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Hello, I made a guy! I hope he does not suck too much. I'll let Ferrinus have a look to see if I hosed up anywhere. I thought of a shitload of backstory, some of which is hinted at in the Equipment section. I haven't written it all down yet but I'll get that done ASAP. I do have a basic character description, though. code:
Nicolae Carpathia fucked around with this message at 00:46 on Nov 9, 2008 |
# ¿ Oct 31, 2008 04:01 |
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# ¿ Apr 24, 2024 14:14 |
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Ferrinus posted:That guy's awesome! It is, and he knows it. The way I look at it: 1) He doesn't really care. He doesn't speak Russian natively enough for the gender difference to jump out at him as an obvious error; he just parses it as a reference to nesting dolls. Mikhailov had a thing about them, saying they were a metaphor for how everything in life has more layers and other meanings if you look deeper. When Watts Awoke, he realized how literally true this was. 2) He probably wouldn't take any poo poo from anyone who made fun of him for it. 3) I imagine that the term has been used so often as a reference to toys that the literal interpretation of the word ("fat mother", I think) is mostly thought of as just an etymology. It's apparently very common for there to be Russian politicians on matryoshki, with the most recent head of state on the outside, going back to Lenin as you pop off dolls. I imagine that if Russians are okay with using "matryoshka" to refer to their dear leaders, Watts can get away with calling himself one. (That said, I speak no Russian myself, so if someone more familiar with Russian culture thinks it's really really wrong, I'd be okay with changing it to a masculine equivalent.) quote:This is correct. That bonus 25 xp I give you on attributes is the Mastigos resolve bonus. aw gently caress's sake Chernobyl Peace Prize posted:Hey NC, one thing I noticed is that your math on your pistol is a bit off. You're probably right. I still have a hard time keeping track of all the modifiers.
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# ¿ Oct 31, 2008 04:34 |
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Ferrinus posted:Well I'm Russian and while I am not exactly immersed in the culture I can tell you that just because A) I know what it refers to and B) the way the name ends with a vowel makes it sound like a girl's name to me. Representing a politician on a matryoshka is one thing, but that doesn't mean you would call the politician himself a matryoshka any more than you'd call him a barbie. Aw well. To be honest, for a while, I was considering giving him another name for precisely this reason after I looked up "matryoshka" on Wikipedia. But then I decided I liked the symbolism, and also couldn't think of anything else, and figured that even if it's glaringly wrong, it'd be in-character for him not to notice or really worry about it. It means more to him than just "I'm a fat old Russian lady", after all. quote:owned you fuckin bitch my attribute points... lying in shards... around me... i am undone... although now i'm not sure how to rearrange them, drat you ferrinus Mental 3/3/3 (70 + 5), Physical 2/3/3 (55 + 5), Social (2/3/3) (45 + 15) sounds like it'd work, but I did like that Intelligence 4. Guess I'll have to get some XP first! (Hm, this does mean I can free up those five XP I used to bump up Dex...) Nicolae Carpathia fucked around with this message at 04:54 on Oct 31, 2008 |
# ¿ Oct 31, 2008 04:44 |
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Bumping this to point out an updated character sheet, with my Attribute points fixed up, a few more pieces of equipment, and using 3 newly-freed-up points to get Athletics skill. Still not sure what to do with those leftover 2 points, since I've used 14 out of 15 xp on rotes. (You're a cruel man, Ferrinus, for making the upper limit an odd number even though all rotes cost even numbers of xp.)
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# ¿ Oct 31, 2008 21:23 |
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I just realized that one-dot rotes aren't the only thing I can spend 2 xp on, I think I'll get the Quick Draw 1 merit for firearms as a last minute merit. Edit: Also I fixed my guy's status and allies situation with the cops, my guy has been through so many changes... Nicolae Carpathia fucked around with this message at 03:02 on Nov 2, 2008 |
# ¿ Nov 2, 2008 02:37 |
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Ferrinus posted:Bonus! Notpaul's dude had a weird dream sequence that everyone cashes in on! +2 Arcane XP, for a total of 22. Wait, did I miss a game?
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# ¿ Nov 5, 2008 15:44 |
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Based on the level of skills our characters have, what would be a reasonable assumption for the length of time they've been mages?
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# ¿ Nov 8, 2008 05:41 |
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Ferrinus posted:Could be less than a year, could be a few years. None of your characters are really experienced dudes. Well, he is 46, so I'm guessing he's older than the other characters. Does three years or so sound about right? I'm trying to flesh him out a little more, to get a better feel for the character. I'm not entirely happy with how I played him last time.
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# ¿ Nov 8, 2008 05:56 |
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Ferrinus posted:Awakening doesn't come at a set age. There are old spry bearded wizards that everyone takes to be enlightened masters except they're novices who Awakened like 2 years ago when they were only 63. So how old you are doesn't control how long you've been wizarding, don't worry about that. Yeah, I gathered as much. I don't think I phrased what I meant correctly, but it wasn't important anyway!
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# ¿ Nov 8, 2008 06:53 |
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Ferrinus posted:Hopefully we'll play this coming Sunday or Monday! If it makes any difference, Sunday might work better for me. (I have to get up early on Tuesdays.) Also I wish I had dots in Prime or Forces arcana, free rotes Thanks for the update, Ferrinus!
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# ¿ Nov 8, 2008 08:40 |
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What happened during the first run in at Enoch's Sanctum, incidentally? Can I assume that the other guys filled in Matryoshka about what happened, during the course of researching more about Enoch? (Also, since I don't have Prime or Forces, this is a moot question, but if I had taken some of Enoch's rotes, would my Eidetic Memory merit have kept me from the die-roll penalties on remembering our research?)
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# ¿ Nov 8, 2008 20:56 |
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Cool, thanks! Sometimes I have so many questions (I have the second highest postcount in this thread and have only played once...)
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# ¿ Nov 9, 2008 00:30 |
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Enoch, being an Obrimos, wrote many of his works about the Force and Prime arcana, but he also contributed to shorter treatises about other arcana. While researching some of Enoch's work, Matryoshka came across some of his writings about the Space arcanum. Matryoshka chose to take some time to pick up the Spatial Map rote, realizing how useful it could be in the likely event that he would have to use his gun. * Space 1 - Spatial Map [Occult, C: 5 dice, V: 3 dice] (covert) 2 xp for Spatial Map -1 to die rolls for remembering the research ferrinus said this was okay on IRC
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# ¿ Nov 9, 2008 00:53 |
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What happened to Alice?
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# ¿ Nov 9, 2008 02:35 |
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Ferrinus posted:Attn mages! I'd like to play tonight! yesssssss ferrinus i totally need to kill a thing tonight i was gonna say "kill a dude" but killing sentients fucks up your wisdom so i'll be okay with killing like rat golems or something
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# ¿ Nov 10, 2008 01:47 |
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a man of ill repute posted:how much arcane XP does it cost to buy from level 3 to 4 in your best arcana I think the house rules say that Arcane XP is only used for advancing Gnosis. Also that was kind of fun, I am glad I got to do something besides make a few a-little-too-noir quips.
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# ¿ Nov 10, 2008 07:27 |
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Ferrinus posted:If he gets one it should just be a giant imo. I'd love to play but 7 or 8ish is not happening. I have chem lab starting at 7, fifteen minutes from now, and it can last until 9:45 and then it's 30-45 minutes to get home depending on how much I'm persuaded by the speed limit signs. This is my situation every Tuesday, incidentally. I guess if it runs long enough, and I finish up early enough, I can catch the end and get caught up for next week.
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# ¿ Nov 12, 2008 00:45 |
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Danhenge posted:welp i think ferrinus said we can just pretend we brought you along we're goin' on a road trip in an suv "on extended loan" from a police impound lot
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# ¿ Nov 12, 2008 04:35 |
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Danhenge posted:i will command spirits wherever possible! ...wouldn't that be your #1 Spirit directive
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# ¿ Nov 12, 2008 04:58 |
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drat how did a sleepwalker get to be so awesome, dude's got visions and a helldog and he can command nearly everything we run into at least i got us an SUV!
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# ¿ Nov 13, 2008 22:47 |
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NOT PAUL LAYTON posted:This is just the beginning. is this in the sense of "don't worry nicolae everyone will get a chance to be awesome too!" or "you have no idea of the terrible depths of my power!"? edit: I didn't mean this as a complaint or griping about how things are going, this game is a lot of fun, I am just concerned I am not pulling my weight or doing much to stand out as useful! Nicolae Carpathia fucked around with this message at 00:43 on Nov 14, 2008 |
# ¿ Nov 14, 2008 00:12 |
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Ferrinus posted:incidentally, here's notpaul's player character, along with his Sleepwalker Retainer You mean technically his character is Lego? drat. That's a cool picture, though, I should get around to doing a picture of Matryoshka. I found my PDFs of Andrew Loomis's books and I am refreshing my memory of figure drawing. (I doodled some sketches already, but with no scanner I expect I'll have to break out the drawing tablet and do it in Photoshop.)
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# ¿ Nov 14, 2008 01:20 |
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a man of ill repute posted:you guys loving suck, demon party member would've owned Yes, with Solomon, Phlegethon, and Sakrathor combined, the only people who'd need to show up are Ferrinus and notpaul!
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# ¿ Nov 20, 2008 07:22 |
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Ferrinus posted:God willing, we're playing today (11/20) as well as yesterday! Probably at the same time, around like 9ish. we didn't really get started till 10ish though anyway i might be around for a little bit, just to watch what's going on, but i do have to get up early so i'll probably be gone before 10. if i do play at all i'll probably just fall down a ravine or something for the duration of the session and then leave
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# ¿ Nov 20, 2008 22:25 |
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Ferrinus posted:+2 XP for making some progress. so what did i miss?
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# ¿ Nov 21, 2008 12:02 |
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Ferrinus posted:The party crossed path with a cabal of three mages who said they were in Smoky Mountains to investigate the strange weather phenomena. You warned them that Enoch was the probable cause and they said they'd be careful not to engage before giving you a chance to speak with him if they found him first. Afterwards, the party noticed a huge Fate spell hanging over part of the park, and as they watch the spell reacted somehow to something in the distance and this reaction was followed by a tremendous flash of lightning and thunder. Afterwards there was a freak hailstorm. That sounds pretty awesome! Do we know anything about the Fate spell at all? quote:E: We may also play today! That sounds even more awesome!
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# ¿ Nov 21, 2008 20:06 |
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Ferrinus posted:It's really big and also involves some Time and Prime, judging from Adramel's estimation. For those who missed it, we found a ley line that had been artificially straightened, called a Straight Shot. We also learned more about Enoch's situation from talking with the wind spirit, Northern Tempest, and also with a man named Adrian, who came to us by surprise in the middle of the night. (Adrian doesn't breathe, walks around in the cold barefoot, registers as dead, and commented that he eats people who inconvenience him overmuch. Still, he seemed mostly harmless and helpful enough. Everyone OOC thought he was a vampire but we never bothered to ask IC. Adrian wanted us to mind our business.) Enoch is not in much of a position to relocate back to New York City to help clean up. He's currently pinned down, under attack by at least a dozen powerful wizards. Neither Tempest nor Adrian were quite sure about the motive of this attack. Enoch had been rearranging the ley lines in the area, including the one we found, which created some problems for Adrian's access to ley line nexuses until they worked out an arrangement. Because of this, Adrian thinks Enoch is an okay guy and was willing to give us directions to Enoch's location. It's about a day's walk. Adrian suggested that Enoch will know we're coming and that our best option was to look harmless. He also said that if we want to avoid the other mages, we should avoid the Dragon Lines -- natural ley lines that hadn't been rerouted artificially. Also: <Ferrinus> this weekend: enoch. i swear it. I appreciated it when Ferrinus summarized the previous session for me, so I am just repaying the favor for everyone else.
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# ¿ Nov 22, 2008 20:43 |
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Ferrinus posted:Thanks for the summary Nicolae! Also I want to register my appreciation of Tombheart's () kicking up conversation in the camp while half the party went off doing recon, that sort of thing really adds to the game. Yeah, I kind of wanted to join in on the demonology discussion actually.
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# ¿ Nov 23, 2008 00:47 |
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Ferrinus posted:________/ this is the longest noob chair it... it calls me to it...
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# ¿ Nov 23, 2008 08:57 |
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Those sound awesome. Hm, I just need one more dot in Space for the first one... and three more in Forces, Life, and Matter
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# ¿ Nov 26, 2008 00:18 |
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Dammit Who? posted:holy crap! enoch got some poo poo to deal with also i guess there will be no mage over thanksgiving? i hope not i will be gone till sunday evening
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# ¿ Nov 26, 2008 17:52 |
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Ferrinus posted:Hi, folks! I wanna run tonight, December 3rd. Let's start gathering in IRC around eightish...? I dunno post at me to say if/when's good for you. yesssssss
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# ¿ Dec 3, 2008 22:21 |
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oh my, that instill emotion spell sounds fun if only i had a chance to get some rotes, i could upgrade emotional urging
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# ¿ Dec 4, 2008 01:07 |
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Ferrinus posted:Gonna run tonight!!! Same deal, start showing up at like 8 or 9ish. i probably won't be around till 9:15ish
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# ¿ Dec 10, 2008 22:29 |
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Ferrinus posted:That's okay! (you're unimportant) i know it was just a heads up
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# ¿ Dec 10, 2008 22:56 |
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Dammit Who? posted:oh, you ran today... it was a standalone story not related to the enoch storyline, i'll write up a synopsis when i get home from class if you want
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# ¿ Dec 11, 2008 15:50 |
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The story of the Body of Gabriel Norsworth takes place in an unspecified time relative to the Enoch storyline. Before? After? Who knows, man, it's all crazy when you're dealing with Mages. The only characters in this story were Medved, Socharis, Matryoshka, and Adramel. (Adramel showed up a bit late, but early enough to get written into the story easily.) Socharis is at home, doing his day job of writing obituaries. This particular obit is a sad one: an 8-year-old autistic boy named Gabriel Norsworth, hit by a car after running into the road. Anna, aka Ghost Girlfriend, appears with another ghost in tow. It's Gabe's ghost, a wispy half-formed thing that won't last long. Gabe says that there's something bad in him. Anna thinks it means that there's something wrong with Gabe's body. Socharis heads to the hospital where Gabe's body is being held, while Anna stays behind so that Gabe's ghost won't be alone when it dissolves. Meanwhile, Medved and Matryoshka meet Aaron, the head of the local Adamantine Arrow, a (presumably) former military man and current Acanthus. He tells them that within an hour, an operation will be taking place at a local hospital, and that it will go badly. Deaths will occur that Sleepers will be powerless to stop. He wants his people on the scene for when things go down. It's either coincidence or the workings of a Master of Fate that Socharis meets the Arrows right outside the hospital. They brief each other on why they're there and head inside, after casting a few protective and sensing spells. Inside, they're confronted by the nurse at the front desk. Fortunately, Matryoshka manages to convince the nurse they're there to see a man with a broken arm whose name Matryoshka picked off a clipboard on the desk, and the group enters without suspicion. They meet Adramel in a hallway of the hospital. (It was never explicitly mentioned what he was doing there. Does he work at the hospital?) He's quickly filled in and joins the party. There's still about thirty or forty minutes until the operation, so the first stop is the morgue. There's a security guard, but Matryoshka flashes a police badge, says a few lines about a body involved in a crime, and uses a little help from the Mind arcana to get the group in the morgue. There are shelves upon shelves of morgue lockers, and there's no time to look at all of them one by one. There's a computer, though, and Adramel uses the Force to access the records to find Gabe's locker. It's quickly opened. (As an aside, my IRC log file for that day ends at midnight, right with the opening of Gabe's morgue freezer. Spooooky.) Socharis determines that the poor lad was indeed killed by blunt force trauma, while Medved's magic examination goes deeper. Gabe's body -- specifically, his organs, are in remarkably good condition for a child hit by a car. He theorizes that his organs are being preserved for some unknown reason, and Matryoshka theorizes that the operation that's going to go wrong will involve Gabe's organs somehow. Adramel and Socharis collaborate to alter Gabe's medical file, Socharis using his medical experience to tell Adramel what to write. Gabe's organs are now listed as unusable due to some sort of hitherto-unnoticed infection so that no one will be contaminated with whatever bad thing Gabe was talking about inside him. With only a few minutes left until the operation, the group heads down to the floor below where the operating rooms are. They see an ambulance arriving through a window. On the elevator ride down, Matryoshka divines the near future. The person in the ambulance was rushed exactly to this hospital because that's where Gabe's organs were, but the surgeons will find that the organs are no longer marked as usable. With no other organs available, the patient will die... and as the elevator doors open, the patient, a small girl, is rushed past. The little girl has to be saved without the aid of Gabe's organs, which, as Adramel reminds a horrified Matryoshka, would probably have killed her anyway. A plan is quickly hatched. It's drastic but it's the only option. Medved and Socharis will attempt to heal the girl using their magic. But they'll need to keep it hidden from the eyes of the Sleepers. Adramel gives the two healers Nightsight, and then cuts the power to all the lights on the floor, just after a doctor arrives from the morgue, screaming that Gabe's organs are no longer viable. There is a lot of surprise and shouting, and in the confusion, the two healers rush into the OR with the gift of night vision. Medved's magic fails (0 successes on a dice pool of 10, what) but Socharis's works beautifully (5 successes!), healing the little girl's injuries enough that she won't need a transplant with Gabe or anyone else's organs. In the darkness and confusion, none of the Sleeper doctors notice the magic happening, and Paradox is averted. The four Mages run for it, and meet up on another floor, panting from the exertion. As the scene ended, they were discussing how best to get a closer look at just what the deal is with Gabriel Norsworth's body.
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# ¿ Dec 12, 2008 01:22 |
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Zarick posted:Medved didn't even try healing her because Socharis succeeded so well -- the 10 dice that he got 0 successes on was to snatch the pen flashlight a doctor pulled out. Ah, thanks.
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# ¿ Dec 12, 2008 02:03 |
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just a heads up, i have finals next week on monday and tuesday, so sunday night and monday night are completely out for me, but after tuesday's test i am open for a while
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# ¿ Dec 14, 2008 08:12 |
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# ¿ Apr 24, 2024 14:14 |
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Male. Bi. Unix. posted:good thing i own so hard that it didn't end up mattering to be honest as the only character without nightsight i wasn't really paying much attention during this section
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# ¿ Dec 17, 2008 19:49 |