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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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[Anaido is a noodle. He's a very large noodle of a guy, but he's still a noodle.]
[Which is why he's not! Having the best time! With the wind! But even if he's having to grasp onto different things to hold onto, he seems to be much more distracted by the voices, instead. A whisper comes on the wind.]
How can you even survive like that? Can you even do anything correctly?
[He shakes his head - even his typically cheerful manner is erased, with something that looks far more distressed.]
An IQ like that, but you can barely function in society? Wow. You really are messed up.
[Sorry - it's partly the wind blowing him off balance, and part desperation - whoever is nearby, he's latching onto, shaking a little.]
I'm sorry. I'm sorry. [A beat.] Sorry. H-Heeeeey. Can you hear that? Is it just me?
2. THE HIEROPHANT
[In Root Town, you can find Anaido at...a booth! It looks like a very shoddy booth. More like a table, actually. He's here, with legs propped up on a table. His wear is....certainly something.]
[There's also a Crystal Ball on the table (as well as a couple near his chair), but the main eyesore is a big hand-drawn sign that just says:]
[FREE ADVICE]
[He's waving at your character like a loon.]
I can help!
[WITH WHAT?? Anything, it seems.]
4. WILDCARD (JOKER)
[ANYTHING GOESSSS hit me up with any prompt you like for this loser!]
1. mithrun getting anaido at his saddest and just assuming he's always a sad puppy
... The voices on the wind?
HE TECHNICALLY IS HONESTLY........
[Yes, Mithrun is now his emotional support elf. Thank you. Don't mind the awkward noodle embrace.]
Maybe I'm just hearing things. Sorry.
picks him up from the pound
I hear voices too. ( So far, he hasn't heard the only voice that would get an emotional reaction from him, though, so he's been just walking with them. ) Though I'm guessing they're different than the ones you hear.
Are they upsetting to you?
biggest noodle hound giving a sigh while laying on the floor in the house for hours
[A little shrug, as if to emphasize! It doesn't matter!]
[He hasn't let go.]
I think I'm just easily spooked. Don't bring me to a haunted house, ahaha.
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... Do you want to go to the hot springs now?
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[Slowly...detaching himself...]
...I think I'd like that very much.
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Let's go.
( However, Anaido may get a sense of deja vu... One that involves Mithrun getting them very lost on the way to the Gate... )
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2
Peering at the sign from afar. What is this.]
Um...free advice?
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[He is fingergunning with each of the last three words.]
I can provide it!
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...any kind in particular?
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[Ehe.]
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Umm...I guess. How do you know what you want to do in university?
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The first you must ask is...what do you like to do? Which is a simple and common sense question. But the next you must ask, which some neglect, is "is it feasible for me to do the rest of my life?". In that...will it be worthwhile in the long run? Will I be happy doing this for years and years? Things like that.
And! You have to be honest with yourself!
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Wow, that's some straight up punk emo.
[ Anyway. ]
Do you think you can help me with stocks?
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[Ehe.]
Hmm. [He tilts his head this way and that.] I could. What are you interested in?
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[ He figures Anaido should know, since, well... he's playing the game, so he should have some inkling of it, right? It's all about how people feel in that moment, after all. ]
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Currently will see a rise due to this new beta and investors having high hopes. However, with the rise of complaints regarding glitches and the like, even with the beta aspect, you will likely see a downturn sooner rather than later as more and more gamers share their discontent.
[A beat.]
Eh, how did I do? Ehe.
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[ ??? He looks over at Anaido. ]
approaches quietly.... (1)
The wind isn't worth paying attention to.
[Which is essentially a yes, he can hear something on the wind. It's honestly kind of grating, but... This game is just annoying like that. He should just log off after this and call it a day...]
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[And yet....]
[He looks quite embarrassed.]
I wonder why this is even a feature...
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[Some is to be expected from a beta, but some of it is a bit...
It feels a bit deliberate, but Owen might just be paranoid.]
Come on. Let's get away from the edge before we fall off together. Then you can tell me why you look so ashamed of yourself.
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[That's what really bothers him, here. It's one thing if its spooky for spooky sake but...this is personal.]
You're...right. Yes. Yes, yes. [A light pat, three times, on Owen's shoulder.] Lead the way, knight in shining armor.
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...Stuff only we should know? What do you mean?
[He glances over at Anaido, brows knit in confusion.]
They're just voices, aren't they?
[He says it slowly, as if he's not confident with that claim.]
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[He also glances back with some confusion.]
They are, but...they're saying things I remember...from what other people have said. How is that possible?
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