⬣//JUST AS A SEED TAKES ROOT.
A team of four courageous adventurers managed to unearth a secret Area unique from the others: the Hulle Granz Cathedral. Unlike other Areas, this one is lacking all the usual monsters, dungeons, and treasure. What might the purpose of this Area be, then...?
Well, if you’re feeling penitent or perhaps wish to hold a sermon of your own, head to Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground and knock yourself out. What? Too soon?
Anyway, be not afraid! The cathedral is perfectly safe. Following Ganymede’s little incident in the cathedral, a timely email has been sent out to beta testers regarding health and safety that reads as follows:
To our beta team,
Please exercise caution when playing video games for extended periods of time. Take breaks every thirty minutes and do not sit in the same position for more than two hours at a time. Remember to stay hydrated and play in a well-lit environment.
Failing to take care of your health while gaming can result in a litany of health complications, including but not limited to eye strain, muscle fatigue, headaches, dizziness, and involuntary loss of consciousness and motor functions.
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.
Guilds have been patched into the current version of Fragment and are now available for players to create their own and join others. While some guilds have opted to go the private route, others are in need of players to fill their ranks!
The admins have kindly supplied those recruiting for their shiny new guilds with a number of goodies to aid in their player gathering efforts:⬣ A bundle of personalized flyers proudly displaying their guild logo and a description of the guild’s @ home and available amenities.
⬣ Party poppers and streamers. Nothing screams “join my guild!” like a face full of glitter, confetti, and colorful strips of ribbon.
⬣ A megaphone that lets your voice echo far and wide, even across Root Towns and Areas, but with great potential for abuse comes restrictions! The megaphone can only be used five times before it breaks. Use it wisely!
⬣ A unique recipe for a cocktail, latte, tea, or other type of beverage that can be blended up and served in little sample cups to court potential members. These drinks are unique to their guilds and, when consumed, have a special effect that reflects the leader of that guild. Is your guild leader a pretty cheerful guy? Drinking their special brew will make you feel happy too!
Whatever effect your guild’s drink has is up to the leader’s discretion, but if you so desire, drop a comment under the questions top level and we’ll brew one up for you.
Additionally, you may host a guild open house and invite potential guildies into your @ home to let them take a look around! Guild @ homes are typically locked to guild members & their guests only, so use this as your opportunity to put your best foot forward and impress the world with everything your guild has to offer.
Also arriving with the newest update are mountable Grunties! Aren’t they cute? ...Well, they’re someone’s definition of cute.
While the ability to ride around town and in Areas at 2x speed is certainly alluring, you can’t just walk up to the Grunty Ranch located in each Root Town and take one out for a stroll. If you want a mount of your very own, you’ve got to commit! Becoming a proud Grunty owner means you must first become a proud Grunty parent, and to do that, you’ll need to raise your Grunty from infancy into adulthood.
Just what kind of adult might your Grunty become? That depends on how you raise them and what you feed them. Those strange "foods" popping up all over Areas might not taste good to you, but they sure do to Grunties!
For more information on how to acquire a baby Grunty of your very own and raise it into a proper — or not so proper — member of Grunty society, head on over to the Grunty Ranch.
Mac Anu, the City of Twilight known for its gentle ocean breezes, has been uncharacteristically warm lately. Very, very warm. Its usual orange skies have been swapped out for vivid blues, the sun dwelling high in the sky and threatening to burn everything in its wake.
It won’t take much wandering to feel the effects of heat exhaustion sink in, and even after you log out for the day, those symptoms seem to linger. Do Hien and Zelkova know what the hell is going on? Of course not. Unusual occurrences are slowly becoming the norm in Fragment, it seems, but the point of a beta test is to work out any kinks. Report it and move on.
Lumina Cloth is similarly affected by unusual weather phenomena, but it’s much more pleasant and hospitable than poor Mac Anu. The sun hangs just above the horizon, bathing the strip in early evening light. It’s much cooler here too, and what’s more, it appears that a carnival has rolled into town. What fun!
All the usual carnival fare is here: greasy fried foods, drinks served in foot long glasses, and a litany of carnival games that are totally not rigged. Entry is free and so are the prizes, but some of them take a bit of legwork to win.
⬣ Successfully PK another player to win the carnival exclusive Thursday The 12th™ skin. PK’d players will receive an appropriately spooky ghost skin of their own!
⬣ Step on up to the dunk tank and get dunked on to win a sexy swimsuit skin! Both the dunkers and the dunkees will win this skin, but only those who successfully dunk the player in the tank will be rewarded with the chance to show off some skin. The appearance this skin takes is dependent on the player wearing it, so have fun and get creative with it!
⬣ Take a trip through the hall of mirrors with a friend and do some reflecting! Stare too long into the mirrors and you might recall a memory that doesn’t belong to you, but to the person venturing through the hall of mirrors with you. Did that really happen? Surely it’s all in your head. Memories available for memshare are limited to the ones listed on your application.
Additional rewards include giant plush monsters that can be used to decorate guild @ homes and private rooms (limit one per player!) and a pet goldfish that, unfortunately, will die a hero’s tragic death within a week. Womp womp.
We’ve had a busy week! It seems like there was a glitch that allowed players to equip other players as weapons, which resulted in a ten player chain, wielded by none other than our hardworking head administrator, Hien! I’ll have a talk with him about not doing this kind of thing in the future, I promise!
That wasn’t all, though. An unknown entity reached out to the players participating in the ten-player chain and issued them a special title: Good Friends Stick Together. Fragment’s not supposed to have titles. Well, at least not in the beta. But you can go ahead and add it to your name if you want to anyway, and it shouldn’t cause any problems! We still can’t pinpoint who sent those messages and how they overrode the permissions to create those titles in the first place, but... Hmm. I don’t want to start any rumors, so I’ll keep looking into it.
There are those armor sets too, which I didn’t know had been handed out to those of you that reached level 25. Oria brought it to our attention, thankfully! There’s not a whole lot we can do about it now, but we know that some of them are pretty invasive. But knowing is half the battle, right?
Our friend Ganymede suffered an accident recently that had him lying unconscious in the hospital for about a day. He seems to be feeling better now, thankfully. Ḩ̵̲̼͆̃͐̆ò̸̧̰͕̥̈́͒̕͜p̷̫͙̯͇̾̄͜ę̸̹̒f̷̠̭͉̱̅͘ǘ̴͎̙̥̭̈́̈́l̵͇̙͍̳̜̇̓̒l̷̬̲̀̆̈̅̂ͅỳ̵̧̻̖ ̷̠̫̭̰̦̋͗h̴̰͕̑͗e̸̦̼͇̾͘ ̴̡̢̝̺̳̊̎̎̔p̴̳̠̼̜͔̂̅̐à̵͕̹̟ͅỹ̴̡̛͝s̶͉̕ ̴̢͕̬̑̆̕͝b̸̹̲͗͒̊͑͠ē̶̛͖͠ṯ̸̻̺́͒͐t̶̻͕͎̑ĕ̶̖̀͗͛͋r̷͙̗̙̲͙̓̚͝ ̷̻̠͉̈́̚a̷̡̙̳̽́̀̋̔ẗ̴̢̨̛̬̺t̴͖̳͝ē̷͇̆͆̍̚ͅn̵̪̜͉͊̉̔̄͐t̵͕̼͈̓͋̈́̕î̷̬o̸͇̐͋͑͌n̶̟̫̟̽̑͒͐͘ ̷̜̈́̈̀̂̎t̶͙̂͛ô̸̠̜ ̶̫͎̎h̶͖̳͛i̸̗͖̖̅̂͆̄͛s̸͔̈́̇̍ ̸̩̗̻̕s̵̬̼̳̲̞͝ù̸̞̺̣͙̾͒͛ŗ̴̻̟̻̭̂̈́r̶̡͈̲̣̣͋̊͗̕o̶̥̝̮̓ų̴̻̯̬̊̑̑͌̉ͅn̶̢̙̦͔͖̈̒͝d̷̰̼̤̥̃̿͒̌̎i̸̯͑̾͊̑͝n̵̦͐g̸̪̾͝͝s̷̛̝͙̣̹̍͛͝ ̸͔̲̠̩͗̓̀͘a̷̛̼̓̈́͊ṅ̵̥͆̎ḑ̶̨̯̱͍̇ ̷̛̗̮̀̆ḧ̴̼̪́͗͝i̵͓̬̤͂͐͒s̶̮̎̿̃ ̴̛͔̋͗̽h̷̝͑ͅē̴̱ȃ̵̝͎ͅļ̷͍̀͐͊̊̽ẗ̸̼̺̟̥̼́̄͛h̶̥̹̬̮̽̅ ̷̟̖̮͛́̿t̸̢̤̤̂͒͋̍o̶̼̟̓ ̵̥̳͙̖̆̈́ả̶̛̳̱͙̖̩̿̽͘v̴͈͉͖͊͘ỏ̶̤͚̅͑͝i̴̱͈̩̳̳̿̇̕͠ḏ̵͙̮͗͆ ̶̯̭̝̹̯͊s̸͍̰͔̔̀͋͋̐u̷̟̠͑̔̏̚c̵̨͖͉͇̀͆͘ͅh̴̨̓͌̄̈ ̶̧̱̻̼̏̃̃i̷̱͉͈̿̎̋͒͜͝n̴̢͓͍̂͝͠c̷̢̢̛̹͚̑̓̅ͅi̶͕̟̻̘̫̾͌d̶͉͉̏̇e̵͉̱̩̯̤͐̎̉̾n̸̡̠̈͜ţ̴̇͑̈́͘s̵̩̼͔̙̙̉͘ ̵̮̯̞̮̾̈́͋̔̈h̵̡̗͉͉͈̉̐̅̚ȁ̵͖͚̖̾p̸̰̬͖̩̀̈́̆̓p̶̢̛̼̈́͆̒͘ͅe̷̟̘̩̲̻̾̊n̵̨̩̜̟͆͘i̵̙͉̺̮͠ͅṋ̷̆ġ̶͙͚ ̴̩̋à̷̄̑̂͝ͅǧ̵͖̜͍͕̒̑͒a̷̧̛̞͐̃̈́͘i̷̯͉̬̯̽̍n̷̘̝͓̽̅̕!̵̩͑

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[ After getting the notice about the PK event at the carnival, Oriade is all ready to fight someone. He won't launch any surprise attacks on people who don't show that they want to PvP, so he goes up to people who he knows is willing to PvP or they just seem like the type (your definition). ]
Hey! Wanna go for a round?
[ He looks very eager about it. Please assume that you're lucky that he didn't fire a surprise shot at you. ]
ii. what do you mean he can't eat these
[ Oriade is staying over at a shadier portion in Lumina Cloth and to try and take cover for the heat that's still present. At least it's better than Mac Anu. Oria is sitting on one of the benches off to the side, holding up a baby grunty with his arms out as if he's holding a longcat nya.
Then after that, he tries to shove an entire La Pumpkin into the baby grunty's mouth. Help. ]
iii. wildcard
[ I am here for shenanigans other than the two up there! My plotting comment is here and I will make TLs for anyone that is interested in them. Just let me know! ]
PK PK PK PK
Possibly strangely after their last conversation, Michel too is now wearing his default armor as a skin over his level cap gear. Sometimes that's how it goes. ]
...Are there any bounds to your bloodthirst?
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[ Same thing? Michel can decide himself. ]
Do you wanna go to the arena or just do it right here?
[ In the carnival where people are. ]
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He gives Oria the unblinking judgmental stare that deserves for just the right number of seconds to be uncomfortable before he tips his head towards the arena. ]
I don't see a need to get bystanders caught up in it. After you.
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[ It doesn't take too long for them to get to the arena and settle in. Oria takes a look at his options and toggles the pain sensor off. ]
You wanna go all the way to the bitter end or stop at a certain HP percentage?
[ Michel can try getting one of the outfits, at least. Oria doesn't seem to mind either way. ]
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PK carnival!!
[Matoba's all equipped up and ready to go!! He did say he would do it, so here he is, double checking his equipment and items and his knowledge of the Steam Gunner skilltree so he knows what to expect. His defenses will be questionable, here, but his own attack speed is pretty good. Maybe he'll be able to out-DPS this?]
...Turn your pain sensors off now. I'm not going to show any mercy.
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Neither will I!
[ Should we say they're in the arena or just in the carnival full of people lmao
Also his hat(?) slips a little, and it shows an unequippable title once equipped above his head, "Big Whiny Baby".
Stuff happened. ]
let's say they're in the arena LOL
[Not that he has his pain sensors off. Matoba likes to feel alive.]
[As Matoba is stretching out his arms and readying his combat menu, he happens to glance over and spot Oriade's title for a second there, and... hm.]
... I suppose that is our wonderful Head Admin's doing. [Scathingly dry.]
o7
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everyone lining up for the pk
[ it's a 50/50 on whether he wants to go get a drink, where cyno might politely refuse because he has to save that social energy for emergencies? in real life?? not in the video game???
but just in case... his right hand goes down and back, reaching behind him. ]
Because I'm not thirsty right now.
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[ Oriade pauses before it clicks. ]
I don't drink. I'm asking if you wanna fight.
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[ scythe out. he gives oriade a poke in the stomach with the butt of it. ]
Right here? You sure? I feel like I already have a pretty good advantage.
[ poke poke poke. friendly pokes. ]
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II
...Oh. Hey. Hey, you're gonna choke him if you do that. Stop.
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[ He's completely forgoing the Mister and mis part. At least with that, he pulls out La Pumpkin out of the baby grunty. It looks like it ate a good amount despite everything. Meanwhile, the pumpkin is wailing. ]
Can they really choke? I don't think it has a choking thing in the code...
for sinclair
Vogel, over here!
[ He has ice cream in a hand, colored sky blue. ]
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[Sinclair is not dealing with the heat very well - is it his German heritage? General disposition for colder climes? Who knew. His own ice cream is a simple pistachio but it does nothing to take away from the overbearing heat. He blinks at Oria and then brightens at the sight of the building as he hurries over. He's being a good friend and pretending not to see Oria's title, even if he really wants to ask why]
There you are.
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[ He's so glad that Sinclair isn't asking, but even if he did, he probably wouldn't mind, honestly. Once he comes over, he tries to fan him a little with his hand. ]
You look like you're melting out there. You good? Let's go inside! It'll be cooler.
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1/2 cw: (possible) some form of euthanasia
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2/2 cw some ableism
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wildcard
And sure enough, he's waiting right outside the guild entrance when Oria walks up. ]
Looks like your wish to see my guild was granted!
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Let's go! Let's go!
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Fai steps inside and motions to the rest of the room. ]
What do you think?
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pk, pvp, we'll see where it takes us
Yeah, let's do it. Right here and right now.
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You wanna fight in the middle of all this?
[ He gestures to the carnival. That would surely be a lot of obstacles in the way and probably other people getting caught up in it. ]
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We can go to the arena if you want to do this on easy mode.
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wildcard hehehe
He looks left. He looks right. He shuffles inside, with a grudging little hunch of his shoulders. Is Oria already playing around inside, or did Michel just overlook the menace approaching from another direction in his abstraction? ]
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it would be funny if oria was looking for sinclair inside the hall of mirrorsOria sees Michel walk inside the hall of mirrors and he wants to play a prank on him, so he does his best to sneak up behind him... and firmly grips his shoulder, despite the height difference. ]
Boo.
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as the cycle infinitely continues--Rejoice, Oria! That actually gets Michel to jump a little, his heart leaping into his throat. When did this become a haunted house? ]
Ngh?!
[ Hopefully Oria doesn't actually get elbowed in the bargain. He genuinely doesn't mean to. ]
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