⬣//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]

[ 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.

[insinning]

...there have been some of those too.

[Thinking about the katamari ball of hell.]

[aphonik]

[ SQUINT. ]

Yeah? Like what?

[ Spill. ]

[insinning]

Mmm...a few weeks back, we all started equipping each other in Lumina Cloth. It um. Took the Head Admin to fix us.

[Also he PK'd Pete but that is neither here or there]

1/2

[aphonik]

[ bruh

A moment of pause as he lets that compute for a few minutes. ]

Equipping? Like, you just- [ MAKES A VAGUE SWINGING GESTURE?? ] Just fucking picked each other up like a human baseball bat?

2/2

[aphonik]

[ And then that's followed by an abrupt snort, and what sounds like a laugh, albeit it's more of the raspy wheezing kind. ]

That's fucking hilarious! I'd have paid to seen that shit.

[ Even if it's hard to translate mirth in text-to-speech, it comes across well enough. ]

[insinning]

[Oh. Dosei looks his age right about now. Also, counting]

I think there were ten of us stuck together by the time Mister Hien came along...we really were a giant baseball bat for him.

[aphonik]

[ wow they are like almost the same age. rude

The smile quirks upwards at his lip a bit further as he imagines that in his minds eye. Like a human meter stick.... ]

Did he wave you around a bit. 'Cuz that'd be a total fucking waste if he didn't.

[insinning]

[it's all that anger dosei. it will age you]

I think I was connected to Mr.PinkPilgrim at that point. And he was connected to...Mr Misteaks? It got hard to figure out where we were at that point.

[Pause]

He took us into a dungeon and wiped out all the monsters and a lucky animal.

[aphonik]

[ fuck you, he'll get carded into his 40's. ]

Oh, that annoying old guy. With the ugly hat. I hope he smacked his head on something.

[ Not going to comment on whether anybody else deserved that or not at the moment, but. ]

Does this make you a high level weapon now.

[insinning]

[Yeah, about that]

Not anymore, I hope.

[aphonik]

Why not?

[ Another snort. ]

Could try headbutting something and see how much damage it does.

[insinning]

[Thinking. Last time he did that...urk]

I've already tried it. Unless it's an actual skill, it doesn't actually do any HP damage.

[aphonik]

[ He's perceiving that face. What sins have you committed, Sinclair... ]

What a letdown. Would have been funny to start killing shit in dungeons with your skull.

[ A moment of pause. ]

...You did turn your pain sensors off when you did that, right.

[insinning]

...I might have forgotten to turn them back off. It worked for what I needed...but.

[temporarily, it worked. There have been so many sins committed by these hands]

I don't think I'll be doing that again.

[aphonik]

Why would you even turn them back on in the first place. [ Disrespectful sigh. ] Shit hurts enough in real life, don't need to feel like I got tossed through a paper shredder in a game, too.

[ Heat sensors, off. Pain sensors, off. As god intended, Sinclair!!! ]

Who were you even headbutting that hard, anyway?

[insinning]

[He knows!! He knows!!!! Look there are reasons for this but]

Mm...I realised it was better to keep some of them on though, so I don't do anything reckless in real life because I could do it here.

[Not exactly the reason but wow not dumping that on anyone any time soon]

...ah. A friend. We were...trying to sort something out.

[aphonik]

[ sounds fake and gay??? ]

I usually just pinch myself a lot after playing. Y'know, like a normal person. Not risking getting the full 'got shanked' experience.

[ He also has very specific reasons for turning both that and the heat sensors off but you know. ]

So you just beat the shit outta each other? Didn't think you had it in you.

[insinning]

[LOOK. It's very gay but Sinclair isn't naming names now is he]

...it's a surprisingly effective technique in this game to get across what you mean.

[aphonik]

[ Uh huh. ]

Is that how you flirt, too?

[ Listen he's got into his fair share of fights but this sounds vaguely homosexual- ]

[insinning]

It's not flirting-!

[It is]

[aphonik]

[ OH?? GAYBOY?? ]

Yeah? Then what were you fighting about?

1/2

[insinning]

[...]