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Post by Valcrist on Dec 31, 2013 2:43:25 GMT -6
Well whatever good impression of hawklike aptitude and beastly constitution that his new traveling companion might have displayed the other day was quickly soiled as he came stumbling down the stairs in a drunken shuffle. Valcrist had a sort of wry smile on his face as he rambled up to him. Stifling a chuckle. He showed interest in his work for a split second but it vanished once he saw it wasn't anything bow related. Instead he slightly slurred a question at him. "It's about as much fun as you'd imagine." He said, wiping his sweaty brow with his forearm. "It's mostly just busywork, I'll probably have more fun making your bow since I'll have a chance to work freely." He looked at the blade he was smithing, it was rather simple and no-nonsense. Completely against everything he knew when he started his travels, but now he found beauty in the efficiency of such a design. Evolving as a smith and all that nonsense, it wasn't as prominent as his growth as a swordsman but he has grown just as much in his smithery as his swordplay.
Wein offered Valcrist an empty mug of beer, and the nabatan just stared at it with a raised brow and an amused grin. "I'll cherish it." He replied, sitting it down before suddenly remembering something.
"Oh, hey, are you sober enough for some questions? I need to know how you want your bow done before I get the materials. About how strong is your draw, and how do you prefer your bow to handle? Actually, you should just let me see your favorite bow, and I'll use that as a base." He tapped his chin with a heavily gloved hands. "Or maybe you can just show me first hand. I'll be able to do a better custom job if I can see you shoot a few times. But uh..." He looked at the clearly somewhat drunk man and chuckled. "Maybe we should wait until tomorrow before we do that."
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Wein Lowell
Sniper
The Noble Arrow
If you're a glory hound, then I'm king of the glory hounds
Posts: 268
Lycia Fame: 2
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Post by Wein Lowell on Dec 31, 2013 3:02:43 GMT -6
"No, no, I'm good, I'm good," Wein replied, holding his free hand out reassuringly as he found a precarious resting place for his beer mug upon the lip of the forge furnace. Then, after relinquishing his drink, the archer awkwardly shuffled about, looking for a place to sit down, before taking a seat upon an unused anvil. He attempted to take a sip of his beer before remembering that he had put it down a ways away, then turned his full attention, or what he had of it, towards Valcrist.
"I just drink a lot before big trips. Don't mind me. My brain's still as sharp as a tack," the archer attempted to clarify, slowly tapping a finger against his temple. Despite his buzzed demeanor, he definitely could still answer a few questions. "But you're right, we might want to save shooting for later. My head should be cleared up in an hour or so." The Ostian then reached around his back and unfastened his bow from its strap. "Here's my current bow. It's a composite. Yew pulled together with elk horn and sinew. Made her myself after my last one broke. Snapped right in the middle of using it to strangle a bear, it did. The nerve of some weapons..."
Wein held the bow out to Valcrist, cradling it in his hands like a piece of fine china. "This bow's never done wrong by me, but it's not a person, it's a weapon, so I don't feel bad about getting a new one. Not like bows have feelings after all." He nodded towards the weapon, urging the smith to take a closer look. "Here, take it."
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Post by Valcrist on Dec 31, 2013 3:50:01 GMT -6
"Well it'll still be a bit before we leave, so I guess you better get your purse ready to drink a while." The smith leaned on a beam nearby with his arms crossed as the archer took a seat on an anvil. His sword was finished now, he was about to move onto another piece before Wein showed up but he could afford to take a little break. They had a while yet, he just had to make sure he finished his backlog before they left. Sure he didn't 'have' to, but he felt like he owed it to Valin and Heygus for taking such good care of him. "Still it's good to know your mind is still sharp." To be honest Valcrist had only come of an age where he was permitted to drink, you know, without being hassled about it at least. As such, he had very little experience with it.
Wein pulled out his bow and handled it gingerly, but it seemed sturdy and solid enough. It was made of wood and was clearly made by someone who knew how to craft bows. It was well made, buuut Valcrist was sure that his would be just a bit better. "Wow." He took the bow in his hands, testing it lightly. He looked at Wein with a chuckle. "It isn't like I'm gonna sacrifice it to make your new bow, you'll have both by the end of this. So no worries about betraying your weapon." He chuckled lightly as he spoke looking over the bow carefully with an appraising eye.
"Ah..." He muttered quietly, looking where the bowstring met the wood. "I would have to recommend against using a bow to strangle a bear, it's not really the intended use." He believed what he said though, crazier things have happened. Valcrist fought a dragon after all, it was hard to be in disbelief about anything. He held the bow as if he was ready to fire an arrow and pulled the string back, struggling a bit at first with a surprised look on his face. "Got a bit of a draw on it doesn't it..." he muttered again and tried pulling it again, this time much more smoothly and in a single motion. To be honest, he was surprisingly knowledgeable about bows. Many smiths weren't, they were made in a completely different fashion and were more tricky and required completely different skills. Still he's always enjoyed bowcrafting, it brought him back to when he made that bow for Chelsea. He was sure this one would be three times as good.
To be honest he's always wanted to learn how to shoot a bow. It was a desire that was born back when he crammed information into his mind all about bowcrafting. He had to try out the bows a bit to make sure they were right. You could mess up a blade, but it'd still be a hunk of steel and as long as it was sharp enough it could work in a pinch. It was hard to mess up a sword, spear, or axe. The trick was in getting them better grand, but even an unskilled smith could make a passable blade given time. A bow, however, was different. One mistake, one flaw, the whole thing's busted. It was complicated, too much draw and you couldn't pull the string but not enough and the arrow wouldn't soar. If you made the bow the wrong shape or made it unbalanced the arrow would fly off trajectory and could be more of a danger than an asset. It required a different set of skills, but the dexterous nabatan was able to excel in it as well with some experience. In a way archery was almost like an art in and of itself. He had to test his bows to make sure they worked, but he was no good at it. There was just something he was missing...
Maybe he could ask Wein about it sometime.
"Alright then." Valcrist suddenly spoke up from a period of silence that lasted a bit longer then what would have been 'comfortable'. Then again Valcrist was always serious about his weapons. "I think I'm getting a better idea of how you like your bows." He grinned and handed the bow back to the man. "You can hold on to that for now. I'll need to borrow it again later though, if you don't mind." Then he thought it over for a second. "Now, what kind of material would you want it made out of?"
Bows, especially composite bows weren't made of steel or iron. Rather of wood, horn, and sinew. They were however referred to as 'iron' 'steel' and 'silver' bows, simply to make things easier on the bower or smith. Though in Val's opinion, it just made things more confusing. "I can use Yew, or some Osage, or if you're willing to shell out the big bucks there's supposed to be a type of wood that's hard to find but supposedly better than both. I... have never worked with it, and I'm not entirely sure I believe my friend's boastings, but it could prove interesting. Then there's ox horn, ram horn, elk horn, or buffalo horn I can make the core from. Maybe dragon horn, if you can get your hands of something so rare. I don't have any on hand though, and I'm not sure where to get any, but I hear bows made of dragon horn are supposed to be incredible." Sinew was sinew, it wasn't as important of a choice as the other materials. "If you can find a mage to enchant it, I could even engrave it with the ability to becomes magically enhanced. Of course that's especially expensive as the material I have to use is pretty pricey and it's really skill intensive and time consuming." Enchanted weapons had two stops, the smith who creates the weapon able to be enchanted and mage that imbues it with magical energy. Anima mages, Dark mages, and Light mages all created different types of enchantments. His blade, for example, was enchanted with anima magic. The boundless force of the winds, as it were.
"Got any opinions? Or do you just want me to follow my gut?"
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Hiro
Rogue
I love stealing, I love taking things.
Posts: 216
Profession: Professional ladies man
OoC Alias: Hal
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Post by Hiro on Jan 2, 2014 10:43:23 GMT -6
Hiro had began to notice a pattern with this girl, she seemed to be obsessed with that broad the church was founded on. Dealing with people like her was always easy, pretend to care about the church and junk like that and they believe you, that woman was teaching people to be fools. Hiro brought his right hand to his chin and began to stroke it as he was thinking, when he noticed the girl's face merely inches from his own it had almost startled him. He grabbed the other chair, swung it around and placed it next to her chair where the two were touching, sat down and put his arm around her. "Little known fact, when the war with the royal family had begun with the church, the royal family went into hiding. When Kraft's army got to where the royal family should have been they couldn't find them so they claimed to having killed them they took the country. So, unless things have changed in the past couple of years, the royal family is alive. I'm sure once the news of Kraft's death spreads they'll come out of hiding and take back their rightful throne. I will be able to pay the soldiers out of Kraft's personal vaults of riches, not the churches so that tower will be safe. My army isn't for pillaging religious temples but for removing a bat crap crazy tyrant, but unfortunately I am unable to say if Kraft has hit it up or not." The goal was to tell the girl exactly what she wants to hear but not make it so obvious that he was lying.
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Post by Butorega on Jan 3, 2014 9:22:24 GMT -6
Butorega returned to the Inn he had stayed the night before. In truth he did not like the place. It was too bland for his taste. An Inn should have a hint of danger to it. Like dangerous looking clients and men wearing hoods not to reveal their faces. However here there was not even a sell sword sitting in the corner.
“The Inn is kind of bland”, spoke Butorega to a man near the entrance. The man simply stared at him with a peculiar stare. The stare was a bit new to the brigand. It was the why are you talking to me face. Already bruised from his day at the sword hall Butorega was not looking for a fight instead he walked away leaving the rude man be. However his expression caused the brigand to ponder for a moment. Then it hit him. He was the dangerous person in the Inn. It was like he said every Inn needed at least one and Butorega fit the build.
None the less today was pretty much over for the brigand. If the chick had killed Hiro he would hear about it tomorrow. He could then track her down and return the favor. Besides he did not even know which Inn they went back too, and searching across town was way too troublesome. There were like five different Inn or so in this town, and each Inn had its own group of customers. If he just went around asking questions people might mistaken him for one of those Prophet Guy spies. It was best for him to stay put.
Butorega walked upstairs and entered his room. Before he lay in the bed he took a moment to search for any traps, and/or deadly animals. It was never a bad idea to remain safe. He had seen several people die during his days with the Black Leather Bandits from blades in their beds and poisonous snakes in their sheets. After finishing his search Butorega laid his axe down next to the bed and pushed the dresser in front of the door. Time to get some shut eye. He would need it for tomorrow.
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Mel
Thief
Posts: 187
Profession: Professional Asshole
Affiliation: Bandits and Tiger and Bears, OH MY!
Affinity: Wind
OoC Alias: Mel
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Post by Mel on Jan 5, 2014 2:48:52 GMT -6
"...?" she turned her head at the mention of a church, wondering what they were speaking of for just a few moments. They weren't talking about the church she had set aflame were they? It seemed not, quickly she confirmed that they were speaking of something else entirely and returned to lazing on the bed in the room comfortably, her cloak draped over herself. Their discussion of the current state of the continent was rather dull, and she hardly cast an ear over after that. People always mistook the big picture for something important, and lost sight of all the little things that were far more interesting.
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Aelia
Archer
I'm on fire!
Posts: 19
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Post by Aelia on Jan 6, 2014 11:14:01 GMT -6
Aelia blinks several times, her head tilting to the right as she purses her lips and then lets out a gentle hum under her breath with a click of her tongue. And then there's the sudden touch about her arm, causing the young woman to frown a bit and hunch her shoulders as she turns to the right with a little hiss under her breath. "Careful partner." She remarks, frowning a bit and putting a hand to his side to push back an inch as she peers at him. Well, she wasn't entirely aware of all of that! And she would totally be disappointed in Mel if she knew she burned down a church, because cute things shouldn't do bad stuff!
"Then I ask your assistance in securing the tower after eliminating Kraft." She'll remark, more than caught up in the whole fervor of the thing! Heck, even her big picture of looking at all the little pictures (not to speak of her fervent religious beliefs) was starting to get more than a little clouded. It'd totally be easy to kill a tyrant right? Hell, Hiro seemed really convinced! "I'll do everything in my power to help then... For Eturia of course." She was a bit too much puppies and rainbows to get all stuck on the personal glory thing, though she was having a bit of a tickle at the back of her head...
Hook line and sinker.
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Post by Taiel on Jan 6, 2014 12:13:10 GMT -6
"Interesting." The man mused aloud as he walked the streets of the small town that he visited from time to time. It was interesting indeed, to watch the humans mill about in their ordinary lives doing ordinary things in an ordinary manner. So the man watched and listened, as custom for whenever he comes into town. It was rare, and the tavernkeep certainly would know of the times the man comes in from the mountains as the door opened and closed again, admitting the dragon in human form to the building. Eyes looking and searching the room, he smiled just a little to the tavernowner before walking over to the bar and sitting down, white robe billowing out around him before removing his hood.
He was tall, more so than average with clear blue eyes now visible with his short, dark grey hair. A coin exchanged, and it wasn't long before a decent bowl of stew with some bread and tea was set before him. Oh, it was such a temptation to give into his draconic instincts and devour the meal with relish, but he mastered himself before eating at a more sedate pace. The man kept his ears open to the conversations and gossip around him, word of an adventure with a lot of gold reaching them. This caused him to pause and tilt his head curiously. The acquisition of gold, as opposed to those of his fire brothers, never really held much interest. Amongst those of his kind, the smell and song of gold wasn't as attractive as it was to the reds.
And so the dragon returned to his meal, listening now more fervently to the conversations around him, making an attempt at discerning the true nature of the quest being spoken of in hushed whisper and behind closed doors.
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Hiro
Rogue
I love stealing, I love taking things.
Posts: 216
Profession: Professional ladies man
OoC Alias: Hal
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Post by Hiro on Jan 6, 2014 17:17:56 GMT -6
The moment her hand left his body Hiro reverted to the spot his body was before she pushed him away from. Moving his arm from around her he lock hands behind his head as he placed his feet on the table, leaning back in the chair. A sucker was born every day. "You know, that might take a bit. During the attack the castle will go into a lock down. Nobody comes in, nobody gets out. We will have to fight our way out of the castle, then the city. The best course of action would to hole up in the castle until we can make a break for it, which I'll have to see how it pans out. I can't promise how quickly we can get to that tower." Hiro was talking purely out of his ass now, it seemed some what believe able right? Hiro felt as if he could lead a horse to water and make it drink at this moment. Turning his head towards Mel he spoke to her. "Sweetie, I'm hungry. Go fetch me a sammich." Turning back to the girl he looked confused. "Would you like anything miss. I never gave my name to the man I threatened to kill."
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Mel
Thief
Posts: 187
Profession: Professional Asshole
Affiliation: Bandits and Tiger and Bears, OH MY!
Affinity: Wind
OoC Alias: Mel
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Post by Mel on Jan 6, 2014 20:49:11 GMT -6
Mel narrowed her eyes, raising her head and glancing over her shoulder at him disapprovingly. What had he asked of her? How ridiculous. He knew very well that she would poison it and see if he was quick to notice. "Would you want a sausage in it?" she asked with a soft simper, there are quite a few small ones about that I could choose from..." Lazily she drew her sword and examined it, moving to sit and lay it across her knees as she stroked the blade gently with her fingertips.
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Wein Lowell
Sniper
The Noble Arrow
If you're a glory hound, then I'm king of the glory hounds
Posts: 268
Lycia Fame: 2
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Post by Wein Lowell on Jan 7, 2014 22:50:47 GMT -6
Wein put a finger to his chin in contemplation, staring into the empty space over Valcrist's shoulder. What materials did he want to make his bow out of? Well, what exactly was he looking for in a bow? Flexibility is always important, but Wein preferred a lighter bow so the wood would have to be dense as well as flexible or else the bow would break with too strong a draw. That meant yew and osage were both good suggestions. However, the Ostian also needed the bow to be made durable given his action-packed wandering life-style, which knocked yew down a peg. Then he had to consider if he wanted another composite bow. Yes, there were very few disadvantages, but it would be expensive to procure all of pre-worked materials lest Valcrist spend months in preparation for shaping, something they really didn't have time for.
"Well, for starters, let's go with Osage," said Wein as he brought himself back to reality. Changing the focus of his gaze back to Valcrist, he took back his bow from the young smith before successfully succeeding in dropping it on the ground shortly after. "Hopefully you can find some up here. I'm willing to pay top dollar." The archer then, drunk as he was, got down on his hands and knees just to pick up his weapon. "As for the horn, I'll stick with elk. That should be easy to find around here, and I figure you can get the sinew from the same animal. That may require some preparation time, though." Swaying from side to side, Wein got back to his feet. "And if you can, put in the runes. I don't have a mage on hand, obviously, but I'll be able to find one in the future I'm sure. I've even got a book back at the inn with the pattern I want. Supposedly it was specifically designed for missile weapons and will focus the enchantment along the arrow instead of dispersing the energy along the bow stave." He tapped his forehead. "I'm not an expert in magic, but from what I know the theory is sound. I can give you a rundown later."
"Other than that," finished Wein, pointing a finger in Valcrist's general direction, "use your gut."
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Post by Valcrist on Jan 8, 2014 1:32:44 GMT -6
"Oh no, don't worry about me 'procuring' the supplies. I happen to be traveling, or at least formerly traveling with a Caravan completely kitted out with this sort of thing. I've been making bows for months now, and I already have plenty of preworked material handy. It'll probably take an afternoon or so to carve the wood into shape, because I don't wanna just use one of the bows I already carved since that would be a big cop out, but other then that it's not something you need to worry about all that much." The smith shrugged with a small chuckle. Valcrist hand nimble fingers, and thick calluses dotting his hands. While other years he was practicing his swordplay, this year was almost entirely blacksmithing through and through. While not all blacksmiths made bows, yes, it wasn't unheard of for one to also dip into such a thing. His caravan, as such, procured much raw materials in the form of metals and woods once he joined so that he could smith in his time with them. Contrary to all appearances, the duo were actually very successful in their traveling caravan and he's had quite the time working on all these items. He could also fletch arrows, but that wasn't the point right this minute. "Though I thank you for being considerate, you'd be surprised how many people come in demanding things made of silver and magically enchanted or dragon scale armor or all those other things expensive and hard to get a hold of."
"Osage, Elk, and enchanted it is." He began to tap his chin lightly, thinking about it. Muttering to his self, but definitely loud enough for Wein to hear. "It'll take a bit to inlay the runes, it's very focused detail oriented work. Of course even if that's my specialty, I'll need to take my time to make sure I do it properly. So all in all it should take me about three days. I'll design it get the materials tonight after I'm done working. I'll shape and assemble the bow tomorrow and on the third day I'll enrune it. That sounds about right." So he pounded his fist into his open palm with a smile. "It'll be done before we leave, to be sure."
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Aelia
Archer
I'm on fire!
Posts: 19
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Post by Aelia on Jan 8, 2014 11:57:36 GMT -6
Aelia was certainly born more than a few years ago thank you very much. But regardless, she'll put her hands in her lap and cock an eyebrow at the far too sly move that came from Hiro. "Right, I only ask for the effort." She'll reply in an almost ho hum manner as she leans back into her chair and rolls her shoulders with a little noise. Honestly, there was that little tickling at the back of her head that told her to make a break for the tower in all of the chaos of the fortress being attacked, but then- what kind of follower of the Saint would that paint her to be? To abandon her (new found, kind of weird, and in some cases, adorable) friends for what in the end was really a trinket? Perish the thought! So she'll buy into Hiro's little plot, because really, what's the worst that could happen to an impressionable young girl with a penchant for turning people into pin cushions?
Also, Aelia totally moves her eyes to stare at Mel as she fingers her sword. She wasn't sure if that was exciting or deeply terrifying. "Erh- Excuse me?" She'll ask, when Hiro finally speaks his last bit, the poor woman dragging her eyes off of the sword and back to the man. "I'm afraid I don't follow."
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Post by Taiel on Jan 9, 2014 11:10:06 GMT -6
The dragon finished his meal before putting his hood back on and moving to step outside. However, he stopped at the door before tilting his head as he listened for something. The rumor mongering he'd been listening to pointed to whoever had started it all was in a room with two women. A slight narrowing of the eyes and a quirk of a smile was all that played across his face before the man fully left the building back out into the cold of the Ilian weather. Stopping to take a breath of the chill air, the dragon let his body acclimate once more, feeling far more free than confined within a building. Too fragile and confining.
Looking around, he paused to make an attempt at finding the smithy. That was another rumor he'd ferreted out just by remaining quiet. The man scoffed to himself. "Amazing, what people say when you don't even exist to them. Humans." He muttered the last portion in a whisper before taking a walk to both shake off the uncomfortable feeling of being confined and to hunt down the town blacksmith forge. There was apparently two men of either reputable or disreputable character that were going on this journey there. Perhaps they knew more and would be willing to speak on the matter if he could keep from appearing too intimidating.
It took a bit of time, but the man did eventually find the smithy inside the town and paused outside, and out of sight of the window. To the casual passerby, the man would look like he was taking a break and enjoying the weather. In actuality, he was listening inside. Interesting, a smith that was also a huntsman and fletcher if the conversation was anything to go by. And the archer inside was drunk. Humans. Steeling himself, the man knocked on the door. Perhaps he could get something from the drunk one.
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Post by Valcrist on Jan 9, 2014 23:42:01 GMT -6
He was waiting for Wein's reply. Maybe some sort of praise at his speed, or show of appreciation that Valcrist could be all humble about and say it's no problem. Not that it was a problem, but still if there was one thing he was proud of it was his work as a smith. Well smith and bowyer... boyer? Whatever the word was, it didn't really roll of the tongue like smith so he liked to just combine it with the rest of his work. That wasn't the point, the point was back when he still had a lot of trouble believing in his self (he still struggled with it from time to time) it was really the only thing he could do with confidence. When people thought of Val they probably thought of a swordsman, but what he thought about his self was that of a blacksmith. So yes, he enjoyed a compliment about it now and then.
Whatever Wein was going to say, or not say, was however interrupted by a knock at the door. Which was oddly timed at the least. He looked at the smith who owned the building, but he was a bit busy and this knock was at the backdoor not the front. They didn't seem to be coming into the smithy proper to be purchasing an item at least, that or they got lost somewhere. Either way Valcrist simply shrugged and walked up to the door and opened it.
Outside there was a man standing in a white robe that bled into the surrounding snow quite handily. Speaking of snow, god snow was blinding. How was something so white be so painful to look at sometimes? The blond nabatan squinted his eyes at the sight of the snow as a bone chilling wind swept into the smithy. It was so easy to forget just how cold it was outside when they were all warmed by the heat of the forge. He let out a small shudder and jittered breath, but held his composure. "Can I help you? The store's up front if you need to buy anything." He asked of the man just standing there outside, looking completely unphased by the freezing air. Wow were Ilians were hardy.
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