# Painting by Midnight - Lord of the Night's Projects



## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

Time for my first proper project log!

With the Army Painting Challenge winding down into it's last month, I had initially decided to do all of my remaining Mechanicus in one go for a big final entry. However the recent announcement about the global Age of Sigmar campaign beginning in two days next month has necessitated a change.

My Stormhost must be ready for the campaign and so far only a single Liberator unit, the Lord-Relictor and three of the four Retributors are ready.










So all that remains is the following; five more Liberators, ten Judicators, six Prosecutors, four Decimators, one Retributor, a Lord-Castellant and Gryph Hound and the Lord-Celestant on Dracoth, with the potential to add four Dracothian Guard Fulminators and a Lord-Celestant on Stardrake if I get a good payday. In other words; I need to get busy.









































































To make certain that the project continues, I will be posting a weekly update every Sunday at minimum. I wil try to get more than one update per week, but one will be the absolute minimum. Time to get to work.


LotN


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## DaisyDuke (Aug 18, 2011)

Love the scheme dude, it's nice not to see them all gold.
Keep it up


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## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

Weekly Progress Report!

With the Skitarii Vanguard unit started at the beginning of the month finally finished I can now focus totally on the Stormcast. This week has not seen a great deal of work done, but a single Judicator unit is now fully basecoated and I am ready to move onto the layering stage after rebasecoating some unfortunate paint choices that didn't look very good. Half of the Prosecutors are also basecoated with Macragge Blue and Leadbealcher, and will be layered with Sotek Green tomorrow.



















I hope to have both finished this week.


LotN


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## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

Progress Update!

Work on the first unit of Judicators and half of the Prosecutors unit continues, and both are nearing the finish line. The Judicators now only require the edge highlights of Liberator Gold, White Scar and in the Prime's case Gauss Blaster Green for his topknot. Once these are completed I will add the transfers, varnish the figures with Lahmian Medium and then add the Martian Ironearth bases, which I will underpaint with Doombull Brown.

On the whole these weren't much different to paint from the Liberators, though this time I used Stormhost Silver rather than Runefang Steel as I find the latter MUCH superior a colour/paint to the former.


















The Prosecutors on the other hand have been a much different challenge. On the surface they appear much the same, and they are, but their unique details (the wings) required a lot of thought as how best to approach them. I had all kinds of ideas; paint them in gold or silver (not interesting enough), paint them white and try to create a lightning strike effect (beyond my skills), tint them with glaze (done that with the Mechanicus and a bit bored of it), and then they came out. The Gem Paints. And so I went with Spiritstone Red to create crystalline wings, it's a shame there is no yellow Gem Paint as I would have used that to create a sort of frozen lightning appearance, but the red fits nicely with their leather.

The Prosecutors require washing with Nuln Oil to darken down the armour and line the edges of the shoulderpads, and some Reikland Fleshshade to tint the gold. After that their entire edge highlighting is to be done with Temple Guard Blue, White Scar, Liberator Gold and, once I can get ahold of a pot, Lucius Lilac for the hair. After that will follow transfers, varnishing and basing.



























LotN


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## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

Unit Completed!




























The first of the Judicators are based, transferred and finished. Very pleased with this unit, especially the blue highlights which are greatly improved from my first attempt at them years ago with the Dark Eldar. Practice really does make you better.


LotN


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## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

Lore Update!

After my first proper game of Age of Sigmar tonight, and the valiant deed (killing a Bloodthirster of Wrath) that saw the game end in a draw (cos the store closed) rather than a loss for me, my Prosecutor-Prime has earned a name and status as the first proper character in my Stormhost.

Gaalan Godslayer - Vindicator-Prime of the Starstriders

Commanding the Starstriders, the Prosecutors of the Celestial Vindicators Host led by Lord-Celestant [Name TBD], Gaalan Godslayer was the first of the Prosecutors to emerge from the Great Reforging, and earned his right to lead by besting every other Prosecutor in the host in single combat. A stirring sight in battle, his great ruby red wings glint as Gaalan drops from the sky, his Grandblade _Purgator_ held aloft ready to claim the heads of the tyrants and monsters that would meet the Celestial Vindicators in battle and defy Sigmar's will.

Only Gaalan himself and Sigmar know that he is an ancient soul, actually originating from the World That Was. Once an Elf of Athel Loren Gaalan, his real name long since forgotten, fought in the End Times against the hordes of Be'lakor that besieged the forest, and stayed behind to protect the Great Weave under the command of the Sisters of Twilight. Fighting from the back of a Great Eagle, Caelthir, Gaalan slew many in battle but eventually fell to a raging Bloodthirster that killed the Glade Champion in a single blow of it's axe. His soul was bound to Mallus as the world became engulfed by Chaos, but Gaalan's last action was to scream to Kurnous for a moment more to end the enemy that was killing him. Kurnous did not answer this prayer, for he was long dead, but millennia later another God would hear the echoes of that scream, and know Gaalan as one of his own.

Reforged into the Celestial Vindicators, Gaalan has since proved his worth in the ongoing Realmgate Wars in conflict against the Forces of Chaos, Orruk hordes and hosts of the Dead. His greatest deed came at the Battle of the Wailing Woods when, just as the Lord-Celestant [Name TBD] fell to the relentless blows of a Soul Grinder engine, Gaalan saw the Bloodthirster that slew him in life assaulting the Retributors of Prime [Name TBD]. Knowing what he must do Gaalan dispatched his Prosecutors to save their Lord while he went to meet his ancient foe, already bleeding from a dozen wounds put into it's foul hide by the Judicators of the host. The winds picked up and lent the Prime speed, a gift from Sigmar's own hand, and with a single blow of Purgator, cleaved the Daemon lord's head from it's shoulders, reality itself buckling as the Avatar of Wrath was sent back to the Brass Citadel in the highest shame, with not a single kill to it's credit.

Since then Gaalan has been known as the Godslayer, a title he bears with stoicism, knowing that his men need to look up to someone, while readying himself for the next conflict.


LotN


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## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

Unit Completed!





































The first of the Starstriders, the Prosecutors of my Stormhost, are finally completed. Very pleased and proud of these guys, I think they are my best work yet. Now the goal is to surpass them. 


LotN


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## Old Man78 (Nov 3, 2011)

Great painting, but you got some mold lines on the flying hammer dudes hammers that are quite visible, other than that stirling work


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## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

Oldman78 said:


> Great painting, but you got some mold lines on the flying hammer dudes hammers that are quite visible, other than that stirling work


Not so good at removing those, getting better at it though.


LotN


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## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

Unit Completed!




























The hunting hounds of the host are finished. I went varied on these guys, as what's the point of having something as variable as a bird-dog if you are just going to do the same thing with them.

For the adult I went with a panther appearance to contrast with the brighter blues of his Castellant handler, who will be ready soon, using Abaddon Black and Dark Reaper, with a drybrush of Eshin Grey for the plumage and a highlight of Stormvermin Fur for the beak. The harness is Khorne Red with Evil Sunz Scarlet, the ornaments Retributor Armour and Liberator Gold, while the chestplate is Sotek Green and Temple Guard Blue to connect him to his handler. And finally the eyes are Troll Slayer Orange.

For the child I visualized the second adult, which I will get at some point, which I wanted to be more colourful in comparison to the muted panther tones, and once I had the model in my head, I painted the child as I felt a baby from both adults would look. Celestra Grey for the main body with the muscles painted in Ulthuan Grey, Eshin Grey for the beak and claws then highlighted with Stormvermin Fur. His plumage was a hard drybrush with Slaanesh Grey, while the same ornament and harness style as his parent was used, I gave him the same eyes as well.

Very pleased with these guys, and hopefully i'll be able to get a third hound eventually (without buying another Castellant. So come on GW, give us a box release of these guys!) and for that one i'll be using the appearance of a Galah bird as my end goal.


LotN


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## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

Unit Completed!



















The final, currently, five of my Liberators are finished at last. Very happy with how these guys have turned out, and with this lot done only one last unit from the original AoS Starter Box remains unpainted, and the Lord-Celestant on Dracoth and a unit of Decimators is next.











LotN


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## ExaltedUrizen (Jul 26, 2013)

These are looking great! Just wondering how you did the scrolls/pieces of parchment hanging off your models. (I have word bearers and I never get tired of seeing how people paint their parchment)


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## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

ExaltedUrizen said:


> These are looking great! Just wondering how you did the scrolls/pieces of parchment hanging off your models. (I have word bearers and I never get tired of seeing how people paint their parchment)


Well I go a pretty simple route. Base with Zandri Dust, then wash with Agrax Earthshade with a focus on the letters being filled. Then I layer with Ushabti Bone, something I will never do again as I really dislike the paint itself, and then edge with Screaming Skull.

In the future I plan on dropping the Ushabti Bone and going another route. Perhaps just leaving it as washed Zandri, for an older parchment look.

If I were doing Word Bearers though i'd be painting them as if they were flayed skin, not vellum.


LotN


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## Nordicus (May 3, 2013)

Stellar work old buddy - They look great!


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## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

Nordicus said:


> Stellar work old buddy - They look great!


Thank you very much Nord, that means a lot from our resident master. 


Apologies for the lateness of an update, but assembly has been going very well on the reinforcements that arrived a week ago. The doors of the Extremis Chamber have opened!




























The Lord-Celestant was the hardest figure of my army to assemble, mix and matching among the variants not being supported by the bits. Fortunately a spare front chest-piece from the Prosecutors in my Stormcast Expansion kit allowed me to create a Lord-Celestant armed with the Arc Hammer bit, standing in for the extremely bland Celestine Hammer bit. The Stardrake himself was easy, and will be a joy to paint once the rest of the army is finished. The Dracothian Guard were likewise very easy, far easier than the supposedly "easy snapfit" Lord-Celestant on Dracoth, their weapons are not attached yet because I am thinking of getting some extra weapon shaft bits so that I can create all of their weapon options and magnetize the figures to switch between variants.


Edit: With the Lord-Celestant now on hold, these guys are on extra hold since I do not want to do anything with them until I am 100% positive on what paint scheme I want. So it will be a while before they reappear here. 


LotN


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## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

Units Completed!



















The Lord-Castellant and the Knight-Questor are finally finished. They follow the same basic paint scheme that i've used across my force, but with their own personal additions. 

The Castellant's Warding Lantern was painted with Stormhost Silver and then coated with Waywatcher Green to create a green light effect, I hope. The Questor's blade was painted with Liberator Gold and then highlighted with Stormhost Silver to create the effect of a special warblade wielded by the Host's Champion.

Finally the cloaks were painted with both Kantor Blue and Naggaroth Night in streaks, then I used a toothbrush to stipple White Scar onto them to create a starry sky effect, again I hope it looks that way to another painter's eyes.

Meanwhile on the incomplete area:










The Decimators, and a single Paladin armed with the Starsoul Mace that is part of the Retributor unit, are my current project and their basecoats are nearly complete. Work goes slowly, but steadily.


Edit: More basecoats and the first layer have been achieved on the Decimators. In addition the Lord-Celestant's paint strip has gone... marginally acceptable I guess. A new undercoat will be forthcoming and then a new, and easier, paint scheme will follow.


LotN


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## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

Unit Completed!










The Decimators are at last finished, it took longer than normal due to recent changes at my job and the shifts I work, leaving less time where I can find the energy to paint. But the Decimators and the final Retributor are at last completed, and I can move onto something else.











LotN


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## Loran (Dec 20, 2007)

Great work mate! I really like the colour scheme, and it's a refreshing change from the usual bronze/gold ones :grin:

Almost makes me want to cash in for some Stormcasts myself 

- Loran


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## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

Happy Halloween!





































The first Troopers of the Blind Court are finished. Rather than go for the typical pale greys of the Flesh-Eaters, I went darker with Mechanicus Standard Grey as the primary colour, Stormvermin Fur and Dawnstone for the hair, White Scar for the embedded bones and to create the empty eyes, while Blood for the Blood God was used liberally on the hands, feet, mouths and weapons to create an appropriately scary theme. Ghouls fresh from battle, still with gore slopped down their chins and bloody weapons ready to be used again.

The lack of basing will be addressed when I actually have some spare cash to buy the new basing paints, which won't be for some time sadly.


LotN


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## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

Unit Completed!



















It's been a long road of painting, realizing I hate what i've done, repeated attempts at stripping that never completely worked, thinking of new colour schemes, comparing and contrasting colours based on wheels, hot and cold and what colours go with what, but finally my Lord-Celestant on Dracoth is finished!

The scheme for the Lord-Celestant has been much the same as the rest of the army, I went with Celestra Grey drybrushed with Ulthuan Grey for his hair to give him a venerable appearance, and becausae in my army's lore he is associated with the moon and white was the most fitting. Other then that nothing really differs on him from the rest, he has the white helmet of command of course and the starcloak effect used on the Castellant and Questor has been replicated with far more stars, but rather than regular Lahmian Medium I went with 'Ardcoat gloss for the varnish and I think it's produced a better effect.

The Dracoth was the challenge here because I just could NOT decide what colour I wanted him to be. Yellow was my first choice but yellow is near impossible to do well, seven coats of Yriel Yellow and still patchy was the point when I gave up. But what could work?? Blue and green were out because I didn't want to overload on them, orange was out for the same reasons as yellow (it's a damn hard colour to do well), grey and brown were too boring and white was too difficult to do well and I was unsure of how to divide the armour plates between gold/turquoise/white (though the thought of an Albino Dracoth is still appealing and may find it's way into my army in the future). So only red and purple were left, and purple was tricky since I knew i'd be using Naggaroth Night for the cloak. So Mephiston Red won out, and following that came an all over wash with Nuln and a drybrush of Astaroth Red. Screamer Pink for the mouth, but rather than paint a fire breathing effect I went with light blue and white to try and give an appearance of breathing Storm, also did the same for the eyes to make it look as if energy is bleeding out of them. The armour plates went quite easily once I figured out what needed to be gold and what needed to be blue. Black for the teeth, claws and horns, and Mournfang Brown for the saddlecloth finally finished the figure.

The base was Martian Ironearth as usual, with Jokaero Orange rocks washed with Carroburg Crimson. I decided to leave the skulls on the rock untouched after the orange coat so that it looks as if they've lain there so long they are covered in the dust of the Realm of Metal.

Very pleased with how he's turned out. Definitely the figure that required the most work and thought, and has been the hardest figure i've ever painted so far, but he's definitely my favourite now that he's done. :grin2:


LotN


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## Khorne's Fist (Jul 18, 2008)

The cloaks on the Lord-Castellant and the Knight-Questor look great. You're really steaming through the units.


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## The Son of Horus (Dec 30, 2006)

The star field on the cloak came out excellent!


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## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

Khorne's Fist said:


> The cloaks on the Lord-Castellant and the Knight-Questor look great. You're really steaming through the units.





The Son of Horus said:


> The star field on the cloak came out excellent!


Thank you kindly guys. :grin2:

My Stormcast are nearing completion. All that remains now are five Judicators, three Prosecutors, four Dracoth Fulminators and the Stardrake, which granted will take some time but I plan to try and finish the remaining troops by year's end and then focus on getting through the Dracoths before tackling the Stardrake.

Also Ghouls and Sylvaneth to paint, but they come second.


LotN


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## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

It's taken a long time but my Prosecutors are finally all completed!



































































Really pleased with these guys, whom I consider to be my best work yet along with my Lord-Celestant. Feels good to finally be painting again, and with twelve days off from work I hope to get at leaat two more units completed in that time, aiming for four and maybe even six if I work hard enough. Next up will be some more Liberators and the first of my Extremis Chamber, two Dracothian Guard Concussors.


LotN


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## Khorne's Fist (Jul 18, 2008)

Fantastic paint job as usual, but my eye keeps being drawn to the mold lines on their hammers, including what looks like the uncleaned injection points right in the middle of them. It's a shame that such a nice paint job should be marred for the sake of a 30 second cleanup job.


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## Myen'Tal (Sep 4, 2009)

Your Celestial Vindicators are glorious to behold, Lord of the Night, I hope I can paint half as well as you when I start my Ironjawz and Thousand Sons:grin2:! I may have missed this before, but how did you create that epic galaxy cloak on your Lord Celestant? Also nice choice in color scheme, Celestial Vindicators are something I don't see too often, but their colors are very striking:smile2:.


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## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

Khorne's Fist said:


> Fantastic paint job as usual, but my eye keeps being drawn to the mold lines on their hammers, including what looks like the uncleaned injection points right in the middle of them. It's a shame that such a nice paint job should be marred for the sake of a 30 second cleanup job.


Thanks KF, and I know what you mean and I have tried to remove them with the clippers and files, but it doesn't work.



Myen'Tal said:


> Your Celestial Vindicators are glorious to behold, Lord of the Night, I hope I can paint half as well as you when I start my Ironjawz and Thousand Sons:grin2:! I may have missed this before, but how did you create that epic galaxy cloak on your Lord Celestant? Also nice choice in color scheme, Celestial Vindicators are something I don't see too often, but their colors are very striking:smile2:.


Thank you Myen. Creating the starfield cloaks isn't tricky really, firstly a basecoat of Kantor Blue or Naggaroth Night depending on whether you want blue or purple to be the dominant colour. Once that's complete you make streak lines in random directions with the other colour, creating a night sky effect. Then get a new toothbrush, or just one you've never used for its intended purpose, and dip part of it in White Scar or Ceramite White, either way. Then, aiming the brush at the cloak, press your thumb against the bristles and push them down, then release and let the bristles sprinkle the white against the cloak to create the stars.

Then gloss varnish it for the shiny effect and you're finished. Hope that helps, and good luck with your Orruks and TSons, planning to get some of the latter myself later this year. :grin2:


LotN


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## Khorne's Fist (Jul 18, 2008)

Lord of the Night said:


> Thanks KF, and I know what you mean and I have tried to remove them with the clippers and files, but it doesn't work.


I find running the edge of a hobby knife gently along the line makes a better job of it than a file.


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## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

Khorne's Fist said:


> I find running the edge of a hobby knife gently along the line makes a better job of it than a file.


Gave what you suggested a try KF and here is the result on two Liberators.


LotN


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## Loran (Dec 20, 2007)

Looking good, mate! Loving the colour scheme, different from the "usual" one and the highlights on the armour plates are stunning!:grin2:

As for the injection points and flash, my method of cleaning is to first get the large bits of with a sharp knife, then use a dull knife to carefully scrape of everything that I can. If there are large flat areas with injection points, then I'll also use a modelling file to smooth the injection point, as those areas tend to show even after using the knife to scrape off the excess plastic. Moulding flash usually comes off by just using a dull knife edge on it. I have two knives just for this reason, with one of them being extremely sharp and the other one very dull 

Have to say, I think I need to grab myself some of the Stormcasts, as the models are amazing


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## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

More Celestial Vindicators Liberators are here, finished these guys within five days which is a new personal best for me! Included them with five Liberators from the starter set painted a good long time ago to make my first full squad of ten. The Starshields are ready!


LotN


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## Myen'Tal (Sep 4, 2009)

Looking good, Lord of the Night, the Starshields look like they're ready to pummel some face in>! Curious, so I broke down and bought the new Stormcast Battletome and read through it a couple of times. Are you going to roll with the Celestial Vindicators Warrior Chamber rules?


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## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

Myen'Tal said:


> Looking good, Lord of the Night, the Starshields look like they're ready to pummel some face in>! Curious, so I broke down and bought the new Stormcast Battletome and read through it a couple of times. Are you going to roll with the Celestial Vindicators Warrior Chamber rules?


I plan to yes, and yeah I know the CVs favour blades over hammers. But I assembled these guys months ago, and my other Libs two years ago when AoS came out so no going back now. I'm just going to have them count as armed with Warblades, only difference is a +1 To Hit and -1 To Wound, which without extra rules is purely cosmetic.

I just need to get a second squad of Retributor Paladins for the Hammerstrike Force, that way I can field two Retributors and a Protectors squad with the Prosecutors.


LotN


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## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

Unit Complete!










































Took a long time to finish the Knight-Venator, and putting it together was not without mishap. As I painted it I accidently broke the arrow and found that I couldn't fix it convincingly, so instead I adapted. Worked the figure's character backstory so that a broken arrow would make sense, and it's given the mini some character I feel. Very happy with how this one has turned out, especially the Star-Eagle. The white paint scheme was something that I was unsure of but it's turned out very nice, and of course the Vindicators scheme is just a delight to see finished every single time.

But now begins the greatest painting challenge I have ever faced. The Celestant-Prime!










Painting the Orrery of Fates is not going to be easy. A basecoat of Naggaroth Night to start with, then the real challenge begins. The colours involved in this will be Xereus Purple, Caledor Sky, Druchii Violet, Kabalite Green, Drakenhof Nightshade, Pink Horror, Thousand Sons Blue and Ceramite White, along with Gehenna's Gold and an undetermined colour for the astrolabes, while the buckles, hammers and lanterns adrift in the energy will be painted as I would on a regular figure.





 (0:08 - 0:10)


LotN


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