⬣//JUST AS A SEED TAKES ROOT.

[cccorp]

>>Secrets // >>Guilds // >>Grunties // >>Carnival // >>Zelkova Corner

⬣//THIS WORLD IS MORE THAN 0S AND 1S.

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.

⬣//ALL FOR ONE AND ONE FOR ALL.

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.

⬣//FATHER, I HUNGER…

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.

⬣//PROPER CARNIVAL WEATHER.

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.

⬣//ZELKOVA’S META ROUNDUP.

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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[insinning]

i. Grunty Time

[ Sinclair has spent a lot of time around grunties lately. They're just so...cute. And he's fond of them. So as soon as they are available, he makes a beeline to adopt one, reading over the pamphlet of information given on how to best raise it ]

I guess I should join a guild then, so you have a place to stay while I'm not here...

[He's got some La Pumpkins stacked next to him for his grunty, who is sleeping in his arms]

...what should I name you?

[His grunty is golden-furred, just like Sinclair's hair. Hmm. Come by and ask for a pumpkin/recruit him into your guild/give him name suggestions?]

ii. Carnival time

[Sinclair does not do well with the heat. In fact, he's practically melting on spot the moment he arrived in Mac Anu and fled to Lumina Cloth as soon as it was viable.

Sinclair can be found around with a giant blue icy drink while he melts in his armor under the shade of a nearby building. Or maybe he's been talked into being a victim of the dunk tank, which isn't exactly him being a victim when the cold water looks so nice right now.

He's also easily distracted and his head full of thoughts after visiting the hall of mirrors so this is the perfect time to try and challenge him to a PVP match. Or surprise attack him! It can't be promised he wont hit back though, but it might be best to leave his kill count at PinkPilgrim]

iii. Wild Card/Hall of Mirrors
[hit me up on the plotting post if you would like anything specific]

For Michel

[insinning]

[He hadn't meant to get separated from Oria, but the maze of mirrors had been disorientating, his reflections bouncing off every surface possible. He's alone with only his own image and that made his skin crawl. Why? He wasn't sure. He glances around uncertainly, taking a few steps forward when he hears someone else approach]

Oriade, is that you?

[userunfriendly]

[ So much for lurking alone in here for shade... Michel turns towards the sound of the voice, disoriented in the whirl of reflections all around him. He certainly recognizes it even before he sights Vogel, temporarily taller again in one more generous mirror. ]

It's Winter. Did you lose Oriade in here?

[insinning]

Mm. It got a bit confusing in here.

[ He relaxes a little when he sees it's just Winter, who is looking very noodly in one reflection]

Were you trying to avoid the heat too?

[userunfriendly]

[ Only in the reflection? Thank you, Sinclair.

Winter gives a nod of agreement and glances around at the array of mirrors. Confusing, certainly. But there's no sun here. ]

And to see some of the sights. The name was self-evident after all.

ii

[worldbent]

[Matoba could really get into this dunk tank thing.... There are so many good victims to go around! He remembers Sinclair's anxious face from being bowled over by the player-katamari not long ago, a victim of his poor decision making back then.]

[Well, at least this poor decision is sanctioned by the game.]

Haha, so many players looking to cool off any way they can, huh? [He pays his 100 gold to get a ball, squinting at the target.] Feeling better since then?

[insinning]

Nothing else works so...

[ Sinclair sits gingerly on the seat over the tank, looking at Makoto in trepidation. He hadn't had a proper look back then but...

And yes, he is visibly wilted. Not coping with this heat at all. It's a wonder he's still playing.]

Before? Oh you mean Mithrun's beta testing...

[worldbent]

[0koto sure looks like the kind of guy that you'd want to steer clear of, huh? With the way he's always smiling, but those smiles never quite manage to make him look friendlier.]

[Oh well. Surely, he can't do anything too drastic when Sinclair's already climbed himself into the hot seat- or the wet seat, as the case may be.]

That's right. Ah, well I suppose I got the ball rolling... [He hadn't exactly intended to get equipped by Mithrun, but that guy was a breed of his own, huh...?]

[Matoba winds up to take his first throw and lets it fly, clipping the edge of the target but not quite dunking it. Oh well. Another ball!] ...Something interesting happened at the end of all that, didn't it?

[insinning]

[0koto...Oh Koto. Oria's friend (?). The question mark is relevant. Sinclair blanches at the memory]

...I think a lot of interesting things happened in between. I didn't even know we could glitch like that.

[Ah, a miss. That means he's up here for a little longer.

...he'll just start unequipping all his heavy armor just in case]

iii. WILDCARD: Flying around Lumina Cloth (for Oriade)

[insinning]

[There's something about descending into a fleshy dungeon in the middle of the forest that gives the blessing of flight. Somehow.

Sinclair can't say he minds. He flaps his wings a little, sending some pale yellow feathers scattering as he glances around. It's still painfully hot, but at least it's not that bad here]

You'd think these would be too small to lift me but...

[Nope, not struggling to take off at all]

[dissimulative]

[ The experience of having wings is something that feels a little disorienting to Oria, but he gets the hang of it soon. He tries very hard not to think about the logistics of this, because this is a game. ]

I was right! The wings make you look like a guardian!

[insinning]

Huh? Ah...I guess these kinds of wings help...

[ A tiny flush rises in his cheeks and he tries to wave it off. He gives a slightly stronger flap of his wings, rising off the ground to hover in mid air. He's getting the hang of these again]

But you look cool with yours too.

[dissimulative]

Haha, do I?

[ Oria readies his wings and jumps to get an easier start on flying. Flying doesn't feel too hard, but he definitely feels like it needs a good amount of concentration before he can get used to it. ]

Let's take a closer look at the sky!

[ flashbacks to mithrun's icarus attempt... ]

For Haru

[insinning]

[This is Sinclair. This is Sinclair melting by the shade of the mirror fun house because he is done with this heat. He is not made for this, but he can't unequip his armor in a PVP area.

Please help]

[rebelles]

[ Sinclair in full armor at least makes him easy to recognize. Haru smiles when she spots him chilling (or trying to) by the fun house and joins him under the shade. She's taken off her hat and fans herself with it. ]

This is worse than the volcano, isn't it?

[insinning]

[ He brightens as much as he can when he sees Haru approach (friend?). It's not much because he's been obliterated by the heat, but it's an Attempt.]

Haaah. [He sighs out slowly and nods in agreement. That breeze is nice]

You'd think it'd be the other way around...

does he go by vogel or sinclair in game?

[rebelles]

I know it's just in our minds, but this heat is a little much.

[ She commends the developers' attention to detail, but heat waves probably don't need to be simulated so realistically.

Because of the unusual temperature, Haru has extra packed bottles of water, which just means putting it into her inventory with a click of a button, no extra weight to lug around. She now pulls out a water bottle with another click of the button. ]

Would you like any water, Sinclair?

I

[dissimulative]

"Demian".

[ Hello, here is Oria being a menace right from the get go. He tried to startle Sinclair by coming up from behind too. ]

1/2

[insinning]

[#@$@#$@!!!

And whoops, there goes la pumpkin right towards Oria. Oria can catch, he's not worried.]

2/2

[insinning]

[Just. Trying to pretend he didn't just jump right out of his skin]

...no. That's um. Not quite right.

[dissimulative]

[ Oria can catch, but since he's so close, he doesn't have any time to react. He gets smacked right in the face (2). Good thing hus glasses are just there for aesthetics(?) so that they don't push in or anything. Karma. ]

That smarts... but why? Isn't it cute?

ii.

[victorypose]

[With everything kinda...suspicious going on, maybe now's not the time for some PVP action. But Subaru's never been good at reading the room, so when he sees someone looking rather vacant outside the hall of mirrors, he decides to seize his opportunity to go for that skin.]

Here's my chance! Gan Rom!

[...mind, he is still level 1.]

1/2

[insinning]

Ah--!

[ He is vacant.]

Q-quit it already!

[But that also means Sinclair is acting on instinct when he gets hit by the spell. The buzz of his head set snaps him to attention and he swings back around to pierce his lance through the poor schmuck that thought to attack him with a Thorn Dance (20) that doesn't crit (8) but uh]

2/2.

[insinning]

... you... you're not that person...

[ Sinclair is level 25 with high level weaponry and armor so


Bye Subaru. Sinclair hardly knew you.

There will be regrets on both sides. Probably.]

[victorypose]

[Subaru doesn't get a word in before he's downed and knocked out. But it's nothing he can't bounce back from - plus, now he's got a cool new skin out of it! When he comes to, he returns back to the carnival, back to the scene of his pathetically sudden death, and looks around for the person that killed him.

Ah - there.]

You! [He has something to ask, but first-] You're seriously strong!

[It's almost an accusation, though said with clear admiration.]