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Post by Grimm on May 14, 2021 3:10:41 GMT
A long time ago there was a great violence that happened upon the land when a demonic dragon plagued the country side. It was said to blacken the sky as it approached, poison the waters it touched, ruined the land it scratched and it’s roar could drive an entire village insane. Legend has it that the beast was tamed by one man and in forming a contract, the dragon would serve and protect the family lineage throughout time; forever.
That was until a hundred generations later, the dragon found himself being locked away as punishment for killing the Third Prince of someplace or other. He couldn’t quiet recall. Humans and their hierarchy meant nothing to the dragon, he had only his original promise to the man. A promise he had no intention of ever breaking and thus the Third Prince had to go.
His transgression seemed so long ago and yet it still felt like yesterday and truth be told, he had never been good with keeping up with the mortal clock. At least they could have allowed him the space to stretch out, this room was too small for his original form.
His prison was an underground cathedral that they had originally built for him as a home. He used the term loosely as he only ever used it to collect things. Books mostly, although he did at one time have a rather large pile of gold and gems. He had forfeited most everything of wealth to save his Master from the chopping block and to keep the family from social ruin. Although he was certain it would all blow over in due time; no one had yet to reclaim him.
Golden eyes stared at the dancing shadows cast on the ceiling of the underground cathedral by a single candle burning at it’s center. There hadn’t been a sound in the chamber for decades, even the enchanted chains that shackled him had remained motionless when he realized no one would be likely returning. The first few years he entertained himself with the treasured he had stored away when they imprisioned him. Books had provided him with the best adventures, until he knew every page by heart. Eventually he decided to slumber, but even drifting in and out of sleep for years at a time lost its appeal. And he could never quiet get comfortable enough in his human form to slumber for very long. As a dragon he could easily sleep away a hundred years or more. So instead he just stared at the shadowed shapes swaying to the candles cadence, recreating memories in their flicker, reliving days in the sun.
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Post by Behax on May 16, 2021 13:47:07 GMT
Artemis Chronis had been the beginning of a lineage. When others cowered in fear of a great mighty dragon, he was the first (and only) to think, “that creature seems unfathomably lonely to me.” So he made a contract with the beast, if it would stay by his side, and his children’s side, and their children’s, and their children’s children forever true, then never again will he be lonely. The creature would be free of its obligation no sooner than the absolute end of Atremis’ entire line.
He had no way of foretelling the unfortunate events of a hundred generations down the line. The death of a child at the hands of royalty. The dragon cared not for human conventions of station. And the Chronis family claimed no loyalties to anyone but themselves, and those in their lands. The reaction of the dragon was predictable, he was protecting that which he must.
Blood must be paid with blood. The Prince had to die.
Retribution for this fell heavy on the Chronis family. The current Patriarch’s head, or the imprisonment of the dragon. It was not easily that the family made the choice, and in the long term it didn’t save them as much as they had hoped it might.
Without the dragon to protect them it was easier for their wealth, their land, their titles to be stripped away piece by piece, generation by generation. The decline was slow, but steady.
Eventually there was but one survivor left. His time was short, his wife had died along with his heir in childbirth. The long line ended with him. If that happened that which bound the dragon below would shatter, and the beast would be loose unto the world, and the last survivor could only imagine what terrible retribution would be wrought when the creature realised and learned all that had happened during its imprisonment.
His only option had been to experiment with magical and alchemical principles that were considered dangerous by many. It took years, and much failure until he was able to create a faux-human, a homunculus of sorts. Giving it life, a soul was even harder. The only true way had been to use dragon’s blood, blood of the very dragon to which the family was tied, along with embedding the very contract into the skin of this new being. Making it something of a cross between.
Five years had passed since the last of the line of Chronis breathed life and soul into an artificial being. A being he’d named Artemis after the forebare of the whole family.
Artemis Anastasius Chronis XV had the appearance of a young man, maybe 18-20. He was pale, thin, a little on the shorter side.His hair was a light greyish blue, almost white in certain lights. It was short with a fluffy appearance. His eyes a light clear blue, with thin gold rings around the outside of his irises. His skin was covered in intricate lines of ancient draconic text and symbology, the every letter of the Chronis family’s contract.
The blood in his veins belong to both the Dragon below, and the family it was meant to protect.
For a year now he had been completely alone. His creator, a man he knew affectionately as his ‘Grandfather,’ had passed away, leaving Artemis completely alone. Isolated in an old castle that had seen better days. Fortunately though he could eat and drink, he did not need to do these things. He didn’t need to sleep either, but he found that he liked it.
Recently his dreams troubled him. There was a voice calling to him from the dark. He didn’t know who it belonged to. More than once he’d woken with a start to find himself standing before two towering grand doors. He knew they led below the castle, and that they were important, but his Grandfather had not had time to fully educate him on what was down there, or on his role as its keeper.
He woke with a start once again, moon light filtering through tall dusty windows. Finding himself standing in front of those doors again.
“Who is calling me?” He questioned quietly to himself. A hand reaching out to touch the black wood of the intricately decorated doors in front of him.
The voice was familiar, yet he did not know who it belonged to.
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Post by Grimm on May 18, 2021 15:19:46 GMT
How long had he been staring at the shadows dancing on the cathedral ceiling. Hours, days, weeks....a month. Time was such a hard thing to keep up with when you were a dragon, even harder still when there was nothing from the outside world.
Loneliness was creeping it’s was back to him, a feeling that has once swallowed him whole. Until Artemis had the courage to speak to him, he promised he would never be lonely again...and yet here he was. Alone.
Golden eyes shifted ever so slightly to the enchanted chains that would only open for the head of the household. If it hasn’t been for those be might have already grown impatient and broken free...and the fact that they remained on him meant at least one of Artemis’ offspring was alive.
The feeling welled up in his chest. Had the humans forgotten him? Was he to be left alone down here forever? The dragon pushed out his consciousness trying to call out to anyone who might hear him. Over and over, more desperate with each passing flicker of flame.
How long had he been calling out? Hours? Years? Time was such a fickled thing. On the lounging chair where he reclined for the last several decades he moved ever so slightly, but it was enough to move the layer of dust that has gathered on him. Long silky locks of black hair peeled out from the white dusting that concealed the color of his hair as he shifted.
Someone. Anyone. I’m don’t want to be alone anymore.
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Post by Behax on May 18, 2021 20:25:24 GMT
Artemis ran his hand over the dark wood. He could remember his Grandfather telling him that he’d explain what lied beyond them one day, but he’d died before he could. There was so much his Grandfather hadn’t had time to tell him, and now all Artemis had was an eternity to think about what he did not know, while reading what he could in the family library...But there was so much to get through.
Someone. Anyone. I’m don’t want to be alone anymore.
It echoed in his mind, and it sounded so lonely. It reminded him of his own loneliness. Someone was beyond the doors, there was someone down there, and it was important to the family whose legacy Artemis now protected. Something in him ached every time he heard that voice echoing in his mind.
He reached into his shirt and pulled out a key on a chain. He inserted it into a lock and turned it 3 times. Until he heard a small click, followed shortly after by the much louder sounds of huge unseen gears and cogs slowly turning, large bolts sliding out of place. The noise of clunking gears echoed through the castle's empty halls, and down the stairs that lead deep under the castle.
Artemis put the key away, before grabbing a handle on each door, and with much effort pulling them, until the doors began to open. They were heavy, and he only managed to open them enough for him to slip through. It was dark as Artemis descended the stairs, torches lighting themselves behind him. Not that the dark bothered him, his eyes were more than good enough to see in the dark.
It was a long journey to the bottom, enough that Artemis began to wonder if there was a bottom at all.
Eventually his feet touched down on the flagstone floor. He looked around before spotting a dim, flickering light in the distance.
“Hello?” His voice was tentative, hesitant.
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Post by Grimm on May 21, 2021 4:31:32 GMT
At first he had thought that the sounds had been imagined, but the footsteps that grew ever louder let him know he was going to receive a visitor. He was quiet delighted and intrigued by the notion. He couldn’t recall if there had been an end to his sentence, but certainly he would welcome any distraction, no matter how brief or unscheduled.
”Hello?” the voice called out from across the room.
From the vague dim cover, the dragon’s human form sat up from his lounge chair. His enchanted chains having been still for so long clanked and slithered as they snaked their way around the space, allowing one to retrace his path since his imprisionment began. As the chains had only meant to keep him from escaping had the door ever been broken open, their length knew no end as it wrapped around pillars and bookcases.
“A visitor,” his own voice startled him as he had not spoken in so long he barely remembered the sound, “after all this time….why a visitor now?” His voice male, baritone in nature and rumbled in his chest over the humm of the m. He rose from his seat, the dust cascading off him and rolling over the candle lit floor like a dirty fog.
When dragon had been placed into his confinement, he had been wearing a fine silk shirt, along with the most strapping pants this side of the country. However most of his clothing had been eaten away by moths, including the clothes he had been wearing during one of his many slumbers, leaving him wrapped in an excessive black leather toga that had originally been a blanket. Long black hair was unkept and hung down around his shoulders, with tendrils that framed expressive features, large gold eyes and what looked like red eye shadow that swept up from the edges.
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Post by Behax on May 21, 2021 18:42:00 GMT
There had been no end to the Dragon’s sentence, however it had been so long that scarce few but the family to which he served even believed there had ever been a literal dragon in the first place. Knowledge of the Dragon had all but died with Artemis’ ‘Grandfather’. Artemis had no understanding of what he’d just walked into.
“A visitor,”
The voice startled Artemis a little. He wasn’t sure he’d actually expected to find anyone in the depths of the castle.
“After all this time….why a visitor now?”
Artemis hesitated. He was unsure as to whether getting closer to this stranger was a good idea or not. The sound of clinking mental had him looking down, he saw the lengths of chains, snaking and coiling around the space. Was the person down here dangerous? Why hadn’t his Grandfather told him about this?
“There was a voice calling out…”
Reluctantly he moved closer to the light, to the figure sitting up on the lounge chair. His feet were bare, after all he’d walked to the doors in his sleep. He could feel the dust clinging to them, coughed as it moved about the space.
He was wearing a simple loose nightshirt, and bridges that clung to his skin, reaching just below his mid-thigh. His skin was pale, and what was visible of it, covered in markings, even down to his extremities. His hair a light blue-ish grey, his eyes like blue crystal but with gold rings on the outside.
The Dragon might find himself in a sense of Deja vu. Everything about Artemis from his looks, to his voice was similar to that of the man the Dragon had once known, just younger. Younger than the Dragon had ever known him.
"Was it not you?"
Artemis remained a few feet away, what he probably considered a safe distance, standing next to a towering book case.
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Post by Grimm on May 22, 2021 4:27:05 GMT
Yes. It had been what he wanted to say, his heart leapt with the idea that someone had heard him but his proud and beautiful self would not confess the desperation of his loneliness.
“imprisonment was meant to be my punishment….not isolation, is what I wanted to think.” His voice rumbled gently and with elegance as he looked over the visitor. There was something vaguely familiar with the newcomer’s appearance, even in the odd attire. Familiar and friendly and yet…
In an instant, unimpeded by the length of chain Dragon had risen and closed the distance between him and Artemis pinning him to the bookcase with his body. Grabbing ahold of one of the young man’s wrist, he yanked it upward, while his other hand grabbed Artemis’ chin tilting it high in order to get a better look at his eyes. And anger bristled down his hidden scales.
“Have I been betrayed, forgotten by the Chronis bloodline and replaced by another….dragon?” His query reverberated through the underground cathedral and although angry, it did not completely boil over into his voice. He was confused by Artemis. The scent of a dragon was upon the young man and those unmistakable eyes. “Has Artemis Chronis broken his promise to me?” Dragon demanded to know.
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Post by Behax on May 22, 2021 15:59:15 GMT
Artemis hadn’t expected the other man to be able to move so quickly. His eyes widened with shock as he was pinned to the bookcase in the blink of an eye. He grunted as one of his wrists was yanked above his head. Fearful blue eyes met gold as he was forced to look up at the other man.
“Have I been betrayed, forgotten by the Chronis bloodline and replaced by another….dragon?
Though the man kept the anger out of his voice, Artemis could feel it radiating off of him.
“Has Artemis Chronis broken his promise to me?”
“I….I don’t know what you are talking about. I’m….I’m no dragon…” But he also knew he wasn’t strictly human either.
He didn’t really understand if there was a word for what he was, the closest the Dragon pinning him in place would know of would be ‘Homunculus’. There just simply hadn’t been enough time to teach Artemis everything, it had taken at least 6 months for Artemis to learn how to speak, read and write on a level comparable with a human child. It had taken a further 2 years for him to learn to behave and act in a way that was comparable with how old he looked.
“I….I am Artemis Anastasius Chronis XV.” The first thing he could truly remember was being told how important it was that he ever forget his name. “My grandfather was Stephanian Chronis...He….He passed away last year.”
He hoped that sharing this might quell the other man’s anger at least a little.
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Post by Grimm on May 28, 2021 13:42:24 GMT
“Artemis Anastasius Chronis XV,” he repeated the name, golden eyes evaluating the young man in his clutches. He inspected Artemis with much scrutiny, tilting his chin this way and that to look at him better. In his recollection this Artemis seemed slightly off from the one he remembered, for starters he didn’t have that golden ring in his eyes. Dragon leaned in obvious that he was smelling the scent from Artemis’ hair until he lifted the mans chin up high and ran a tongue up his exposed neck to his jawline.
“And yet you cannot claim to be a human.” His exhale was a little hotter than it should have been in his excitement at this different visitor in his dreadful solitude. Beastly predatory clicks emanated from his chest his interest peeked toward his fake Artemis.
“Tell me little Homunculus, who is now head of the Chronis name?” He tilted Artemis face to look at him in the eyes.
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Post by Behax on May 28, 2021 15:40:57 GMT
For the most part Artemis was pliant under the dragon’s touch, offering little resistance when the dragon turned his head this way and that. It seemed the safer option to just comply, after all Artemis didn’t know how strong the creature was. Nor for that matter did he truly understand his own strength or power. He shuddered when the dragon sniffed at his hair, squirming when he felt the tongue running up his neck. It felt weird, making his skin feel hot and he didn’t understand why.
“Who is now head of the Chronis name?”
Artemis was silent for a moment as he contemplated that question, because well, the answer was ‘no one’. But that wasn’t strictly true, Artemis had the family’s blood, as well as that of the Dragon’s flowing through his artificial body. He knew he was just a replacement for something his Grandfather had lost.
“I...suppose I am...No one else is left,” he answered honestly.
The original Artemis had been from a small rather minor noble family, but in the generations since the forming of the pact the family had grown large and their standing more important. Since the Dragon’s imprisonment it had dwindled to just the simulacrum of a human he held in his grip. This new Artemis was all that remained of the Chronis legacy.
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Post by Grimm on May 29, 2021 3:50:59 GMT
“..no one left?” it was disbelief that crossed his brows, his grip loosened ever so slightly although it remained firm. “That can’t be.” When he had been placed into his prison the family was thriving. “When I was imprisoned here, the family was prospering, thriving!” His disbelief was turning to denial but there was one way to be sure.
“If what you say is true, then free me from my bondage.” He challenged the faux human statement. If he really was the head of the Chronis name then he would have the key that had open the prison door, which also happened to unlock the chain. If not…then this Artemis had been merely thrown in here to entertain him. Not that he had a problem with that, he would get his uses out of him. But if he was telling the truth, then protecting him would be the most important thing. Even if he was a fake.
“But be warned, if you are dishonest with me, I will snap you like a twig.” the look in his golden eyes were stern, making sure that his visitor understood the implications of a lie of this magnitude. Slowly and hesitantly Dragon let go of Artemis and retreated back a few steps.
“Free me and let me see the ruin of Chronis with my own eyes.” Dragon lifted his leg, placing his barefoot on top of a chair, his leg sliding out from the makeshift toga and revealing the manacle around his ankle. It was beautiful in it’s design, matching designs that were on the door and it had made of mitheral so it had been lightweight. But even it’s magical properties could not save the his ankle from the decades of wear. The skin under the ankle chain was callous, red and rather scaly.
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Post by Behax on May 29, 2021 14:23:16 GMT
A part of Artemis wished he could tell him something else, to take it back. Deep inside he felt a sense of grief he couldn’t explain, because he had never experienced the family at its peak. So why did it hurt? He only knew the family from the old dusty paintings on the walls, (though many were covered with sheets or curtains now,) or from the large expansive library they had maintained, their records, and from his Grandfather’s stories. He did not know the thriving family the Dragon remembered. Still it hurt.
Artemis watched the other man cautiously when he was finally freed. He hesitated at the demand, not sure if freeing the Dragon would be a wise choice. Unsure if he was making the right choice, Artemis reached into his nightshirt and produced the very key the Dragon was demanding, cementing Artemis’ words as truth. Kneeling down, and hoping it wasn’t a mistake, he inserted the key into the lock of the cuff, and released the Dragon from his decades of imprisonment.
When he stood back up, Artemis stuffed the key back into his shirt.
“I’m sorry.” And he did look genuinely sorry.
Sorry for bringing the Dragon such bad news. Sorry for being the only thing left of a once great family. Sorry because what laid in wait upstairs was probably going to be worse than what the Dragon was already imagining.
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Post by Grimm on May 30, 2021 6:22:43 GMT
The moment Artemis produced the key from his nightshirt his heart sunk beyond the depth of the subterranean floor. Even with as light as it was, the weight of the delicate shackle felt like a boulder had been lifted off of him and he regarded the homunculus with a bit of curiosity at his genuine apology. Although he assumed that Artemis only did so because he was a subservient creation. Enough with that already, he turned his eyes to the staircase that lead up. Hesitantly he crossed the threshold and began to climb the stairs.
As he neared the top his steps slowed, dread building at the haunting silence from the massive castle waiting to greet him. This was not how it should be. There should be voices and chatter and music. Usually it would cascade down the spiral, growing in intensity as he neared the top. Even the deafening shrills of those tiny human hatchlings would have been more welcoming than lonely silence.
“I have seen Empire’s rise and fall, but the Chronis family was meant to be eternal.” He was speaking as he climbed although as a dragon he had a habit of vocalizing his thoughts and narrating the world around him. Preparing himself for the shock, Dragon easily pushed open the heavy doors to horrible truth.
The castle was in disarray, disrepair and seemingly abandoned. As he walked the true meaning of what he lost was really starting to sink in. “There needs to be children. The line must continue.” He stopped in front of a grand painting covered up by a black sheet. Sorrow, anger, despair and above all grief was welling up inside of him. A feeling Artemis would most likely experience through the contract. Emotions were also a fickle thing for Dragon to grasp entirely. Words would often fail him in relaying exactly what it was he was feeling. Being a few thousand years old tended to muddle the emotional waters.
“Without the Chronis bloodline, I’ll never find his soul again.” He reached up a pulled the sheet down, revealing a large and gaudy painting of the Original Artemis and of himself.
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Post by Behax on May 30, 2021 11:24:54 GMT
Artemis was cautious as he followed the Dragon up the stairs, maintaining a polite distance. The castle above would by human standards be considered barely habitable. The roof was still intact, as were the walls. But some of the windows were cracked, everything was covered in a veil of dirt, dust and decay. Carpets and furniture were moth-eaten and rugged. Much in the castle had seen better days. Some things that were once there, weren’t any longer, likely sold.
No chatter, nor laughter filled the halls. No footsteps, not even that of busy servants, for there weren’t any anymore. There hadn’t been servants for several generations now, at least not more than perhaps 1 or 2 at a time, now there were none at all. Some parts of the castle were completely disused; it had once housed 2-3 branches of the family, maybe more. A large number of people could easily inhabit the castle, it was not meant for just 1 or 2 people, it was too big for that.
Artemis had always felt that his Grandfather had been lonely, and then in his own isolation he had felt it. But what he could feel coming from the dragon was far, far deeper than that. It wasn’t just crushing loneliness or grief. There was despair there, and an overwhelming sense of loss. Artemis continued to follow the Dragon as he wandered the halls, not interrupting or adding to the creature's comments and lamentations.
“The line must continue.”
Artemis could remember his Grandfather saying something similar when he was close to death. While on the surface Artemis didn’t really understand it, deep in his core, he knew it was why he existed. He was the continuation of the line, in the only way his creator had thought possible. He watched as the Dragon pulled the black sheet from the large painting and when he laid eyes on it, felt an odd sense of Deja Vu. In an odd way he knew he was looking at himself, while also not looking at himself.
Artemis Chronis, the first of his name as depicted in the painting, was much older, between his 40s and 50s at least. But the eyes were unmistakable, as was the fluffy almost white hair. Other paintings nearby were also covered, if unveiled they would reveal other portraits of the heads of the family, some of them with their spouses and children. Many of them including the Dragon as well. People that while not as memorable as the first Artemis, people the Dragon would have known, would have seen grow from children to adults, before passing on.
One particular painting was not just covered, but turned around completely. If righted, it was a picture of a man, his wife, the Dragon and two children. One of which had their face slashed clean through. The child who’s death had started the whole chain reaction that led them here. The painting had been slashed out of grief and anger.
From there the paintings became fewer, and smaller. The Dragon no longer appeared in them, though there was often symbolism of his existence either carved into the very frame or painted somewhere in the background, paintings of people the Dragon never met. The family might have left him isolated, but they never forgot he was there, until eventually any new paintings stopped all together.
Every now and then there was someone with those same, clear blue eyes.
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Post by Grimm on Jun 1, 2021 17:40:09 GMT
As he walked he pulled the sheets from the paintings, annoyed their faces were covered up. These were remembrance of a long past that books could not capture. When he came to the slashed painting, he righted it with care.
“I should have not have listened. I should have destroyed the royal family, then the Chronis name would have endured.” The child that had been killed had been one of Artemis reincarnations and Dragon had never taken Artemis’ passing well even when he would die in a ripe old age. His death as a child was even worse. And this blatant disrespect only caused his anger to grow. Slowly golden eyes turned to the Artemis with him now, emotions conflicted at his physical appearance and yet the absence of the familiar soul made him not more than a look a like.
It was becoming apparent that perhaps the homunculus had been created to keep him imprisoned or at the very least to keep him from breaking the contract. It irked him a bit, to be on the leash of this newborn that seemed to ignorant of many things. Dragon snatched Artemis by the wrist and forcefully dragged him along, stepping out through a broken door and out onto a large balcony that overlooked the Chronis estate.
The castle had been built on the edge of a caldera that had filled with water to create a beautiful lake, hidden by the high edges of the surrounding mountains - this was Dragon’s home territory. The full moon blanketed the forest scene and at least Dragon recognized it’s beautiful grandeur, at least this wasn’t in disrepair.
Such a weak individual could not be his Artemis and he would prove it now. Dragon took a step up onto the ledge of the balcony forcing Artemis onto the ledge with him, the ground below several hundred feet down. The wind whipped the long stands of his hairs, he turned a golden eye to peer at Artemis before shoving him from the platform beside him. And then he leapt off the edge of the balcony himself.
And as Artemis fell, Dragon took his true form snatching the homunculus from the air with a swipe of his back claw. His form was enormous, menacing and black. He carried Artemis in his claw to the other side of the lake, skimming just above the water before placing him down on the sandy pebble beach. Dragon landed as well those golden eyes locked onto the time form of the homunculus. In the moonlight the gold of his horns and claws glistened.
“Tell me, Fifteen.” He used Artemis suffix instead of his name. “Do you know who I am?” It was still the man’s voice although the dragons mouth did not move.
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