Topic: Our Salvation: It Is Written (Read 258564 times)

Harry Baldman · « **Reply #1230 on:** June 27, 2016, 06:52:34 pm »

Quote from: penguinofhonor on June 25, 2016, 09:02:50 am

I get away from the teetering stone and look for somewhere to rest. Preferably somewhere hidden.

You skitter out of sight and out of mind, laying down in the gravel-filled yard of the blacksmith as you try to nap away the persistent ringing noise in your ears and the strange lightness of your entire being.

It helps. A little.

Quote from: AoshimaMichio on June 25, 2016, 09:50:39 am

Now is good, hopefully she can do it all quiet like. Step in to assist.
This leaves us total six stoats remaining, right? Where are they?

[Treacherous Underhanded Sneak Attack: 1+1]

You nod. Lee carefully inches into an advantageous position. Not carefully enough, however, as the edge of the roof creaks slightly, a part of it seemingly less well-supported than the others. The guard looks up. There is a moment of exchanged glances.

[Leap Attack: 2 vs. 1]

The plan, however, is still the same. Lee descends, her dress flowing in the wind in a swirl of grays and browns as she falls onto the guard, sinking a knife into her shoulder from the bottom up and twisting roughly. The guard begins to scream as the joint is thoroughly ruined, blood flowing out of vessels you suspect were integral to her long-term survival.

This is perhaps not as stealthy as you would like. Really, it's mostly about as stealthy as last time, by which you mean you're pretty sure both the stoats on the other side of the winery, two guards and one soldier, as well as likely whatever stoats are inside the winery, which should be three soldiers, all probably at least suspect that horrible murder is happening somewhere nearby.

Quote from: Toaster on June 25, 2016, 10:28:10 am

As the guards agreed, Thomas nodded. "Yes, yes, I will be polite. By the way, I believe your stout fellow friends outside have left."

Head up to see the queen to bid a polite farewell. Don't pull out any doom swords.

Your remark, though seemingly unsurprising, prompts closer investigation - your instructor is the first to look outside, and a nearby guard suggests that, as the obvious volunteer, she should go and check outside more closely. The look she returns to the suggestion is less than pleased, but she goes outside nevertheless.

Meanwhile you are led up the staircase and past a series of other barricades and not a small amount of what look to be improvised fire traps, and the final one of the barricades nearly at the entrance to the queen's chambers holds an unusually rough and prepared bunch of royal guards headed up by the commander herself. She demands a full report before letting you past, which the guard who promised to observe you meets with a laconic description of the current known facts, most important of which seems to be that the demonic creature that made people jump off the battlements has apparently been neutralized and turned into some kind of evil doom sword, in the guard's own words, one that is currently within your possession, but is presently dismissed for the safety of the public.

Although it takes some few minutes of dithering and repeating quite a few questions and answers, the commander does seem willing to let you speak with the queen. But only in the presence of four- no, wait, five well-armed guards. The whole barricade save one lookout gets to come with you, in short. It's going to be something of a party in there, you suppose.

As you approach the door, the queen is already there. Wide-eyed and having put a relatively practical dress on sometime after you saw her last, she instinctively backs up from the door as you and the five guards surrounding you walk in. She tries and fails to look casual as she fidgets with a dagger she clumsily hides behind her back. Uh, she says, what's happening? Her eyes dart to the commander, who says that you apparently have something to relay to her. Er, she looks at you. Is... did anything happen?

Quote from: TopHat on June 25, 2016, 01:30:57 pm

"I guess so, if that's what it's called. Thank you for snapping me out of it. I - wait, where's Ms. Minett? Is she alright? Even if this is her fault I do hope she's not badly hurt. What about Mr. Minstep and the One?"
I didn't kill anyone, did I? Also try to stand up.

You're not entirely sure. You suppose that whole destiny thing might have kept injury to bystanders relatively minimal. But you also have the feeling that if there was a bystander in the way you might not have felt them at all. And boy is there a lot of gore around where you presume you used to be.

Standing up takes far more effort than you would like, but you manage it eventually. You feel sore all over, and only vaguely ambulatory. Probably lucky you've got that much considering what happened to you.

Quote from: Xantalos on June 25, 2016, 04:05:56 pm

"Sort of. I'll go take care of that gold thing, don't worry about it."

Jack turns his back and begins walking towards the well, but pauses for a moment.

"Oh, one more thing. You're probably an athiest, but do me a favor and pray you didn't fuck up my armor project by doing what you did. It sounds like you helped him, but I was very invested in that.

You'll need the luck if you broke it."

Head on over to the well! Collect any stray rats that cross my path on the way.

[Ratcatcher's Delight: 5]

Oh, rats, rats everywhere. How absolutely delightful, you think as you occasionally bend down to swipe a couple of confused rodents from the ground, taking a slightly circuitous path as you gather up about a dozen. Tying all their tails together, you hold them in one hand as you descend into the well, the bottom of it currently filled with pooling remnants of Mr. Wilde's extended form, a steady stream still pouring down with the occasional splash from a harder or more cohesive bit splatting heavily on the bricks.

The well is still there, the message on its door completely intact. Doesn't seem like much has changed here since you were last in.

Spoiler: Status (click to show/hide)

Toaster · « **Reply #1231 on:** June 27, 2016, 07:09:26 pm »

Thomas nodded, then saluted. That's what military does, right? "Uh... yes! After agreeing to some contract work with one of your fine guards, I was tasked with inspecting the battlements. The apparent leader, or something, of the stout army saw me up, and must have seen something he liked. After I came back down for some more practice, said leader came in the front gate. There was a rather flashy battle with lots of impressive special effects, then I won. Now I have a neat souvenier sword, which your friends here nicely asked me to not take out. What with you being queen and all, I can imagine. I think that sums it up."

Summarize

Xantalos · « **Reply #1232 on:** June 27, 2016, 10:52:09 pm »

Any gold around here? Wilde mentioned gold. If so, collect gold. If not, go and politely* question Wilde about the lack of gold.

*non-violently

AoshimaMichio · « **Reply #1233 on:** June 28, 2016, 01:02:26 am »

"Why not do it like in movies and cut throat instead? That should make them go down quietly."

Use the spear shaft to knock the screamer out. Then retreat with Lee to some distance into safety.
Once stoats come out check if they are in suitable mindstate for "Speaking With The Mob". If they are, "Lend Me Their Limbs."

penguinofhonor · « **Reply #1234 on:** June 28, 2016, 04:49:05 am »

I continue resting.

TopHat · « **Reply #1235 on:** June 28, 2016, 01:41:50 pm »

Walk over to and enter the building my companion was in.
"You were completly right - never go towards the screaming. On the plus side, the besieging army appears to have been destroyed and it sounds like Minstep killed the demon, so everyone should be safe for the time being."

Harry Baldman · « **Reply #1236 on:** June 29, 2016, 08:23:04 am »

Quote from: Toaster on June 27, 2016, 07:09:26 pm

Thomas nodded, then saluted. That's what military does, right? "Uh... yes! After agreeing to some contract work with one of your fine guards, I was tasked with inspecting the battlements. The apparent leader, or something, of the stout army saw me up, and must have seen something he liked. After I came back down for some more practice, said leader came in the front gate. There was a rather flashy battle with lots of impressive special effects, then I won. Now I have a neat souvenier sword, which your friends here nicely asked me to not take out. What with you being queen and all, I can imagine. I think that sums it up."

Summarize

The queen looks at you a tad skeptically, turning to the guard commander for a second opinion. Is there, uh, verification, she asks. No offense, Mr. Minstep, of course, but your perspective is... er, a little unique at times. The guard commander replies that the story is highly unusual and is yet to be properly verified, but lookouts have been dispatched and-

An out-of-breath fellow you recognize as the red-headed guard who helped you out in finding the minders arrives at the door, and the troops surrounding you go on momentary alert before permitting him to slowly approach. He whispers to the guard commander, and her face goes from grim to skeptical to seemingly rather enthused. She congratulates the guard on his fine message, and sends him away for a moment, then turns to the queen.

As she was saying, the story is highly unusual, but the current information seems to imply that the besieging force is indeed very much gone. The guards all look her way incredulously, as does the queen herself, and the room is silent for a few seconds.

Does... does that mean it's over, asks the queen. Is the nightmare over at last? The guard commander smiles. She wouldn't say that, if this is indeed correct. But it may be time for an overdue resupply.

Mr. Minstep, the commander turns to you. Your story makes you out to be more capable than you look. While the situation is better assessed, would you care to accompany two of her guards over to town? This may be an important learning opportunity.

Quote from: Xantalos on June 27, 2016, 10:52:09 pm

Any gold around here? Wilde mentioned gold. If so, collect gold. If not, go and politely* question Wilde about the lack of gold.

*non-violently

Lots of gold, actually. Quite a lot of it in spilled form. But there is a handy potato sack full of dusty golden coins well within reach, which you lift in one hand without even the slightest effort. You can almost hear your net worth increase exponentially as you do so.

Quote from: AoshimaMichio on June 28, 2016, 01:02:26 am

"Why not do it like in movies and cut throat instead? That should make them go down quietly."

Use the spear shaft to knock the screamer out. Then retreat with Lee to some distance into safety.
Once stoats come out check if they are in suitable mindstate for "Speaking With The Mob". If they are, "Lend Me Their Limbs."

Too obvious a target, says Lee as you run in with your spear shaft, ready to administer a caning that'd move a 19th century father to weep with pride.

[Stick It To The Man: 3 vs. 6]

The screaming guard hears you run in and stabs wildly in a panic, unexpectedly catching you right in the chest, the spearhead slipping between the ribs and right into the lung. You look down, mildly surprised, and cough. Blood begins to pool out of the spear as the guard kicks you in the midsection and pulls it out in the same movement. Seeing how little a gaping chest wound appears to impede you, the guard begins to scream a little harder.

[Thousand Knives: 2+1 vs. 3]

Showing unexpected presence of mind, the guard begins to retreat to the side, successfully warding off Lee's advance with her spear as she starts to run away along the side of the winery. You feel this is a good time to retreat, and Lee agrees, although from her somewhat sullen look you get the feeling that she's rather disappointed with her poor luck in this latest offensive.

[Bravely Out Of Danger: 1]

Of course, you aren't really more than ten meters out than guards and soldiers begin to round the corners of the winery, marking the two of you running away almost immediately. And, for that matter, the patrol of two soldiers and a guard seems to be urgently sprinting this way from the direction you up until now were retreating into, the screaming of the guard apparently having spread extraordinarily quickly. The door of the winery begins to open, another soldier shifting out of it, leading the way with a steel saber that no doubt used to belong to a distinguished cavalryman of some kind.

[Speak With The Mob: 3]

Feeling like you're about to find yourself sorely outflanked, you focus on the injured guard, still screaming as she runs away. Such is the art of speaking with groups. You need to find something resonant, something readily identifiable. Something very familiar and urgent. And then what you do, you reason, is add a little personal touch to it. The scream gets louder, more incisive. You feel the stoat guards pause, the voice of their comrade settling in their bones to some degree, and quite a few turn to look her way as she retreats along the fields, still bleeding heavily and counting herself very fortunate if she can somehow be alive come tomorrow. The latter sentiment appears to be shared by the others as well, if without the overwhelming importance that a massive bleeding wound naturally lends it.

They have numbers on their side, this is true. But nevertheless you have made the bravest of them (not a difficult achievement, mind you) stop for a moment, their charge degraded to a mere absent-minded jog in your direction as some internal voice urges them to consider the situation very carefully before proceeding.

Quote from: penguinofhonor on June 28, 2016, 04:49:05 am

I continue resting.

Rest does the mind good, and your body seems to like the recuperation too. On the negative side, as you regain more feeling in your limbs the gravel starts to feel increasingly uncomfortable and scratchy. Sheesh, you didn't know your nerves were so easily spoiled.

Quote from: TopHat on June 28, 2016, 01:41:50 pm

Walk over to and enter the building my companion was in.
"You were completly right - never go towards the screaming. On the plus side, the besieging army appears to have been destroyed and it sounds like Minstep killed the demon, so everyone should be safe for the time being."

You need not bother, as your companion seems to have made her way to you of her own accord, simultaneously very interested in what exactly she missed and unusually glad at not being stuck inside that carpenter's workshop for longer than she absolutely had to be. Speaking of, what did she miss? Sounded pretty intense out there for a while and... well...

She trails off in her question, her eyes drawn to the ocean of assorted human-esque parts you're standing in, rats skipping along it as they indecisively attempt to both escape and make off with as much food as they are able. She was completely right, you tell her, never go towards the screaming. You decide to leave most of the details to her imagination, given how hard at work it seems to be with the scant evidence already presented.

Anyway, you say, the sieging army is gone, and Mr. Minstep seems to have done unusually well in dispatching the demon as well. This seems to snap her into an altogether different state of mind. Wait, she says, that's it? It's done? And we won? Holy crap, she says, then looks at the gate. She's about to say something else, but before she even begins to speak she cuts herself off as she exhales quickly, then takes a deep breath. Wait, really?

She starts to laugh from sheer sense of relief, placing both hands on your shoulders. She could kiss you right now, you beautiful bastard. Best news of her life. Tell you what, she'll race you outside. Winner gets freedom and real food. And the loser gets freedom and real food too! She-

-wait, are you all right? You look kind of... vaguely messed up, she says as she looks you over. And there's some... stuff on your back, she says, flicking off a tooth from your shoulder blade as she steps partly around you. And that naked guy gives her the creeps, what's his deal?

Spoiler: Status (click to show/hide)

penguinofhonor · « **Reply #1237 on:** June 29, 2016, 02:04:24 pm »

There really aren't enough good places to lay down around here. I search for some softer ground to snooze on.

TopHat · « **Reply #1238 on:** June 29, 2016, 03:03:48 pm »

"I wouldn't worry about him. He's certainly extremely dangerous - all four of us seem to have the potential to be, I'll talk about that later - but I don't think he'll go out of his way just to hurt anyone. Too selfish to waste the effort, in my opinion.

Anyway, I do seem to have taken quite a bit of damage, though hopefully nothing that a good rest won't be able to solve - if you know of anywhere with a free bed?"

Time for a rest, methinks. Freedom can come later.

Xantalos · « **Reply #1239 on:** June 29, 2016, 04:10:31 pm »

"Ah, excellent. Now then, I should find my blacksmith friend."

Get out of the well and go look for the blacksmith. Perhaps he's at his house?

Harry Baldman · « **Reply #1240 on:** June 29, 2016, 04:14:04 pm »

Quote from: Xantalos on June 29, 2016, 04:10:31 pm

"Ah, excellent. Now then, I should find my blacksmith friend."

Try stuffing a bit more gold into the sack, or find another sack or something. Not because I really have any need for it, but try to get ... how much did Wilde say again? 2.3 kilos or something? Make sure I have that much, then get out of the well and go look for the blacksmith. Perhaps he's at his house?

Actually I neglected to put a 0 in the middle there.

Now noted in the status.

Xantalos · « **Reply #1241 on:** June 29, 2016, 05:09:53 pm »

Ah, excellent. Edited to reflect this!

Toaster · « **Reply #1242 on:** June 29, 2016, 06:24:17 pm »

Thomas opened his mouth to object, but hesitated. Well, taking him to the town would certainly help him get his bearings, that is true. He supposed having someone take him there would prevent getting lost.

"Yes, Mrs. Queen. I will go with your guards to the town, but I don't expect to be coming back here; I must be getting home. I have enjoyed my stay here, even if I'm not sure how I got here. I bid you all farewell."

Agree. Bid farewells. Depart with guards, and stuff.

AoshimaMichio · « **Reply #1243 on:** June 30, 2016, 02:50:57 pm »

"I wonder what's the deal with Lady Luck. Or is it Mistress of Misfortune? She really can't make up her mind whether she's helping or not."

Keep running for hiding place.
On the other front accidents happen. INEVITABLE accidents. You know the type; people running with spears. It's like kids and scissors.

Harry Baldman · « **Reply #1244 on:** June 30, 2016, 04:34:35 pm »

Quote from: penguinofhonor on June 29, 2016, 02:04:24 pm

There really aren't enough good places to lay down around here. I search for some softer ground to snooze on.

[The Search For Refuge: 3]

You skulk around the courtyard for a while, looking for a place that isn't wet, littered with bone shards, made up purely of dirt and/or gravel and just not unpalatable in general. It takes a certain relaxation of reasonable standards to eventually find a place where a little bit of lawn seems to be growing as of yet untrampled by careless feet or uneaten by desperate castle residents. It seems soft enough after you settle in for a bit, even if you don't quite work up a full-on nap just yet.

Quote from: TopHat on June 29, 2016, 03:03:48 pm

"I wouldn't worry about him. He's certainly extremely dangerous - all four of us seem to have the potential to be, I'll talk about that later - but I don't think he'll go out of his way just to hurt anyone. Too selfish to waste the effort, in my opinion.

Anyway, I do seem to have taken quite a bit of damage, though hopefully nothing that a good rest won't be able to solve - if you know of anywhere with a free bed?"

Time for a rest, methinks. Freedom can come later.

There's the keep. Plenty of room in there, she guesses. Closer by there's the bone carver's house, and since he's disappeared she guesses there's nobody who'd look at you sideways for sleeping in there, even if the place is kind of creepy from what she's heard.

[Where I Lay My Head: 3]

But you know what, you can have her sleeping spot. Not like she intends to occupy it much longer, right? She leads you over into the old storehouse, which is just as empty of useful goods as you'd expect it to be in a prolonged siege, and indeed seems to have been looted of anything properly useful, with 'seems' being the operative word as your companion leads you to one particular corner and loosens a set of floorboards with a wedge she seems to have kept for just this purpose, uncovering a somewhat cozy little nook beneath the floor. Well, cozy inasmuch as a vaguely coffin-shaped chamber beneath the earth lined with a variety of 'acquired' goods can be, most of them soft enough to make sleeping there not entirely unpleasant. You raise an eyebrow as your companion motions you to climb inside with a genuine smile. Pretty clever, eh? She hasn't slept in the keep for nigh on three months, you know. They always try to nab your shit if you sleep in the keep, and it gets really damn annoying after a while.

Anyway, you climb in there and she'll put the boards over you so nobody disturbs you for a bit. Perfect place to lie down. Oh, and if you don't like the dark, there should be half a candle down there that she was planning to eat on Sunday, but that's not really an issue anymore so you feel free to use it. Tinderbox should be at your feet if you slide in all the way, but mind the rat cage. She thinks the big one ate the other ones, and it's been getting increasingly angry with each passing day.

Quote from: Xantalos on June 29, 2016, 04:10:31 pm

"Ah, excellent. Now then, I should find my blacksmith friend."

Get out of the well and go look for the blacksmith. Perhaps he's at his house?

Now richer than anyone you've ever personally known, you go and look for your fine friend the blacksmith. His door yields easily to your knock, but you do not find him inside. And the place looks better-lit than when he mutilated your hand. Hm. Not a good sign, you think. Maybe Mr. Wilde scared the crazy away. Or worse, gave him a less productive case of crazy instead. You start to get a little worried.

[Fortuitous Appearance: 1]

Where could he be, you wonder. The keep? The dark tunnel that you decided not to fall into? Oh crap, you left that open. And the blacksmith's nothing if not terminally curious. You hope he didn't fall into that, but you'd be lying if you said you had any faith in the possibility.

Quote from: Toaster on June 29, 2016, 06:24:17 pm

Thomas opened his mouth to object, but hesitated. Well, taking him to the town would certainly help him get his bearings, that is true. He supposed having someone take him there would prevent getting lost.

"Yes, Mrs. Queen. I will go with your guards to the town, but I don't expect to be coming back here; I must be getting home. I have enjoyed my stay here, even if I'm not sure how I got here. I bid you all farewell."

Agree. Bid farewells. Depart with guards, and stuff.

Uh, okay, says the queen. It was... nice having you, yes? Farewell, Mr. Minstep, and... thank you? She thinks she ought to thank you, right? The queen checks with the guard commander, who shrugs a little. It would seem right to give thanks, yes. Especially given your continued cooperation. Hopefully your two escorts will be able to make it back. Speaking of, it's time to find some.

You are quickly guided out of the keep and over to the corner building of the courtyard, and the guard commander tells you to wait outside as she goes in. You do so, and she comes out a minute or so later with the elderly, impassive captain of the castle guard, who looks you over.

[Brave Souls: 4]

Several suitable candidates that immediately come to mind, he starts to drone. Fetching them will take a few minutes. He goes back inside the corner building, and comes back shortly afterward with a twitchy fellow in his late forties quite resolutely holding on to his spear, and also a rather large, wiry woman wearing a full suit of plate armor. The latter was not one of the initial candidates, the captain sees fit to mention, but she volunteered extremely readily and also technically outranks him.

The Worm-knight and the tower-rat, the guard commander says with a smile, patting you on the back. You'll be in good company, Mr. Minstep. The Worm-knight looks at you. She is loathe to leave the castle in its current form, she mentions, but it is imperative that she see the state of the land with her own eyes. The man turns his head toward her, asking her if she's sure she can trust those. He's had some negative experiences with his own, but has held off on scooping them out just yet. The light can play nasty tricks on you if you're not careful and don't watch your thoughts at all times.

Quote from: AoshimaMichio on June 30, 2016, 02:50:57 pm

"I wonder what's the deal with Lady Luck. Or is it Mistress of Misfortune? She really can't make up her mind whether she's helping or not."

Keep running for hiding place.
On the other front accidents happen. INEVITABLE accidents. You know the type; people running with spears. It's like kids and scissors.

You decide to take this precious opportunity to make a daring escape.

[Exploit the Confusion: 3+1]

Of course, the more you concentrate on escaping, the less you can concentrate on the confusion. Fortunately, you can somewhat safely let Lee lead the way, as she seems to be, if not necessarily better at infiltration and evasion than you are, then at least free of the responsibility of having to channel unsettling mind waves through the echoing screams of the stoats' compatriot. You manage to become altogether less flanked as you make it a good way away from the rest at a dead sprint. But you'd still like to be safe about this.

INEVITABLE

[Word: 1]

And while you would like to say that it is indeed inevitable that all of these soldiers will fall on their respective weapons, it is in fact astronomically more likely that they will fall onto you with their weapons before that, given your overall proclivity toward getting stabbed in the past. Luck, as you have correctly surmised, or even basic statistical probability, is definitely not on your side here.

This aspect of inevitability does not go entirely unappreciated as you feel yourself get stabbed 8 times by a variety of spears on all sides and a saber digs into your shoulder and splits one of your collarbones neatly in half, a simultaneous reorganization of reality having landed you on the wrong side of every possible attack made on your person.

Lee, curiously exempt from this sudden reorganization, has a moment of indecision as she wonders if there possibly exists a world where she can do a damn thing to help you while not getting killed herself. Being a fairly intelligent woman, she seems to quickly concede that such a world is wildly implausible to say the least, and uses your clever distraction to keep running.

Meanwhile the stoats seem just as confused as before, perhaps more so, not quite sure how they've managed to simultaneously stab you in at least three different vital organs and yet somehow entirely failed to kill you, the tangle of weaponry lodged in your body now forming a significant percentage of your total volume.

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Author Topic: Our Salvation: It Is Written (Read 258564 times)

Harry Baldman

Re: Our Salvation: Knights of the Far Beyond

Toaster

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Xantalos

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AoshimaMichio

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penguinofhonor

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TopHat

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Harry Baldman

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penguinofhonor

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TopHat

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Xantalos

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Harry Baldman

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Xantalos

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Toaster

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AoshimaMichio

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Harry Baldman

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