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⬣//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!̵̩͑
closed
The weird lingering thing from the whole confession is... a weird lingering thing. But Mithrun is good at not understanding and not dwelling on feelings.
Addressing him: )
... Yael.
( Points at the dunk tank. )
Do you want the skin?
no subject
Eh?
[Yael squints at the dunk tank, disinterest tugging on the corners of his lips.]
You think I'm a "sexy swimsuit" kind of guy? And you...
[...Yael brings a hand to his chin, looking Mithrun over.]
Yeah. Maybe you'd pull it off.
no subject
... You think a "sexy swimsuit" would suit me?
( When Mithrun sees himself he sees himself as a piece of cellophane. No angst, his self-perception is just broken.
He looks at Yael. His perception of others is also... broken, so he has to really study the contours here through whatever he's got on, even if it's not form-fitting. )
... You'd look fine in it. ( This is the best he can do with imagination alone. ) Besides, it's important to test all the skins in the game.
no subject
Yeah. This scrungly sheet of cellophane would look good in a quote-unquote sexy swimsuit. After he's done some rudimentary gawking, Yael curtly nods.]
Mhmm. Some sort of Baywatch-type deal with the high hips and bright red fabric.
[As for himself... Yael shrugs.]
I'd look pretty terrifying in something like that. Guess we won't know what we're in for until we try, right? I think we'll toss you in first.
no subject
You can wear trunks, right?
( Unless you're into tighter swimwear then hey... But anyway, he nods. )
Sure. I'll go.
( Mithrun trots up to the tank pretty easily to get loaded up into the volunteer bench. Hopefully he won't just let himself drown when he gets dunked. )
no subject
[Yael's yawn perfectly encapsulates his disappointment. Don't even say that, Mithrun... That body was meant for a sexy one piece.............. unless Mithrun's talking about him. Yeah. For Yael himself, he'll stick with trunks.]
Yeah, if that's what you're into. Anyway, hold your breath.
[Yael's a pretty good aim, but he's also a bastard. Handed three balls and thus three opportunities to dunk Mithrun, Yael sends the first one hurling dangerously close to Mithrun's head.]
Whoops. Hand slipped.
[Did it really? The second ball passes dangerously close to striking the other side of Mithrun's head — startling enough to encourage him to hold his breath, hopefully — before the third hits its mark and plunges Mithrun into the water. A chorus of fanfare and shimmering glitter follows suit. Yay.]
no subject
Then he's plunged into the water.
The water's deep enough to submerge in, for the entertainment of it, but not too deep that you can't just climb out.
Mithrun, unfortunately, does not. Death being relatively irrelevant, his brain lacks a desire to avoid it - it lacks the impulse to avoid even real death, half the time. Existential digital timeouts have no chance.
So the air just starts escaping from his lungs in a steady stream of bubbles. If he dies he'll at least respawn at the Chaos Gate? )
no subject
Fool. Idiot. Suicidal maniac. Which describes Mithrun best? Yael knows better than to expect Mithrun to give a damn about himself, but something in him snaps, brushing past an NPC to hop into the tank and yank Mithrun back onto dry land.]
You're really something, you know that? Always defying expectations.
[Frustration, raw and blunt, spills off of Yael's every word. Thrusting Mithrun onto his back, Yael presses his palms flat to his chest, one over the other, and pumps the water from his lungs. No one's dying and respawning on his watch. He's sick of this shit.]
no subject
Fortunately, Yael is there to interrupt this otherwise-likely fate.
The coughs come again violent, but, at least, they come with outside intervention. He hadn't taken in too much by the time Yael chose to interfere, so it doesn't take prolonged effort to get him to a point where he can mostly breathe again.
He doesn't seem to mind the frustrated scolding any more than he minds the help, or minds the fact that he almost drowned.
When he's in a state to somewhat talk again: )
I... could've respawned...
( Not an argument. But a suggestion that he doesn't understand the frustration on Yael's features, looking up at him with his blurry gaze. )
no subject
He's close, so close to simply standing up and walking away from Mithrun and never bothering with his ass again when that excuse comes. I could've respawned, he says, like that matters when all Mithrun does is choose to give into death again and again and again.
Yael's anger is a low, simmering thing like the time he responds by slapping Mithrun full across the cheek with the broad stretch of his palm. It's a strike that echoes, still ringing in his ears when he jerks upright and onto his feet.]
I don't give a damn. Your total lack of consideration for anyone, yourself included, really pisses me off. Don't bother me again.
[Yael turns on his heel and strides away, logging off shortly thereafter.]
no subject
Surprise meets the strike, one that only seems to ache in the wake of the impact. He's a little disoriented from his brief romp drowning, but now it compounds.
Yael is already on a pivot by the time Mithrun sort of settles into himself and understands some semblance of Yael's anger, some fraction expressed in that verbal fuck off. He understands his condition is something of a burden - they had declared him universally at the hospital a lost cause, incapable of improvement. He had been easier to parse when he remained unresponsive on the hospital bed.
Even so, even knowing, he lacks the desire to care for himself, and he lacks the desire to stop Yael; at least, he thinks he lacks the desire to, watching him walk off sits weird in the sideways slant of his gaze. By the time he sits up, which usually would have taken him much longer for lack of want, Yael is gone. He sits there, weight on his palms and lungs gently burning, that weird feeling tumbled down to settle badly in his stomach, his brows knit, mouth a small frown.
He understands the facts of the situation logically, and yet, something doesn't sit right. )