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⬣//BLOSSOMING FROM A GAP IN THE ASPHALT.
A new Root Town has been revealed: Naval Monte, a tiered city built upon a mountain jutting up from an endless expanse of ocean. These fortified walls house an innumerable number of NPCs who, unlike those which occupy other Root Towns, are quite a bit more advanced.
Those of you who spend entirely too much time logged in have no doubt noticed the set patterns the NPCs of Mac Anu and Lumina Cloth take to move from area to area. Their paths never change. Their dialog rarely diverges. Talking to a freshly painted wall would be more stimulating than conversing with your run of the mill NPC, but Naval Monte's are different.
They move in accordance with their own whims, seldom found in the same place twice. Some NPCs have entire families while others boast elaborate backstories and speak at length of their tales of bravery and triumphs over evil. While they won't accept your party invites, they may instead invite you to share a meal with their family and regale you with stories until you've had your fill.
Travel far enough into the depths of the city and you'll hear tales of a graveyard that sits within the core of the mountain, but the NPCs who guard this elusive site are defensive at best. Don't expect them to let you in, but given their advanced nature, you may be able to wheedle some valuable information out of them.
Be aware that there is a price to enter Naval Monte. After crossing the vast bridge leading right up to the mountain city, you'll be accosted by no less than a dozen eager vendors fighting to peddle their wares to you. Some are so desperate that they ask only for a single GP, and in exchange, they grant you passage to the city.
Ask them why they're so desperate to make a sale and they'll answer plainly: if you don't, the curse will persist.
Come Saturday morning, an email flagged as urgent pops up in your inbox.
To our beta team,
It has come to our attention that a number of our beta testers have failed to report previous underlying health conditions that may negatively impact their ability to perform their duties as intended.
In our ongoing efforts to monitor the health and safety of our beta testing team, all participants in Fragment's closed beta test will be required to complete a health screening before the date of September 16th in order to continue participating in the beta.
Beta participants will be matched with a health professional in their area and the fees for their screening and assessment waived. As such, it is necessary that you make an appointment with the medical professional assigned to you or select another from within our network.
No exceptions will be made for those who fail to submit their health assessments to CyberConnect's Health and Human Resources department. Termination from Fragment's beta testing program and applicable legal action will be taken in the event that you fail to participate in these necessary steps.
We take the health and safety of our beta testers very seriously. If you have any concerns, please contact us at cccorp.ccmail.com.
Thank you for your continued efforts,
CyberConnect Corporation of Japan.
Murmurs of an unusual NPC have begun to circulate within Naval Monte.
According to eye witnesses, one of the local residents has "gone rogue". According to them, a woman with dishwater eyes and hair messily pulled into a loose bun has been spotted going door to door begging to be let in.
"We need to go," she shouts, her eyes glossy with tears, her every word slurred. "We'll be safe there! We'll be free! We can't live like this anymore!"
From what you've heard, that woman has managed to break free from the confines of her native Root Town and has been seen running through the streets in Mac Anu, Lumina Cloth, and the nameless Root Town in the sky. You may have even come across her, accosted in the street and urged to listen to her increasingly erratic ramblings.
"I need you to take me there! Take me to him! His father left the key within him!"
Ultimately, nothing you say or do will influence the woman's behavior or calm her down. All you'll get for your troubles is an ill feeling in the pit of your gut, something that blooms from within you and spreads infinitely outwards. An infection you can't cure.
You won't realize that the infection has begun to spread and mutate until you see it blossoming all around you, your fellow testers complaining of an unidentifiable malaise. You'll know what afflicts you and everyone you've infected when it's far too late to do anything about it. Until this unfortunate "bug" is patched, you'll continue to get sicker and sicker. The progression of the illness is as follows:
Stage one: The complete inability to lie, but is that really a bad thing? We could all stand to be more honest and communicative.
Stage two: The loss of one of your key senses, but only one. Maybe it's your sense of smell. Your keen tongue. Your vision. Whatever it is, it's a vital part of you that won't return to you until you log off, but when you next log in, you may find that a different sense has gone missing instead.
Stage three: Disconnect from your real world body. You'll realize after several days have passed that you can no longer feel your real self as keenly as before. You may not realize you've slapped yourself in the face or knocked a tooth out on the edge of your desk until you log out for the day and witness the extent of the damage.
Final stage: Memory loss. Your head feels foggy. Concentrating becomes a struggle, your thoughts sluggishly crawling through your mind and and ultimately losing their way. In the final stages of the illness, you may forget to log out for days at a time and wake to find yourself passed out on the floor with your headset jostled loose, inadvertently freeing you from the game.
The "cure," aside from a timely patch, may hide somewhere within the game. Before your senses leave you, you'd better start asking around.
As many of you know, it isn't easy to get ahold of CyberConnect when you need them. Hien is, at best, completely useless. Pete isn't much better. It's for these reasons and more that players have been invited to a digital conference and encouraged to give a voice to the rising concerns within the beta testing community.
The conference is to be held, both ICly and OOCly, on September 23rd at 12PM EST. If you have any burning questions to ask the people who hold power and influence over the state of the game and what happens within it, you can't afford to complain about timezones. This is your opportunity to speak your mind and have those questions answered.
OOCly, the conference will begin on September 23rd at 12PM EST and end on October 7th at 12PM EST. During this time, your characters can ask whatever questions they'd like of CyberConnect corporate staff, bring up concerns, and provide insights on their beta testing experiences.
Participation is mandatory (ICly), so set your alarms and don't be late!
Hello, everyone! Sorry I was away for a while. I got stuck in an outer level of the game and it took me a week to get back, but I should be just fine now! I hope I didn't miss anything too serious...
I did see that all of you have worked hard on those recipes, though! I liked all of them so much that I've added each of them into the game so that everyone can make their own. Congratulations!
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...
He takes a deep breath in between the kicks and musters all the energy he has in an attempt to kick Mithrun between the legs with everything he's got. ]
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( We're both suffering here. Everything Oria's done to him, he's still feeling - he's just powered by petty, is all.
Because he's already looking down there to aim, he sees Oria's kick coming, and he's going to make the noble sacrifice to shut his thighs before Oria gets there. Still hurts wherever Oria's knee does hit him, but reacting so quick means he doesn't have Oria's leg trapped or anything - he's a free little rascal.
He does have one last attempt before he presumes Oria pins him or pulls out the gun again, and that's using his grip to try to smash Oria's face into a rocky bit of the sand below - not necessarily to half-drown, this time, but to break his glasses. It's never the wrong time to be petty. )
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Why are you even here?! You already had your time!!
[ He grabs a fistful of sand and tosses it at Mithrun's face. ]
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( why are you so mean to meeee
Getting sand in his eyes gets him to let go of Oria's hair reflexively, finally, to get it out - the irritation's a worse kind of burning than the bite, almost, but his hand also burns like hell, and it's faltering and stings when he tries to use the back of his palm to get the sand out. )
How should I know? ( Okay, he knows it's the armor, but less literally— ) If you can explain the decade of memories I haven't lived through in my head, you'll find your answer!
( He woke up and just was. Disorienting, and also traumatic and heartbreaking. But he got that all dealt with before Oria ever turned up. )
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And you're still trying to be a faker. You really need to learn how to live another way. Christ.
[ But finally. His hair is free. His head can stop feeling so much pain... he'll worry about possible bald spots later, but he's sure everything will be reset if he logs out anyway. ]
You don't have those obligations anymore! Let them go and do whatever the hell you want!
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( u think he knows how to be any other way??? smh )
I'm sorry, did you want me to come crying into your bosom, begging to be friends?
( Spits some sand that got onto his lips out into the ocean, though he'd consider spitting on Oria for a second. He regrets deciding against it. )
You kicked off these hostilities, not me. I'm afraid I must have missed the last time one of your assassins tried to kill you by asking you how you are.
( This is a big oversimplification but. well. )
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[ He rolls his eyes and tries to kick Mithrun down. ]
Beg, then.
[ bitch ]
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( Mmhm, that's what he thought. This is on him, really, for allowing pause in physical hostilities. This Mithrun is not like the other - he's a prissy, noble sort; continued combat is not in his inclination. But, well, it's dog eat dog, right?
Oria's able to kick Mithrun down, whose eyes narrow, his smile growing sharper. It hurts like fuck where Oria kicked him, but Oria lording over him just makes him seethe. )
... Well...
( He wraps his arms around Oria's leg at a nasty angle like he might like to break it, and tries to yank him down into the water with him. )
... to be honest, I'm getting tired of playing with you! Why don't you go waste some other grown-up's time?
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Die, please. ]
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( Oooh, this is a nasty position, and the pain just compounds into everything else exponential. He doesn't have much choice here - the only thing in reach is the only thing he's grabbed, so, arms wrapped around that leg, he tries to jerk his head back best he can for a sec and whip his body and twist his weight wholesale into Oria's leg halfway into the calf so he really can make an attempt to either break it, or force Oria to put some distance between Mithrun and his knee. )
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There's no PvP but people can sure drown. ]
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( Mithrun hates getting hurt, but he really does love hurting. The resounding crack of Oria's bone across the shallows is satisfying and soothing - but Oria, still, doesn't allow him any reprieve.
Mithrun's barely considered his next option before Oria's shoved him face-first into the salt and sand of the waters, and he's thrashing and shoving at the sand with all his might and kicking at Oria something nasty, but if Oria doesn't relent, it won't be long before the lack of oxygen cuts off first his thoughts; then, his strength; until, finally, he's limp. What a miserable way to die.
He'll stay that way for the next 20 minutes or so until his body disappears proper, unless Oria has other plans. )
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And that is Oria Severine's selfish justice.
Oria lets go of Mithrun after he's fully drowned, and stands over the avatar, dead once more. ]
I'll get rid of you if I see you again, so don't come back.
[ So Oria limps his way out of the Twilight Shore, reaching the Chaos Gate to settle for a new destination. Hopefully he can find what he was looking for and only pray that the gunshot wound in the stomach area hasn't been aggravated. ]