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⬣//A SINGLE CRACK LETS THE LIGHT IN.
As they say, fortune favors the brave. Five lucky players took part in a Limited Quest: The Mysterious Sky Islands, in which they discovered a brand new Root Town. While the team was largely successful in their efforts to make the mysterious floating town in the sky habitable, not everyone embraced the spirit of teamwork on this journey.
When you gate in to this shiny new Root Town, you'll notice something curious: it has no name. Its name simply displays as "???" in every context menu and there is no signage around the Root Town itself that points to its true name— rather, the name it had before they came along.
Whispers on the wind tell of an evil wizard in flowing white robes who ruthlessly boiled the village elder alive. With him died all of this mysterious Root Town's lore and history, and in its place are tales of the monster who robbed this land of its identity. The elemental sprites that populate this village refuse to speak their name, simply wishing you "good luck, have fun!" as you turn to leave.
While on your journey to check out the island, you'll notice how unstable the bridges are. Unstable might be putting it lightly, because for some unlucky souls, crossing the wrong bridge means plummeting to your death. It seems that whoever was put in charge of constructing these bridges didn't give a damn about structural integrity.
The local sprites are pleading with adventurers to assist them in building better, more stable bridges, but bridging the gap between one island and the next is not a job for a single person. If you have enough of a heart to heed the pleas of the sprites, you'll want to work with your fellow players to get the job done. All the wood, nails, and rope you need to construct better bridges has been helpfully supplied to you by the sprites. You could always sabotage the project too, of course, but what kind of person would you be if you did that?
The professions system has been added to fragment. Rejoice, busybodies, for there is much furniture to be built and dubious potions brewed.
In celebration of the new crafting & gathering system, a crafts festival is being held in the Unnamed Root Town. Take care not to plummet to your death while traversing those rickety bridges.
Players are encouraged to set up a booth of their own and trade their unique handcrafted items with their fellow adventurers. In addition to being supplied with enough level 1 and level 2 crafting materials to give the crafting system a spin, the local NPCs are running a contest encouraging people to come up with their own for a chance to have their creations canonized as real crafting recipes.
To submit your own recipe ideas, you need only fill out this handy form:
Recipe name:
Recipe category: Alchemist, Carpenter, Chef, or Jeweler?
Which two items does your recipe call for? Choose two items to combine. Only gatherable items (refer to the professions page) can be used.
Effect: What does this item do, if anything?
Description: A brief description of your lovely new product.
Fragment's beta test has seen its fair share of unusual bugs and unintended features, and with the latest update bringing many new changes, it's inevitable that some things have broken behind the scenes.
If two players happen to log in at the same time, they might find their avatars swapped with one another's. Thankfully, this issue doesn't lead to the unpleasant exchange of deep-seated memories or anything of the sort, but getting used to a body that isn't yours takes time. Thankfully, this particular bug resolves itself when both players log out.
The windy town of Unnamed Root Town is generally quite scenic and pleasant, but there's just one issue. It's far, far windier than it should be. If the rickety bridges don't kill you, the gusts that intermittently blow across the sky islands might knock you off your feet if you don't watch your footing carefully. Thankfully, the crafts festival on the southernmost end of the island hasn't been impacted by the severe winds. Among them is one voice that you don't recognize: a voice that promises a death, gruesome and bloody, in the days to come.
To everyone's relief, the carnival and its notorious hall of mirrors has packed up and left Lumina Cloth, but your past hasn't finished haunting you. The foul winds carry whispers of the past along with them, uttering words and phrases uncomfortably familiar to you. They're the voices of your past, the voices of people you've known, loved, and lost. Covering your ears won't keep the voices out of your ears. Nothing will.
Finally, on the more mundane some of things, professions have a few kinks of their own that need to be worked out. Occasionally, a crafted item won't come out quite right, instead resulting in one of the following "items":
Alchemist: Truth Serum. Become unable to lie for 24 hours.
Blacksmith: Whatever you're enhancing transforms into a denim disaster. Introducing your new "body" armor, "leg" armor, "head" armor, and "arm" armor.
Carpenter: Mirror Mirror. Reflects the person you're most afraid of becoming.
Chef: Durian Delight. A succulent durian pudding that reeks so strongly that its stench can be smelled all across the Root Town or Area you're occupying.
Jeweler: Crystal Ball. Breaks after one use but allows you to read another player's thoughts for five minutes.
With crafting in full swing, a certain admin has been lured out of his hidey hole by the smell of delicious chef-prepared meals. Hien is hungry, and you will feed him.
Chefs are not limited by the recipes they know like some professions are, so players are encouraged to think outside of the box and combine unique ingredients to cook up something truly special.
Taste, however, isn't the only important part of a perfect meal. Chefs looking to impress the big man himself are expected to present their culinary delights to him with pomp and finesse. You need to impress Hien if you want to gain more from this venture than the participation prize of a chef skin.
Those who successfully woo Hien with their delectable dishes will be given an additional prize: a little black pomchi pet to accompany their avatar around Root Towns and Special Areas. Hien will be giving these out at his discretion, so you better suck up to the dogboss in charge if you want a pomchi of your very own. If you catch Hien in a good mood, he may even agree to give you a different breed of dog if you ask nicely.
Hello, everyone! Can you believe it's been an entire month since our beta test began? Even though we've already been through a lot together, we've still got three months left! I'm rooting for you all!
As of today, the level cap has increased from 25 to 50. That means new armor and weapons will be available to you! Get out there to different Areas and start leveling up! But don't forget to stop every once in a while and enjoy your surroundings, too. Which reminds me—don't forget to check out the new Recreational Areas! We have a beach and hotsprings for you to enjoy now. I hope everyone continues to have fun exploring!
We've also opened up the GP shop, where you can create your own special armor set for a certain price, along with a few other things. Please check it out!
Oh, and don't forget to use these three new greeting cards I've made! Here they are! Make sure you use them so you can connect with your fellow players! We're all friends here, after all.
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...I hear my family. Sometimes it's the reporters.
[A young woman from an upstanding family lead astray by
That's infuriating too]
Then it's her.
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Mithrun is quiet as they get over a bridge, thankfully not hurtled to the sky below as shooting stars. Soon enough, their heels reach the grassy hillside island (islet?) on the other side. Mithrun returns to their regular pace. )
... When you write that story, what will you write about?
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[Sinclair blinks back his tears, but the anger ebbs a little as he continues to follow Mithrun docilely across the bridge.
run emil]
I...I'm not sure. [He can make something up on the spot, can't he?] Maybe a fox. It's been abandoned in a city...with only old broken umbrellas to keep it company.
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(His voices, for now, are still voices he can ignore. We're getting married, Morgan. I wanted you to be the first to know. He still recalls that scene, even if it fails to invoke the same emotion as it did then.) )
What does the fox want to do? ... Is it looking for anything?
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[His breathing is getting steadier, for a few moments as he focuses on this story he's made up on the spot.
Emil, don't look so sad-
He misses them. He misses his sister, his mother, his father...]
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( Though punctuated with a period, the tone errs closer to a question. Is that how the story can go, Sinclair? Or do you see the fox's life another way? )
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An owl. An old, wise owl. [That's a standard metaphorical creature, isn't it?]
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... Maybe the owl had been through the same thing as the fox. It could give the fox advice while it talked.
( Approaching the Chaos Gate... Mithrun starts inputting the keywords Counting Vane Metal Doll. )
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...Mmm. They can't stay together, because the Owl has chosen to travel to find people it can belong too, but for the moment, the fox doesn't feel so alone.
[Sinclair steps through the chaos gate as it opens, exhaling softly as the scent of the forest washes over them. Then, at the center of it all, the castle]
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He considers the next step of the story as he pulls them forward to the castle, a steadier, less strident pace. They'd have to part hands soon enough, but not just yet. )
... Yes. Maybe it's taught the fox something, at least - that finding a friend isn't impossible.
( That it isn't so hopeless, yet. That's probably the kind of story Sinclair wants to write, right? One that expresses hope for the future, despite the injury of the past. )
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Mm. It's not. The Owl takes the fox to the highest point of the city that the fox can reach and shows it the lights, and how the stars were hidden because of them...
[ There are no monsters yet. They don't have to let go]
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He didn't know if this story thing would work. It's strange; he feels - relieved? knowing it has; at least, so far. With no monsters here yet, his hand holds fast. )
... With this new perspective, would the fox go on a journey of its own? Or would it try to find someone just for them in the city?
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I think...the fox realises there are lonely people like it in the city. But the lights kept it from seeing that. So he'll try one more time.
[It's strange, but Mithrun has a way of calming him down. Maybe it's because he so deeply understands]
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Sometimes, your own loneliness makes it hard to see out beyond it. Like clouds covering the stars, sure. Mithrun can buy that, in some abstract sense, without understanding maybe these are lessons that can apply to him, too. )
... That's not a bad story. ( It's got a beginning, a middle, an end, and a cohesive theme. ) It can still continue.
( There are a lot of others the fox can meet. There's sequel potential! More genuinely, though, he studies Sinclair for a moment, and sees those previous signs of tears and rage are faded from his face. That's an improvement. )
... There's probably a lot of people who'd enjoy hearing that kind of story.
( A lot of sad people, he figures. Sad, and lonely. )
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[But it was fun...he feels settled again, his breathing even, and his near breakdown earlier now averted]
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Then with planning you can only improve. Right?
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[Ah. He feels steady again. Grounded]
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( The story thing was a shot in the dark, but Mithrun, operating a little close to the surface level still, guesses it must be something pretty important to Sinclair. )
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He hadn't realised...]
...I do feel better. [Squeezing Mithrun's hand in thanks] Thank you.
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... Do you want to do this Area, or do you want to go somewhere else?
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[Onwards to fight mimics and other horrible things]
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( All right. Since Sinclair seems stable enough (at least, for now), he'll let his hand slip from his and finally unsheathe his claymore. Through the power of their strengthened bond, and deep-seated desire for murder, these mobs don't stand a chance...
The ectoplasms appear first, almost a little too obviously. Mithrun will strike at one that errs too close, then begin to hack away at them with the air of someone who does Way Too Many Area runs.
As they engage, though - mimics hidden as furniture and other mundane elements of the castle taking advantage of the distraction to jump out, teeth bared, once they're distracted. It's probably Sinclair who gets the opportunity to notice them first, since Mithrun's preoccupied mowing down these ectoplasmic skulls. )
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[He's had enough experiences with Mimics in the Yaoi Dungeon we do not speak of to know he really, really doesn't like them. He's charging in to protect Mithrun's back, before a portrait lunges forward with a a creepy fleshy appendage. He'll just smash it quite viciously into the ground]
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Mithrun snaps his attention back to where Sinclair darts behind him, but by the time he turns his attention to it Sinclair's already got him covered - good. He pivots on his heel to get in front of Sinclair again, but this time to do a broad slash at all the furniture in the arc of his blade. It sure knocks all the mimics waiting for a chance to ambush awake, revealing them - Mithrun would rather pull aggro on everything than the both of them wonder when the next one will strike - this puts Sinclair, behind him, at the mercy of the remaining ectoplasms, but Mithrun will twist back to where he was behind him to work those skulls again. )
Hold them off. They can't be that strong once revealed.
( He's trusting Sinclair with his back - and if Sinclair can kill mimics on his own, even better. )
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Sinclair nods, striking out with a triple wield to keep one mimic pinned and then slides into a brandish to draw the other aggro]
I'll watch your back-!
[Mithrun can go nuts while Sinclair draws the attention of all the monsters]
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