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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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Not bad, at least. Not right now. )
All right.
( One day he's going to ban the word "dumb" from Barrett's vocabulary, but Barrett may live on this day. )
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Can I hold your hand?
[On purpose this time. Without needing to be anythimg more than a support.]
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... Yes.
( He lifts his hand from the water, explicitly and unequivocally for him to hold. He tilts his head, some, peering up at him. )
... I like your face right now.
( He's just going to have to list things he likes as he finds them, it seems. )
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My face?
Am I doing something funny?
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... You are.
( He's got a hand free, so he reaches up, as is his wont, to brush some slick locks back from Barrett's face, his fingers coming to rest against the temple and cheek. )
You're all red.
( Though it's uncommon for him to, here he squeezes Barrett's hand - gentle, and almost tentative; curious. )
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The realization just makes him redden even further under Morgan's touch, even as his own hand squeezes back, even as he tilts his face slightly into that lingering hand.]
It's hot. And... I'm feeling a lot of things. A lot I don't know what to call.
I don't know what to do with it.
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... I don't know the words for everything, either.
( They can figure it out. He lets his hand sail down along his face, until it's a proper cup, and it fits nicely in his palm. This wasn't bad, either. )
... Should I move closer?
( He's already right next to him, so the only thing closer is, well, Close. But the way he says it and the expression on his face, he doesn't mean anything beyond what the surface suggests. Close just means close, the way Barrett's face rests against his palm, the way their fingers criss-cross each other. He doesn't mean to angle for anything but fitting close together. )
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If you want to... know that I do, too.
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He looks down at their linked hands. )
... Do you feel...— Those things you said about me... Do you feel some similar way about anyone else?
( Doesn't even have to be the same!! Just!! Adjacently. In the neighborhood. Someone you like being with maybe in the ballpark of just as much. )
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Uh. No.
Should I?
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Don't feel this way for anyone else.
( Which is - wildly selfish of him; he understands. Commit to the last bite of this and don't even look at the other courses coming out. But... )
I'm here.
( At least, as long as he is here. And if he's gone one day, then... he won't be here, to mind of Barrett gorges himself. )
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...before starting to laugh.
]
Of course you're here.
Morgan, I can't promise my feelings won't ever change. I don't know the future. People grow up and have to relearn feelings a lot. And I want to like other people as friends.
But I like you for you. [He squeezes at the hand at his face.] I want to learn to like you for the you that might change someday, too. And I like what I feel right now. Even if it's scaring me a little.
...You know a good cooking stock is made from the leftovers, right? [That hand is pulled away, clapsed in his own, put against his chest that beats wildly.] You can still be the flavor to somebody's life, Morgan.
Don't be scared.
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He exhales, slow. He'd never thought someone's heart could beat so fast. )
... I'm not sure how.
( Is this what this feeling is? Fear? He hasn't felt this way in... a long time. Not since before he was sent off to school. Not since, he thinks, that day his brother told him he'd had lunch with Niamh, and they'd been happy without him.
His fingers curl into Barrett's chest, palm spread flat against the pounding. )
... If I could become stock... would you eat me, no matter how I taste?
( this is SUCH an "would you love me if i were a worm" question im SO sorry )
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But would he eat of this mystery stock? The scraps of Morgan Chatainne?]
Every single drop.
I don't want to ever waste what I've been given.
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A slight laugh, a little breathless. )
... All right. I'll trust that... Barrett.
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...
It churns too much at the emotions settling in his heart. So instead, the hand he holds interlinked in the onsen water is brought up, clasped by the palm just so, so Barrett can close his eyes and press his lips to the knuckles there, even as overheated and pruning as they are from their soak.]
Will you stay with me here for a little longer?
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... For as long as you'd like.
( But this time, he says it gently earnest - I will, done up sweetly. )
Thank you.
( And he leaves the rest unsaid. For everything, as it were. A little overdue, but finally here. )