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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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[ And, coincidentally, close to his own age. It's a thought that lodges awkwardly somewhere in his chest.
He leans over a little to make certain Sinclair is holding the knife properly. Michel might not be artistic, but he can make certain he doesn't hurt himself. ]
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[Oh, thank you. He'll readjust his grip accordingly]
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[ Better! Not that Sinclair needed it, but... he worries, alright. ]
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So did they take care of you when you were younger too?
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Georges showed me how to use sculpting knives. I was six. [ There was yelling when Didier caught up, hah. ] What about you?
[ He doesn't know Sinclair's sister's name from the memory, he realizes. ]
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...he taught you how to use sculpting knives at six?
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They were new, and he was excited about them. [ In the spirit of brotherly fairness, if a little grudging: ] ...So was I.
[ Beatrice. It's nice to be able to put a name to -- well, not the face of that memory. But, the person. ]
What did you both read? I don't know many German books, but...
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...But a six year old with knives?
[Scary. He wonders how much yelling happened there.
He thinks about the books he read]
Mostly children's books until I got older. Siddhartha, The Glass Bead...things like that. It wasn't always German though. She read Le Petite Prince to me as well.
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I was a very prudent six year old.
[ Questionable. Didier was, however, a very high-strung fourteen.
Michel gives a little smile for that list of books. Some of those, he remembers from school. ]
Classics. I recall that one... the ending, at least.
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I don't think six year olds are ever prudent.
[Rip Didier]
Yeah. She made reading them fun.
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...Maybe not. But I never injured anyone. Although I thought Didier might, when he found us with them.
[ Giving Sinclair a tiny smile. He's still more than a little dubious that he should be prying about this. But it seems as though it's making Sinclair happy...? ]
What did she do? It sounds... like she would have made a good teacher.
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[Michel mentions that brother a little less. He wonders if there's a reason for that. The age gap, maybe?
No crits for Sinclair because he never rolls them unless he loses apparently, but he works on carving the wooden block]
She was in business, actually. She was really smart and persuasive. She was good at getting people to listen to her.
[A good heiress. More than suitable to take up the mantle. In comparison, Sinclair was...]
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[ It's hard to know how else to describe him. That suits as well as he can hope for, really.
Michel makes a noise of acknowledgment as he puts the final touches on this Aitla-sculpt. It's... well, it's got four legs and a snout. And some features. ]
So, a natural head of the family.
[ Sinclair did have that kind of background, didn't he? ]
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[Sinclair? Not at all. The baby of the family, always and forever. He knows now the lengths his family had gone to shield him from...everything.
He looks at the carving in Michel's hand and then at his own. Hm. Not a grunty. Not a duck]
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[ What does Sinclair want for his future? Michel lowers his mostly-completed carving to sneak a peek at Sinclair's. ]
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[Fidgeting a little with his carving. Would Michel laugh if he shared one of the stories he had come up with on a whim with Mithrun? It's not like he has to want to write a book, but. Hmm. Hmmmmm]
It'd be nice to travel one day. Properly.
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[ As if Michel could answer that question for himself now, honestly. But it's nice to feel a little mature and experienced. ]
Where to? [ Properly? ]
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...my parents were going to take me there after my graduation.
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...There are a number of beautiful places here. Seeing them for yourself would still have meaning. Is that where they were from?
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[Maybe before his sister was born? Hm]
...could always go to France one day too.
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I haven't been to many cities. But I could be persuaded to play tour guide.
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You look like you'd know a lot. You'd make a good one.
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I don't have the faintest idea what gave you that impression... But if you're visiting Germany anyway, Alsace would be on the way.
[ And here his inspiration briefly runs aground. What would Sinclair even want to see...? ]
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[ Alsace, huh? His duck has a beak now. Maybe]
Alsace seems like a nice place...
[Quieter than the bustling Paris, which Sinclair already knows wouldn't suit him at all]
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It's historic. You might be able to get by with German, on the border. [ It seems like the kind of place Sinclair would like, honestly. ] Are you thinking of traveling after university?
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