking all the money and making a run for Cork, nothing but some love that remained for this strawberry town.
Her reign would probably not last long, as the servant had already informed her that no-one had responded to the militia job offers yet. Of course, it could be that none of the citizens wanted to support the new mayor and Dwayberry could expect a major revolt against her tonight. Or, they really just did not give a rodent's behind about their town defences.
Well, let this be a lesson for them, then, she thought. Today it's me, tomorrow it could be the dark elf to expand on his New Kiene kingdom, unless this town gets their crap together.

A knock on the door announced the sculptor, a very tall, very skinny and flat lady. She had Dwayberry stand on a chair in a desired pose as she worked on the statue.
Dwayberry wished she had brought a fancy hat for the occasion but truthfull, she had not prepared for this outcome, and posing with a handful of fresh strawberries wasn't a bad option either.
"I want the text under the statue to say: 'In honour of the Strawberry Queen, who took over this town on February 21, 1658, by means of revolt. May this be a reminder to the citizens of this town to keep their town and the strawberry fields save in future.'"
"There are only so many characters I can put on the pedestal," the sculptor said. She worked incredible fast, her hands were a blur, and even talking didn't seem to slow her down.
"Really? You can work this fast, but you cannot, through the same magic, put more text on a pedestal?"
"Not if you want every literate soul to be able to read it," the sculptor rested her hands and blew a cloud of dust off the statue, revealing a small, but very good likeness of Dwayberry, smiling proudly and holding a handful of her favourite fruits. "There, the statue itself is done."
Dwayberry nodded in appreciation. "It's perfect! Alright, just put on the pedestal: 'In honour of the Strawberry Queen, who took over this town on February 21, 1658.' Can you do that?"
"Yes. But who would be this strawberry queen?"
Dwayberry raised an eyebrow, and the sculptor's expression changed from black to a somewhat compassionate understanding.
"I see. Are you sure you didn't want a large statue made in your honour?"
"Good grief, no! My ego is not that big, you know," she chuckled and showed the sculptor out as soon as she was done with the text.

Dwayberry then extinguished the candles along one of the walls, leaned against the wall, and quietly spoke to the shadows.
"Nocture, my dear, can you hear me? Come over tonight, when you're done working. I want to celebrate our marriage in this office."
Then, seeing nothing more that required her immediate attention, she locked up, twisted the brand new keys in her fingers, and made her way to the Myst tavern. She'd return here tonight, hopefully meet up with Nocturne, and see what the rest of the night and the new day would bring.
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Dwayberry
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Re: [RP] Surprise visit!

Post by Dwayberry »

That night, Dwayberry returned to the town hall. No-one had accepted the militia jobs, despite the pay being much better than was offered for field jobs. Dwayberry was not sure whether the citizens were simply too loyal to protect the town hall after a foreigner had taken over, or if they just did not care enough. Perhaps there was no ale or set of dice present in the guardhouse. Dwayberry knew that most militia thrived on ale and games to make it through the night.
Well, in case it would be a lone soul to try to take the town hall back tonight, she would just defend it herself. If there would be more, she would decide right then what her best options were. After all, her main goal had been to ignite a little chaos and enjoy the fun that came with it, not to take over and defend a town hall.

Dwayberry placed the strawberry pie she brought, purchased from Bravia's finest bakery, in the middle of the desk. She lit enough candles to set the mood and made sure the nice soft rug that formerly sat under the desk to keep the mayor's feet warm, was placed in front of the fireplace. She made a nice warm fire and then proceeded to throw red rose petals through the room. A bit over the top, maybe, but she was sure Nocturne could see the humour in it.
Once finished, Dwayberry lay down on the soft rug, posing to show off shiny dark hair and curves, and a bit of leg for extra irresistibility. She smiled at the largest shadow visible on the wall. Would he choose that portal, or another?

A knock on the door.
Dwayberry frowned in confusion. The door? Well, that was surprising indeed.
Almost immediately after the knocking, the door opened and in came a geen-skinned man of rather short stature. He may even be shorter than she was with her 5 feet 1. He wasn't alone; a small army of pitchfork wielding peasants emerged behind him in the door opening. They all appeared very tall, compared to their leader.
"Excuse me," the green man spoke, "Could you please explain what happened yesterday?"***

"Hello..." Dwayberry stayed for a moment in her now awkward pose, before realising this and getting up. "You're not Nocturne, are you?"

***I asked Redkipp for his IC response to the event, to minimise godmoding.
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Re: [RP] Surprise visit!

Post by Dwayberry »

Dwayberry didn't need an answer to that question. Instead, she provided green-man with an answer to his.
"Well, yesterday, I passed this town hall and I saw no-one defending. So I entered to investigate, and discovered that indeed, no-one was defending this place," she moved over to the desk and stared for a moment at the pie that sat there, and the axe resting against the desk. The peasants noticed. They tightened their grips on their pitchforks.
"And so..." Dwayberry continued, carefully picking up the axe, "I thought I better sit here and defend, in case some evil-doer notices and decides to steal the town's entire inventory. Are you per chance the previous mayor, Redkipp? Here to take your town leadership back?" Dwayberry nodded, "So it's a revolt then... politely done, but still quite intimidating."
She glanced at the peasants. Perhaps she could take them. Old Dwayberry could take them. Now, she wasn't sure of a positive outcome as they were quite many. And they were usually stupid. They were probably paid by Redkipp to help out, and they would do so, fight to the death if they must, rather than be intimidated by the size of Dwayberry's axe and choose to make a run for it. It would be a blood bath if she decided to attack. That would go far, very far, beyond the kind of chaos she had planned here.

Dwayberry walked to the nearest window, not taking her eyes off the peasants and Redkipp, and unceremoneously threw the axe outside.
"I congratulate you on successfully taking this town back," she returned to the desk and picked up the strawberry pie. "I'll be taking this, though. I paid for it myself. I trust you let me leave now I'm unarmed and willing to let you take over without a fight?" A slight smile crossed her face, it would have been an innocent smile if only she were capable of that right now. "Alright, good night then, see you in court, perhaps. No obligation though," She nodded and slipped passed Redkipp and his peasant army.
She carefully carried the pie down the stairs and out of the building. Then, she found her axe and, balancing the pie on one hand, she grabbed the handle with her other hand and dragged the large weapon back to Nocturne's house.
That husband of hers. Such good timing! If he had actually showed up, it could have made the encounter with Redkipp all the more embarrassing.
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