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Adventures in the Eastern Provinces
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<blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 7502897" data-attributes="member: 1210"><p>“It appears,” Karlinden remarks, “that our presence has destabilized the duergar, as well as the goblins.”</p><p></p><p>Shifty smirks and pats his comb-over back into place. “Well, we restabilized the goblins. We can do it to these dwarves, as well!”</p><p></p><p>Back up a step. Our heroes have returned, once more, to the dim depths of the earthquake rift. Once more they have cheerfully paid the wererats and their purple dragon ally the demanded “entrance fee” into the lower levels, and once more, they found a small group of duergar guards- this time with a pair of hell hounds- awaiting them. And once more, our heroes put the enemy to the sword- although this time, they took a prisoner. </p><p></p><p>Just moments ago, Alkar demanded, “Where's Tincup? I thought we had an arrangement with you guys!”</p><p></p><p>And the captured duergar sneered. “You may have had an arrnagement with Tincup, but not with us.”</p><p></p><p>Neither Kane's nor Orzza's interrogation techniques are gentle. The captive soon gives them a rough sketch of the situation with the duergar. According to him, tensions have been rising for decades between the followers of the traditional duergar pantheon, led by Ladaguer, and those grey dwarves who have begun to follow a more diabolical path- the worship of the Arch-Devils. </p><p></p><p>Tincup was one of the traditionalists. And it seems as though the first incursion by our heroes kicked off a new stage of the conflict. Previously, there had been a few instances of violence or assassination. Now, the tension has snapped into open warfare between the factions. </p><p></p><p>“Who's the leader of the devil-worshipers?” Kane demands, hot breath right in the face of their battered captive. </p><p></p><p>“We call him Darkchain,” the duergar responds, spitting out a mouthful of blood and half a tooth with a grimace. “He uses spiked chains in battle.”</p><p></p><p>“I guess we know who we're after, then,” Sepia says brightly. </p><p></p><p>The group steps away from the duergar to discuss his fate. Kane advocates for a quick death, but Orzza points out, “If we let him go, he's going to spread the word that we're coming. That will make the devil-duergar nervous, and it might prod Tincup's faction into taking some kind of action that helps us.” </p><p></p><p>Shifty nods. “Or at least they might be ready to join in the fight when we arrive. I like it.”</p><p></p><p>Kane scowls. “And we might have to defeat him all over again. We'll save time if we slit his throat now.”</p><p></p><p>“Will we?” Shar puts her hands on her hips and raises her voice enough for the duergar to hear her. “We beat him once. If he tries to fight us again, we'll kill him. And then we can hunt down his family. No, I think he'll stay out of our way.” She glances at the prisoner. “Isn't that right?”</p><p></p><p>Sullenly, the fellow nods. “Aye, I'll give my word not to interfere with you again if you let me go.”</p><p></p><p>“And everyone knows that devils, and their worshipers, are creatures of their word.” Sepia smiles at the grey dwarf. </p><p></p><p>“Aye, and dwarves,” the captive says. </p><p></p><p>Shar nods. “All right. In that case, we're going to let you go- once you tell us where to find this Darkchain.”</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>Unfortunately, while the dwarf doesn't outright lie to them in giving directions, he does commit some omissions. </p><p></p><p>He fails to mention the aquatic, slime-draped gargoyles on the way, and the haunted spirits that flit about their chamber. Nor does he mention the pair of spined devils guarding the antechamber before Darkchain's throne room. Both encounters are unexpected, and drain some of the group's resources, but neither taxes them to the point of turning back or forcing a rest longer than a few minutes. </p><p></p><p>But when our heroes breach Darkchain's throne room, they find themselves facing a formidable group of duergar. Over half a dozen warriors are in attendance, either guarding or fawning over Darkchain. </p><p></p><p>Darkchain himself is unusually tall for a duergar (at least, one that hasn't yet enlarged himself). He wears armor enameled in black and crimson, with epaulets curled to resemble flames dancing upward. He constantly fingers and fondles his spiked chain, which is also blackened. Next to him stands a berobed, bespectacled, wizened duergar with bright yellow eyes and beard dyed scarlet. The wizened fellow is festooned with pouches, and a pair of belts cross over his chest like bandoliers, but in place of daggers, they have small loops holding phials containing a variety of suspicious-looking vapors and fluids. </p><p></p><p>The enemy engages the party quickly, with some of the duergar growing to well over 8' in height to do so. One of these hurls a harpoon at Alkar, sinking it into his arm and forcing him to discard his bow in favor of his sword. Meanwhile the robed duergar begins hurling phials, unleashing clouds of foul, toxic smoke, creating explosions of flame, and attempting to incapacitate our heroes with vile poisons.</p><p></p><p>Darkchain himself is a nightmare. </p><p></p><p>Black energy erupts along the length of his chain as he grows to ogre size and begins to lash out. He smashes Kane so hard that the barbarian is almost dropped immediately. He whips the end of the chain around Shifty and yanks him from his feet. He hurls exploding, poisonous quills from his beard. </p><p></p><p>Our heroes find themselves hard-pressed. </p><p></p><p>Sepia cracks her whip back at Darkchain, relieving the pressure on Shifty long enough for the little gnome to roll away and regain his feet, then hurl a few darts at the duergar. But they deflect off his thick armor. Karlinden, hanging back, unleashes his <em>wizard's fury</em> and begins casting <em>magic missile</em> after <em>magic missile,</em> trying to thin the enemy numbers.</p><p></p><p>Orzza rushes in, hoping to engage Darkchain directly, but is intercepted by several of the guards, who provide cover to their leader and press the paladin back. But this creates a gap. Shar speaks a <em>healing word</em> to restore Kane to the fight, and the barbarian roars and enters a rage, ducks his head, and charges straight for the enemy commander. </p><p></p><p>The duergar alchemist tries to stop him by throwing another exploding phial at him, but Kane just barrels through the flames and smashes into Darkchain. </p><p></p><p>Then Shar casts <em>iron to glass</em> on Darkchain, and his weapon grows weak and frail. His blows are suddenly far less effective than they should be. Kane grins, frothing at the mouth as he unleashes <em>howling strike</em> after <em>howling strike</em> at his foe. </p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, Sepia and Shifty, also kept at bay by the guards, turn to double-team the one with the harpoon. Alkar has already fallen to his knees, barely standing, as the duergar jerks on the lead rope, pulling him this way and that. But suddenly that changes as Shifty's dagger severs the rope, then plunges into the duergar's knee. The dwarf screams in pain, and Sepia cracks her whip, letting it wrap around his neck before giving it a mighty yank. The duergar staggers away, and Alkar stabs him. He falls. </p><p></p><p>But before the ranger can regain his feet, one of the other grey dwarves- this one invisible- clocks him from behind with a massive hammer, and Alkar sprawls senseless to the ground. </p><p></p><p>Karl has turned his attention to the duergar alchemist, and is spraying volley after volley of furious missiles at him. Now, the hammer-wielding duergar interrupts him, rushing at him with a roar. The wizard yelps, finding himself cornered. A few more rough blows, and Karl, too, falls. </p><p></p><p>Orzza leaps to his aid, scaled arms bulging as he swings his blade to parry the deathblow, saving Karl's life. He belches forth a blast of acid, forcing the deurgar back. His dragonborn heritage serves him well.</p><p></p><p>The battle teeters on the edge. Sepia falls victim to the alchemist's infernal devices just before Shifty thrusts his blade into the dwarf's kidneys, taking him down in turn. Several more of the guards have fallen, but so does Shar. Darkchain himself is wounded badly, but so is Kane. The howling berserker hacks wildly at the armored duergar leader, who parries twice, then turns to flee. </p><p></p><p>Kane tries to pursue, but one of the remaining guards intercepts him, cracking him across the chest with a battle axe. Gibbering wordlessly, Kane hews him down, but by then, Darkchain has slipped out an exit. Kane throws himself against the door, only to find it locked and too heavy to smash down. Roaring, he tries again and again, but stops, panting, rage fading, as he realizes that the foe are all down.</p><p></p><p>“We almost had him,” Shifty groans, pressing a hand to one of his many wounds. “Damn it! So close!”</p><p></p><p>The party spends a few minutes gathering themselves, healing the wounded- especially the unconscious- and recovering their breath. A short discussion reveals that they are too taxed to pursue Darkchain immediately.</p><p></p><p>“Well,” says Shar, “we can try to rest in here, rather than retreating. There's that elevator we took to get onto this level. It was defensible, and we haven't seen any other way up from here. We'll be cutting off one avenue of retreat for them.”</p><p></p><p>“Aye!” Kane barks. “And then we can finish Darkchain off tomorrow!”</p><p></p><p>“If we can find him.” Shifty shakes his head. “They might be able to retreat further downward. We don't know how many levels this place has.”</p><p></p><p>Alkar shrugs. “Let them. If they run, our old buddy Tincup will be in a better position to take this level back.”</p><p></p><p>Thus decided, our heroes retreat to the aforementioned elevator chamber. It's easy enough to secure it- the door has a lock- and they unroll their bedding and settle in to rest, setting up watches. </p><p></p><p>“You know,” Orzza says as he removes his boots, “they say I was born from a special egg.”</p><p></p><p>“Really?” asks Sepia, looking the dragonborn over.</p><p></p><p>“Yeah, there's a prophecy that my life has special meaning. That I have a special destiny to fulfill.”</p><p></p><p>“Like what? Are you supposed to save the world or something?”</p><p></p><p>Orzza shrugs. “I don't know. Nobody does. But that's why I was raised to be a paladin. I was always taught to uphold the highest standards. I have to, if I'm going to be worthy of my fate.”</p><p></p><p>“The highest standards?” Alkar snorts. “Like how you tortured that dwarf?”</p><p></p><p>“He gave us no choice,” Orzza objects. </p><p></p><p>“You and Kane were beating his face in before you even started questioning him.” The elf shakes his head. “You should be better than that, if you really do want to stand for something.” And he rolls over, turning away from Orzza, to seek the restfulness of trance.</p><p></p><p><em>Huh,</em> thinks the paladin. <em>Maybe Alkar's right. Maybe I could do better. Sure, I'm trying to help the people, but maybe these... these hard people I've fallen in with are a bad influence on me. Maybe my worthiness isn't a foregone conclusion. Maybe the prophecy is relying on me to be... to be better. Special egg or not, I have a lot to think about.</em> </p><p></p><p>Haunted by disquieting thoughts, the dragonborn drifts off. </p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>“Hey! Wake up!” </p><p></p><p>Orzza starts and opens his eyes. Alkar is leaning over him, shaking him. He has a finger to his lips. </p><p></p><p>“What's going on?” whispers Orzza. </p><p></p><p>“Listen.”</p><p></p><p>The dragonborn cocks his head. </p><p></p><p>There's a quiet scratching at the lock. </p><p></p><p>“Someone is trying to get in,” hisses Alkar. He moves to prod the others awake, as silently as he can manage. </p><p></p><p>Sepia slips up to the doorway and pulls out a lockpick. She inserts it into the lock. “I think I can keep them from getting the lock open,” she whispers, fiddling with the pick. The next few moments are a tense contest of tiny probes, dancing around each other within the confines of the locks. Sepia manages to rake the tumblers such that those that her opponent has managed to get open slip closed again, and after a few minutes, whoever is on the other side withdraws his or her tools. </p><p></p><p>Still, it's enough to make the group nervous. “Let's take the elevator up a level,” suggests Shifty, stifling a yawn. “After all, unless there's another way up, they won't be able to come after us. We'll be more secure, and they still won't be able to get the drop on us.”</p><p></p><p>“Sounds good to me.” Alkar nods. </p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>The rest of their night's rest is undisturbed, if not exactly comfortable. After they wake, break their fasts, and re-gird themselves for combat, the party descends again. But this time, when they open the elevator doors, they are beset immediately. </p><p></p><p>Darkchain is waiting for them. </p><p></p><p>This time he has only a pair of guards with him. The party has no way of knowing it, but yesterday's battle turned the tide of the conflict within the duergar ranks. Darkchain's followers have almost entirely abandoned him, and his devilish patrons are displeased at his failure. They, too, have turned away. </p><p></p><p>Darkchain's only hope is to redeem himself through the art of revenge. </p><p></p><p>But the party is at full strength, and Darkchain and his lackeys are not enough. This time, the battle is short and, until the final moment, one-sided. The guards fall rapidly, and Darkchain himself is pressed hard by the group. He is faltering when he gets his revenge.</p><p></p><p>His chain whips out, the end curling around Alkar's right elbow. Darkchain gives a tremendous yank.</p><p></p><p>And Alkar's arm comes off at the elbow. </p><p></p><p>Blood sprays everywhere. The elf's screams echo through the stone chamber. </p><p></p><p>While Kane runs the duergar leader through, Shar desperately seeks to staunch the bleeding. She calls upon the holy power of the Sword Cult and heals Alkar as best she can. But the elf was primarily an archer. </p><p></p><p>Now...</p><p></p><p>“Now it's time to retreat,” states Karl. </p><p></p><p><em><strong>Next Time:</strong></em> Our heroes seek a way to help their archer pal! Meanwhile, a mystery begins at the Tower of Deryndradin, Karl's master!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="the Jester, post: 7502897, member: 1210"] “It appears,” Karlinden remarks, “that our presence has destabilized the duergar, as well as the goblins.” Shifty smirks and pats his comb-over back into place. “Well, we restabilized the goblins. We can do it to these dwarves, as well!” Back up a step. Our heroes have returned, once more, to the dim depths of the earthquake rift. Once more they have cheerfully paid the wererats and their purple dragon ally the demanded “entrance fee” into the lower levels, and once more, they found a small group of duergar guards- this time with a pair of hell hounds- awaiting them. And once more, our heroes put the enemy to the sword- although this time, they took a prisoner. Just moments ago, Alkar demanded, “Where's Tincup? I thought we had an arrangement with you guys!” And the captured duergar sneered. “You may have had an arrnagement with Tincup, but not with us.” Neither Kane's nor Orzza's interrogation techniques are gentle. The captive soon gives them a rough sketch of the situation with the duergar. According to him, tensions have been rising for decades between the followers of the traditional duergar pantheon, led by Ladaguer, and those grey dwarves who have begun to follow a more diabolical path- the worship of the Arch-Devils. Tincup was one of the traditionalists. And it seems as though the first incursion by our heroes kicked off a new stage of the conflict. Previously, there had been a few instances of violence or assassination. Now, the tension has snapped into open warfare between the factions. “Who's the leader of the devil-worshipers?” Kane demands, hot breath right in the face of their battered captive. “We call him Darkchain,” the duergar responds, spitting out a mouthful of blood and half a tooth with a grimace. “He uses spiked chains in battle.” “I guess we know who we're after, then,” Sepia says brightly. The group steps away from the duergar to discuss his fate. Kane advocates for a quick death, but Orzza points out, “If we let him go, he's going to spread the word that we're coming. That will make the devil-duergar nervous, and it might prod Tincup's faction into taking some kind of action that helps us.” Shifty nods. “Or at least they might be ready to join in the fight when we arrive. I like it.” Kane scowls. “And we might have to defeat him all over again. We'll save time if we slit his throat now.” “Will we?” Shar puts her hands on her hips and raises her voice enough for the duergar to hear her. “We beat him once. If he tries to fight us again, we'll kill him. And then we can hunt down his family. No, I think he'll stay out of our way.” She glances at the prisoner. “Isn't that right?” Sullenly, the fellow nods. “Aye, I'll give my word not to interfere with you again if you let me go.” “And everyone knows that devils, and their worshipers, are creatures of their word.” Sepia smiles at the grey dwarf. “Aye, and dwarves,” the captive says. Shar nods. “All right. In that case, we're going to let you go- once you tell us where to find this Darkchain.” *** Unfortunately, while the dwarf doesn't outright lie to them in giving directions, he does commit some omissions. He fails to mention the aquatic, slime-draped gargoyles on the way, and the haunted spirits that flit about their chamber. Nor does he mention the pair of spined devils guarding the antechamber before Darkchain's throne room. Both encounters are unexpected, and drain some of the group's resources, but neither taxes them to the point of turning back or forcing a rest longer than a few minutes. But when our heroes breach Darkchain's throne room, they find themselves facing a formidable group of duergar. Over half a dozen warriors are in attendance, either guarding or fawning over Darkchain. Darkchain himself is unusually tall for a duergar (at least, one that hasn't yet enlarged himself). He wears armor enameled in black and crimson, with epaulets curled to resemble flames dancing upward. He constantly fingers and fondles his spiked chain, which is also blackened. Next to him stands a berobed, bespectacled, wizened duergar with bright yellow eyes and beard dyed scarlet. The wizened fellow is festooned with pouches, and a pair of belts cross over his chest like bandoliers, but in place of daggers, they have small loops holding phials containing a variety of suspicious-looking vapors and fluids. The enemy engages the party quickly, with some of the duergar growing to well over 8' in height to do so. One of these hurls a harpoon at Alkar, sinking it into his arm and forcing him to discard his bow in favor of his sword. Meanwhile the robed duergar begins hurling phials, unleashing clouds of foul, toxic smoke, creating explosions of flame, and attempting to incapacitate our heroes with vile poisons. Darkchain himself is a nightmare. Black energy erupts along the length of his chain as he grows to ogre size and begins to lash out. He smashes Kane so hard that the barbarian is almost dropped immediately. He whips the end of the chain around Shifty and yanks him from his feet. He hurls exploding, poisonous quills from his beard. Our heroes find themselves hard-pressed. Sepia cracks her whip back at Darkchain, relieving the pressure on Shifty long enough for the little gnome to roll away and regain his feet, then hurl a few darts at the duergar. But they deflect off his thick armor. Karlinden, hanging back, unleashes his [i]wizard's fury[/i] and begins casting [i]magic missile[/i] after [i]magic missile,[/i] trying to thin the enemy numbers. Orzza rushes in, hoping to engage Darkchain directly, but is intercepted by several of the guards, who provide cover to their leader and press the paladin back. But this creates a gap. Shar speaks a [i]healing word[/i] to restore Kane to the fight, and the barbarian roars and enters a rage, ducks his head, and charges straight for the enemy commander. The duergar alchemist tries to stop him by throwing another exploding phial at him, but Kane just barrels through the flames and smashes into Darkchain. Then Shar casts [i]iron to glass[/i] on Darkchain, and his weapon grows weak and frail. His blows are suddenly far less effective than they should be. Kane grins, frothing at the mouth as he unleashes [i]howling strike[/i] after [i]howling strike[/i] at his foe. Meanwhile, Sepia and Shifty, also kept at bay by the guards, turn to double-team the one with the harpoon. Alkar has already fallen to his knees, barely standing, as the duergar jerks on the lead rope, pulling him this way and that. But suddenly that changes as Shifty's dagger severs the rope, then plunges into the duergar's knee. The dwarf screams in pain, and Sepia cracks her whip, letting it wrap around his neck before giving it a mighty yank. The duergar staggers away, and Alkar stabs him. He falls. But before the ranger can regain his feet, one of the other grey dwarves- this one invisible- clocks him from behind with a massive hammer, and Alkar sprawls senseless to the ground. Karl has turned his attention to the duergar alchemist, and is spraying volley after volley of furious missiles at him. Now, the hammer-wielding duergar interrupts him, rushing at him with a roar. The wizard yelps, finding himself cornered. A few more rough blows, and Karl, too, falls. Orzza leaps to his aid, scaled arms bulging as he swings his blade to parry the deathblow, saving Karl's life. He belches forth a blast of acid, forcing the deurgar back. His dragonborn heritage serves him well. The battle teeters on the edge. Sepia falls victim to the alchemist's infernal devices just before Shifty thrusts his blade into the dwarf's kidneys, taking him down in turn. Several more of the guards have fallen, but so does Shar. Darkchain himself is wounded badly, but so is Kane. The howling berserker hacks wildly at the armored duergar leader, who parries twice, then turns to flee. Kane tries to pursue, but one of the remaining guards intercepts him, cracking him across the chest with a battle axe. Gibbering wordlessly, Kane hews him down, but by then, Darkchain has slipped out an exit. Kane throws himself against the door, only to find it locked and too heavy to smash down. Roaring, he tries again and again, but stops, panting, rage fading, as he realizes that the foe are all down. “We almost had him,” Shifty groans, pressing a hand to one of his many wounds. “Damn it! So close!” The party spends a few minutes gathering themselves, healing the wounded- especially the unconscious- and recovering their breath. A short discussion reveals that they are too taxed to pursue Darkchain immediately. “Well,” says Shar, “we can try to rest in here, rather than retreating. There's that elevator we took to get onto this level. It was defensible, and we haven't seen any other way up from here. We'll be cutting off one avenue of retreat for them.” “Aye!” Kane barks. “And then we can finish Darkchain off tomorrow!” “If we can find him.” Shifty shakes his head. “They might be able to retreat further downward. We don't know how many levels this place has.” Alkar shrugs. “Let them. If they run, our old buddy Tincup will be in a better position to take this level back.” Thus decided, our heroes retreat to the aforementioned elevator chamber. It's easy enough to secure it- the door has a lock- and they unroll their bedding and settle in to rest, setting up watches. “You know,” Orzza says as he removes his boots, “they say I was born from a special egg.” “Really?” asks Sepia, looking the dragonborn over. “Yeah, there's a prophecy that my life has special meaning. That I have a special destiny to fulfill.” “Like what? Are you supposed to save the world or something?” Orzza shrugs. “I don't know. Nobody does. But that's why I was raised to be a paladin. I was always taught to uphold the highest standards. I have to, if I'm going to be worthy of my fate.” “The highest standards?” Alkar snorts. “Like how you tortured that dwarf?” “He gave us no choice,” Orzza objects. “You and Kane were beating his face in before you even started questioning him.” The elf shakes his head. “You should be better than that, if you really do want to stand for something.” And he rolls over, turning away from Orzza, to seek the restfulness of trance. [i]Huh,[/i] thinks the paladin. [i]Maybe Alkar's right. Maybe I could do better. Sure, I'm trying to help the people, but maybe these... these hard people I've fallen in with are a bad influence on me. Maybe my worthiness isn't a foregone conclusion. Maybe the prophecy is relying on me to be... to be better. Special egg or not, I have a lot to think about.[/i] Haunted by disquieting thoughts, the dragonborn drifts off. *** “Hey! Wake up!” Orzza starts and opens his eyes. Alkar is leaning over him, shaking him. He has a finger to his lips. “What's going on?” whispers Orzza. “Listen.” The dragonborn cocks his head. There's a quiet scratching at the lock. “Someone is trying to get in,” hisses Alkar. He moves to prod the others awake, as silently as he can manage. Sepia slips up to the doorway and pulls out a lockpick. She inserts it into the lock. “I think I can keep them from getting the lock open,” she whispers, fiddling with the pick. The next few moments are a tense contest of tiny probes, dancing around each other within the confines of the locks. Sepia manages to rake the tumblers such that those that her opponent has managed to get open slip closed again, and after a few minutes, whoever is on the other side withdraws his or her tools. Still, it's enough to make the group nervous. “Let's take the elevator up a level,” suggests Shifty, stifling a yawn. “After all, unless there's another way up, they won't be able to come after us. We'll be more secure, and they still won't be able to get the drop on us.” “Sounds good to me.” Alkar nods. *** The rest of their night's rest is undisturbed, if not exactly comfortable. After they wake, break their fasts, and re-gird themselves for combat, the party descends again. But this time, when they open the elevator doors, they are beset immediately. Darkchain is waiting for them. This time he has only a pair of guards with him. The party has no way of knowing it, but yesterday's battle turned the tide of the conflict within the duergar ranks. Darkchain's followers have almost entirely abandoned him, and his devilish patrons are displeased at his failure. They, too, have turned away. Darkchain's only hope is to redeem himself through the art of revenge. But the party is at full strength, and Darkchain and his lackeys are not enough. This time, the battle is short and, until the final moment, one-sided. The guards fall rapidly, and Darkchain himself is pressed hard by the group. He is faltering when he gets his revenge. His chain whips out, the end curling around Alkar's right elbow. Darkchain gives a tremendous yank. And Alkar's arm comes off at the elbow. Blood sprays everywhere. The elf's screams echo through the stone chamber. While Kane runs the duergar leader through, Shar desperately seeks to staunch the bleeding. She calls upon the holy power of the Sword Cult and heals Alkar as best she can. But the elf was primarily an archer. Now... “Now it's time to retreat,” states Karl. [i][b]Next Time:[/b][/i][b][/b] Our heroes seek a way to help their archer pal! Meanwhile, a mystery begins at the Tower of Deryndradin, Karl's master! [/QUOTE]
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