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Post by Admin on Oct 31, 2016 12:50:36 GMT
by Eileen Lucas
T h e E n d of the World
Of plagues, player characters, and campaign worlds
Maybe you have an old, tired fantasy game campaign thats going nowhere, one that you and your players are really sick of and seems to be beyond hope. But you hate the thought of trashing it altogether, after all the work youve put into establishing cities, terrains, weather, etc. What can you do? Well, perhaps a plague can help. In a fantasy campaign, a raging epidemic (a disease which descends suddenly upon a community, burns itself out, and goes away) or pandemic (the worldwide occurrence of such a disease) can eliminate unwanted NPCs en masse. Political, economic, and social systems can be totally restructured. Countless new adventures with interesting twists for PCs can be introduced. Then, too, the physical aspects of the campaign that you like will remain unharmed, and your favorite NPCs can be miraculously saved with your intervention, of course. Historical precedent can guide you. Throughout history, civilization has been beset by numerous outbreaks of plagues of varying intensities. One of the worst of all plagues occurred during the Middle Ages, the time frame in which most AD&D® game campaigns are set. Known today as the Black Death, this plague raged across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East between 1346 and 1351, wiping out approximately one-third of the population of those regions (modern estimates range between one-quarter and one-half higher in some limited areas). The purpose of this article is to give you, the DM, some historical information about the Black Death and to provide some ideas on how such an event might be incorporated into your campaign.
The mechanics of plague F o r t h e p u r p o s e s o f t h i s a r t i c l e , t h e t e r m plague refers to the bubonic plague and its variants. Commonly known to medieval man as the great pestilence, the plague was often made up of several related d i s e a s e s bubonic, pneumonic, and septicemic plagues each differing in the severity and speed with which they spread and killed. These different diseases were linked by a common origin (the bacillus carried by rats and fleas). As a result, the type of plague in any given area changed from one sort to another in a confusing fashion, sometimes changing with the seasons. At times, only one type would infect an area, while all three might be present simultaneously in other regions. Generally, the plague worked its havoc in 3-6 months and dissipated, but in some places, particularly in regions with high population densities, it seemed to disappear, only to flare up again in a month or so (often after winter) and hang on for another year. As a general rule, symptoms of the plague appeared rapidly. Chills, high fever, restlessness, a staggering walk, and mental confusion were followed by prostration, delirium, shock, and coma. The different types of plague produced further and differing symptoms, but all were characterized by their contagious and fatal natures. Bubonic plague was the first type of plague to appear. It was characterized by buboes (swellings of lymph nodes) behind the ear, in the armpit, and in the groin. These swellings often grew to the sizes of eggs or apples and were very painful; they were followed by black or red spots like bruises appearing anywhere on the body,
as a result of hemorrhaging under the skin. There was a 33% chance that the swellings would discharge and heal, leading to the patients recovery. Otherwise, the afflicted died within six days. Somewhere along the way, bubonic plague often developed into pneumonic plague, which was much more contagious because it was spread by the breath of the carrier. Its primary characteristics were the spitting of blood (from severe lung infection) and a painful death that occurred within two days. The coughing up of blood became equated with almost certain death. In both types of plague, an extremely foul odor was given off by the body of the victim and everything which issued from it (breath, sweat, blood, etc.). Understandably, depression and despair were common among such victims, sometimes leading to the point of madness. Occasionally, the most potent form of plague, septicemic plague, appeared simultaneously. This variation involved a massive infection of the bloodstream and often killed too quickly for symptoms to be relevant; the victim would be fine one minute, then rapidly exhibit one symptom of plague and die within hours. Buboes had no time to form. Geoffrey the Baker wrote of people who went peacefully to bed and were dead the next morning, while Simon of Covino described priests or doctors who were seized by the plague whilst administering spiritual aid, and, often by a single touch or a single breath of the plague-stricken, perished even before the sick person they had come to assist.¹ Fortunately, this type was less frequent than the rest. To determine whether or not a character contracts the plague, consult the disease rules and tables listed on pages 13-14 of the Dungeon Masters Guide. Use the table entitled Chance of Contracting Disease on page 13 to determine this chance. Use the table entitled Adjustments to Occurrence and Severity Die Rolls on page 14 as a modification to the chance of contracting the plague, based on constitution and other factors. Each PC has a chance of being immune to the plague bacillus; if his constitution score or less is rolled on 1dl00, the PC is immune to the plague. If it is determined that a character has contracted the plague, consult Table 1 in this article to determine what type of plague the character catches. Then consult Table 2 to determine the resulting effects and survival chances. If the DM so desires, characters may be given an additional fighting (or losing) chance against the plague by applying the modifications listed in the Adjustments to Occurrence and Severity Die Rolls table on page 14 of the DMG. In this case, the figures listed there are applied to the die roll prior to consulting the Chance of survival column in Table 2 herein. Table 3 is provided as a suggested encounter table for use in cities stricken by plague; this table may be used or altered at the DMs
Table 1 Type of Plague Contracted 1 d 8 P l a g u e t y p e 1-4 Bubonic plague 5-7 Pneumonic plague 8 Septicemic plague
discretion, depending on campaign circumstances. All rolls for plague type and survival should be made in secret. Whether or not a PC is doomed to die from the plague, the DM should roll the appropriate dice as if the character were to die from the malady anyway, thus determining the time until the infection reaches its worst point. During that time, the DM applies the appropriate penalties to the PC as given in Table 2. PCs who survive the plague recover from the penalties in time, but they heal at the usual rates (magic may help). Lost ability points are recovered at the rate of one point every two days. The causes of plague Of course, the people of the Middle Ages didnt know that there were three different types of plague. All they knew was that people were dying by the thousands all around them because of some horrible sickness. They also didnt know the truth about what caused this dreadful sickness, what caused it to spread, or what cured it. They did have some ideas about these things most of which were wrong and some of which were as destructive as the plague itself. The actual culprits of the plague were rats and fleas. The rat was the carrier of the plague-causing bacillus (Yersinia pestis). The plague was passed from rats to the fleas that bit them; the fleas then passed the plague along to humans by biting them as well. The number of rats and fleas in a given area correlated highly with the number of plague deaths. With both rats and fleas in plentiful supply in the 14th century, the bacillus had plenty of carriers. The plague had actually been endemic (i.e., confined to certain local areas) in many parts of the world for centuries before a number of factors combined to provoke the disaster that was the Black Death. The 11th and 12th centuries in Europe had been a time of relative prosperity and economic growth. During that time, the population of Europe grew at a rate that exceeded agricultural production. With the latter half of the 13th century and the opening of the 14th century, the tides began to turn and things began to get rough for those already living at subsistence levels. In the great population centers, from which the peasantry could or would not move, the end of the thirteenth century was a period of acute
crisis. Distracted by wars, weakened by malnutrition, exhausted by his struggle to win a living from his inadequate portion of ever less fertile land, the medieval peasant was ready to succumb even before the blow had fallen.² Add to this problem the peculiarities of climate (intense cold and severe rainfall) and a series of disastrous harvests, and you had a set of conditions that were ripe intellectually, emotionally, and physically for a plague of monstrous proportions to strike. At least some of these conditions should be present in a fantasy game campaign before a full-scale plague is introduced. Whether the DM sticks with the historical causes of plague in his campaign (i.e., rats and fleas) or creates a unique cause of his own (such as a curse or other magicrelated cause), some clues as to the plagues origins should be prepared for inquisitive PCs. Much of the information should be confusing and misleading, much as it was in medieval times. Some of the causes of the plague suggested by contemporaries of the Black Death included the belief that something foul in the air was drifting across the world (possibly fumes released from below the ground by earthquakes), that God was destroying mankind for mankinds sins, and that various groups were poisoning wells and food sources. In many instances, these theories were combined and twisted together. Thus, while God or the movements of the planets might have caused the plague to germinate, human agents were accused of contributing to its spread. Plague and society If youve ever read The Mask of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe, you have some idea of the panic inspired by this terrifying disease. The wealthy and powerful are likely to stop at nothing to insure their own safety, even to the point of murder. In A Distant Mirror, Barbara Richman tells of a manor lord who found out that plague had broken out in the nearby village. In order to keep the disease from spreading to his manor, he had the entire village burned. People have a tendency to look for someone to blame whenever anything goes wrong, and the Middle Ages were no different. During the Black Death, Jews were often accused of poisoning wells and were terribly persecuted as a result; old, single women were often labeled as witches, blamed for the disaster, and slain. Any minor and unpopular fantasy cult or group would be a likely target for such accusations. For example, picture a village in which dwarves are disliked. Into this village rides a group of adventurers, one of whom is a dwarf. Several days later, the innkeepers wife comes down with the plague. Whos the most likely suspect for its cause? Our dear dwarf may have to get out of town, and fast.
Given the pressures of disaster, local prejudices are likely to become exaggerated. Additionally, superstition and prejudice are not functions of rational minds; therefore, the conclusions drawn as a result are only rarely entirely logical. Worse yet, in a fantasy campaign there are fantastic beings and spell-casters around that can cause disease or otherwise torment humanity. Imagine how many insane wizards and evil high priests there are in the average fantasy campaign (not to mention demons and the like). If an innocent magic-user produces a cloud of foulsmelling smoke prior to a plague outbreak, he would be instantly suspected of bringing on the disease. One must keep in mind the magnitude of the Black Death to understand the effects of fear and panic on the people of the 14th century. In one London neighborhood during a two-month period in 1349, some 200 people were buried in one particular cemetery every day. Multiply that by the number of neighborhoods, the number of counties, and the number of countries, and you begin to see why people became so irrational. They literally believed the world was ending. Introducing the plague Where did the Black Death really begin? Historians seem to agree that it started somewhere in Central Asia and was spread by invaders and merchants into the eastern Mediterranean region, then eventually into Europe. The story of the siege of Caffa (Kaffa) in the 1340s is illustrative of one possibility of how the plague traveled to Europe. The town of Caffa on the Black Sea was under attack by Tartars when bubonic plague broke out among the Italians taking refuge there. There were stories of the bodies of plague victims being catapulted over the walls by both sides to spread the infection, with the result leading to so many deaths on both sides that the siege had to be lifted. The Tartars dispersed, carrying the plague to Russia, India, and China, while Italian traders escaped by ship to Genoa, bringing the plague to Europe with them. It is said that plague deaths began the day after the traders ships dropped anchor in Genoa. There are many ways to introduce the plague into a fantasy campaign. For example, a ship may sail into a major seaport with disease-carrying rodents on board. Infected sailors on shore leave, rodents scurrying to land even quicker than the sailors, and goods (with infected fleas snuggled up inside) that are delivered to local shops are three subsequent ways the plague then arrives. For more dramatic effect, a mysterious ship might arrive in the harbor the captain dead at the wheel, the sailors slumped over their oars, and only the rats left alive. In the confined quarters of a ship at sea, plague could easily have such an effect (there were
actual cases of such ghost ships roaming the seas or running aground with all aboard dead). If no seaport exists, an overland caravan or travelers on foot or horseback can do the trick easily enough. Finally, if you dont want your campaign world to be decimated by plague but want your PCs to experience one, you might have them travel, knowingly or unknowingly, to a land already stricken with the disease. Plague years are a bad time to wage war, as the transportation of troops and supplies provides a great method of transporting the disease. Some historians believe that Scotland might have escaped the plague except that the Scots decided to attack England while that country suffered from the plague. Upon the return of the soldiers to Scotland, the plague was introduced to this previously untainted country. Movement of troops between England and France in the Hundred Years War also contributed to the spread of the disease, to the extent that there were long periods during which the plague caused the war to be put on hold. However the plague arrives, tie it in with other circumstantial events (such as earthquakes, unseasonable weather, changes in political leadership, the arrival of new religious groups, etc.) and youll create a confused hodge-podge of possible causes which simulate the historical circumstances behind the real plague. Attempts to relate the plague to other events in an area were common, and superstition tended to muddle things up even worse. For example, if a new ruler comes to power (particularly if by force) and the plague breaks out, some opposing group may suggest that the gods are not in favor of the new leader, and thus call for his execution. Or, if an earthquake is followed by an outbreak of plague, the panic-stricken folk of a community may fear that the end of the world is near, and this belief could give rise to all kinds of strange activities. One of the most eccentric groups in existence during the Black Death was that of the flagellants. Believing that the end of the world was coming, these men and
women sought to divert the attention of God from the sinful ways of the world by acts of public penance. They would walk in long processions (often lasting for a month at a time) from town to town, chanting and praying. Dressed in cowled white robes with red crosses on their chests, the Flagellants did not shave, bathe, or change clothing while involved in a procession. When they would come to a town, they would form circles and beat upon their backs with scourges, rejoicing and singing as they did so. Some women had cloths ready to catch the blood and smear it on their faces, saying it was miraculous blood.³ After such a performance, the flagellants would move on to another town and repeat the scenario. Sometimes their processions got out of hand, and they were given to even wilder acts than those that they protested. Prevention and treatment Consider the following poem: Ring a ring of roses, A pocket full of posies, Achoo, Achoo, All fall down. As the forerunner of what is now a chant in a simple childrens game we call Ring Around the Rosie, this seemingly innocent rhyme speaks of the hopelessness of trying to stave off the plague. Despite precautions like placing a ring of rose petals around oneself or carrying pockets full of flowers, simply being sneezed upon by another person could often lead to death. The best prevention against the plague was isolation. If the PCs in a plagueinfested area can totally isolate them
selves, they can reduce their risks of infection. But remember that anyone or anything with which they come in contact might harbor rats or fleas and is thus a potential plague-carrier. Failing complete isolation, high constitution scores might provide some kind of protection against the disease (perhaps +1 or +2 to saving throws). Like many diseases, plague was most devastating to the malnourished and sickly, which was one of the reasons the poor suffered a high mortality rate (although no class or social group was completely immune). Of course, magical devices preventing illness would also be of help. Just as there was no real knowledge of what caused the plague, the ability to treat it was limited. Physical as well as spiritual attempts to deal with the sickness were often made, generally with little effect. Worse yet, attempts at treatment were hampered by the victims foul smell and the sight of buboes and sores. Comeliness and charisma scores would definitely fall ( p e r h a p s b y a s m u c h a s - 3 t o - 6 p o i n t s ) to reflect this. The symptoms of the disease were often so awful as to inspire disgust rather than pity. Although medical understanding of the causes of infection was lacking during the Black Death, it was obvious to any observer that going near those who were sick tended to increase the chances that you would get sick, too. Even the clothes and personal possessions of the afflicted were feared; people believed that by touching the sick or dead, one could catch the dread disease. Actually, there was some truth in this, because any infected fleas hanging around the victim might just jump on and bite anyone else who came close enough. Thus the sick were often left...
And no bells tolled, and nobody wept no matter what his loss because almost everyone expected death. . . . And people said and believed, This is the end of the world. A chronicler of Siena writing of the Black Death
Table 2 Effects of Different Types of Plague Name (major symptoms) Bubonic (buboes with black or red bruises) Pneumonic (spitting of blood) Septicemic (vomiting and rapid disability) Chance of survival (onset of death) 33% (death in 3-6 days) 25% (death in 8-48 hours) 20% (death in 3-12 turns) Penalties Class 1 Class 2 Class 3 C l a s s 1 penalty: -10% of normal hit-point total (down to 90% of normal total) and -1 point from strength, constitution, and dexterity (down to scores of 3 each) per six hours. Class 2 penalty: -10% of normal hit-point total (down to 90% of normal total) and (down to scores of 3 each) per hour. -1 point from strength, constitution, and dexterity Class 3 penalty: -10% of normal hit-point total (down to 90% of normal total) and -1 point from strength, constitution, and dexterity (down to scores of 3 each) per five rounds. Survival chances and the times until the onset of death have been altered somewhat for use within game campaigns and may not match real-world values for the same.
...alone to suffer, and even family members deserted their kin because of fear, superstition, and the survival instinct. Many a local priest fled to avoid risking his own health by caring for others. If the characters come upon a community already in the throes of plague, it is very possible that the local clerics will have fled, as well as many others who formerly served as leaders of the community. On the other hand, there were many stories of kind souls who did minister to those in need. In Italy, some members of the clergy took a part in the fight against the plague. Especially the friars made a valuable contribution to the work of the health authorities, often braving conditions of unspeakable horror and nearly always at the risk of their own lives.4 Records are scarce, however, because most of those who helped also died. But then, there was often the general impression that everyone was going to die anyway. Characters of good alignment in the AD&D game should feel some motivation to help the sufferers of plague, though the practical means by which others could be helped may be few indeed. And yet this belief that all will die can also bring out the worst in people. If were all going to die, we might as well have fun was a common school of thought. Thus, plenty of thieves and bandits could be found robbing the bodies and uninhabited homes of the deceased. In addition, strange hedonistic cults were formed by groups of people who followed the party till the plague gets you line of reasoning. Every statement involving the cause of the plague produced a multitude of reactions from people. For example, it was commonly believed that Gods displeasure with man had something to do with the plague. One typical reaction among NPCs in a fantasy campaign would be a turning away from the gods believed to have abandoned them (as happened on Krynn in the DRAGONLANCE® novels after the Cataclysm). On the other hand, some may be moved to try everything in their power to
turn the displeasure of the powers that be into a more favorable attitude by prayer and good works. Those who are saved may attribute it to their gods favors and become even more devoted in worship. The DM must determine which direction his populace is likely to go (and there may not be a consensus) based on the role of religion and religious leaders in his world. In an AD&.D game world, magic is very likely to come into play in relation to the plague. The use of magic in treating the plague would generally take on the form of prayers or incantations (or combinations of the two), with the possible use of magical items. Both clerics and magicusers come heavily into play here, as religion and pure magic are closely intertwined in matters of disease. The belief that some god or demon is responsible for this terrible occurrence usually leads to the belief that these otherworldly beings might be influenced to bring relief. An example of a mystical practice of the era in question might be as follows: Write a special prayer with some specific substance (perhaps blood or ink made from an herb with healing properties) on the inside of a cup, then fill the cup with water. After the inscription has dissolved, the water should be drunk or bathed in. Another remedy might read as follows: Take one pinch of bayberries that have been dried in the sun for a day and beaten to a powder. Mix with ale or wine, and drink. Then sweat a goodly amount, and follow with a long sleep. Whether such cures actually work is up to the DM to decide; in a magical world, everyone will sooner or later attempt to use magical means to save themselves. Other cures abounded. Intentional vomiting as a purge was often recommended. Whole, peeled onions were also laid on the floor around the bed (or even in the bed) of a sick person, in order to soak up the evil humors. Tubs of buttermilk might do the same; if the milk curdled, it was a good sign that the milk had absorbed some of the plague stuff. Repeating holy names with praises over
and over was also believed to help. And carrying the remains of a holy person or some holy object couldnt hurt, either. Sapphires and rubies were believed to be of particular use in warding off the plague. These could be worn on rings or pendants, or placed in a cup from which water would be drunk. Flowers and herbs were thought to be helpful in warding off the disease, and if nothing else, they helped to cover the foul stench of the sickness. Streets would often be strewn with fragrant herbs before any kind of procession would be allowed to pass. The DM should exercise imagination in providing creative preventions and treatments for the plague.
<T a b l e 3 Random Urban Encounters During a Plague>
A f t e r m a t h There were a multitude of changes after the Black Death, some a direct result of the disaster and others being more secondary in nature. Underpopulation was the first and most obvious result. As time went on, most of the political, social, economic, religious, and cultural systems were challenged and changed. Depopulation itself was a complex situation. There were fewer people around to work the fields, so many crops were left to rot, and fewer fields were planted in subsequent years. But there were fewer people to feed, too, so starvation was not usually a problem, except where there were people with no access to food due to the breakdown in markets and transportation. As a result of this labor shortage, free men could demand higher wages; it was also easier for serfs to slip away from feudal bonds and become free men. The landlords position became more difficult to manage (for those landlords who survived), and legislation to keep this more independent low and middle class in line contributed to later agitation by peasantry for even more freedom. Such a situation could be replicated in a game setting, leading to the downfall of autocracies. Because the plague took on different forms at different times and places (sometimes being more virulent than at others), the mortality rates varied from place to place. It is entirely possible for a large town in your campaign world to be heavily visited, a small village to be entirely depopulated (between death and flight), and an isolated hamlet to be totally untouched. Groups living in close quarters (such as in monasteries, ships, and soldiers barracks) are in great danger of being completely wiped out unless precautions are taken. During the Black Death, up to two-thirds of the population of major cities (with populations of 10,000 to 100,000) would perish; some small towns were abandoned and overgrown. As Boccaccio, a survivor of the Black Death, wrote in The Decameron, the confusion of the plague years continued in the aftermath: Various fears and superstitions arose among the survivors, almost all of which tended toward one end to flee
from the sick and whatever had belonged to them. Gathering in those houses where no one had been ill, they shut themselves in. They ate moderately, avoiding luxuri ousness, with music and whatever simple delights they could have . . . allowing no one to speak to them, and avoiding news of either death or sickness. . . . Others, arriving at a contrary conclusion, held that plenty of drinking and enjoyment, singing and free living, and gratification of the appetite in every possible way, was the best course.5 Although the landowners position became more challenging in terms of finding hired hands, there was suddenly much more land available. PCs may find large ownerless estates ripe for the taking. After the Black Death, there were many newly orphaned or widowed female land owners looking for a strong male to take the place of the deceased head of the house. Another complication of life in a post plague world involves the depletion of livestock and other animals. In the coun tryside peasants dropped dead on the roads, in the fields, in their houses. Survi vors in growing helplessness fell into apathy, leaving ripe wheat uncut and livestock untended. Oxen and asses, sheep and goats, pigs and chickens ran wild, and they too. . . succumbed to the pest. . . . In remote Dalmatia bolder wolves descended upon a plague-stricken city and attacked human survivors. For want of herdsmen, cattle strayed from place to place and died in hedgerows and ditches.6 Generally tame animals may go wild, and wild ani mals may become emboldened by massive depopulation. But rather than causing things to change, a plague is more likely to acceler ate and exaggerate changes already in the works. Keep this in mind when picking up the pieces of your campaign after the plague has worked its worst. These trends will tend to be reinforced by other minor recurrences of plague in the future (per haps every 4d6 years or so). Exactly what kinds of changes take place depend upon the circumstances of your own campaign. Are you tired of a particu lar ruling family? Perhaps a war of succes sion might follow the plague as a result of the demise of many of the most likely candidates. If the local temple was having a hard time getting people to worship and financially support its particular god, the situation might be made better if the cler ics were helpful during the disaster (or worse, if they were not). Perhaps one of the PC clerics helped a town during the plague; afterward, he might be asked to stay and set up a new shrine or temple. The role of PCs in this postplague world depends on what they did during the plague. Did they survive because they hid out? Perhaps now theyll want to explore and conquer depopulated areas. Merce naries will certainly be needed to fill the depleted ranks of local armies. Clerics
might rise to the tops of their orders because of vacancies above them. On the other hand, the PCs may find themselves hunted down for crimes committed during the disaster. Perhaps they will be blamed and hounded from place to place. Much depends on the direction the DM wishes to see his campaign take. Finally, remember that although the Black Death was one of the worst outbreaks of plague in the history of civilization, your campaign world need not be subjected to an outbreak of such horrific proportions. Many milder occurrences preceded and followed the Black Death; your characters can face varying degrees of this experience as suits your needs. You can have just a small plague, if youd like.
Poor and rich went together; there was no other way of burials . . . for coffins were not to be had for the prodigious numbers that fell in such a calamity as this. A Journal of the Plague Year, Daniel Defoe
Footnotes ¹ Philip Ziegler, The Black Death, (New York: The John Day Co., 1969), page 19. ² Ibid., page 30. 3 Robert S. Gottfried, The Black Death, (New York: The Free Press, 1983), page 69. 4 Carlo M. Cipolla, Faith, Reason, and the Plague in Seventeenth Century Tuscany, (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1979), page 1. 5 Gottfried, The Black Death, page 78. 6 Barbara Tuchman, A Distant Mirror, (New York Alfred A. Knopf, 1978), page 98.
Bibliography Barrett, W.P. and the Shakespeare Assoc. Present Remedies Against the Plague. Oxfordshire, England: Oxford University Press, 1933. Cipolla, Carlo M. Faith, Reason, and the Plague in Seventeenth Century Tuscany. Trans. by Muriel Kittel. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1979. Dols, Michael W. The Black Death in the Middle East. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1977. Gottfried, Robert S. The Black Death. New York: The Free Press, 1983. Tuchman, Barbara. A Distant Mirror. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978. Ziegler, Philip. The Black Death. New York: The John Day Co., 1969.
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