Since there are people downstairs Snow points silently upstairs and then leads the way, sniffing as she goes.
The stairs come to a landing with a door. Snow can smell sweaty humans on the other side of the door and hear muffled conversations despite the loud machinery. The stairs continue up as well.
Snow shakes her head and continues up the stairs, intending to work down from the top where possible.
It turns out Snow didn’t hear voices down below after all, as all of those voices are chanting in the room at the top of the stairs. A thick layer of sawdust covers the floor, mounded nearly a foot deep in places. Workbenches sit here and there in the room, their surfaces cluttered with saws, hand drills, planers, and other woodworking tools.
A total of thirteen cultists are in this room, each one wearing a hideous mask. They’ve pushed aside the tables to make room to stand in a semicircle around a tall elven man in chainmail. As the cultist chants, the elf gives a sermon extolling the glories of Father Skinsaw and how he will reward them for their latest sacrifice. Behind the elf is a bloodied, bound, and unconscious man.
Thanara is able to get the drop on the cultists a moment before the elf spots you!
Thanara floats up high into the room and says ”Yeah! And here is your prize for being murderous cultist pricks!” before lobbing a ball of lightning down in the group that explodes with a thunderous boom and blasts of electricity goes in every direction!
The ball of lightning engulfs the cultists! Six of them fall, while the other seven are badly injured.
”Kill them! Kill them all!” the elf commands. He strides forward and casts a spell, sending tendrils of darkness from his fingertips to strike Snow and Thanara. The surviving cultists fly into a fanatical frenzy. Four rush at Snow, slicing with their war razors. The other three stand protectively in front of the elf, hurling daggers.
”Uuunnnnn,” Thanara groans as the inky black tendrils hit her, but she was braced for worse.
She then sends another thunderous boom of lightning at the pile of cultists, hitting the elf and as many of his minions as she can!
Snow gets quite badly cut but can't help a vicious grin as thunderous explosions of fire and lightning lay the cultists low. She leaps forwards, form changing as she goes until a wolf the size of a horse lands in front of the leader with murder in its eyes.
"By fire be purged!" Lisa shouts, detonating a fireball among the cultists!
Three of the four menacing Snow fall, while the last lucky one evades the blast.
Thanara's lightning takes down all three cultists near the elf, who twists away to avoid some of the electric blast. Snow rushes forward, transforms into a wolf, and bites the elf!
The elf begins casting a spell, opening him up to an attack from Snow!
He grits his teeth in pain but finishes the spell. With a puff of brimstone, a fiery hell hound appears! It breathes fire on Snow and bites at her.
The last cultist rushes over to the elf's side to protect him. Flanking with the hell hound, he slices ineffectualy at Snow.
Thanara holds her hands out and sends a gout of crackling electricity out over the lead cultist and his minion!
Snow seems to simply ignore the fire breath as it washes over her and the remaining blows are harmless annoyances.
The same cannot be said for her retaliation which is little short of brutal.
Lisa fires searing light at the hell hound!
The creature howls and vanishes as quickly as it appeared!
Thanara electrocutes both of the cultists, and as the lesser one falls, Snow tears apart the elf with her teeth and claws! The cult's leader goes down as well.
With the battle over, you can rescue the man the cultists were preparing to sacrifice. You recognize him as one of the gamblers at the Osprey House the other night! Lisa heals him and he thanks you profusely before running off.
The elf has a key on him that unlocks the door to his office nearby. The walls of this room bear macabre decorations—human faces stretched flat over wooden frames by strips of leather or black twine. Each face grimaces in a slightly different expression of pain, looking down on a cramped room that contains a desk, a high-backed rocking chair, and a low-slung cot heaped with scratchy-looking blankets.
A large footlocker here contains oddments of a historical nature, including books, sea charts, etchings of vast rock formations accompanied by maps, and the like. Near the bottom is a slim volume that is written in a cipher using a mix of Draconic, Elven, and Infernal characters.
Thanara pants as she floats in the air, her skirt flirting about as if in a breeze. ”We should notify the city watch. Let them come identify these cultists.”
Snow, still a bloodstained wolf, nods her massive head and transforms back into her normal shape. She sets to work stripping the leader of anything that seems valuable and passes Lisa the obviously coded book as part of an exhaustive search of the room.
Only once that is done does she verbalise her agreement.
"True. Got all good stuff. Let's go."
She doesn't come to alert the Watch. Thanara will do a much more convincing wilting maiden without her there.
Lisa uses her magic to heal everybody before leaving. Thanara swiftly leads the city watch to the sawmill. While they do not recognize the majority of the cultists, they are surprised to see the elf's body. "By the gods, is that Justice Ironbriar?" one guard exclaims. "He's one of the thirteen justices here in Magnimar!"
The guards question Thanara thoroughly, and once the extent of the justice's link to the depraved cult is clear, they let her go, determined to spread the word to the city's leaders of the corruption that had hidden among them.
You return to the inn and get some rest. The next day, Thanara spends almost all of her waking hours deciphering Ironbriar's journal. There is enough evidence here to put Ironbriar in the gallows, if you hadn't already killed him.
The Skinsaw Men of Magnimar come from old blood, a master cult that has existed for hundreds of years in the decadent Chelish city of Vyre. Yet today, the Magnimarian branch is very much its own entity. Ironbriar had served as the cult’s master since Vorel Foxglove’s disappearance—the long-lived cleric lead a double life as one of the city’s justices and has used the ironic cover to great effect. Few would suspect a justice, one of the city’s ruling judges, of being a cultist of the god of murder, after all. He helped establish the semi-secret Brothers of the Seven society (with the aid of six other merchants, among them Vorel Foxglove) as a cover for his cult, and over the decades, Ironbriar had taken advantage of his growing (but always small) cadre of murderers, using them now and then for additional income.
The journal goes on to reveal that someone Ironbriar refers to as “Lovely Xanesha” has stolen his heart and provided him with a new method of murder. There’s not much information about Xanesha in the journal, but the book does reveal that he’s visited her dozens of times at a site in northern Magnimar called the Shadow Clock.
Thanara seems to actually enjoy the work of deciphering the journal. If asked, she explains it’s a game Miss Risa had her do as practice when she was a child. Part of her training as a sorceress.
”So, it seems this Ironbriar had fallen for someone named Xanesha who lives somewhere called the Shadow Clock. Should we check on it?”
"Same name." Snow says sharply. "Other letter. Za-nee-sha, Mistress of the Seven. Is probably spider at centre. Must deal with her! Tell Watch first? Then get help, or not trouble at least."
The shifter has spent a day at Thanara's new house, removing old furniture until the manor is practically empty. "Found window man." She adds to Thanara, apropos nothing at all. "Will do all house windows. Week of work. Paid him. Start tomorrow. Should stay a while. Check the work good."
Lisa says. "Yes, it seems like Xanesha may be the mastermind behind everything. I'm ready to confront her once you two are."
Thanara picks up her staff. ”If she was behind the corruption of Lord Foxglove, and all this, then she needs to be taken out before she can run and hide. I’m ready now. I will handle the guards after,” Thanara says, her tone more determined than usual.
She simply nods in thanks to Snow’s efforts. Her focus is on revenge and justice right now.
You check your gear, then head out to the district of Underbridge. Hidden beneath the grimy, blackened goliath that is the Irespan, the lesser works of men huddle like weeds at the foot of the great trees that are the ruined bridge’s stone supports. Near one of these supports leans a decrepit and sagging clock tower, a dying structure of weathered stone, wood, and rusted metal supports that teeters to an unlikely height of over 180 feet. High above, near the tower’s roof and barely 5 feet from the Irespan’s stony belly, a tangle of scaffolding sits near a section of the structure that has fallen away. The tower’s clock face is frozen in time, defiantly (and falsely) proclaiming it to be 3 o’clock, while above, a stone statue of an angel, her wings crumbling, leans precariously, almost as if she were preparing a final leap from her decaying perch.
Double doors grant access to the tower's ground floor.
Once again Ghost Puppy goes on a scouting mission for interesting smells and footprints!
There doesn't seem to be much to learn from outside the tower, so Snow leads the way inside. The air inside the clock tower is dusty and dry. Swaths of rubble and mounds of plaster lie in heaps on the stone floor, particularly in the southwest corner. A single wagon sits to the northeast, and six partially collapsed offices line the northern and eastern walls, their doors hanging askew and their ceilings caved in. A wooden staircase winds up into the cavernous space above. High overhead, four immense bronze bells hang from sturdy crossbeams.
Despite the place’s general appearance of ruin, a fair amount of foot traffic has been through the area—the floor bears several humanoid footprints and a pair of enormous misshapen prints that defy easy classification.
Snow picks up on the sickly sweet smell of decay, and her sharp eyes pick out the hulking shape hiding in the northeast corner of the room. This misshapen monster is a thing from a child’s nightmares. A jumbled mass of body parts incorporating as much cow and horse as man, the creature's considerable girth is topped by an idiot head that leers and drools like a grotesque baby. Its face is cruelly stitched, the lips sewn partially together. It is dressed in straw and dung-covered rags, as well as an incongruously clean green cloak embroidered with gold trim and sigils. A trio of what appear to be carved pumpkins hang from cords on the Scarecrow’s belt, but a second glance reveals these to be horribly bloated human heads with a sick yellow tinge.
Realizing it's been seen, the creature hefts a massive scythe and begins to stomp toward you!
”Oh gods!” Thanara shrieks! ”What is THAT!?!?”
She sends a bit of magic out to Snow, hoping she can handle the hideous monster!
Snow charges in, her form increasing ten-fold in size as she goes!
Thanara recognizes the creature as a flesh golem! These constructs resist physical damage except from adamantine weapons. They are immune to most magic, except fire which damages them and cold which slows them. Electricity actually heals them!
Snow rushes in, tearing at the creature with her teeth. Her first strike is a critical hit, while her follow-up is normal. The thing resists the physical attacks but still is damaged. Lisa tries to hit the creature with a fire ray but misses.
The stitched-together creature swings its scythe at Snow, striking once!
”I…I know what it is! I can’t hurt it! I…I can’t do anything to it! Snow! You are goin to have to kill this thing!” Thanara says, offering the shifter what little guidance she can!
Between Lisa's fire magic and Snow's vicious attacks, the flesh golem quickly falls! You claim the cloak of elvenkind it is wearing before beginning your ascent up the rickety stairs that run along the clock tower's interior.
The stairs are treacherous, in many spots lacking handrails or other enclosure. You are halfway to the next floor when you hear the sound of a rope snapping above you. A moment later, an immense bronze bell tolls as it swings down and then tears free with a tremendous crash! The bell tumbles and smashes along the walls. It misses Lisa and Snow but slams into Thanara, destroying the stairs beneath her feet! The sorceress manages to leap forward to avoid plummeting to the ground, but the impact of the bell leaves her badly wounded.
”Uuunnnn,” she groaned as she shakily dropped to her knees as she clutched the back of her head.
"Up!" Snow says sharply. "Sorry, must move! Before more bells!"
”Snow…” Thanara groans in reply as the shifter pulls her up. ”My head…” She looks up and asks ”What caused that?” before the sudden head movement makes her dizzy and she slumps into Snow’s arms for support lest she fall off the stairs.
Snow holds Thanara against the wall as she glares upwards. "Bell. Dropped. Someone above."
”Xanesha…” she mutters as she closes her eyes to stop the chamber from spinning.
"Yes." Snow agrees grimly. "Must go. Can you move?"
Once Lisavet tends to her injury, the sorceress nods, only briefly making eye contact with Snow in embarrassment for hurting herself.
"Not your fault." The shifter says, easily figuring out the reason for Thanara's reticence. "Just. Be careful"
"Do not despair. We will prevail," Lisa says assuredly. "The Dawnflower watches over us."
***
Recovering from the falling bell, you quickly finish climbing the stairs. Three more immense bronze bells hang from timbers here, affixed by rusting lengths of chain and thick ropes. Above the bells are massive gears and clockworks, although they seem both rusted and scavenged—many of the smaller components are missing entirely. The rickety wooden stairs wind up and around them but don’t quite reach the ceiling above, coming to an end at an opening in the wall. Here, the stairs continue up the exterior of the tower to a room that must lie just beyond the ceiling directly above the bells."
Three of the strange faceless creatures wait here with swords drawn! They rush forward to attack, and while Snow takes a few hits, blasts of fire and lightning from Lisa and Thanara weaken the enemies so that Snow can finish them off!
Lisa heals herself and Snow as you take a short rest to refocus. After 10 minutes, you continue along, making your way through the tower's clockwork to the roof. The smoky, filthy rooftops of Underbridge sprawl below this dizzying perch. The conical roof supports an onyx statue of an angel. Towering like a god, her weathered features are caked with grime, making her seem almost demonic in countenance. At the far end of the hollow space under the roof, in the angel’s shadow, is a nest of cushions, silk sheets, and a line of several small chests. Though you don't see anything, Snow catches a whiff of a reptilian scent somewhere close by...
As the trio enter the top room, and no one is immediately visible, Thanara calls out anxiously ”Xanesha? We know you are here. Show yourself!”
A disembodied voice begins intoning the words to a spell. Snow knows her prey is near, even if she can't see it. The voice finishes its spellcasting, and with a puff of black smoke, a winged, batlike demon appears in the air! It beats its leathery wings and cackles. "There is no Xanesha, only Xul!" It blasts Snow with dark energy.
As Snow bites the demon, she senses something off about it. Belatedly, she realizes that it is actually an illusion! The demon attacks Snow again, but she is able to ignore it. The voice chants another spell.
Thanara listens carefully to pinpoint where the voice is coming from. She unleashes a blast of lightning in that direction. You can hear something large leap aside and land on the rooftop. There is no cry of pain. Snow moves over to bite at that area, but doesn't hit anything.
At last, the air ripples as Xanesha finally reveals herself! From the waist up, she appears to be an attractive human woman with curly black hair and features concealed behind a sinister mask. Below the waist, her body is that of a powerfully-muscled snake! She stabs at Snow with a darkwood spear with a thornlike, wide-bladed head, drawing blood!
Lisa heals Snow back to full health, while Thanara circles around to flank Xanesha. She discharges a powerful burst of lightning into the snakelike woman! The battle rages on...
With her foe finally revealed Snow gets to work!
Snow strikes the lamia despite her blurred form, landing a critical hit and another strike! Hissing in pain from her wounds, Xanesha stabs Snow once, then the eyes of her mask glow bright green and the wolf feels her body starting to harden!
Snow can't resist the magic.
Though Snow is petrified, Lisa blasts Xanesha with a ray of fire! Thanara delivers another powerful shocking grasp, doing just enough damage to finish the lamia off! She falls to the ground, burnt and shocked. Snow returns to normal a short time later.
The first five chests in the nest contain several coins in various denominations. The final chest has bits of jewelry and small pouches of gemstones, as well as a pair of boots of bounding.
But the greatest treasure to be found here is not hidden among the chests. A search reveals a crumpled-up wad of parchment in the southwest corner of the room. The missive on the letter reads as follows:
My sister—
I trust your little band of murderers is doing well, gathering the greedy souls for our Lord’s rise? Has Magnimar proven to be as sinful as you had hoped? It may interest you to know that my plan to nurture greed here in this backwater has blossomed—the quality of greed in a soul is so much more refined when it is given the proper care. And I appreciate the little gift your elven pet sent along to me.
Are you still simply carving the Sihedron on them as they expire? How crude! My method of marking is so much more elegant. In any event, I’m sure that your plans for harvesting greed where and when you can find it “in the wild” are progressing well enough—I just hope that your raw, ungroomed, and likely inferior victims don’t interact poorly when mixed with the purity of my own subjects. If you tire of your little project there, know that you’re always welcome to come to Turtleback Ferry and serve as my assistant, little sister! Fort Rannick should be in our control by the time you receive this letter, in any event, so there’ll be plenty of room for you if you wish to take me up on my generous offer.
Oh! Before I forget! Have you managed to harvest that lord-mayor yet? By all accounts, he might just be the cream of the crop in Magnimar—his soul might even rival several from my hand-grown harvest!
Snow looks over the various items and seems... unenthused by the mask. Since she already has her awesome wolf helm she offers it to the others. "Useful." She says, shaking herself slightly. "Hard magic to fight."
The spear gets a bit more consideration but in the end Snow still shakes her head over it. "Not for me? You want?" She asks, not expecting an affirmative.
Once she's told about the contents of the letter Snow frowns deeply. "Not good. Should tell people. Mayor? Where is this Ferry? Not our problem though. Pass it on!"
Lisa waves off the spear, but considers the mask. "Perhaps, if we can make it look more attractive."
She nods at Snow's last statement. "Yes, we definitely need to inform the mayor. After that, we can determine our next steps."
In the days that follow, Thanara busied herself with helping the townhouse get renovated.
During the nights, she spends them teasing, stimulating, and pleasing Lisavet, but not to the point of release. If Lisavet tries to reciprocate, Thanara gently dissuades her, informing her that Mistress said she could please Lisavet, but she herself was to wait. She explains that, while it is frustrating, it makes the eventual release…intense.
As the week’s end approached, she took Lisavet aside and asked ”Hey…can we talk?”
Lisa smiles at Thanara. "Of course. What's on your mind?"
Snow spends much of the week on edge - the evidence of Thanara's teasing Lisa is quite apparent to the shifter, which means that she too is walking around in haze of lust induced pheromones. It's quite annoying! Still, she sticks to her resolution and doesn't involve herself.
Instead she focuses on the town house, although her useful contributions dry up once all the old rubbish is removed. At that point she is relegated to painting and other such manual duties, since her taste is not... exactly what is required in this particular neighborhood.
What she finds most interesting though is that Thanara has suffered not being released for a long time before, and now seems to like it enough to accept it happening again and attempt to replicate it for Lisa. When Snow is alone her thoughts often turn towards that intriguing possibility and everything that might follow from it...
Thanara says ”Lets go have a word at the inn. Less…stressful,” as she looks around at the work going on around them at the Townhouse.
She is quiet as they walk through town, making small talk about the city, the sights, and such.
Once they are alone within the suite, though…Thanara descends on Lisavet like a ravenous predator! She pushes her down onto the couch and begins planting kisses on her neck and face as her hands begin sliding across her body and unfastening her robes. Once they are on the floor, she proceeds to turn her attentions elsewhere.
As her lips and hands wander her body, she begins coaxing her ”Come back to Sandpoint with me,” as she slides a hand between the priestesses legs. ”There isn’t much more for us to do here, besides work on the house. And we aren’t craftsmen. Snow has that under control. We can go home and let…” she pauses as she begins running her fingers faster across Lisavet’s core, ”Our Mistress take control again. Let her give us what we both need.”
Thanara leans down and plants gentle kisses down Lisavet’s body until she herself is hovering above the other blondes most private area, and looks back up at her and ”Okay? Do you want to?” as she teasingly lowers herself closer, but not quite touching.
Lisavet is surprised by Thanara’s sudden ferocity. The priestess moans as she submits to the sorceress, writhing against the couch.
”Yes, okay,” she gasps. ”I’ll return to Sandpoint. But it will be for you, not for her. And for myself. I’ve matters to attend to in town.”
Thanara continues to tease Lisavet, and confesses having matters to tend to in town as well. She informs Snow the two of them need to head home tomorrow morning, and with sunrise the carriage sets out with the two blondes.
On the ride, Thanara seems a bit anxious. Eventually she caves. ”So…I need to tell you a secret. Okay?”
She lets out a breath and says ”My Father, he has told me to do something. I don’t know how I feel about it. But…he made some good points, actually. But, it’s nothing I never thought I would do. Ever. But now, after all we’ve done…I…I think it might actually be a good idea.”
”Trust your instincts. If you believe it to be a good idea, then I will support you,” Lisa says. ”But beware your father’s motivations. You can be sure he has only his own interests in mind.”
***
Lisa and Thanara share a room at the inn halfway between Magnimar and Sandpoint. They resume their journey the next day, arriving in the small seaside town that afternoon.
Lisa first heads to the cathedral to check in with Father Zantus. She informs him of everything that she has learned so far regarding the mysterious group of individuals apparently harvesting greedy souls throughout Varisia. She imparts the threat they might cause and assures him she will be looking into things further.
The easy task out of the way, Lisa takes a deep breath and seeks out Orik...
She finds Orik posted outside the Lumbermill. He smiles broadly when he sees her approach. ”There you are! I was starting to think you were avoiding me!”
_________
Before the two women separate, Thanara whispers in the carriage ”Wear your armor to Savah’s tonight. You look so hot in it…”
Lisa blushes at Thanara’s comment, but she nods her assent.
***
Lisa smiles back at Orik. ”I told you that I would be out of town for a while. It turned out to be a bit longer than expected, but I am happy to be back. How have you been, Orik?”
She steps up and reaches out to try to pull Lisavet for an embrace and a kiss as he says ”I’ve been alright. Better, now that you are back!”
Lisa lets Orik kiss her, though she hesitates slightly. ”Is your shift almost over? We should go somewhere to talk.”
”Got a bit till sundown. Meet at…the Hagfish a bit after sunset?”
”Sounds good. I’ll see you there,” Lisa says. She gives Orik another kiss on the cheek and heads off, intending to meet him at the Hagfish later that night.
As you approach the Hagfish, you can hear a boisterous crowd from its direction. And in the distance, you see the masts of a sizable ship has laid anchor in the bay.
The crowd is large, but you are able to make your way inside and secure a table, thanks to your popularity in town as one of its new heroines. The crowd is full of new faces, clearly much of the crew of the ship, as well as many locals here out of curiosity. As you enter, one of their number, a rather dashing elf, is just starting to lead the crew in a song.
”When I was just a little lad or so me mammy told me,” he begins as he moves through the crowd.
His shipmates join in, scattered around the room, ”Away haul away, we'll haul away Joe.”
”That if I didn't kiss the girls me lips would grow a-moldy,” he sings before suddenly leaning in and stealing a kiss from Aneka Avertin, who gasps and playfully swats at him as the customers and crew laugh.
”Away haul away, we'll haul away Joe.
Away (Ho!) haul away! We'll haul away together!
Away haul away, we'll haul away Joe.
Away (Ho!) haul away! We'll haul for better weather.
Away haul away, we'll haul away Joe.”
The lead songsman continues, still milling through the tavern, ”I used to have a Chelish girl, but she got fat and lazy,” he pauses as the crew respond ”Away haul away, we'll haul away Joe.”
He then hooks an arm around Arika’s waist and adds ”But now I've got a Varisia girl, and she just drives me crazy!” eliciting a blush from her.
”Away haul away, we'll haul away Joe.
Away (Ho!) haul away! We'll haul away together!
Away haul away, we'll haul away Joe.
Away (Ho!) haul away! We'll haul for better weather.
Away haul away, we'll haul away Joe.”
He hops up on a table and adds ”Old Thruney was the king of Galt before the revolut-i-on.”
”Away haul away, we'll haul away Joe.”
He brings his hand in a chop against his other palm as he continues ”But when he got his head chopped off he lost his constitut-i-on.”
”Away haul away, we'll haul away Joe.
Away (Ho!) haul away! We'll haul away together!
Away haul away, we'll haul away Joe.
Away (Ho!) haul away! We'll haul for better weather.
Away haul away, we'll haul away Joe.”
During this chorus, he had hopped off the table and approached a rough looking female sailor. He made an overture her way before she pushed him back and joined the song, ”You call yourself a second mate, you cannae tie a bowline,” as other crewmen laugh and continue their part ”Away haul away, we'll haul away Joe.”
”You can't even stand up straight, with the package ye be rollin'!” she adds as she suddenly roughly grabs his crotch!
The whole tavern erupts in laughter, and can barely continue their part, her leading the crowd this time and toasting with her mug!
”Away haul away, we'll haul away Joe.
Away (Ho!) haul away! We'll haul away together!
Away haul away, we'll haul away Joe.
Away (Ho!) haul away! We'll haul for better weather.
Away haul away, we'll haul away Joe.”
The elven bard regained his composure and continued, hopping up on the bar and squatting down as he waves the room to quiet a bit before continuing more softly ”Well now can't you see the black clouds a-gatherin',” to which they respond in similar tone, ”Away haul away, we'll haul away Joe.”
He slowly starts to rise up, ”Well now can't you see the storm clouds a-risin'.”
”Away haul away, we'll haul away Joe.”
But then he stands up fully and resumes the louder tone.
”Away (Ho!) haul away! We'll haul away together!
Away haul away, we'll haul away Joe.
Away (Ho!) haul away! We'll haul for betteeer weeeeatheeer.
Awaaaay haul awaaaay, we'll haul awaaaay Joooooo-AH!”
The lead shanty-man holds his tricorn out to one side and his mug out to the other before taking a bow to the applause in the tavern!
Orik manages just now to squeeze through the crowd and finds you. ”Well, that was interesting. Sorry, didn’t know the Hag was gonna be this crowded,” he says loud enough so you can hear him over the din of the crowd as he takes a seat and looks over the newcomers. ”Wonder what this is all about?”