⬣//A SINGLE CRACK LETS THE LIGHT IN.

[cccorp]

>>UNTITLED ROOT TOWN // >>FUTURE // >>PROGRESS? // >>HE HUNGERS // >>Zelkova Corner

⬣//BRAVELY SAILING INTO THE UNKNOWN

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?

⬣//BUILDING THE FUTURE

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.

<b>Recipe name:</b> <b>Recipe category:</b> <b>Which two items does your recipe call for?</b> <b>Effect:</b> <b>Description:</b>

Submit your recipe contest submissions here.

⬣//ONE STEP FORWARD, TWO STEPS BACK

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.

⬣//WHAT ARE YOU, AN IDIOT SANDWICH?

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.

Feed the local Hien here.

⬣//ZELKOVA’S CORNER

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.

>>Navigation

Comments

[aphonik]

≫ I.

[ Dosei, unfortunately, is made of paper mache.

Paper mache and spite. Like the angriest, wettest paper bag imaginable. Adding a few inches of height on his avatar does not to dissuade from the fact he is small, and thus highly susceptible to getting blown over like a plastic bag floating through the wind.

Which is exactly why he, despite his best efforts to stick to the main paths and away from most, ends up slamming into the nearest person at the next violent gust that rips through the streets. Perhaps a bit violently. What comes out of his mouth is more of a jumbled verbalization of keysmash than a curse, but it probably gets the point across well enough. Text to speech has it's limits in situations of extreme duress. ]

≫ II.

[ Now, he's only doing this because he's bored. And morbidly curious. And none of the accessories now really suit him, so really, he's just doing this for himself. It's easy to focus enough when you tune everyone else out, fiddling with the craft menu and the pile of items beside him (which...occasionally blow away in the wind).

He's trying. There's already a ring in his lap as he sits on the ground, polished black wood and amber, and he's working on another- unusually zero'd in on his task. Even if they don't have any effects, if they at least manage to look nice enough to wear, then maybe he can-

{ Some people would kill to have everything you have. And yet, as always, all you are is ungrateful. }

There's an audible pop of a failed craft, finger slipping in shock, and anybody who looks over will see the color drain from Dosei's face as his gaze whips around wildly. What the actual fuck. ]

≫ III.

[ For all his money and abilities back in the real word, vacations are not oft in the cards. Everybody's busy, or something came up, or they went with one of their friends, because they're all adults with vehicles and social lives that he does not share. So, he's curious. Just a little. That, and he does need a distraction from the uncomfortable happenings lately.

Still, he doesn't seem...particularly thrilled up close, peering into the water of the hot springs like it's offended his mother, yet to properly dip a toe in as he tugs his towel closer to his chest. Public bathing is one whole can of worms he doesn't quite get the concept of touching, even if it is in VR, but most importantly- ]

Who the fuck wants to eat random bath-water eggs.

[ God forbid he goes one day with skepticism. ]

≫ IV.

wildcard! surprise me, or come hit me up at lupical. gremlins at the discount price

closed threads.

[aphonik]

don't tag me i'll explode

i.

[insinning]

[Having lost his ten centimetres of height near the beginning of the game as due his punishment, Sinclair is not unused to using the game to fix what he doesn't have (height). And so, he's taken to summoning his grunty to the ??? town, when he needs to help out with repairs, and to keep him from flying away with the wind.

So Dosei, far from smashing into another person, will find himself with a face full of warm, soft grunty fur, while Sinclair peers down at him uncertainly from the top of his grunty]

...are you alright?

[It's that boy from the beginning of the game but he seems. pitiful]

[aphonik]

[ Well. He's not sure if this feels better or worse, but the fur pressed against his face is a far better alternative to being shoved into another person. Animals are so much more tolerable in general, even ones made of code and pixels.

It takes him a minute to disengage himself, harsh winds slowing down for the moment, and he steps back with a raspy grumble- probably the most non-robotic vocal sound Sinclair's ever heard out of him. Dosei's gaze snaps up to Sinclair himself, gaze narrowing dangerously, both from the familiarity and the knowledge he got witnessed making a fool of himself. ]

Just fucking peachy.

[ And we're back to the text to speech. john madden john madden. ]

I love being thrown around like a hackysack.

[ This all comes accompanied by an unblinking glare. Love, indeed. ]

[insinning]

[Ah. Sinclair isn't quite as easily unnerved anymore, so he blinks back, a little uncertain]

The winds are a pain...but if you have your own grunty, it's easier.

[Even Sinclair has a problem, and being a Lord Partizan should have made it easier...but apparently not]

[aphonik]

[ He thinks he liked this guy better when he was skittish.

Dosei doesn't let up his glare much, but at least he's not whipping out the foam air-horn again. ]

...I have another two days left.

[ Before it grows, that is. He started late. ]

I think this place is just out to kill everyone. Again.

[insinning]

[His co-workers may be a little more terrifying now. Sinclair nods in understanding and look, he's still holding hard to his grunty too]

I actually don't remember it being that windy when I was here before the island opened. But it might be another glitch the devs are working on.

[aphonik]

[ He would feel offended if he heard that, honestly. Dosei's trying really hard to right himself, and manage to look like he's not about to fly away like a brochure in a windstorm. ]

Of course. Because they haven't fucked up enough already.

[ Maybe a bit mean for someone doing a beta test but, you know. ]

Their bugs are pretty screwed instead of being normal shit. You know, like glitching through walls or items duplicating.

ii

[tylorific]

[ It's the stuff that blows into him that calls his attention first. And then he really doesn't want to disturb someone working so hard. Curiosity keeps him approaching, just in time to see the pretty polished wood piece before it pops in failure.

From behind Ramiel probably, there is an audible sigh of disappointment. ]

Aww, and it was so pretty too. [ Here, do you want your debris back? But he's also offering it with a smile. ]

Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get it eventually.

[aphonik]

[ Distracted as he is, he doesn't even notice the presence behind him until he speaks, jumping in surprise at the sigh- something he probably wouldn't do, normally.

But when his head whips around, his expressions teeters precariously between irritated and distressed. Dosei's not paying much attention to the compliments themselves, moreso the other's presence in general, and when he slowly reaches to take his stuff, it's moreso yanking them out of the older man's hand. ]

Was that you.

[ The synthesizer warbles a bit. He can't exactly yell with it, after all. Part of him thinks it wasn't; this guy sounds younger. Doesn't know anything. But people ( like him ) can change their voices, so- ]

Because if it was, that shit isn't fucking funny.

[ Maybe he's just...hearing shit. He doesn't do that often, but who knows. This place is whack. ]

[tylorific]

Huh? [ Genuine confusion until he eventually draws the wrong conclusion. ] Oh, no, I didn't break it. But I'm real sorry that happened. You're so good at making them pretty, it's such a shame.

[ Tylor goes on, only blinking at the grab of items before he smiles anyway, unfazed. ]

Are you going to try again?

[aphonik]

[ There's a good moment of silence as Dosei sizes the other man up, clearly not too sure if he trusts that or not. But...after a while of staring at his stupid, bewildered face, he finally lets some of the tension leak from his shoulders. Some. ]

...Yeah, whatever.

[ He looks back at his empty hands...and grimaces before picking up another polished piece of black wood and a chunk of silver. Right. This is easier than thinking about whatever that was. ]

All the shit in this game is gaudy. I just want something that doesn't look ugly.

[ His delicate goth sensibilities...if there was black gems or metal, life would be easier. ]

[tylorific]

[ Tylor is patient through the staring. It isn't until some tension is gone, and more words have been said-- ]

Oh, I see. Well, I agree. Some of the stuff around here is pre-tty ugly, bu-- [ But then something else tries to make a break for it on the wind.

He jumps for it, laughing a little before putting it back where it came from. And then he sits there, like some anti littering guardian. But his dopey gaze becomes fixed on the work in Ramiel's hands. ]

You sure have good taste. What are you trying to make?

[aphonik]

[ Well, at least somebody does. Others around here seem content to wander around in the ugliest sets known to man, and he could never condemn himself like that. Even if some of them are probably better than his own.

...Hm. He doesn't like that train of thought, actually. A quick shake of the head.

He looks back up at the laugh to see the guy jumping for some of his wayward supplies, squinting suspiciously as he opts to take a seat and make himself comfortable. It's clear he's not sure whether he likes that or not, but he blissfully keeps his digital mouth shut. For now. ]

Earrings.

[ Dosei has a ring already, and his ears feel weird without the usual chunks of metal shoved in them. Crafting menu up, he takes to shaping the black wood into the vague shape of a small cross. ]

Feels weird not having them. Making them like my real ones.

I

[legendofthelion]

Whoa there! [Dosei luckily(?) manages to collide into Dehya, who immediately puts her arm out to catch him before he can continue to roll away with the wind. It's certainly blowing her hair in a wild fury, but her stance is helping her stay in place.] Careful, don't want to find out what happens if you fall off this place right?

[aphonik]

[ Well, on one hand, this is better than bonking into something else- even if he has his pain sensors off. On the other, being too close to people he doesn't know makes him irritatingly itchy. Especially when he feels...especially manhandled by people much taller than him.

Like right now. ]

...If I did, I'd rather I just get splattered over the ground quicker than falling for a damn hour.

[ Can you grumble through a synthesizer? Because that's what he's doing, as he tries to get his footing back. ]

[legendofthelion]

[Dosei is boob height to a beautiful woman and has the audacity to complain about that.]

Probably better not to have either happen, right? [Is there some way to weigh him down? Hm.] Hopefully this wind is just a bug or it's going to be hard for anyone in this root town.

[aphonik]

[ listen he's trying really hard to not think about that right now. ]

Everything in this hellhole is a bug. [ He's got his feet back on the ground, but it's hard when you're like. 100 lbs soaking wet and made of paper mache. How is she doing it. ] But if this keeps up, anybody else who comes up here willingly is just fucking insane.

[legendofthelion]

[By not being 100 lbs of soaking wet paper mache.]

Well, it is a beta. [In terms of quantity, given each update pushes whole new mechanics for it it's really not too many. It's just that the bugs that actually happen are often... strange.

She looks down, targeting him.] Oh, I see you've caught up in levels!

[aphonik]

[ Well, try it sometime. ]

Pretty shitty beta. [ Seriously. The bugs in this game can hardly be compared to random noclipping.

He's a little indignant at being targeted, making an aggravated noise in the back of his throat. ] Yeah, no help to a certain dickhead. Easier to level up by myself then shove myself in a party and deal with that again.

iii

[trollophoroi]

[ Oh no, look at this poor lost child, afraid to step foot into the hot spring, whatever shall Fandaniel do? Oh, push him in. That's right. It isn't deep enough for anyone to drown unless they decide to sprawl out on the bottom and stay there.

Admittedly, some might do that.

Time to see if Ramiel here is one of them! ]

You know, it's much better in than out.

[aphonik]

[ Ok, maybe he's so used to the idea of being the Massive Prick that the fact there could be an Even Bigger, More Massive Prick (quite literally) did not come to mind. But here we are.

He weighs like 15 pounds soaking wet, and thus promptly falls over with a loud splash at the shove. There's an active splutter- luckily, he doesn't bonk his head on the bottom, but he manages to shove himself up with a faintly strangled gasp.

When he turns out, it's with a grievously offended glare and the electronic ding of the text to speech. ]

What the fuck's your damage?

[trollophoroi]

[ Congratulations for finally meeting the Alpha Prick (why did i write that why did i make that choice). ]

Hmm, the answer to that little question would take far too long to cover, trust me. [ But he's smirking down at Ramiel as he splashes around. ] Ah, but don't be so put out. It's only a hot spring. It's meant to be relaxing!

[ But look, he came out here to soak in the water, too. He's going to step down in but he will, at least, leave the nudity pixels toggle on as he discards the towel before it hits the water and sinks down into the spring. ]

[aphonik]

Yeah, I definitely don't want your fucked up extensive therapy history, weirdo. Save it for your psychiatrist.

[ The pot calling the kettle black, but you know.

Being told to 'relax' very much makes him want to do the opposite, especially when Funnydaniel decides to whip it out in full pixels. His look of visceral disgust could not be any more obvious. This is definitely why he keeps nudity off, thank you very much.

He's. keeping his towel on. And scooting as far away from the Alpha Prick as possible, absentmindedly rubbing his arms. If they would have let him keep his shirt on, he would have. ]

I don't see how sitting in the water in a VR game is supposed to be relaxing. Especially with your scrawny ass sitting in it.

[trollophoroi]

[ What is with this kid's fucked up voice? Is he a kid? He's so tiny, where are his parents? ]

Then I must question why you would come here at all if that's what you think. I take it public baths and hot springs like this aren't common where you're from?