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Topic: Forgotten Realms: The Unsung Heroes
Subject: Talus
With the temporary lull in combat, Talus again began moving towards the pavilion. He circled out and around the small tepee between him and his goal so that he wouldn't walk directly in front of the opening to either of the tents and readied an eldritch blast, unsure of what he would discover inside.
Taking a few quick, measured breaths to calm his nerves Talus pushed through the tent flap a few moments after Aelistae. Putting his back to the priestess Talus scanned the interior of the tent for the ambushers he was certain should be hiding here. Nothing. The warlock turned to ask Aelistae if she knew what had happened when he caught sight of the half-breed boy futilely trying to coax some sound from the massive drums. Thankfully the silencing spell stifled his laugh at the boy’s situation, because Talus couldn’t tell if the half-orc has ready to cry or recklessly charge at them. Talus decided to stay put and take his cues from Aelistae on how to deal with the potentially dangerous youth, but he was going to keep his eldritch power readied in case the kid did something rash.
--
Artanis entered the tent then and, after trying to speak, motioned for the priestess to follow her outside where communication wouldn't be hindered. Talus took a step to follow, but then looked to the boy and stopped. He wanted to listen in on the planning, but someone would have to stay here and make sure the would-be drummer didn't escape out the back of the tent and warn the other encampments.
Talus' shoulders rose and fell in what would have been a resigned sigh, had there been any sound to go with the motion. "So this is working with a group." he mouthed, knowing that any comments would never be heard, "Half-breed guard duty. Oh well, Bad with the Good."
Posted on 2008-09-04 at 18:38:46.
Edited on 2008-09-04 at 18:53:10 by Deucalion
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Topic: Forgotten Realms: The Unsung Heroes
Subject: Talus
The initial assault went exactly as planned, the first unfortunate targets dropped without any difficulty. The ease of the attack was almost to good to be true.
Then the drums began to beat.
"Those drums will ruin any future chance of surprise. Bartholomew, can you watch my portion of the perimeter?" The question was nearly rhetorical, since Talus was moving toward the main pavilion even as he spoke.
Rounding one of the smaller tents, the warlock discovered that not every aspect of the ambush had gone as well as he had thought. Xaris was buried in a fray with a few remaining goblins and one of the hunting wolves. There was someone else, likely either Dylan or Linnix, is the same predicament as Xaris.
Not wanting to get caught up in more fighting while the drums blared on, Talus launched a bolt of eldritch energy at the nearest orc and continued on to get a better view into the main tent.
Posted on 2008-09-01 at 03:07:47.
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Topic: Forgotten Realms: the Unsung Heroes Q/A
Subject: Failed will save
DA, I think I failed my will save vs. your suggestion. When I started writing this last post I didn't have a flashback scene in mind, but I got about halfway through and realized that was where I was heading.
Imitation is a form flattery, or something like that, right?
Kaelyn, it looks like my subconscious is giving DarkAutumn a CD point this round.
Posted on 2008-08-30 at 04:29:43.
Edited on 2008-08-30 at 04:30:49 by Deucalion
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Topic: Forgotten Realms: The Unsung Heroes
Subject: Talus
”I'll disrupt the center while Talus could kill the goblins at this entrance.”
“I can do that. Are we taking our lead from your charge, Xaris, or are you charging in once we take out the perimeter guards?”
---
Now that he knew what signal to look for to begin the attack, Talus began carefully picking his toward his designated ambush point. Progress was slow because he wanted to be sure he didn’t alert the goblins, but he knew he didn’t have nearly as far to go as Linnix, so he didn’t mind the slow pace.
”I can do that.”
Can I? This will be the first time I’ve premeditated the use of my family’s legacy. Am I becoming my parents, using this power simply because I am capable of wielding it? My targets are goblins and orcs, does ridding the world of evil and cruelty counter the way that I…
The last conversation Talus had had with his father flashed through his mind. He paused as he considered the image that accompanied those words, the last picture he had of his parents.
He was at the top of the stairs that led down into the cellar. Father was standing in the doorway but Talus could see past him down to where Mother was standing over someone strapped face down on a table. She took something, the angle didn’t let Talus see exactly what, and placed it on the back of the man’s head, right at the base of the skull. Father realized what his son was watching and closed the door just as the tied man let loose a terrified scream. A sickening crunch stifled the yell just before the door slammed shut.
“You don’t know how close we are to attaining greater levels of power. It is… unfortunate that so many have to suffer for our research, but the knowledge we’re gaining, the potential we could unlock, make this a small sacrifice. You will understand in time, my son. The end goal makes all this worthwhile.”
This curse ends with me. I vow never to pass on my parents bloodline and further their so-called research. The means have gone too far…
Talus moved around a tree and nearly stepped into the light of a goblin sentry’s torch. He hadn’t realized how close he’d gotten to the camp while carelessly living in the past. Now he tried to push thoughts of Mulhorand away and focus on the current situation, patiently waiting for the signal to strike.
((Take 10 on hide and move silent))
Posted on 2008-08-30 at 04:23:22.
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Topic: Forgotten Realms: the Unsung Heroes Q/A
Subject: Sniper
What's the diameter of the camp? The range on Talus' eldritch blast is 60ft, so I might be able to stand at the edge of the torch ring and pick off targets across the entire encampment.
Posted on 2008-08-27 at 04:18:01.
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Topic: Forgotten Realms: the Unsung Heroes Q/A
Subject: Odd question
The eldritch blast has a somatic component, but not a verbal one, so I figure the act of casting doesn't make any more noise than walking (rustling of clothing), but what about the actual ray? Ignoring any cries of "oh my god, my spleen!" coming from the target, is it a nearly silent effect?
I've always imagined that there's a faint purple & black glow emanating from it for the second or so that it takes to reach its target, but I've never thought about sound before. What do you think Kaelyn?
Posted on 2008-08-27 at 00:14:42.
Edited on 2008-08-27 at 00:19:33 by Deucalion
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Topic: Forgotten Realms: The Unsung Heroes
Subject: Talus
“Hmm… If we’re going to assault one of the camps, I think we should try hitting the south-eastern one of the four. It seems to be the most isolated and will give us the most time to prepare in case the other camps are alerted. I agree with both of you; we need to hit hard and fast and then retreat if we don’t immediately overwhelm them before they can mount a counter attack.”
As he spoke, Talus called upon his arcane talents to let his eyes see where there is no light and grant his hands and feet the ability to find purchase even on the smoothest surfaces.
“I am ready. Let us make these goblins wish they had moved on after their last battle!”
((Invoking See the Unseen and Spiderwalk))
Posted on 2008-08-25 at 20:55:49.
Edited on 2008-08-26 at 02:58:33 by Deucalion
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Topic: Forgotten Realms: the Unsung Heroes Q/A
Subject: I was busy
If I've been quiet the last few days it's because my life has been a little crazy of late. I got married this weekend and, about four weeks ago just as wedding planning started to get crazy, I found out that I'm going to be a father.
I'm also moving next week. Hopefully.
I should still be able to check the game at least twice a week but if I disappear for a day or two, don't worry, I'll be back.
Posted on 2008-08-19 at 04:06:14.
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Topic: Forgotten Realms: the Unsung Heroes Q/A
Subject: to metagame or not to metagame
I know there's people inside the ruins with "Hi, my name is: PC" nametags, and so I'm fighting wanting to ask about where we were going before the wolf pack supplied us with the detour. I don't see anything that would make Talus want to go down into the monastery, but I don't want to walk away from the PCs either.
...So I keep my mouth shut on that whole topic and focus on the potion and affliction.
Posted on 2008-08-07 at 20:58:24.
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Topic: Forgotten Realms: The Unsung Heroes
Subject: Talus
“Here,” Aelistae said quietly as she placed a small vial in Talus’ hand. “Drink it. It’ll stave off any curse passed on to you by the ze-illrin. Artanis and I will… well we’ll use these.”
“I don’t feel any curse.” He thought to himself as he stared at the container. “Maybe that’s what makes this so insidious, you don’t feel any different until you’re all furry and howling at the moon.”
He looked over to Xaris to see the gnome downing his assigned curative. “Best not take any chances, I suppose.” He mumbled as he pulled the stopper and downed the liquid spell in one smooth motion.
Talus always thought the sensation of a potion releasing its effects was an odd one. It made your throat and stomach tingle, like it had an itch, and drinking water after imbibing a potion didn’t relieve the tingling feeling either. You just had to wait for the magic to run its course and the sensation to fade.
“I didn’t especially feel afflicted before, and I don’t feel any different now… is there any way to know if it worked other than waiting for the next full moon?” Talus asked of no one in particular.
Posted on 2008-08-07 at 20:50:46.
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Topic: Forgotten Realms: the Unsung Heroes Q/A
Subject: A bit Loopy
So writing a sleep deprived Talus at 4.30am when I'm dead tired myself had some interesting results. I hope at least some of that post was lucid.
Posted on 2008-07-30 at 11:36:38.
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Topic: Forgotten Realms: The Unsung Heroes
Subject: Talus
"Dooooooooooooooooooooooo… Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti-Dooooooooo."
“Nyuh?” The sleep deprived warlock rubbed his eyes, unsure of whether the scales were being sung by someone up this early, or if it was some fragment of a dream spilling over into his barely conscious mind. “What time is it?” he mumbled into his bedroll. Somewhere overhead a bird cheerfully answered that it was indeed a beautiful morning.
“Too, too early.” He told his makeshift pillow as he tried to force his eyes open. Over the years of traveling, Talus had grown accustomed to a highly fluid schedule. If the day’s travels were easy, he might well continue walking well into the night and sleep almost till noon the following morning. After a hard day of difficult terrain, he’d go down with the sun and rise at a more conventional hour. Combining both the previous day’s grueling pace and the late night of fighting and festivities, he would have been perfectly happy sleeping until the sun was on its way back down again.
Thoughts of the encounter with the werewolves reminded him just how important is that they make the shrine well before nightfall. Still unable to get his eyes to open on their own, he groped around for his backpack and began fumbling with the thing trying to find the main flap. After getting one of the shoulder straps hopelessly tangled around his arm he finally got the pack open and reached inside, feeling for the crystal orb that made these unreasonably early mornings tolerable. The object had buried itself down in the very bottom of the pack, stubbornly resisting the first few attempts at being pulled free, and eventually Talus gave up trying to rest it free of his pack. Sending a mental image of himself to the ball through his tenuous grasp he simply triggered the crystal’s powers without continuing his losing battle with the backpack.
The crystal emitted a barely perceptible pulse and instantly he was wide awake, all hints of dreariness were gone. With his eyes open the problem of the backpack became clear, he had failed to unhook the main closure and had weaved his arm through and around one of the straps, under the main flap, and then down into the bag. It would probably be impossible to duplicate this maneuver while fully awake.
The remainder of the morning went smoothly compared to its rough beginning. Talus fell into a routine that he had known for over a year, packing up his belongings almost mechanically and allowing his thoughts to drift. The only break came with Bart’s offer of food and drink, which he turned down knowing that he had enough to sustain himself indefinitely, while the rest of the group (excepting maybe Dylan with his ring) might soon be hard pressed for perishables.
The ride north again found Talus’ thoughts wandering, though not to anything coherent. Birds. Trees. Wolves. Sobek.
Gnomish mummy?
He was far away when the conversation with this peculiar person had started and so he stayed out until he could pick up enough pieces to know what was going on.
Posted on 2008-07-30 at 11:32:30.
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Topic: Forgotten Realms: the Unsung Heroes Q/A
Subject: Meh
I don't mind selling the staff. Really I'm carrying it because no one else could use it, not because I especially wanted it. I doubt I would ever use the thing... except maybe to test for traps, and I think some of our more nature-friendly party members would object to my summoning wolves just to see if they explode.
...
Probably best if we sell it, actually.
Posted on 2008-07-30 at 10:40:57.
Edited on 2008-07-30 at 11:34:08 by Deucalion
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Topic: Where are you from?
Subject: Ory-gun, Organ... anything but ore-gone.
Alabama: t_catt11 (Birmingham), Duncan74 (Decatur)
Arizona - Longshadow (Apache Junction)
California Dragon Mistress, Brianna (mile from Disneyland) / Driztts San Diego (just miles away from Sea World), Syanide Shadowalker, Santa Ana, Oko, Blue_Fire
Florida - Admiral (Tampa) Ruler of the Shadows (Tallahassee, Fort Myers)
Indiana - Longshadow (Lost Wages [Vegas] )
Missouri- JenthLiadon (Columbia); Merideth (St. Louis)
Michigan: Drakar(St. Joesph) Fallen Mistress (Holt)
Nevada Reno; Greygrey, Snake/Wolfy (Lovelock)
New York: Jozan1 ( Fort Plain )
North Carolina. Lyskhala (Originally); Fantasy (Originally. Cherokee County)
Ohio: Eol Fefalas (New Carlisle), Lyskhala (currently Dayton)
Oregon: Deucalion(Eugene),
Texas: Tann'Talas (San Antonio, Home of the Alamo); Rystefn K'ryll (Houston area), DarkAutumn (Corpus Christi)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Canada
Alberta - Sibelius Eos Owm (Calgary), SilentOne (Wetaskiwin), Philosopher (Calgary)(Born in Winnipeg), Longshadow (Cold Lake), Purplepseudodragon(Leduc) and her husband to soon join her, Snake, aka Wolfy, Aardvark (Calgary)(also born in Winnipeg)
Manitoba - Vilyamar (Winnipeg)
Nova Scotia - GRUGG (Kinsac)
Ontario - Alacrity & Vanadia (Toronto), Tempest (Brooklin), cdnflirt (30 mins from Windsor and ambassador bridge)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Overseas
United Kingdom - Ginafae (Edinburgh), Septimus Sandalwood (born in Boston M.A, but grew up and is now living in London), TheRealStGeorge, Cheshire Cat,
Iceland - Skari-dono
The Netherlands - Fantasy & Almerin ('s-Hertogenbosch)
Sweden - Scarab (Jönköping)
Finland - Raven (Oulu)
Australia - Guenhwyvar
Spain - Longshadow (Torrejón)
Posted on 2008-07-28 at 21:02:13.
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Topic: Forgotten Realms: The Unsung Heroes
Subject: Talus
“We will sing to remember Sheva, and for Elesia…”
A memory flitted across his mind as Talus watched the two women begin to dance.
All things must pass…
It was a line from a poem that he’d… no, it was from a song. He could only remember the ending, barely even that much, and he stared off past the dancers and into the trees trying to recall the lyrics.
“All things must pass. None of Life’s strings can last. So I must be on my way and face another day.” The memory was too faded. The bits of music he could remember didn’t fit, so he spoke the last few lines rather than force them into a mismatched rhythm.
“Darkness only stays at nighttime, in the morning it will fade away. Daylight is good at arriving at the right time. It’s not always going to be this grey. All things must pass. All things must pass away.”
Posted on 2008-07-27 at 22:06:11.
Edited on 2008-07-27 at 22:12:57 by Deucalion
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Topic: Forgotten Realms: the Unsung Heroes Q/A
Subject: resting
PC's are set for now. I don't know about Bart though, but I assume he would have healed himself back to full.
unless I missed some spells in there somewhere, I'm down 2 hp and Artanis is down by 4. We'll both heal that with a single night's rest even without healthful rest.
Posted on 2008-07-23 at 10:27:41.
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Topic: Forgotten Realms: The Unsung Heroes
Subject: Talus
Glancing over to the smoldering fire, near where lay a strange, small white creature appearing much like a gnome, Dylan asked, "So, what's cooking?"
Talus glanced momentarily at the remains of the bonfire, "Werewolf." he said quite plainly. "And that isn't a cooking fire, it's a funeral pyre. Many lives ended in this clearing..." The battle began to replay in his mind, the image of a wolf exiting Sheva's tent kept taking center stage in the reenactment. His eyes were pulled down to his own leg and, even though the wounds had been magically healed, his imagination supplied a wolf to again rend his leg.
"More lives might still be undone by tonight's events." Talus said to no one in particular while he pushed the bloody images away. Then to the group, "I don't think I'll be able to sleep here tonight. We could walk the horses to give them a break, but I'd like to put at least little distance between us and this clearing if you all don't mind."
Posted on 2008-07-22 at 20:46:09.
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Topic: Forgotten Realms: The Unsung Heroes
Subject: Talus
Taking his cue from Aelistae's cautious stance, Talus closed his eyes and fell within himself, beginning a cascade of power and willing it to coalesce with his eyes.
The spell complete, he turned to assess this newcomer, and anyone watching closely enough would have sworn the white of his eyes had taken on a purple tint for a split second.
"There's a faint aura of... conjuration magics... emanating from his ring," he explained to Artanis and Aelistae what he was detecting on the traveler as he continued his probe, "And I'm not seeing anything else giving off signs of enchantment. If he does have anything magically dangerous it's packed away and out of easy reach. As long as we keep an eye on him, I don't see why he couldn't join us for now... although if we tell him of our new condition, I don't know how much he'll want to stay."
With a slight chuckle he addressed the new arrival, "You'll have to pardon our paranoia... as she said we were just attacked. Your ring there has some magic to it. Pray tell me, what function does it serve?"
Posted on 2008-07-21 at 20:41:55.
Edited on 2008-07-21 at 20:52:13 by Deucalion
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Topic: Forgotten Realms: the Unsung Heroes Q/A
Subject: Inspector Talus
Talus is going to do a sweep with detect magic.
'Sibby': Does he have line of sight to anything other than your ring? Is your armor covered up by a cloak or something?
Kaelyn: Can you roll my spellcraft check to see if Talus can discern the school of magic radiating from Dylan's ring of sustenance?
I'm assuming most of the magic he could pick up is stowed away (like the potion and wand), and therefore shielded from the spell, so he'll pass the newcomer as being safe. His opinion of the ring will depend on the result of the spellcraft check.
Posted on 2008-07-21 at 20:04:50.
Edited on 2008-07-21 at 20:08:32 by Deucalion
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Topic: Forgotten Realms: the Unsung Heroes Q/A
Subject: a hitch
doing away with the bidding system is fine and dandy when the number of items coming is relatively high (nah, i'll pass today, i got one yesterday), or if the item's all have an obvious best fit (well, I am the only one who can use it), but what about when the extra item catches someone's eye?
Was that vague enough? How about some details...
I'm interested in half of the abilities of the Ring of Sustenance. Talus is already set for food and water, but only needing to sleep for 2 hours is really appealing. As a warlock, he doesn't have to spend 8 hours in order to restore full casting capabilities, so only going down for 2 hours doesn't have any draw backs...
...except that I'd be pulling 1250g from the group funds just to indulge some insomnia. I've got a quarter of that stored away and wouldn't mind selling the staff if/when we find a buyer.
What do you all feel is most equitable in a situation like this?
Posted on 2008-07-20 at 10:05:03.
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Topic: Forgotten Realms: the Unsung Heroes Q/A
Subject: UMD
I'm the only one with Use Magic Device, and Summon Nature's Ally isn't clerical, so I think I'm the only one who could use the staff. I've never been one for summoning, but I guess I'll hang onto the staff just in case.
Posted on 2008-07-17 at 18:32:37.
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Topic: Forgotten Realms: the Unsung Heroes Q/A
Subject: Bag of Holding
I usually try to avoid looking at other player's sheets simply because I've a tendency to turn into a munchkin when it comes to items and feats, but all this talk about gear made me curious.
She's got a Type I Bag of Holding and a Ring of Sustenance.
So much for curbing the munchkin-ness.
Posted on 2008-07-16 at 19:55:38.
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Topic: Forgotten Realms: The Unsung Heroes
Subject: Talus
“But there is also another option. A half days ride to the north is a shrine and a monastery to both Deneir and Oghma. It has been there for many years, though I have not ventured there since the war has ended, busy has the rebuilding of Darromar been. Surely the priests and monks there would have the means to aid us, and if not the knowledge of how to cure this most dreadful ailment? Plus it’s in the right direction at least. What say you?”
”A half day’s ride? Better, I think, than the full day of hard riding to return to Tethyr with no guarantee of aid. If anyone knows how best to alleviate our affliction it would be priests of Thoth… they’re a little farther away, I think, than what we can cover in a day, but Deneir and Oghma are almost as good.” A smile crept its way onto Talus’ face as he spoke. It had been years since he felt comfortable even mentioning his homeland, and now he was making jokes about it! Even though it had led to this perilous situation he considered falling in with this group to be the best thing that had ever happened to him.
“So we go on, and we seek out this temple. All of us will need their priestesses to cleanse us of the curse. There is no way to tell us who among us is afflicted. The creature who spoke was not the only zze-ill among them. Some of the other wolves were human or gnome or elf-kind once, or they would not have fled before the Lady’s Grace.”
Aelistae passed a weary hand over her eyes. “We need to burn the corpses of the zze-illrin and tend Sheva’s body. I would do it myself, but I do not know the human custom.”
”Funny thing about humans is that we have so many customs that even we can’t keep track of them all. If burning the bodies is something we should do to protect against spreading the disease, then we can burn the bodies. Oddly enough it seems that intent is paramount… as long as you have respect for the dead, the details of the ceremony aren’t all that important. We could make a pyre and cremate Sheva… send her ashes to whatever deity she followed.”
Talus turned his attention to the bodies of the wolves. ”Hard to have respect for these things though. You said these other wolves are lycanthropes as well? Maybe they have something of use hidden away same as their leader.” Once again the warlock attuned his vision to detect magical emanations and proceeded to check the wolves’ corpses for any possessions while dragging them all into a pile near the pack leader.
”We’ve all been ignoring the Terrasque in the corner.” Talus looked to Xaris as he heaved another wolf onto the pile. ”I’m going to need your help getting the two big ones over here. They look –really- heavy. And you look,” he paused, unsure of how exactly to finish. He remembered seeing some of his parents’ experiments where a subject’s personality changed wildly after being brought back from the dead. The wound he saw Xaris take surely would have killed him and there’s no denying that the gnome’s physical appearance had changed. Was that change merely superficial?
”…different.” He finally said at length. ”How do you feel? This may seem an odd question, but are you… still you?”
Posted on 2008-07-16 at 19:33:54.
Edited on 2008-07-16 at 19:38:20 by Deucalion
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Topic: Demonic Vending Machine
Subject: It spits out...
An orange cream popsicle.
I feed it a TPS report (w/o cover sheet) and a half gallon of JavaTrio concentrate
Posted on 2008-07-16 at 00:27:31.
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Topic: The Would You Rather Game
Subject: Hmm...
French Vanilla, Mexican Chocolate
yep
horrendously hot, or fabulously freezing?
Posted on 2008-07-16 at 00:24:11.
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