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What the hell? Taking the narrow path led us right to the dragon? Bad form, book. Bad form. Anyway, take the scales so we don't get crisped before we can actually apply spear to dragon.
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Apr 2, 2015 18:36
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Scales, THEN stab.
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Apr 2, 2015 19:06
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Definitely snag the scales!
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Apr 2, 2015 19:19
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FredMSloniker posted:What the hell? Taking the narrow path led us right to the dragon? Bad form, book. Bad form. Presumably the wide path would lead us right to the front of the dragon. Grab some scales!
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Apr 2, 2015 20:41
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Scale that back!
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Apr 2, 2015 21:36
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I like how you can just nope, turn around and walk out again. Get some scales and be sure to start by building a lathe out of available materials.
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Apr 2, 2015 23:20
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Always use the special condition or tool first. Stab stab stab.
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Apr 3, 2015 01:32
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Scale it up. Defence first, then stabby time later.
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Apr 3, 2015 04:21
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these books are bullshit, we only get one chance to stab
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Apr 3, 2015 04:45
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Page 269 posted:You tiptoe forward stealthily and pick up three of the scales which the dragon has shed. Each is as long as a man's forearm. Cautiously/ you tiptoe out of the cave and continue up the mountain. I guess if we didn't have the Hoglord's advice Hoglordhoglordhoglordhoglordhoglordhoglord, the fact that the option is to stab the dragon in the BACK might tip the reader away from the wrong choices. Maybe. Page 310 posted:Do you have a gourd filled with Gum of an Amber Pine? Page 385 posted:Pausing in a gully, you examine the scales. You fit them together to form a shield and, using the gum of the amber pine, you bond them together.  : OK, Hoglord. I've followed your instructions. However, you're a Hoglord of Hogmen, so I'll throw a little human Potionsmith ingenuity into the mix as a backup. Let's grind a bit off the edge of this scale like so...mix it with some water...dilute it by a factor of 10...mix some more water...dilute again...Aha! Homeopathic Dragonsbane!Page 69 posted:You climb on, gasping for breath in the thin air. At last you reach the flat summit. The panorama is incredible. The whole plateau lies below you like a table, a collage of tropical forests, mountains and huge lakes, which glisten in the sun. Thirty metres away is a rectangle of shimmering silver, hanging in the air, unsupported. You realize that this is the portal. As you step towards it you hear the rushing of wind. Looking up you see the ancient Red Dragon coming in to land beside the portal. : By impeding my way, you are only guarding this world from UNBELIEVABLE PRICES ON THE LATEST AND GREATEST POTIONS!Character Sheet posted:Skroddy the Former Potionist
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Apr 3, 2015 15:55
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Talk it out. Maybe we can get through this without using the shield OR the spear. sorry about suggesting the backstab idea earlier, mr dragon
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Apr 3, 2015 16:53
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The world is in peril.
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Apr 3, 2015 18:42
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Talky time!
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Apr 3, 2015 18:54
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Death will threaten you. In the form of my spear, if you don't get out of the way.
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Apr 3, 2015 19:37
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I have further doubts about this dragon believing us, but then again killing him will give other people access to the portal, which sounds equally bad. Let's try diplomacy, and if that doesn't work, let's try the other kind of diplomacy.
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Apr 4, 2015 08:28
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Talk to the dragon. Would be pretty cool if we can talk our way out of this.
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Apr 4, 2015 12:37
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Page 358 posted:Its mellow voice carries across the wind: 'I know nothing of Death; he cannot touch me. I am the guardian placed here by the Gods, nothing more, nothing less.' : Anyone who has been carefully following my inventory since the first update will know the correct course of action.Character Sheet posted:Skroddy the Former Potionist
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Apr 5, 2015 01:24
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It's time to kick rear end and chew bubblegum. And we're all outta gum 
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Apr 5, 2015 02:17
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This is a perfect opportunity to open up a can of whoop-rear end.
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Apr 5, 2015 02:56
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This is going to be embarrassing when the Gods send someone to kill someone the Gods sent to stop. GO GET MY BUBBLEGUM! CHARGE!
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Apr 5, 2015 03:43
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Now you're just asking for an rear end-kicking, you overgrown newt.
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Apr 5, 2015 05:13
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It's stabbin' time.
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Apr 5, 2015 08:33
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Lecture and educate the dragon about the Talisman and its importance!
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Apr 5, 2015 09:31
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: Look, I was just closing up Potion Shop #7 after a blistering Purple Friday sale when I got woozy and woke up in some glowing castle. At first I thought I'd finally hit the jackpot with my latest VacationBlend HappyElixir, but I find out it's just a couple of transdimensional chuckleheads who can't be bothered to inspire a worshipper half-competent enough to drag some guady necklace for a few leagues to put it away. They throw me into some EVIL! quarry with nothing but a shortsword and a backpack full of laxatives and bubblegum, and here I am a week later with not much more than a few yawn-scars, some funky smelling stains from a science experiment gone horribly wrong, and 3 different shades of undead dust to show for my efforts. I don't know what's expected from pantheons around these parts, but I'm severely underwhelmed at this point and you're the last thing standing between me and closing shop for a three day weekend. It's time to stab dragons and chew bubblegum, and I rationed my SuperBubble poorly.Page 382 posted:As you charge at the Dragon it breathes a tongue of rolling flame at you. You crouch behind your shield which protects you from the fiery blast. Before you can attack, the Dragon, roaring in anger, swipes at the shield with a massive claw. We missed at least one further opportunity to grab a +1 skill item, but at the same time there are several enemies through the book similar to Death's Envoy which can leave us with a permanent -1 modifier as well. Point being, there's a lot of swing between the Skill a player starts with and the Skill they walk into this ordeal with. Rolling... (6+6)=12 Oh. Well, that's unfortunate. Page 79 posted:The shield is wrenched from your grasp. Realizing that without it you have no chance, you make a desperate dive for it as it rolls across the rocks. Rolling...(6+5)=11 Well, at least we didn't dive off a cliff this late in the game, but that was still pretty drat close. Page 58 posted:You hurl yourself at the rolling shield and just manage to grasp its rim. You cover yourself with it as you lie there. The dragon breathes on you again and one of your legs, left unshielded, is badly burned. Lose 4 Stamina points. : *Feverishly sprinkles Homeopathic Dragonsbane on Dragonsbane*Page 51 posted:You attack the dragon. 'I shall rend you limb from limb,' it roars. The great claws swipe at you as it tries to crush your head in its enormous jaws. You dodge to one side as it leaps at you and thrust your spear at its soft underbelly. Rolling... (12+3)=(12+3): Homeopathic Dragonsbane is ineffective! (12+10)>(12+8): Skroddy loses 2 Stamina Points (12+9)>(12+8): Skroddy loses 2 Stamina Points (12+10)<(12+12): Red Dragon loses 2 Stamina Points; Testing Luck: 10=10, +2 Stamina lost (12+6)<(12+8): Red Dragon loses 2 Stamina Points; Testing Luck: 3<9, +2 Stamina lost (12+5)<(12+10): Red Dragon loses 2 Stamina Points (12+5)<(12+12): Red Dragon loses 2 Stamina Points (12+3)<(12+11): Red Dragon loses 2 Stamina Points (12+7)<(12+8): Red Dragon loses 2 Stamina Points, the Dragon is notably more red than it was several minutes ago! I only caught that Dragonsbane deals increased damage while editing. Um, so...just pretend he had a sidekick or two that we annihilated along with him. Page 29 posted:Suddenly, your weapon is flailing at air. The Dragon has changed into an old man, with long white hair, wearing a white robe. 'Spare me, I beg you,' he implores, in a thin reedy voice. 'At last you have lifted the curse that was upon me. Only a strong warrior like yourself could have done it. When I came through the portal, many centuries ago, I was doomed to stay in the form of a dragon until I was beaten in combat. Now that I am myself again I can return to my world. Will you step through the portal with me?' : Hey, I know a thing or three about portals. Folks who head through portals? Mostly Masters, be they of Beasts or of Universes, plus occasional army scientists fluent in hieroglyphics. I'll be honest, I haven't run into bearded old dudes, though I guess there's a first time for everything...Character Sheet posted:Skroddy the Former Potionist
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Apr 6, 2015 04:17
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I will trust you, shapeshifter man who just tried to kill us.  Edit: Let's also use our luck potion, since we're pretty close to the end. Corzanth fucked around with this message at 11:19 on Apr 6, 2015 |
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Apr 6, 2015 05:39
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He SAID he was put here by the gods to protect the Portal for all time. NOW he says he walked through it? Someone does not add up. Attack him!
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Apr 6, 2015 08:31
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Sounds legit.
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Apr 6, 2015 09:12
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He's totally a hag. Murder him.
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Apr 6, 2015 18:42
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It wouldn't exactly be heroic to kill some doddering old man. Even if he is secretly a dragon. Let him live for now.
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Apr 6, 2015 19:07
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We haven't even seen his final form! Murder him! Edit: Also, use two provisions and the Luck potion to top our stats back up. Decoy Badger fucked around with this message at 01:18 on Apr 7, 2015 |
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Apr 6, 2015 21:41
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Clearly a last ditch trick by Mr. Death. KILL
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Apr 6, 2015 21:59
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I was kinda hoping we'd follow him through and pick up at least one death in the book, but I guess that the difference of including that here or in the wrapup is merely aesthetic.Page 12 posted:Your first blow is fatal. Blood spurts from a gaping wound and the old man falls to the ground. You step back as he turns once more into his normal form, that of a huge Red Dragon. The Guardian Dragon of the portals is dead. : Such is the fate of all those tasked by the Gods to interfere with the will of the Gods...I guess...Page 400 posted:Before you step through the portal you drink in the splendid view of this fantastic and magical world for a little longer. The glittering lakes and emerald forests shimmer in a haze of heat. The Talisman is heavy at your chest. With a final prayer to the All-Mother you step into the silvery screen of the portal, remembering the four crusaders who gave you your quest. You meet no resistance as you pass through the screen. All goes dark and then a very different landscape lies before you. You are within a circle of standing stones. The smells, the air, the birdsong - everything seems strange but you know that you have found your way back to Earth. You are a hero, saviour of the world of Orb, but there is no one here to herald your return. As you step away from the standing stones, voices speak within your head. The two beings who summoned you to Orb are thanking you for saving the world. At last they tell you who they are. Time, Eldest Father, Youngest Son, and Fate, Keeper of the Balance, both Gods of Orb. As you leave this sacred place, their final words ring in your ears. : Wait, who are you again? Ah, screw it, time to concoct a 12% ABV batch of homeopathic Dragonsbane and pretend this never happened..Character Sheet posted:Skroddy the Former Potionist The anti-climactic end! Welp, our playthrough avoided most of the potential pitfalls the book had to offer, but I'll leave that up to your personal judgement whether that's for the better or the worse. We'll cover some of the more colorful bits we missed in the next day or two, but please put in a request if there's a specific section you're curious about to make sure that I cover it. In the meantime, if you love CYOAs but hate reading, you can follow an alternate approach to this book over at Pod Your Own Adventure. They stop well short of finishing the book, but what they do play overlaps little if at all with our chosen path.
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Apr 7, 2015 18:09
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For those on the lookout for new CYOAs, there's an LP of Heavy Metal Thunder just getting off the ground.
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Apr 7, 2015 18:13
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I refuse to believe that Time actually intervened in something.
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Apr 7, 2015 18:15
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Wait, that's it?
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Apr 8, 2015 14:58
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Some one-true-ending gamebooks have surprisingly weak final sections for all that you went through to get to them. At least this one gave you a brief thanks from the gods and isn't quite A Winner Is You. I haven't done an exhaustive survey of the subject, but it seems like I keep finding more satisfying endings in CYOA-style books that have lots of different endings rather than in the RPG style books that have one non-death ending but a lot more work to get to it?
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Apr 9, 2015 01:44
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gegi posted:Some one-true-ending gamebooks have surprisingly weak final sections for all that you went through to get to them. At least this one gave you a brief thanks from the gods and isn't quite A Winner Is You. It may be a matter of taste. Books with a "true" ending tend to devote more time to building the overall story. I think it worked really well with the Way of the Tiger series, but then you also lose the chance to have significantly diverging paths. This book...well, it's not thrilling on the story, I'll say that. On to some of the divergences. If we head through the forest at the start, we have the chance to encounter a friendly druid, Wodeman.  If we treat his wolf nicely, he'll bestow a +1 Luck blessing on us and a +4 Stamina item for our inventory. This is further augmented if we remember his name when we cross paths with his buddy Liljantha in Greyguilds.  She gifts us with a +1 Skill chainmail which ain't too shabby. She also gives us some advice helpful for fleeing the city. If you'll recall the check for possession of the chainmail after escaping Tyutchev and co, she lets us know when the disciples of the All-Mother are the assigned gates guards (rather than those who follow Fell-Kyrinla) which allows us to saunter out unmolested, without risking a tussle with the Monk of the Scarlet Mantis or the Ghoul. All paths converge on the escort to the city (followers of Fell-Kyrinla). We chose wisely - pretty much any other choice has our sword confiscated (-1 Skill handicap) and several include a Stamina loss. They also bring us in for a face to Hawkana who promptly steals our Talisman and hucks us out on the street. There are a few other encounters we can have in the city before all paths bring us back to reclaiming our Talisman. There's a merchant who's ready to sell us (curdled) Ointment of Barkskin, (evaporated) Vapors of Speed, or a healing potion. We can cross paths with some thieves and either aid or impede their robbery of a jeweler (this gains us a ruby to bribe the Hogmen). And there are several opportunities to engage in combat with undead of various designations, worshippers of evil stuff, and an Ice Demon because, why not? His drop is the Unicorn Horn which is a nice Skill boost against Hawkana. 
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Apr 9, 2015 03:48
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What else shows up in the graveyard scene?
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Apr 10, 2015 00:41
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Decoy Badger posted:What else shows up in the graveyard scene? Nada. So the in-to-town escort will steal your sword if you take pretty much any course other than the one we did. You have a chance to purchase one somewhere in town, but you can also pick one up by sleeping in stables one night in town. The paladin from the Rift will advise you to contact the thieves guild to help reclaim the Talisman, but then a big, ugly Death-Knight sneaks up and starts to stab you.  If your Stamina drops below 6, the paladin's spirit will vanquish the Death-Knight and he'll give you his magic sword good for +1 Skill. Once we're out of town, the three paths each have a creature to encounter. Had we stood or laid flat, we'd have been grabbed by the Roc, who we'd then fight and grab a feather from. The feather is protective against falling rocks next to the waterfall. The other paths bring you into contact with...  If you take his Stamina down enough, he'll offer you a ride to the plateau. Take him up on that, and you fall into a tussle with (sequentially) a pteranodon, a triceratops, and a T-rex.  This route also bypasses the Hogmen, so that leaves the player unable to build a shield with the Amber and is essentially a protracted walking dead section. I think, at least. It's a bit tough to trace the story through all the possible results at times.
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Apr 10, 2015 02:59
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The last little bit to wrap up are the instadeaths in the series. There are a number of ways to get squelched that we managed to sidestep, but they often end up routing us through something like this:Page 77 posted:You both walk towards the portal. Suddenly the old man grasps you round the chest. Before you know what is happening he reverts to his normal form, that of a Red Dragon. You are held tightly in his powerful claws. 'You foolish man-thing, never trust a dragon.' So saying, he bites off your head and tosses your corpse down the mountainside. Which is unfortunate, but at least is followed up by: Page 43 posted:Your spirit floats gently towards the Valley of Death. The featureless, wind-blasted plain stretches away endlessly, beyond the horizon. The souls of the dead wander there aimlessly, in solitude. Just as you approach the edge of the valley, an ethereal wind gets up and your soul is wafted away. Soon you feel yourself in the presence of the two who summoned you to this fantastic world of magic. The eyeless being in robes of shifting hues says, 'All is not yet lost.' You understand the words without hearing them. 'If your spirit is willing we will reunite it with your body and turn back the wheels of time.' The other being offers you a choice: 'If you wish it, I will send you back in time. You will be leaving Greyguilds.' Do you wish to go back in time to attempt the quest again? The Feather of a Roc is a bit odd in that it's not at all required to complete the adventure, but whatever. There's a similar passage with the wording slightly changed to drop you off in the Rift just after you've been given the Talisman (in the event you die before hitting Greyguilds). There are a few deaths that put you beyond the reach of reincarnation, and these usually involve disciples of death. Such options may include messing up with Hawkana's ghost and stumbling into a temple full of Death worshippers in Greyguilds, and they run along these lines: Page 127 posted:You force yourself on through the wilds of nature's creation. But the singing of the birds sounds hollow to you and premonitions of death haunt you as you stumble on in a waking dream. At nightfall you build a large fire and set torches around it. Unable to sleep, you wait and listen. The Talisman grows heavy. Soon the wild neighing which disturbed your sleep yesterday peals again, rending the peace of the night. The chilling challenge is answered, again and again. Soon, to your horror, six of the nightmarish horses, eyes and nostrils aflame, appear, each bearing the crooked, life-hating spirit of a Wraith. They form an arc, all staring at you intently. In unison their cracked voices cry, 'We are the instruments of Death. We have come to claim you for our master and to take back his Talisman!' You stand with the fire between yourself and them, but they urge their horses through the flames. Under their attack you feel your life-force ebbing away. You become like them, a travesty of life, for ever doomed to an existence filled with hatred and jealousy of all living things. That about wraps it up for the Talisman of Death. I haven't yet picked my next project, but I have a few in mind and will drop a link in this thread before shutting it down. Thanks for reading along!
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Apr 16, 2015 19:48
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