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<blockquote data-quote="LordVyreth" data-source="post: 2327280" data-attributes="member: 9626"><p><strong>The Truth: The Revelation of the Keeper</strong></p><p></p><p>After their success at the Eye (and their defeat as well, though they didn’t know it yet,) the party took a few days to rest. Of course, they had an audience with the king and queen of Methosilang, where they told the tales of their latest adventure, made sure that the location of Bas would be known even if something happened to them, and learned the current status of the kingdom’s military build-up. Things were going very well, and once the party got the exact details shortly after their post-adventure shopping spree, they learned that the army would be completely trained, mobilized, and ready to deploy at a moment’s notice in only a month’s time. With this information, the party returned to their home to make their own plans and decide what to do while waiting for the army to be ready. They could just take the time resting, but with the final battle so close and so much riding on it, something had to be done.</p><p></p><p> Fortunately, in a way, adventure found them again as it often has. The first noteworthy event occurred shortly after the party through a quick memorial service for the killed Azat, who chose not to be resurrected after his death. As per his wishes, the party shifted to his plane of existence to put the remains to rest at his homeland. During the service, they were surprised when a visibly angry man suddenly appeared out of thin air and shouted, “What happened to my student!?”</p><p></p><p> The man had a similar style of dress and appearance to Azat, although he had a certain glow that Bath immediately recognized as a sign of celestial heritage, so the party assumed he came from the same plane as Azat originally did. Understanding the situation, Tal quickly intervened to calm the strange man down, “We’re sorry to tell you he was killed. However, if it helps, we can tell you of his fate. He died honorably, fighting against evil undead monsters of the highest order to help save his new homeland.”</p><p></p><p> The man was calmed enough at Tal’s words to hear the story of Azat’s death in the Eye of Nerull. After hearing it, the man nodded and introduced himself more formally. “I apologize for my shock and anger when I first arrived. I am called Tonacacihuatl, and I was Azat’s teacher and mentor. I helped him better understand his gift and guided him on his quest to destroy the enemies of life. It sounds like your quest is an honorable and worthy one. I believe that it would please my pupil’s spirit if I were to assist you and finish the quest he has started. Will you let me join you?”</p><p></p><p> The party agreed, and soon they were back at Methosilang and once again processing a new citizen and ally of the city and the kingdom as a whole. Tonaca (as he was swiftly called by everyone who couldn’t remember or pronounce his full name,) had some trouble adjusting to the vastly different civilization of a new plane, but just like Azat before him, he was learning quickly.</p><p></p><p> However, he only had a day or two of adjustment time before a far graver situation came up. Olivia Neddle arrived at the party’s manor to let them know that once again her “associate,” the goddess of knowledge Ordhari, had important information for them.</p><p></p><p> After the party was gathered and new members of the group were introduced to both Olivia and Ordhari, the woman/goddess explained the situation. “Before I explain what has happened, I have to give you a brief history lesson.” Ignoring the groans from everyone but Danae, she continued, “Nearly a thousand years ago, the Undead Empire had a very important underground research lab. This lab was located in an ancient temple left over from an ancient era, much like my own Ancient Library. This area was called the Forgotten Temple, and the undead used the relics from this ruins in their quest to create and perfect new magical weaponry and beasts. However, something went wrong. They ended up creating a new creature so powerful that not even they could control it. The creature went mad, destroying the undead researchers and proclaiming itself the emperor of the various experiments and subjects in the lab. Not even the undead emperor, the being you call The Puppet, could easily stop it. Not willing to risk his own unlife or that of his most powerful servants, he summoned his most powerful clerics and wizards to collectively seal the Temple itself. The seal prevented the creature from leaving under any circumstances and hid the entire area from all kinds of divination magic. Or, at least, that was the situation up until a few days ago.</p><p></p><p> “I suddenly became aware of the Temple, suggesting that somehow the seal was breeched. It initially thought the spell merely was getting weaker, but instead it turned out that some accident physically disrupted the seal, creating a tiny gap in it. The creature can’t escape from such a gap, but a group from outside can get in.”</p><p></p><p> “So you are afraid someone will try to release this creature? Why would anyone do that?” Danae asked.</p><p></p><p> Ordhari hesitated, and then explained, “Over the last thousand years, the creature took full advantage of its time in captivity. It grew in power and knowledge, as it studied the abandoned relics of his prison. In fact, it no longer can even be considered a mortal creature. It is more like a twisted demi-god, an abomination if you will. It has been absorbing the knowledge of the various creatures it claims dominion over, and since it didn’t gain full godhood, it isn’t bound by the rules of secrets that we gods are. It has become so knowledgeable that records of the creature’s existence, which no longer have any recollection of the creature’s original name, now simple call it the Keeper of Knowledge. It could provide accurate information on nearly any subject, but for a price.”</p><p></p><p> “So we could learn information about nearly anything from it? Better ways to stop Bas, how to destroy the Dark Moons, even who Lady Memory is?” Tal asked.</p><p></p><p> Bath shook her head. “I’m more worried about the price.”</p><p></p><p> “Well, most likely, anyone who wants information from this creature will have to free it in exchange. And this gives us two options. We can’t just ignore this beast. Someone is bound to find it, and then Bas will not only have answers to any questions she can’t get herself, like the location of Methosilang, but also the friendship of an incredibly powerful ally. On the other hand, as Tal pointed out, getting help from this creature could be helpful to our cause as well, but doing so is very risky. If released, the Keeper will likely direct its vengeance against the undead empire initially, but after that it could seek any ally or go after any civilization. It could even try to conquer the world itself, and we’d have a second Bas to worry about. If you do get answers out of it, you have to make sure to use deceit or offer only partial aide. From there, it will likely be necessary to destroy it, if possible.”</p><p></p><p> “If possible?” a worried Robin asked. </p><p></p><p> “Well, like I said, this creature is far from weak. It is almost as powerful as the Puppet, after all. However, if you hope to actually fight Bas, then battling creatures like the Keeper should be less of a danger in comparison. If nothing else, the Keeper might be a good test of your skills before the final battle with Bas.”</p><p></p><p> Faced with this information, the party agreed to go to the Forgotten Temple and confront the Keeper, but they were undecided about what to do when they finally met the beast? Try to deal with it for information that could be critical or simply destroy it? For now, they decided to just explore the Temple and hope to find some answers by the time they were ready to confront this strange opportunity.</p><p></p><p> Surprisingly, however, their first clue came before they even reached the temple. Danae had teleported the party to the closest area they knew of to the Temple. From there, they had to take a few days to get there the old fashioned way. It was on the second day that they were stopped by some unexpected figures.</p><p></p><p> The first figure suddenly materialized in front of them. It was vaguely humanoid, but it lacked any gender-based features. It also had four legs and arms, very pale, white skin, and vaguely insect-like eyes, and it flew on wings made of pure force. Behind it, a second figure of the same species floated, but it was invisible, and thus most of the party was initially unaware of it. The figure that was revealing itself to the party said in a voice that was forceful but not hostile, “Stop! I am not your enemy, but I must insist you cease this quest! I know who you seek and you must not deal with such a beast! It will endanger far more than you realize!”</p><p></p><p> The party halted for now, at least until they could determine the nature of this potential threat. Tiana quickly studied these creatures for any hint of evil, but was shocked at the results. She gasped, “They’re good!”</p><p></p><p> Danae nodded. “I thought they looked familiar, though the common belief was that these beings were extinct. They’re called Malachim, and they’re celestials, but of a particularly strange nature. They oppose evil like all celestials do, but they are far less picky about how to win their battles. They have been known to use less orthodox and even slightly unethical methods to oppose evil. They even have been known to ally with evil gods or fiends to fight greater evils! That was believed to be their downfall, for when great evil powers sought revenge on their kind, they were abandoned by the other celestials and completed annihilated! Of course, that last part may have to be revised now.”</p><p></p><p> After hearing that they were willing to work with evil, Bath was suspicious despite her kinship with these celestials. “Tell us, who do you serve?” she asks the Malachim. </p><p></p><p> The visible Malachim, who so far was the only one who responded or spoke in any way, shook his strange head and replied, “I’m afraid I can’t tell you that. The entity we serve wishes to remain anonymous. I can only say that it is not your enemy, and in fact its greatest desire is to see your success. However, it is unable to reveal its true name or form to you due to various laws of the divine.”</p><p></p><p> Danae sighed and said, “Well, that’s all very well and good, but we can’t just ignore the Keeper. If we do, then Bas’ forces will abuse his knowledge, and I’m sure even you must agree that would be even worse.”</p><p></p><p> The Malachim nodded, and responded, “Very well. We won’t stop you from seeing this creature, but you must make a vow to us and to your gods that should you find this creature, you will only act to destroy him, not bargain with him.”</p><p></p><p> The party conferred for a while, and surprisingly, most of them agreed to this request despite some lingering suspicions about the Malachim, including why one of them chose to try remaining hidden. “After all,” Robin admitted, “We sort of wanted to just destroy him anyway. I’m not so certain that trying to deal with such an evil creature is wise at any rate.”</p><p></p><p> Even Danae and Tal, who were most comfortable with the idea of seeking knowledge from such a beast, reluctantly nodded their heads. “The idea of losing so much knowledge sickens me,” Danae said, “but there has to be a better way.”</p><p></p><p> However, it turns out that one of the party was not willing to accept the vow, and it was possibly the last one that any would expect. Bath, remarkably, was not willing to take the vow. Even though she couldn’t directly work with an evil being because of her vows as a paladin, she wasn’t willing to the tie the party’s hands before they knew the entire situation, especially to such an ambiguous creature. On the other hand, she couldn’t attack a celestial either, so she decided to take the only course of action she could; call his bluff.</p><p></p><p>She began to fly forward, right past the sentinel Malachim and in direct opposition to his order. Both it and the party protested, but she continued onward, causing the Malachim to sigh and cause two energy blades to materialize out of thin air. It attacked Bath as she passed by, forcing both groups to react to the new situation.</p><p></p><p>Though they were reluctant to do so, the party had to support one of their own, and they helped Bath fight the Malachim. However, as early as the first strike, the Malachim demonstrated that they weren’t bluffing when they claimed to want to help the party. The blades were incredibly painful to Bath when they struck her, but they left no permanent wounds. Even when the invisible Malachim cast a spell that rained fiery meteors on the party, all of the damage was nonlethal! Confused by this usual change from the norm, the party focused on supportive and nonlethal magic, at least at first. Tonaca, demonstrating his unusual culture in comparison to that of the home plane of most of the party, summoned a flying snake known as a coualt, which Tonaca put to work to detect the nature of the Malachim and confirm that they are truly good. Danae put up a defensive wall of force and later shapechanged into a solar. Even when the party did attack the Malachim, as both Bath and Robin swiftly chose to do, they used nonlethal damage. Before long, both Malachim were wounded and may soon be knocked unconscious.</p><p></p><p>However, this situation bothered Danae. As much as she wanted to preserve such rare beings and despite originally agreeing to take their vow, if the Malachim now considered the party to be enemies, if not deadly ones, they’ll likely return to hound the party throughout the entire Forgotten Temple. That could be deadly depending on what they’ll end up finding there. She sighed with regret and disappointment and decided she would have to use lethal force in this situation.</p><p></p><p>After making that decision, she fired a ray of utter darkness at the nearest Malachim. If successful, the ray would instantaneously cause of the death of any living being. It struck the Malachim directly and though it shuddered and almost collapsed from the pain, it managed to resist the ray’s most dire effects. However, since they were losing the fight up to this point and now that they realized the party would fight to the death, the Malachim teleported away, confirming Danae’s fears.</p><p></p><p>The rest of the party was less happy with the end of the fight, and Danae and Bath in particular were visibly upset with each other. “Why did you provoke them?” Danae asked. “We didn’t have to fight them!”</p><p></p><p>“If I didn’t do so, we would be forced to obey that oath. I couldn’t take such an oath from an unknown source. Besides, no one got hurt. At least, we didn’t this time. They might not be so forgiving if they show up again.”</p><p></p><p>“That’s exactly what I wanted to prevent! They could come after us at any moment!” Danae responded, but she sighed and realized this fighting was futile. After uttering a few choice curse words, she decided to let the matter drop. The party rode on towards the Temple, but they did so with greater reluctance. Already, they were up against mysterious enemies and the party itself was in danger of being split. What would they be up against in the Temple itself?</p><p></p><p>OOC Notes: The party essentially reached a collective 22nd level right before this. There was actually some confusion on a few people xp totals due to people missing a few games and the overall confusion of the switch to online, so I just balanced out everyone except for Tal, who was well above the rest of the party’s level at this point. That just made him higher up at 22nd level, though.</p><p></p><p>Oh, and some good news. I'll hopefully have another update for you next weekend. I switched weekends for my biweekly schedule a month or so ago, but the new system really doesn't fit the schedule as well. Doing it next week will give me an entire saturday that's free, letting me stretch work on the recap over two days so I hopefull will have less of these Monday updates.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="LordVyreth, post: 2327280, member: 9626"] [b]The Truth: The Revelation of the Keeper[/b] After their success at the Eye (and their defeat as well, though they didn’t know it yet,) the party took a few days to rest. Of course, they had an audience with the king and queen of Methosilang, where they told the tales of their latest adventure, made sure that the location of Bas would be known even if something happened to them, and learned the current status of the kingdom’s military build-up. Things were going very well, and once the party got the exact details shortly after their post-adventure shopping spree, they learned that the army would be completely trained, mobilized, and ready to deploy at a moment’s notice in only a month’s time. With this information, the party returned to their home to make their own plans and decide what to do while waiting for the army to be ready. They could just take the time resting, but with the final battle so close and so much riding on it, something had to be done. Fortunately, in a way, adventure found them again as it often has. The first noteworthy event occurred shortly after the party through a quick memorial service for the killed Azat, who chose not to be resurrected after his death. As per his wishes, the party shifted to his plane of existence to put the remains to rest at his homeland. During the service, they were surprised when a visibly angry man suddenly appeared out of thin air and shouted, “What happened to my student!?” The man had a similar style of dress and appearance to Azat, although he had a certain glow that Bath immediately recognized as a sign of celestial heritage, so the party assumed he came from the same plane as Azat originally did. Understanding the situation, Tal quickly intervened to calm the strange man down, “We’re sorry to tell you he was killed. However, if it helps, we can tell you of his fate. He died honorably, fighting against evil undead monsters of the highest order to help save his new homeland.” The man was calmed enough at Tal’s words to hear the story of Azat’s death in the Eye of Nerull. After hearing it, the man nodded and introduced himself more formally. “I apologize for my shock and anger when I first arrived. I am called Tonacacihuatl, and I was Azat’s teacher and mentor. I helped him better understand his gift and guided him on his quest to destroy the enemies of life. It sounds like your quest is an honorable and worthy one. I believe that it would please my pupil’s spirit if I were to assist you and finish the quest he has started. Will you let me join you?” The party agreed, and soon they were back at Methosilang and once again processing a new citizen and ally of the city and the kingdom as a whole. Tonaca (as he was swiftly called by everyone who couldn’t remember or pronounce his full name,) had some trouble adjusting to the vastly different civilization of a new plane, but just like Azat before him, he was learning quickly. However, he only had a day or two of adjustment time before a far graver situation came up. Olivia Neddle arrived at the party’s manor to let them know that once again her “associate,” the goddess of knowledge Ordhari, had important information for them. After the party was gathered and new members of the group were introduced to both Olivia and Ordhari, the woman/goddess explained the situation. “Before I explain what has happened, I have to give you a brief history lesson.” Ignoring the groans from everyone but Danae, she continued, “Nearly a thousand years ago, the Undead Empire had a very important underground research lab. This lab was located in an ancient temple left over from an ancient era, much like my own Ancient Library. This area was called the Forgotten Temple, and the undead used the relics from this ruins in their quest to create and perfect new magical weaponry and beasts. However, something went wrong. They ended up creating a new creature so powerful that not even they could control it. The creature went mad, destroying the undead researchers and proclaiming itself the emperor of the various experiments and subjects in the lab. Not even the undead emperor, the being you call The Puppet, could easily stop it. Not willing to risk his own unlife or that of his most powerful servants, he summoned his most powerful clerics and wizards to collectively seal the Temple itself. The seal prevented the creature from leaving under any circumstances and hid the entire area from all kinds of divination magic. Or, at least, that was the situation up until a few days ago. “I suddenly became aware of the Temple, suggesting that somehow the seal was breeched. It initially thought the spell merely was getting weaker, but instead it turned out that some accident physically disrupted the seal, creating a tiny gap in it. The creature can’t escape from such a gap, but a group from outside can get in.” “So you are afraid someone will try to release this creature? Why would anyone do that?” Danae asked. Ordhari hesitated, and then explained, “Over the last thousand years, the creature took full advantage of its time in captivity. It grew in power and knowledge, as it studied the abandoned relics of his prison. In fact, it no longer can even be considered a mortal creature. It is more like a twisted demi-god, an abomination if you will. It has been absorbing the knowledge of the various creatures it claims dominion over, and since it didn’t gain full godhood, it isn’t bound by the rules of secrets that we gods are. It has become so knowledgeable that records of the creature’s existence, which no longer have any recollection of the creature’s original name, now simple call it the Keeper of Knowledge. It could provide accurate information on nearly any subject, but for a price.” “So we could learn information about nearly anything from it? Better ways to stop Bas, how to destroy the Dark Moons, even who Lady Memory is?” Tal asked. Bath shook her head. “I’m more worried about the price.” “Well, most likely, anyone who wants information from this creature will have to free it in exchange. And this gives us two options. We can’t just ignore this beast. Someone is bound to find it, and then Bas will not only have answers to any questions she can’t get herself, like the location of Methosilang, but also the friendship of an incredibly powerful ally. On the other hand, as Tal pointed out, getting help from this creature could be helpful to our cause as well, but doing so is very risky. If released, the Keeper will likely direct its vengeance against the undead empire initially, but after that it could seek any ally or go after any civilization. It could even try to conquer the world itself, and we’d have a second Bas to worry about. If you do get answers out of it, you have to make sure to use deceit or offer only partial aide. From there, it will likely be necessary to destroy it, if possible.” “If possible?” a worried Robin asked. “Well, like I said, this creature is far from weak. It is almost as powerful as the Puppet, after all. However, if you hope to actually fight Bas, then battling creatures like the Keeper should be less of a danger in comparison. If nothing else, the Keeper might be a good test of your skills before the final battle with Bas.” Faced with this information, the party agreed to go to the Forgotten Temple and confront the Keeper, but they were undecided about what to do when they finally met the beast? Try to deal with it for information that could be critical or simply destroy it? For now, they decided to just explore the Temple and hope to find some answers by the time they were ready to confront this strange opportunity. Surprisingly, however, their first clue came before they even reached the temple. Danae had teleported the party to the closest area they knew of to the Temple. From there, they had to take a few days to get there the old fashioned way. It was on the second day that they were stopped by some unexpected figures. The first figure suddenly materialized in front of them. It was vaguely humanoid, but it lacked any gender-based features. It also had four legs and arms, very pale, white skin, and vaguely insect-like eyes, and it flew on wings made of pure force. Behind it, a second figure of the same species floated, but it was invisible, and thus most of the party was initially unaware of it. The figure that was revealing itself to the party said in a voice that was forceful but not hostile, “Stop! I am not your enemy, but I must insist you cease this quest! I know who you seek and you must not deal with such a beast! It will endanger far more than you realize!” The party halted for now, at least until they could determine the nature of this potential threat. Tiana quickly studied these creatures for any hint of evil, but was shocked at the results. She gasped, “They’re good!” Danae nodded. “I thought they looked familiar, though the common belief was that these beings were extinct. They’re called Malachim, and they’re celestials, but of a particularly strange nature. They oppose evil like all celestials do, but they are far less picky about how to win their battles. They have been known to use less orthodox and even slightly unethical methods to oppose evil. They even have been known to ally with evil gods or fiends to fight greater evils! That was believed to be their downfall, for when great evil powers sought revenge on their kind, they were abandoned by the other celestials and completed annihilated! Of course, that last part may have to be revised now.” After hearing that they were willing to work with evil, Bath was suspicious despite her kinship with these celestials. “Tell us, who do you serve?” she asks the Malachim. The visible Malachim, who so far was the only one who responded or spoke in any way, shook his strange head and replied, “I’m afraid I can’t tell you that. The entity we serve wishes to remain anonymous. I can only say that it is not your enemy, and in fact its greatest desire is to see your success. However, it is unable to reveal its true name or form to you due to various laws of the divine.” Danae sighed and said, “Well, that’s all very well and good, but we can’t just ignore the Keeper. If we do, then Bas’ forces will abuse his knowledge, and I’m sure even you must agree that would be even worse.” The Malachim nodded, and responded, “Very well. We won’t stop you from seeing this creature, but you must make a vow to us and to your gods that should you find this creature, you will only act to destroy him, not bargain with him.” The party conferred for a while, and surprisingly, most of them agreed to this request despite some lingering suspicions about the Malachim, including why one of them chose to try remaining hidden. “After all,” Robin admitted, “We sort of wanted to just destroy him anyway. I’m not so certain that trying to deal with such an evil creature is wise at any rate.” Even Danae and Tal, who were most comfortable with the idea of seeking knowledge from such a beast, reluctantly nodded their heads. “The idea of losing so much knowledge sickens me,” Danae said, “but there has to be a better way.” However, it turns out that one of the party was not willing to accept the vow, and it was possibly the last one that any would expect. Bath, remarkably, was not willing to take the vow. Even though she couldn’t directly work with an evil being because of her vows as a paladin, she wasn’t willing to the tie the party’s hands before they knew the entire situation, especially to such an ambiguous creature. On the other hand, she couldn’t attack a celestial either, so she decided to take the only course of action she could; call his bluff. She began to fly forward, right past the sentinel Malachim and in direct opposition to his order. Both it and the party protested, but she continued onward, causing the Malachim to sigh and cause two energy blades to materialize out of thin air. It attacked Bath as she passed by, forcing both groups to react to the new situation. Though they were reluctant to do so, the party had to support one of their own, and they helped Bath fight the Malachim. However, as early as the first strike, the Malachim demonstrated that they weren’t bluffing when they claimed to want to help the party. The blades were incredibly painful to Bath when they struck her, but they left no permanent wounds. Even when the invisible Malachim cast a spell that rained fiery meteors on the party, all of the damage was nonlethal! Confused by this usual change from the norm, the party focused on supportive and nonlethal magic, at least at first. Tonaca, demonstrating his unusual culture in comparison to that of the home plane of most of the party, summoned a flying snake known as a coualt, which Tonaca put to work to detect the nature of the Malachim and confirm that they are truly good. Danae put up a defensive wall of force and later shapechanged into a solar. Even when the party did attack the Malachim, as both Bath and Robin swiftly chose to do, they used nonlethal damage. Before long, both Malachim were wounded and may soon be knocked unconscious. However, this situation bothered Danae. As much as she wanted to preserve such rare beings and despite originally agreeing to take their vow, if the Malachim now considered the party to be enemies, if not deadly ones, they’ll likely return to hound the party throughout the entire Forgotten Temple. That could be deadly depending on what they’ll end up finding there. She sighed with regret and disappointment and decided she would have to use lethal force in this situation. After making that decision, she fired a ray of utter darkness at the nearest Malachim. If successful, the ray would instantaneously cause of the death of any living being. It struck the Malachim directly and though it shuddered and almost collapsed from the pain, it managed to resist the ray’s most dire effects. However, since they were losing the fight up to this point and now that they realized the party would fight to the death, the Malachim teleported away, confirming Danae’s fears. The rest of the party was less happy with the end of the fight, and Danae and Bath in particular were visibly upset with each other. “Why did you provoke them?” Danae asked. “We didn’t have to fight them!” “If I didn’t do so, we would be forced to obey that oath. I couldn’t take such an oath from an unknown source. Besides, no one got hurt. At least, we didn’t this time. They might not be so forgiving if they show up again.” “That’s exactly what I wanted to prevent! They could come after us at any moment!” Danae responded, but she sighed and realized this fighting was futile. After uttering a few choice curse words, she decided to let the matter drop. The party rode on towards the Temple, but they did so with greater reluctance. Already, they were up against mysterious enemies and the party itself was in danger of being split. What would they be up against in the Temple itself? OOC Notes: The party essentially reached a collective 22nd level right before this. There was actually some confusion on a few people xp totals due to people missing a few games and the overall confusion of the switch to online, so I just balanced out everyone except for Tal, who was well above the rest of the party’s level at this point. That just made him higher up at 22nd level, though. Oh, and some good news. I'll hopefully have another update for you next weekend. I switched weekends for my biweekly schedule a month or so ago, but the new system really doesn't fit the schedule as well. Doing it next week will give me an entire saturday that's free, letting me stretch work on the recap over two days so I hopefull will have less of these Monday updates. [/QUOTE]
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