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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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Really? Personally, I struggle with buying clothes. I can never decide what I want.
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[ Ganymede definitely always has a color in mind, but sometimes even for him, styles might be a bit more, well. Difficult.
...Look, he is into fashion—it is why he joined the fashion guild. ]
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I think it's both, honestly. I like too many styles, so I have a hard time choosing sometimes, especially when I can't afford everything I want.
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[ Just because one has le monies does not mean to be careless with them; Ganymede is fortunate to leeway where that is concerned, but high end clothing can mean price tags are ridiculous. Anyway, he puts in a purchase at the shop finally; and it makes him wonder a little more, just to ask: ]
...What kind of job do you have back home?
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There's a mild look of surprise on his face before he smiles. He didn't expect Ganymede to actually ask him something a little personal for an online game, but it's clear he doesn't mind. ]
I'm a PhD candidate, so no full time job for me just yet. I do tutoring on the side, though.
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...As for the inquiry, well. That might be a smidgen (which he'd insist was only that amount) of actual interest in getting to know more. He doesn't have very many friends. ]
PhD candidate? I didn't know you had to be a candidate before you received one.
[ That said, Ganymede knows jack about those but he assumed people get 'em automatically after they go to school for them. ]
...Do you like tutoring?
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You have to defend a thesis before you're awarded one.
[ It's a whole Thing that he wouldn't mind explaining if Ganymede asked more. ]
I do, actually! I really enjoy teaching, even though I thought I would hate it at first.
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Basically, they make you debate after you've been in school so long, to learn the subject matter in particular? And then even if you worked that hard, if you lose, you don't get one?
[ He is curious, so he's just going to be throwing some more inquiries his way about it. It sounds so hard, though. Even if Ganymede isn't exactly unfamiliar with discussions and getting into debates or some arguments sometimes, aha. ]
I also assume you'd think that because of how hard it can be. Or looks to be.
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[ It's incredibly stressful, to say the least, though Fai leaves that part out. He figures Ganymede can assume that on his own. ]
Ahaha... you're right. I thought it would be harder than it ended up actually being.
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[ That's not very nice of him to say, but ah well. It costs a lot, doesn't it? So to him, it seems frustrating that at the end of all that studying and work...it can amount to nothing. ]
...What do you like most about tutoring, anyway? The new faces, or getting to help people learn new things?
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Helping people learn new things. It's really satisfying to watch a concept click for them after I've explained it a certain way.
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Especially difficult concepts, I'd think.
In retrospect, if you enjoy that so much, I believe it'd be easy for you to defend what you know.
[ As annoying as it sounds to him. Sometimes he is very grateful for being as single-minded as he is about his profession. ]
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[ He laughs again. ]
You know, I feel like you've encouraged me a little.
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[ He's rooting for him. Fai seems kind of, you know, actually like a decent person, and not because the two of them have some similarities.
Though he is a bit embarrassed about the next comment. It's a healthy amount, though. ]
...You do?
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[ Despite the smug look on his face, his eyes are soft. For as difficult as it can be to really gauge his intentions sometimes, it seems like Fai genuinely means it. ]
If I enjoy it a lot, it'll be easy. It's a good reminder to stay motivated.
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And I suppose all of us need those at times. Reminders, to stay motivated—to move forward.
[ Ganymede's expression evens out, thoughtful. He's not good at building up people often or saying magical words. More like swings and misses.
But, it's a bit satisfying being able to say something and have it land for the another's benefit, he thinks. ]
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That's right. And you know, if you ever need a reminder too, I'll be happy to provide one.
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...You know, you're a rather thoughtful person. Though, I know that I thought that you were before. I just didn't realize how much.
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Ah… I don’t know about that.
[ Or at least, he tries not to be thoughtful. It means he’s inserting himself into someone’s life and he’d like to avoid that as much as he can. ]
I’m surprised you found me thoughtful before. Did you think I was thoughtful when I hit you with the water gun?
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...I did. I was irritated at the time, though.
But, I can tell that you did leave me opportunities to strike back. If that isn't some level of 'thoughtful', what would you have called it?
[ He remembers being still low-keyed annoyed and worked up...it is very easy to get him to react to things at times, even if his reactions very from 'sullen, sarcastic, cynical-filled responses' to 'flustered, flailing, frustrated yelling'. ]
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[ Truthfully, he wasn't expecting Ganymede (or anyone, really) to catch onto something like that. Is he really not as subtle as he thinks he is?
Much to think about. ]
I didn't realize you noticed.
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[ There's a lingering pause. He thinks he's gotten used to watching people more. Still, it isn't exactly a matter of that too much either. ]
Maybe this was something more revealed on reflection, more than wishful thinking.
But, it's not a bad thing.
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[ He laughs, clearly not too bothered by the idea anyway. ]
Good to know you reflected upon our first meeting so much.
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[ He says with some kind of dry humor because this is where we're at now. ]
...Yeah, well. A lot of people would benefit from doing a lot of reflection.
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Would you say I'm one of them?
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