⬣//SPREAD, CONTAMINATE, ERADICATE

[cccorp]

>>Famine // >>Death // >>War // >>Conquest

⬣//AN ILL OMEN

You've had a chance to adapt to your new circumstances and make peace with what your life has become… hopefully. If you haven't, don't expect life to get any easier.

A few things have changed in recent days. Healing no longer works as effectively as it did in the past. If you're in the habit of behaving recklessly, don't expect one of Fragment's few healers to pick up the slack. Broken bones will now remain broken no matter how many healing spells are cast on your shattered limbs. Damage to organs can't be repaired with the wave of a wand.

What's more, HP and SP restoring items have gotten harder and harder to come by. Potions are no longer available for purchase at generic NPC shops and gatherable items needed for crafting have become fewer and fewer in number, limiting your item making options. If you've gotten into the bad habit of injuring yourself heedless of the consequences, it's time to rethink your lifestyle. Playtime is over.

⬣//PAY IT NO MIND

Think of the three core memories that have formed and shaped the person you are today. Some will think back fondly on family and friends while others have been jaded by the ill treatment they've received from important figures in their lives. In any case, it's of little concern to you now. One of those three precious memories has vacated your mind, taking with it a vital piece of you that you can no longer get back.

You may choose one of the three key memories listed on your application to be taken away from your character. Choices are limited to the memories supplied in your application and additional memories submitted for the previous memshare event or not eligible for convenient plot-induced memory loss. Choose wisely, because you aren't getting it back.

⬣//GHOSTS AND GOBLINS

And Sky Fish, and Disco Knives, and Evil Armors…

Has anyone noticed the monsters around town lately? Which town, you may ask? The answer is all of them.

Monsters have invaded Root Towns in large waves, attacking anything and everything in sight. Any lovingly crafted signs or other furnishings you've erected around town are easily torn to shreds and destroyed by the monsters who have come to roost in your once safe Root Towns. On the plus side, PvE and PvP has now been enabled in all Root Towns, which is excellent news for those who wish to combat the monster invasion and those who can't seem to help hurting themselves and others.

These monsters range in level from 50 to 75, and while many of them can be defeated with a bit of ingenuity and teamwork, some of them boast impenetrable shields that no regular attacks or spells can break through. They are also immune to status/potion/armor effects.

When in doubt, turn to your fellow players for support. There may be some among you who know how to deal with these impossibly strong monsters, but there's no guarantee that they'll want to help you.

⬣//WHISPERS ON THE WIND

A lilting, boyish voice sings to you in your sleep. His voice sounds familiar to you, tickling your heart like a call from an old friend, but this is no friend of yours.

"You had every chance to abandon this world and return to your own. What stopped you? Was it ego? Hubris? In any case, it's too late for regrets now.

They say the world is what you make of it. Doesn't the same hold true for reality?"

The voice will periodically visit you and your sleep, but the moral of his message never changes: you did this to yourself. You were trapped here because you chose to look the other way. If anyone is to blame for the current situation, it's you and you alone, but there is a̸̬̲͔̘͈͚̠̫̘̬̗̖̋͑̉̓̿͛̈́̋͐̃̾̈̕̕ͅń̵̩̱̠̫̖̬̲̻͉̝̈́̀̀̚͜͜o̴͍͎̣͔̤̝̲͍̺̿̒t̴̨͚͓͍̜̮̥͊͑̿̈́̉̂̐͜͠͝h̷̨̨̦͕͖̙̞͙̗̗͎̬͛̂̾̋̅͜͜͝ȩ̸͎̭̙̜̯͎̯̳̮̘̲͒ȑ̸̡̧̢͓̠̦͙͇͍͎̭͑̈́̓̿̓̅̑̅̌͑̈́̕͝͝ ̴̧̼͕̟̬̰̞̮̗͔͈̬̙͍̈́̀w̵̗̖̩̘͇͖̲̩̫̣̗̙̲̌͜a̷̛͎͋͑̃͛̆̈̋̑̋͠y̴̡̬͕͈̗̫̯̟̯͊͐̌̀̐͑͘͝͝.

Another h̶̦̘̤̘͐͑̿̂̏̎͋͝o̴̧͖͚̖̜͓͂̏́͒̑̈́͝͝p̶̡͙̏̉̿̎̀̑́̈̆͌̉e̷̡̡̦̣̯̘̺͍̟̰͍̤͛̀́̚͝͠. Will you heed that voice and call to it?

>>Navigation

Comments

[insinning]

i. A shield for all.

[Sinclair is different this week. His hair is no longer long, but cropped back to its real life length and he's dressed in a skin over his perfectly ordinary armor drops, which are a little mix-matched at the moment.

Those close to Sinclair might notice he's a little steadier this week. Even with all the drama of the monsters swarming the root towns, the sudden danger of potions no longer being purchasable in shops and so forth - Sinclair hold strong against the hordes, seemingly more careful than he has been in the last three weeks - what has happened? Who knew. But he wont let anyone get hurt in front of him]

Watch out, there's more coming-!

[He swings his lance - an ordinary drop - into a Rue Break , disarming some of the enemies.

Or he can be found catching up to you after a hoard has been wiped out]

Are you okay?

ii. Crafting steadily in Katzen und Hunde Park and Cafe

[As a Lord Partizan, Sinclair has no real options to heal himself. So he spends a lot of time crafting and crafting.

And crafting.

He's so done with crafting]

...Pan-fried Surf N' Turf probably gives the best heals right now for me but I really don't think I can handle eating one more of them...

[Ughughughugh. He doesn't seem to pay much attention to the crowd of dogs beginning to circle him at the bench]

iii. A strange feeling - Calling to that voice

[The Wanderhalle Library is nice and quiet. It's a perfect spot to sit and not think about anything in particular and Sinclair just. Draws. He may be terrible at carving, but he's not a half bad artist, and he's frowning as he draws a sparrow hawk over and over, tiny little scribbles over the pages of his notes.

He seems to be lost in thought, but he is up for a conversation if you want one.

And then the whispers. Will it respond to him while he's in the library? Not many people come here. It must be late, and he's tired. But if he goes back to the guild now, all he'll hear is that whisper when he falls asleep. He might as well try now:

To the voice specifically]

...maybe it is our fault we didn't leave when we had the chance. But I don't want anyone to die over this either.

iv. wildcard

Dungeon specific effects place holder.

[insinning]

👻

[cccorp]

...Then you'll fight to protect them. Is that it?

[The voice laughs, jovial and innocent.]

Does every life hold equal value to you?

👻

[insinning]

Yes. Of course I will. There are so many people important to me here. That's why...

[He falters on that second question though. Does every life hold equal value? ]

I'm not sure what you mean about the last part...but if someone is suffering in front of me, I'll protect them as long as I can still fight.

[cccorp]

How noble of you! But you're only human. Would you show such kindness to the person who murdered your family? If that person's life were in your hands, would you not seize the chance to take your revenge?

i. A shield for all

[tylorific]

[ Tylor is here too, when he can be. There is more than one close call, more than one strike that would've hurt if Tylor hadn't only just been quick enough to dodge. He only gets better at it, but it always looks dangerously close, reckless even. Spreading himself thin, he's hard to keep track of.

By the end of whatever number wave this is, he can be easily found resting against one wall or another, slid to the ground in his school uniform. Lucky as he is, he is still a little bruised up and catching his breath breath when he smiles up at Sinclair for once. There's more gratefulness in his eyes at seeing Sinclair after a fight, more than is normal, even as he waves dismissively and his tone goes light. ]

Oh, don't worry. It's just a little bruising. How're you doing? [ Too light-- ] This is like a defense game now, isn't it?

[insinning]

[Sinclair is relieved to see Tylor too - things have been so chaotic lately, it's scary when he doesn't keep track of his friends too well. But this bruising. Hm]

Ah. It seems that way. You should be more careful though.

[He holds a hand out for Tylor to take]

[tylorific]

I wonder how many waves we'll have to beat?

[ Tylor reaches for the hand as he answers, taking it while his free one helps push against the wall behind him. He sounds genuinely curious though, but tired. At least, tired for him. ]

Thanks for caring about me, but I'm really good at running away if I can't win.

ii cwafting

[tot]

[ given that they're both lord partizans sinclair is going about how to handle their healing problem in a reasonable way. not to mention, the fact that healing potions are effectively no longer available to them, there were only so many ways for them to keep themselves healthy. it's why uta is curious to what he's up to.

...rather, that was her goal and her intentions when she gets distracted by the dogs instead as she'll kneel down and start petting some before addressing sinclair. ]

Well, if you're worried about scraps then I think I know a few someones who might be eager to help you with that.

[insinning]

[Uta. Sinclair smiles over at her, his brow furrowing for a moment before it smooths over. He wont interrogate her about anything she doesn't want to be addressed. He glances down at the dog pile in dismay]

Maybe...but I'd be worried this stuff would be unhealthy for them.

[tot]

[ thank you sinclair; however, if he wants to talk to her about it then he's more than welcomed to. ...whenever he's most comfortable, of course, for now she'll rub one of the dogs' cheeks and also frown. ]

Do you think we have to worry about them like real dogs? [ she'll tilt her head and they'll tilt theirs with her. ] I'd hate to test it and make them sick.

[ given how real everything felt and was these days, you know. ]

ii...

[aphonik]

[ Dosei would get the crafting pain, if he bothered with the cooking classes...but he doesn't. This is solely a Sinclair problem, as of right now.

He's kind of just been watching as the ominous crowd of canines proceeds to circle the bench the other is sitting on, their beady eyes fixed on the older boy's hands as they work. Just sitting there, menacingly. Horrendous. This is why he likes the cats more.

He doesn't much use the synthesizer as he used to these days, but he doubts he's gonna look up from the little blip of the translation box, so here we go again- ]

You're not gonna be the one eating that if you keep it up.

Re: ii...

[insinning]

Huh...? What do you...

[Oh. He's surrounded about twenty adorable faces staring up at him with hopeful eyes. He grins at them, visibly doting as he reaches out to pat one of them. They lick his fingers adorably]

They shouldn't be eating this stuff anyway. Maybe I can craft dog food for them...?

[aphonik]

[ He doesn't really know what he expected, but he's particularly unimpressed with the goings on. Maybe it's because there's just too many dogs...at the dog park...

Dosei shrugs. ]

I don't like dogs, so I dunno. [ He manages that if any of them had the brains to look offended, they would. ] Pretty sure they can eat fish if cats can, though.

[ Nevermind they're completely different animals. He doesn't think. ]

iii

[userunfriendly]

[ Michel had found the library peaceful even coated all over in dust. It's less of a hazard now, but more in danger of company now that it isn't a hazard to others. He pauses at the sight of someone else seated at one of the tables. But realizing that it's Sinclair, the ice in his bearing thaws visibly. ]

Did you rest properly?

[ No lead-in, and no apology for leaning curiously to see what Sinclair is scribbling. At the end of the day, he is still incurably himself. ]

[insinning]

[Aaaaaaaa? Sinclair jumps visibly and automatically tries to cover up his drawings - very good detailed sparrow hawk sketches actually before he breathes out a sigh of relief]

Yeah, I did. [Bossy elder brother :T] Don't worry, I'm taking care of myself properly.

[ahaha...ha.]

[userunfriendly]

[ Oh, an actual artist. The memory of looking over Georges' charcoal sketches as a child hits him, sharp and unexpected, and he leans in more. ]

Hm. You're not working this time. [ So, he won't nag too much. ] What are these for?

ii.

[ophidie]

Are you out of potions? I have some left, still. They aren't getting used.

[Her knees are drawn up close to her chest to avoid the dogs. Vogel will notice that her health is not quite at maximum, and she is nowhere close to level cap. It feels like years ago that she had logged off with the intention of not returning.

But she had wanted closure - for herself, for the people she'd met - and come back the last time. What a perfectly weak-willed ending to her story. She's running out of time to bide before she gets squashed.]

It might not be optimized, but you can alternate.

[insinning]

Ah, no, I have a lot but I wanted to save them for other people in emergencies. But thank you.

[Sinclair looks up in surprise. Then relief. Scitalis had been at the conference but in the chaos of everything else, he hadn't seen her before or since. Then he takes another look and frowns, looking through his inventory]

...are there any foods you dislike?

[ophidie]

[And he likely isn't alone in having not seen her, given her efforts to avoid everything and survive - when it's clear now she should have been fighting from the start.

Her expression creases, only a little, when he mentions his reason for saving the potions. Everyone's in an emergency right now.]

I don't really like anything heavy or fried. But to tell you the truth, I have problems with taste to begin with. [Plenty of foods are palatable to her, but there's little that tastes so good she can get excited about eating it.]

ii

[threatmewted]

[She wanders in - looks like someone got a skin for herself too.]

...Whoa. Just how many did you make?

Re: ii

[insinning]

Um...20...with twenty servings each.

[ At this point, Sinclair has switched to his deluxe craft armor set yet so he's looking pretty cozy now. He looks up - oh that skin is new isn't it? It looks cool.]

Re: ii

[threatmewted]

...

Just take the L and make something you actually want to eat. I think we'll figure out how to manage with twenty less servings of one meal.

Wildcard, post meeting

[dissimulative]

[ That meeting sure was a doozy, huh. After all that, Oria leads Sinclair to the personal room in Moon Tree where they can get comfortable and cuddle on the bed while they talk about things. ]

I bet you have a lot you want to say right now, but we can take it one at a time.

[insinning]

[Sinclair winds himself around Oria as soon as they're both comfortable on the bed. Orion is off exploring the guild again, so it's just them. He's still in his deluxe craft skin - the coat was very comfortable after all. There was no need to change immediately]

Mmm... I don't even know where to start.