Scent of the High Peaks 66

From: Aromancers Zephyr Codex 42

Description: A utility spell focused on enhancing perception. The caster summons a small, personal pocket of perfectly clean, cool air around their head. This air is magically infused with a fragrance that sharpens the senses and clears the mind. For ten minutes, the caster has heightened senses, granting them a significant advantage on any checks related to perception, investigation, or insight. The spell also purifies the air they breathe, making them immune to inhaled poisons and toxic gases for the duration.

Sensory Experience (from the Codex): This spell is associated with the crisp, clean scent of untouched mountain peaks. The casting is silent. The user simply feels the air they breathe become impossibly fresh, cool, and invigorating. All other ambient smells are muted, while sounds become remarkably sharp and distinct.

Lore

The Scent of the High Peaks is considered by many aeromancers to be one of Aelar Windwalker’s most profound and personal creations. It was not born from a need for power, but from a need for stillness. The lore speaks of a time when Aelar was hunting a “Still-Air Stalker,” a magical beast that moved without displacing a single molecule of air, leaving no scent, making no sound, and being almost perfectly invisible. All of Aelar’s conventional aeromancy, which relied on sensing disturbances in the wind, was utterly useless. He was effectively blind.

Frustrated, he meditated for three days atop the highest peak of the Serpent’s Spine mountains, a place where the air was thin, silent, and achingly pure. He realized that to find something that was a master of stillness, he could not use the roar of the wind, but must instead master the wind’s silence. He needed to heighten his own senses to an impossible degree, to perceive the world not as it was, but as it should be, and thereby notice the minute imperfections caused by the Stalker’s presence—the way light bent unnaturally, the subtle drop in temperature, the faint psychic pressure of a living mind.

He brought this concept to the Perfumers of the Scented Sanctum. They could not grant him new senses, but they could create a magical scent that would perfectly filter out all distractions. They captured the very essence of that high mountain peak—the crisp, clean, invigorating fragrance that speaks of clarity and absolute focus. When woven into a spell, this scent became the key. It doesn’t grant the caster new abilities; it perfects their existing ones, creating a ten-minute window of hyper-perception where the world’s “noise” is silenced and only the pure signal remains.

Use

Scent of the High Peaks is the ultimate utility spell for perception and investigation. It is a deeply personal and subtle enchantment, reserved for when the senses must be absolute and unerring. When cast, the user summons a small, localized pocket of magically purified and scented air that remains centered around their head for the duration. This is not a dramatic or flashy spell; to an outside observer, there is no visible effect.

For the caster, however, the world transforms. The air they breathe becomes impossibly fresh and cool, instantly clearing their mind and sharpening their focus. This magical atmosphere acts as a perfect sensory filter. All distracting ambient smells are muted, while specific, important scents become sharp and distinct. Background noise fades, allowing the caster to hear the faintest whisper or the click of a distant trap mechanism. Their vision sharpens, enabling them to notice minute details, subtle movements, or inconsistencies that would otherwise be invisible. This heightened state grants them an extraordinary advantage in any situation requiring keen observation, deep insight, or protection from airborne threats, as the purified air also renders them immune to any poisons or gases they might inhale.

Spell Values

Tier: 2
Stats:
- Casting Time: 1 Action.
- Range: Self.
- Duration: 10 minutes.
- Effect: For the duration, you are enveloped in a pocket of pure, magically enhanced air. You have advantage on all Wisdom (Perception), Intelligence (Investigation), and Wisdom (Insight) checks. Additionally, you are immune to all inhaled poisons, toxic gases, and the poisoned condition caused by airborne sources.
Skills: This spell directly enhances the Perception, Investigation, and Insight skills. Casting it might require a Nature check to understand the purity of the elements involved if cast without its codex.
Cost: As a long-duration, multi-faceted utility spell, a single-use scroll is highly prized by investigators, scouts, and diplomats. It would typically cost around 600 gold pieces.
Requirements:
- Must be a spellcaster with access to Tier 2 magic.
- Requires Somatic (a gesture of cupping the hands before the face and inhaling deeply) and Material (the codex, or a pinch of granite dust from a mountain peak above 10,000 feet) components. The casting is silent.
Tags: Air Magic, Aeromancy, Transmutation, Utility, Buff, Sensory, Enhancement, Immunity, Olfactory Magic, Personal, Tier 2, Clarity, Focus, Awareness, Investigation, Insight, Filtering, Antitoxin, Scouting, Detection, Silent Cast, Vigilance

Roleplay and Tactics

Roleplay: The roleplay for this spell is subtle and internal. The casting is a quiet, personal moment. The caster closes their eyes, brings their cupped hands to their face, and takes a long, slow breath. When they open their eyes, their demeanor has changed. They are preternaturally still and focused. Their gaze is no longer casual; it sweeps the room with intense scrutiny.

From the caster’s perspective, describe the sensory shift. “The musty smell of the dungeon vanishes, replaced by the clean, cold air of a mountain top. The dripping water is no longer a drone, but a series of distinct, sharp plinks. I can see the subtle difference in the stonework over there… it’s a hidden door.” The character becomes the party’s super-sensor, their dialogue shifting to short, precise, and insightful observations. They are the one who says “Wait,” and everyone listens.

Tactics:

The Ultimate Scout: This is the spell’s primary purpose. The caster takes the lead, their advantage on Perception and Investigation checks making them incredibly effective at spotting ambushes, finding hidden traps, and discovering secret passages. The 10-minute duration is perfect for clearing a dangerous section of a dungeon.
The Living Lie Detector: In a tense negotiation or interrogation, this spell is a game-changer. Advantage on Insight checks makes it almost impossible for an NPC to lie to the caster successfully. They will notice the subtle tells—the flick of an eye, the faint tremor in the voice, the scent of nervous sweat that cuts through the magical filter.
The Hazard Jumper: When the party faces a corridor filled with poison gas, a swamp exuding toxic spores, or a room with magical sleep-inducing incense, this spell is the key. The caster can walk through the hazard completely unharmed, allowing them to reach a lever or disable the trap’s source, clearing the way for their allies.
Pre-emptive Preparation: This spell is best used proactively. A wise caster will use it before entering a suspicious area, not after a trap has already sprung. It’s a tool for preparation and control, allowing the party to act with foreknowledge rather than react to danger.
Synergy with Information Gathering: This spell pairs exceptionally well with other information-gathering abilities. Combine it with a spell that grants infravision or detects magic, and the caster becomes an unparalleled font of sensory information, able to see in the dark, notice fine details, and perceive magical auras all at once.

Activation perception of: Scent of the High Peaks 66

Sight

What is Perceived: For the caster, the world snaps into a state of hyper-focus and clarity. To an observer, there is no visible effect at all.
Description: The user’s vision becomes preternaturally sharp. Colors seem more vibrant, edges more defined, and details that were previously lost in the background pop into focus. It’s like the world has suddenly been rendered in a higher resolution. An observer would notice nothing, save perhaps for a new, unnerving intensity in the caster’s gaze as they scan their surroundings.
Positives: Allows the caster to spot minute details with ease—the glint of a nearly invisible tripwire, the subtle scuff marks of a hidden door, the faintest twitch of a muscle on a liar’s face.
Negatives: The sheer amount of incoming visual information can be overwhelming at first. The caster might become fixated on irrelevant details, and a sudden flash of bright light could be momentarily more painful or dazzling than usual.

Sound

What is Perceived: A profound and sudden silence, followed by the ability to perceive and isolate individual sounds with incredible precision.
Description: The spell’s activation is silent. For the user, the world’s ambient drone—the wind, the dripping water, the distant chatter—fades into a quiet background hum. Against this new silence, specific sounds become incredibly distinct. The user can focus their hearing to pick out the sound of a guard’s heartbeat through a door, the whisper of cloth on stone from a hidden assassin, or the faintest click of a lock’s tumblers.
Positives: Grants an extraordinary advantage in eavesdropping, detecting ambushes, and perceiving threats long before they become visible.
Negatives: Sensory overload is a significant risk. In a loud environment like a crowded tavern or a battlefield, the cacophony of distinct sounds can be a disorienting and confusing torrent of noise. A sudden, loud sound can be physically painful.

Touch

What is Perceived: A constant, almost imperceptible, cool, and dry breeze that seems to exist only on the surface of the caster’s skin, independent of the surrounding environment.
Description: The caster feels a personal bubble of cool, pure air around their head and face. It’s a tactile sensation of ultimate freshness and purity that feels completely separate from the ambient air. If they walk through a hot, humid swamp, their face remains cool and dry. If they stand in a blizzard, their personal air feels crisp, not frigid.
Positives: The sensation is invigorating and helps maintain focus and alertness. It is the source of the immunity to airborne toxins, as the caster is only breathing this pure, magical air.
Negatives: In an already cold environment, the constant cool sensation can be uncomfortable and may contribute to a feeling of being chilled, even if no real heat is lost. The stark contrast with the ambient air can be a minor, persistent distraction.

Smell

What is Perceived: The immediate replacement of all ambient smells with a single, dominant fragrance of a pristine mountain peak, through which specific, important scents can be isolated.
Description: The musty odor of the dungeon or the foul stench of a swamp vanishes instantly. It is replaced by the crisp, clean, almost metallic scent of ozone, cold stone, and the faint, sharp smell of high-altitude pine. This scent acts as a filter. The background is pure, but the specific, sudden scent of a creature’s musk, a whiff of poison, or the smell of blood cuts through the filter with razor-sharp clarity.
Positives: This is the ultimate tool for tracking or detection by scent. It also provides immunity to any scent-based effects or attacks.
Negatives: The filter is so effective that it might block out subtle, non-threatening scents that could still be important clues (e.g., the faint perfume of a person the caster is trying to find).

Taste

What is Perceived: A clean, cool, and slightly mineral taste, as if drinking from a pure, ice-cold mountain spring.
Description: The caster’s mouth feels incredibly clean and refreshed. Any lingering tastes are wiped away, replaced by a subtle, crisp flavor of pure water with a faint mineral tang, like the taste of melting snow.
Positives: The refreshing sensation enhances the overall feeling of mental clarity and purity that the spell provides.
Negatives: This effect completely overrides the ability to taste anything else. The caster would be unable to identify a potion by taste or notice if their food has been poisoned.

Extra-Sensory Perceptions

Cognitive Lucidity (Mental Sense)

What is Perceived: A feeling of the “fog” of thought completely evaporating, leaving behind a state of perfect mental order and clarity.
Description: The caster’s thoughts become incredibly organized and easy to access. It’s the mental equivalent of a cluttered desk being instantly and perfectly tidied. Complex problems seem simpler, memories are recalled with perfect fidelity, and deductions are made with lightning speed.
Positives: Provides an immense advantage for solving riddles, deciphering codes, making investigation checks, and resisting any magic that would cause confusion or mental impairment.
Negatives: This state of hyper-logic can be emotionally sterile. The caster might find it difficult to engage in creative thinking, empathize with others, or understand an illogical but emotionally-driven decision while the spell is active.

Resonance of Intent (Insight Sense)

What is Perceived: The perception of a subtle “dissonance” or “harmony” in the words and actions of others.
Description: This is not mind-reading. When a person speaks the truth, their words, body language, and intent are in harmony, and the caster perceives this as a smooth, pleasant resonance. When a person lies, their words conflict with their true intent, and the caster perceives this as a jarring, discordant “note,” like a string played out of tune.
Positives: Makes the caster an almost perfect lie detector, granting them a huge advantage on Insight checks and in any social negotiation or interrogation.
Negatives: The sense is a blunt instrument. It can misinterpret sarcasm, metaphors, or complex, half-true statements as “dissonant” lies because they lack the purity of a simple truth. It can make social interaction in a complex setting (like a royal court) an overwhelming flood of confusing signals.

Parable of Still-Air Stalker

It is told, on the stones that have been worn smooth by the high winds, of a time when Aelar Windwalker, for all his great power, was made to feel like a blind and deaf child. He was hunting a creature of great and terrible stealth, a beast that the old words call the Still-Air Stalker. This was not a beast of fang or claw, but a beast of perfect quiet. It moved without stirring a single leaf. It breathed without making a scent. Where it stood, the air became unnaturally still, and even the motes of dust would freeze in their dance. It was a hole in the world in the shape of a beast.

Aelar tried to find it with his great magic. He sent gusts of wind to feel the forest, but the Stalker was like a stone in a river; the wind simply flowed around it and told him nothing. He listened with the wind’s ear for a snapped twig or a rustle of leaves, but the Stalker made no sound. He was hunting a ghost. For days he hunted, and his frustration was a great, heavy cloak upon him. The Stalker was near, he could feel the wrongness of its presence, but to his senses, it was nowhere at all.

Defeated in his own art, he climbed to the top of the highest mountain, the one they call the Needle of the Sky, and he sat in the thin, cold air where nothing grew. He did not seek power. He sought an answer. He closed his eyes and tried to listen. He heard the great song of the world: the roar of the wind miles below, the groan of the ice, the distant cry of an eagle. He smelled the world: the damp earth of the valleys, the sharp scent of the pine forests, the salt of the far-off sea. It was a great storm of senses, and he knew that somewhere in that storm was the single, silent note of the Stalker. But he could not hear a whisper in a hurricane.

And then a great truth came to him. He was trying to listen harder. He was trying to see more. He was trying to smell everything. This was his mistake. To find the one thing that was silent, he did not need to listen harder. He needed to make the rest of the world quiet.

He did not cast a great spell. He cast a small one, a secret one. He cupped his hands to his face and he breathed in, but he did not breathe the air of the world. In his mind, he breathed in the idea of the high peak. He breathed in the scent of cold stone and empty sky. He breathed in the feeling of perfect, clean stillness.

And the world changed. The great song of the wind and the forests and the sea did not stop, but it became a distant murmur, a thing he knew was there but did not have to listen to. The storm of smells was gone, replaced by the single, clean scent of the high, lonely peak. The world of his senses became a clean, empty room.

He stood up, and in this new, quiet world, he walked back down into the forest. And now, he could perceive it. It was not a sight, or a sound, or a smell. It was a flaw. In his sight that saw everything with sharp clarity, there was one patch of leaves, ten paces to his left, that was too perfect, where the light seemed to bend just a little bit wrong. In his hearing that heard every insect, there was one spot where the insects were silent. In his mind that was filled with the clean scent of the peak, there was one tiny point from which no scent came at all. It was the hole. It was the Still-Air Stalker.

He did not attack it with a great wind. He simply walked to the place where the world was wrong, and he was standing before the beast that none could see. And because he could see it, it was no longer a ghost, but only a creature. And it was afraid.

The Moral of the Story: It is said that the wise man does not try to hear the whisper in the storm. He learns to ignore the storm, and then all that is left to be heard is the whisper. For true perception is found not in adding to your senses, but in taking away all that is not important.

Suggested conversions to other systems:

Dungeons & Dragons (5th Edition)

Scent of the High Peaks 2nd-level Transmutation

Casting Time: 1 action Range: Self Components: S, M (a pinch of granite dust from a mountain peak) Duration: 10 minutes

High-Level Overview: This is a 2nd-level utility spell for casters focused on exploration and social investigation, such as Rangers, Druids, and Wizards. It provides a significant, non-concentration buff to all major perception-based skills, making it an invaluable tool for scouting dangerous areas, interrogating subjects, or searching for clues, with a powerful defensive rider against airborne threats.

Game Mechanics: You summon a personal bubble of clean, magically enhanced air around your head. For the duration, you gain the following benefits:

You have advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks.
You have advantage on Intelligence (Investigation) checks.
You have advantage on Wisdom (Insight) checks.
You are immune to the effects of inhaled poisons and gases, and you automatically succeed on saving throws against them.

Call of Cthulhu (7th Edition)

Breath of the Summit Spell

Cost: 5 Magic Points; 1 Sanity point Casting Time: 1 round

High-Level Overview: This is a rare, non-Mythos spell, likely derived from esoteric meditative practices or a lost form of naturalism. It allows an investigator to achieve a state of preternatural sensory acuity, filtering out all distractions to focus on what is truly important. The cost to sanity reflects the strain of maintaining such an unnaturally perfect state of perception.

Game Mechanics: The caster takes a round to center themselves, creating a personal bubble of impossibly pure, cool air. For the next 10 minutes, the caster experiences the world with sharpened senses.

The caster gains one bonus die on all Listen, Spot Hidden, and Psychology rolls.
The caster is immune to the effects of any non-magical airborne toxins, poisons, or gases and does not need to make CON rolls to resist them.
Due to the sensory clarity, the Keeper may provide one additional, subtle clue when the investigator successfully uses one of the affected skills.

Blades in the Dark

High Peak’s Focus Whisper or Leech Special Ability

High-Level Overview: This is not a spell cast in the moment, but a special state of mind a character can enter, representing a deep meditative focus or the use of a rare alchemical inhalant. It allows the character to become the crew’s designated “scanner,” cutting through the lies, shadows, and smog of Doskvol to find the unvarnished truth of a situation.

Game Mechanics: This would be represented as a Special Ability:

High Peak’s Focus: You can spend 1 Stress to enter a state of heightened sensory perception for a scene. When you do, your senses become preternaturally sharp. You can perceive things that others miss, and you are immune to the effects of airborne poisons or gases. When you use an action like Survey to gather information or Hunt for a hidden detail, you can ask one of the following questions in addition to any other benefits:

What’s the most important detail here that everyone else is missing?
Who’s the most vulnerable or deceptive person in this room?
Where is the hidden weakness or point of entry?

Knave (2nd Edition)

Spellbook of the Eagle’s Eye Spellbook, 1 Slot

Casting: Once per day

High-Level Overview: This is a valuable utility spell contained within its own book. It provides a long-lasting and powerful buff to all perception-based saves, making its carrier an invaluable scout and investigator for the party. The added immunity to poison gas makes it a critical tool for delving into dungeons with unknown hazards. Its power is balanced by taking up an inventory slot that could be used for armor or another weapon.

Game Mechanics: When you cast this spell, you create a bubble of clean, invigorating air around your head that lasts for 10 minutes.

For the duration, you have an Asset on all Wisdom saves made to perceive details, investigate clues, or discern the intentions of others.
You are completely immune to any negative effects or damage from non-magical inhaled poisons, spores, or gases.

Fate Core System

Mind of the Lonely Peak

High-Level Overview: In Fate, this is a powerful mental and sensory enhancement represented as a Stunt. It allows a character to enter a state of supreme focus, filtering out all distractions to perceive the absolute truth of a situation. It’s a narrative tool that lets a player declare their character is operating at a higher level of awareness for a scene.

Game Mechanics: As a Stunt:

Mind of the Lonely Peak: Once per session, you can spend a Fate Point to declare you are entering a state of perfect sensory clarity that lasts for one scene. While this stunt is active, you create the situation Aspect Hyper-Aware and Unburdened with two free invocations on it. You can use these invocations to add a +2 bonus to any Investigate, Notice, or Empathy roll you make. Additionally, while this Aspect is in play, you are immune to any consequences related to inhaled poisons or gases.

Numenera & Cypher System

Airs of Acuity (Tier 2 Intellect-based Ability)

High-Level Overview: This is a utility ability for a character whose abilities involve the environment, alchemy, or perception. It represents a temporary but potent enhancement of the user’s mind and senses by creating a personal bubble of purified, psycho-stimulant air, fueled by their mental energy (Intellect Pool).

Game Mechanics: Airs of Acuity (2 Intellect points): You envelop your head in a bubble of pure, cool air that sharpens your mind and senses for ten minutes. During this time, any task you perform involving perception, investigation, or discerning the intentions of others is eased. Additionally, for the duration, you are immune to any negative effects from inhaled poisons, toxins, or gases. Action to activate.

Pathfinder (2nd Edition)

Heightened Senses SPELL 2 [UNCOMMON] [DIVINATION] [AIR] Traditions Arcane, Primal Cast [one-action] somatic Range personal; Target you Duration 10 minutes

High-Level Overview: This is a 2nd-level divination spell that provides a significant and long-lasting buff to all major perception-based skills. It’s a premier utility spell for investigators, scouts, and diplomats, granting a substantial statistical bonus that makes them exceptionally proficient at noticing details, solving mysteries, and seeing through deception.

Game Mechanics: You surround yourself with a pocket of magically purified air, sharpening your senses to an incredible degree. For the duration, you gain a +2 status bonus to Perception checks, Investigation checks, and Insight checks.

While the spell is active, the pure air grants you immunity to inhaled poisons. You automatically succeed at saving throws against effects that are delivered by inhaling them.

Savage Worlds Adventure Edition (SWADE)

Eagle’s Scent Power

Rank: Seasoned Power Points: 2 Range: Self Duration: 10 minutes Trappings: A cool breeze, the scent of a mountain peak, impossibly sharp vision, a feeling of mental clarity.

High-Level Overview: This is a versatile and long-lasting buff power for a Seasoned caster. It significantly enhances their ability to act as the party’s scout and “face,” making them adept at noticing threats and reading people. Its secondary benefit of poison immunity makes it a valuable preparation tool before entering dungeons or other hazardous environments.

Game Mechanics: When successfully cast, the caster’s senses are honed to a razor’s edge. For the duration, the character gains a +2 bonus to all Notice and Persuasion rolls made to read an opponent or discern their truthfulness.

Additionally, for the duration of the power, the caster is completely immune to any poison, gas, or toxin that must be inhaled to take effect.

Shadowrun (6th World)

Alps’ Clarity Health Spell

High-Level Overview: This is a Mana Health spell that creates a personal bubble of magically purified and psychoactively-enhanced air around the caster. It’s highly valued by shadowrunners who act as the team’s scout or “face,” as it provides a significant edge in observation and social deduction while also offering protection against the ubiquitous toxic threats of the urban sprawl.

Game Mechanics: Type: M Range: Self Duration: Sustained Drain: F – 2

When you cast this spell, you sustain a personal aura of magically filtered air. While the spell is sustained, you gain the following benefits:

Enhanced Senses: You gain a +2 dice pool bonus to all Perception, Assensing, and Judge Intentions tests.
Toxin Immunity: The purified air renders you immune to all toxins and drugs that use the Inhalation vector. You do not need to make a Toxin Resistance test against them.

Starfinder

Summit’s Insight Mystic 3, Technomancer 3

School: Divination Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Personal Target: You Duration: 10 minutes

High-Level Overview: This is a 3rd-level utility spell that provides a substantial, long-lasting bonus to a wide range of crucial perception-based skills. It’s a premier buff for any character focused on investigation, diplomacy, or exploration, allowing them to operate at peak sensory and cognitive performance while being protected from common environmental hazards.

Game Mechanics: You surround yourself with a personal field of magically purified and invigorating air. For the duration, you gain a +4 insight bonus to Perception, Sense Motive, and Culture checks made to investigate or recall information about your immediate surroundings.

Additionally, for the duration, you are immune to any poison, disease, or harmful gas that requires you to inhale it, and you automatically succeed on any saving throws against such effects.

Traveller (Mongoose 2nd Edition)

‘Clear Air’ Personal Filter & Cognitive Enhancer TL: 13 Kg: 0.5 Cost: Cr 150,000

High-Level Overview: This is not a spell but a piece of highly advanced, often military-grade, personal equipment. The device is a small, sophisticated unit, usually worn on a belt or as a collar, that generates a localized field of perfectly filtered and psychoactively-enhanced air around the user’s head. It is prized by scouts, investigators, and diplomats operating in hazardous or high-stakes environments.

Game Mechanics: The device has a power cell that lasts for one hour of continuous use before needing to be recharged. While active, it provides the following benefits:

Sensory Enhancement: The user gains a DM+2 on all Recon and Persuade checks.
Atmospheric Immunity: The user is completely immune to the effects of all airborne toxins, diseases, and chemical agents, including tear gas and nerve agents (as long as they don’t also have a contact vector). The user can breathe safely in any atmosphere that has sufficient oxygen, regardless of other contaminants.

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (4th Edition)

Clarity of the High Pass Lore of Heavens Spell

CN: 7 Range: You Target: You Duration: Willpower Bonus in Minutes

High-Level Overview: This is a subtle but potent spell from the Lore of Heavens, allowing a wizard to surround themselves with the pure, untainted essence of Azyr. This doesn’t just clear their lungs; it clears their mind and sharpens their senses to an unnatural degree, making them an unparalleled observer of both the physical world and the intentions of others.

Game Mechanics: When you successfully cast this spell, you are wreathed in a personal bubble of pure, invigorating air. For the duration of the spell, you gain the following effects:

You gain +1 Advantage on all Perception, Intuition, and Investigate Tests you make.
You are completely immune to the effects of any non-magical poisons, gases, or diseases that are inhaled, such as Black-lung Miasma or Grey Ague. You do not need to make Endurance Tests to resist them.
Overcast: For each +2 SL on your casting test, you can increase the duration of the spell by your Willpower Bonus in minutes.

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