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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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(No guarantees that would change even if he knew of his crimes, though.)
"Hector, my dear," sounds like music to his ears. He draws Fandaniel closer into him, his chest, and listens to him speak. The question elicits a surprised little chuckle from him, and it rumbles comfortably in the bottom of his throat. ]
How did you know? [ There's a tease to Hector's own voice as he leans in, plants a little kiss to his forehead. ]
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Mm, let's just call it a lucky guess. [ A very depressing, if accurate, one. ] How about you kiss me again while I think about something? I won't need my mouth until I figure it out.
[ Although one has to wonder just how much thinking can be done while kissing. Time to find out. ]
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Right now, though, that's not what he's thinking about. A grin bursts across his face at the suggestion. ]
Think for as long as you need to.
[ All he really wants to do is keep kissing Fandaniel.
So he dives in again, pressing his lips to his with more fervor, more hunger this time. He tilts his head, parts his lips, and lets the hand cradling Fandaniel's face drop to rest at his other hip. He pulls him flush against him, and kisses him like he means it. ]
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And while he does let the kiss drag on for a time, his own lips parting against Hector's to pull at the other's lower one, nipping at it. Normally, he'd do that because he'd like to deepen the kiss — and, oh, he does, he really does — but he also realizes if he lets this go much further, he'll be far too riled up to just log off.
A stolen kiss or two is one thing. The rest? ]
Hoh, okay. [ Fandaniel breaks the kiss before it goes that far, taking in a breath of fresh air while giving Hector a push. Away, away, darn thot. ] Hector, I do need to think about going to work soon.
[ Hector's early evening is Fandaniel's early morning, so that's not exactly a lie. ]
As much as I would love to carry on like this, how about... hmm... you plan a little date for us instead, for when I get back?
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So it's a good thing Fandaniel pulls away when he does. Hector chases, at first, but the tone of the other man's voice is a good indicator that this needs to stop for the minute. Hector himself will not think about how flushed and hot his face feels, how much effort it takes for him to peel his eyes open. He's not offended at all by the push; he just chuckles, hands reluctantly slipping away from Fandaniel's waist. ]
Don't let me keep you. [ He says this softly. ] Message me when you get back. I'll definitely have something good in mind by the time you get back.
[ He won't stay up all night thinking of date ideas or anything like that... Or will he? ]
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[ And then he's gone, logged out. Fandaniel is officially offline... and he'll make a point to stay offline for the rest of the day, trying to wait out whatever curse or blessing Hector must have got hit with. Maybe he logs back in too early, maybe he logs in just at the right time, but he does, eventually, return, and he doesn't necessarily think to message Hector right away, either.
The way he sees it, by the time they're both back online (assuming Hector ever logged off at all), he'll either get a message immediately from the man or he'll be ignored out of sheer embarrassment, so! ]
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Aaand he's gone before Hector can really process it.
He does loiter, intent to stay up late and wait for Fandaniel's return. But unfortunately, Hector's a responsible adult—the pull of a regular sleep schedule eventually does him in, and he logs out no later than he usually does. He's not online when Fandaniel comes back, whether he's on early or not.
In fact, he doesn't come back online nearly twenty four hours after the meeting, after which Fandaniel will find a little message in his inbox... ]