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1.0 game launch log
1.0: Game Launch
Patch Update
Maybe you’ve been getting settled in for a little while now, maybe you just arrived yesterday. Either way, a big change is coming! All Dodo residents will receive a city-wide broadcast on their phones:
> Thank you for your patience with our construction, city-goers! As our month of pride celebration has wrapped, all our streets are once again open. Hope it sets your hearts aflutter for 🤍 White Day! 🤍
The streets of Crane City have opened, and what glorious streets they are! Decorated with gently blooming white flowers, ivory streamers hung from building to building, and floating snowy balloons, everything seems to be elevated with a touch of elegance. What’s that? It’s looking a little bridal? Now you’re getting in the spirit! The city is abuzz about an upcoming celebration...
Meanwhile, Duocaeli has also become the loveliest storm. It’s a tornado of silks, a cyclone of chiffon, ribbons as far as the eye can see - that’s right, it’s time for a parade of princesses. Avis Isle is tittering with gossip, airship after airship coming to land as royalty gets to enjoy the fresh air and roguish sights of a guild town. There’s princesses from faraway lands, kingdoms large and small, excited to rest before they depart soon to their next destination—some kind of royal slumber party? rich people—and they’re so excited to be here! Some are children, others as mature as their late 300's—once a princess, always a princess.
Avisle is excited for their business too! ♥ Looks like everything’s a little more expensive around these parts (know your audience) but there’s also better service and rumors of special treatment for those of blue blood pedigree, or their staff. Why don’t you slide on in? If anything, you might want to teach your friends how to pass for royalty, lest they get mistaken for a worker!
Speaking of roleplay, it seems like there’s an abandoned chest in one of the roadways, likely fallen off a carriage in the chaos… Inside, characters will find gorgeous adornments, including lovely gowns, crowns, etc. The criers looking for royal customers ring in the back of your mind – “Princess business welcome!!” – do you do the proper thing and look for the owner of the chest, and see if you can get a reward? Or is it time for royal cosplay? (Though should you return it, and the shopkeep may ask you to wear some garments as advertisement anyway...)
Alternatively, in your plain clothes, or... most clothes, it’s easy to be mistaken for a page. Well, they’re all awfully young ladies–have a sense of humor! Don’t let it rankle you too bad... or do?
Guild business is in high demand now especially, with most specialties being sought after by a monarch-to-be for one reason or another.
♔ Crafters are highly sought after, especially those who specialize in adornments. Won’t you make them some hair ornaments that bloom just like true roses?
♔ Warriors are being asked to fulfill more bodyguard roles. You know! Just like in their romance novels…
♔ Scholars are being asked to fulfill divinations—how good are you at fortune tellings? The future of their kingdoms are prosperous, aren’t they? Aren’t they?
♔ Wanderers are being requested as tour guides and escorts. They have a higher chance of being mistaken for pages. Sorry.
♔ Menders must clean up after everyone’s messes, as usual. Stained gowns, broken hairpins, the occasional sprain of a princess fallen out of a tree (we told her not to!)—you name it.
♔ Warriors are being asked to fulfill more bodyguard roles. You know! Just like in their romance novels…
♔ Scholars are being asked to fulfill divinations—how good are you at fortune tellings? The future of their kingdoms are prosperous, aren’t they? Aren’t they?
♔ Wanderers are being requested as tour guides and escorts. They have a higher chance of being mistaken for pages. Sorry.
♔ Menders must clean up after everyone’s messes, as usual. Stained gowns, broken hairpins, the occasional sprain of a princess fallen out of a tree (we told her not to!)—you name it.
1. Questboard
The quest board at the guild hub has been updated with the latest patch! Excited players are gathered around to collect new bounties, which are open to all. The guild hub also provides a useful bestiary, which is readily accessible by guild members via crystals.
2. Dungeon Crawl - Guild Hub Catacombs
Welcome to your first limited time domain! Princess Andalina is the belle of the ball, and the one organizing the royal slumber party... when she's suddenly attacked by robed figures in the Guild Hub! It's your job to escort her safely through some secret underground catacombs so that she might be smuggled aboard an airship and escape–though naturally, there's a catch.
Task: Escort Princess Andalina Quartzrosen Pili Majesteria the Third
Reward: Daiya, diamond jewelry of choice.
Chamber 1: Once Upon a Time...
Right in front of your eyes, the exhausted Princess suddenly transforms… into a beautiful diamond? Housed in a necklace, it seems that this icy stone is her dormant form, and is entrusted to players for safekeeping. Dungeon party members will be given roles in the first chamber: knight or princess. Knights will be in charge of defeating foes; princesses will have to wear the enchanted stone and keep it intact. If princesses are hurt, the stone will be damaged. If they're grievously injured or killed, the stone will be destroyed outright.
Additionally, knights will find themselves buffed overall and invulnerable to damage. But it's not that convenient–princesses will sustain any injuries meant for their knights. In RPG terms, princesses serve as the HP for all members of their parties.
It's imperative to keep moving to avoid the incoming assassins, though that's easier said than done: some of the hallways are incredibly narrow, there's constant forks and uneven terrain, and the darkness is thick and suffocating. It'll be easier to stay close–or maybe even get a piggyback ride? A princess carry, if you will? It's easy mana!
Chamber 2: A Sticky Situation
The catacombs are damp and stale–and of course, in their neglect, they're teeming with danger. The pitch black corridors make it easy to stumble into giant spiderwebs, which are nearly impossible to escape alone, though they can be burned or otherwise destroyed with some help. The webbing itself is weaved with magic, and will quickly drain the mana of anyone trapped within.
But where there's spiderwebs, there's bound to be… spiders! Careless knights and princesses may find themselves kidnapped and carried away by these hunters, which can attack with sharp barbs and acid that lingers on every surface. Knights are invulnerable, but can still be incapacitated by webbing–be careful!
Chamber 3: Sins of our Daughters
The light is at the end of the literal tunnel, but one obstacle remains: the young leader of the assassins who introduces herself as Nina.
Nina doesn't attack outright, instead first explaining Andalina's crimes against her kingdom, and her desire for justice. Proudful and grieving, Nina will only accept Andalina's death, but nevertheless offers the players a choice:
Destroy Andalina: By deliberately injuring a party's princess, Andalina's crystal will be destroyed, and she'll be killed. Nina will thank the party and slip away without another word, looking wearied.
Save Andalina: Protecting Andalina will cause Nina to attack, leading to a boss battle.
BOSS: Nina the Emerald
HP: 10000
Difficulty: ★★★☆☆
Weakness: Water, despots
Resistance: Earth
Attacks
Defeating her can be as "simple" as beating her in a fight before the party sustains too much damage, but there's also a large, deep lagoon in this chamber. If you can make Nina sink like a stone, the water might be enough to dispatch her permanently…
HP: 10000
Difficulty: ★★★☆☆
Weakness: Water, despots
Resistance: Earth
Attacks
- Crystal Cage: Summons giant, emerald shards to create walls, isolating party members.
- Shatter: Anything her knives touch turns temporarily into crystal, including limbs and portions of flesh. Nina will often throw these knives, though she can also be turned to stone using them. Payback's a bitch!
Defeating her can be as "simple" as beating her in a fight before the party sustains too much damage, but there's also a large, deep lagoon in this chamber. If you can make Nina sink like a stone, the water might be enough to dispatch her permanently…
G̴̮͇̽ĺ̶̻͉̓͝i̷̜͓̙̊t̵̤̄́̏c̶̝̘̃̉̀h̶̯͓͘i̶̖͙̭͆ń̷̻̦̘g̶͐͒͜ͅ: Occasionally throughout the dungeon, including during this boss fight, the role between princesses and knights can switch without warning! Don't get too comfortable.
In the end, only one of the two girls can survive. While others may view this as just a cutscene in a game, to PCs, something about both these women feels quite real. Claim your reward, and step into the glowing portal that will teleport you back to the dungeon entrance. Players may thread any number of outcomes, but can only report one of their threads here for rewards!
OOC Notes
March's OOC Event Plotting Post is also here for your reference!
Please look forward to our next gamewide mingle for Dodo's Doki Doki White Day Auction on Friday, March 17th.
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duocaeli duologs duolingosTaken / Applications / Hiatus & Drops
FULL NAVIGATION
rudbeckia de borgia • how to win my husband over
[ it is unusually common to find Ruby online and available in Duocaeli at all hours, multiple days in a row. she's not much for dungeons and adventuring, but she's eager to spend time with any familiar faces, or get to know those she hasn't had the pleasure of meeting yet. the way she talks, one would think the offline world doesn't even exist and that this is the sole reality. but it's fine, right? she probably just wants to hang out in the cooler video game world.
it's not like anyone would be stupid enough to make themselves sick from excessive VR immersion more than once. ]
[ online, Rudbeckia looks just like the delicate princess she is known to be, rather than any sort of dungeon-crawling adventurer—but this hasn't prevented her from being drafted as additional help for the sudden influx of royalty, and she doesn't seem to have raised any protest about it. in fact, it's fairly apparent from watching her run errands that she's acting more as a maidservant than an escort.
you might encounter her carrying the train of a lady's dress, or carrying hat boxes, or letting a young girl play with her long hair... she isn't being bullied terribly, at least, but she is definitely getting pushed around. any scenario is available! if you are particularly unfortunate, Ruby approaches you with an armful of flowers and an expression of chagrin: ]
Um... Her Highness, the Princess Rosalind, wishes to express her admiration and requests the pleasure of your company.
[ silently, she mouths— ] Sorry.
II. DUNGEON CRAWL
[ the catacombs are already so dark as to be nearly impossible to navigate, but it isn't until the only torch in the area is snuffed out that the corridors become truly lightless. whether your character reacts, or speaks, or moves to create a new source of light, it's at this point that Ruby interrupts in a soft voice: ]
Ah — w-wait, I can see. Or, at least, I know what's around us.
[ because Dark affinity + Wanderers Guild = Blindsight, baby. her choice of Guild is already paying off in a way that she can actually use. ]
If you hold out your hand, I think I can lead you. [ a pause. she adds, hurriedly: ] If that's alright with you. I mean—I just thought, it might be better not to give ourselves away with a light source...
[ did you run into Ruby around the city? no the hell you didn't! ♡
which is to say—even those who are quite familiar with Rudbeckia, whether from their new-old memories or from time spent with the real thing, will find her very difficult to pin down in the realm of Crane City. if you make eye contact with her, she'll flash you a vague, somewhat pained smile before she hurries away. if you call out to her, she never seems to hear you. this might be especially strange if you've recently spent time with her in the realm of Duocaeli, where she is her usual chipper and friendly self... ]
[ the ever-elusive Rudbeckia Amato can be caught, finally—because she's right there, crouched on a street corner and doubled over with her face pressed into her knees. this mysterious posture has an audio component, as you draw near, which is an explosive sigh followed by a pained groan. ]
Ugh... Come on, get up. It's not that far to Dodo House...
IV. COLLISION
[ maybe you catch her far more accidentally. the client that Ruby is stuck delivering a condolence package to is in fact the recipient of packages, plural. with everything loaded into these generous packages, they're hardly small, and it isn't easy to carry four of them at once—inevitably, distracted by one of the boxes slipping out of her precarious stack, she gets into a crash: you, Rudbeckia, and several deliveries. ]
Sorry! Sorry, that was my fault. [ or were you the one who ran into her? well, she says this regardless of whose fault it actually was. scrambling to pick up her scattered parcels, she continues to babble nervously: ] I'm really sorry about that. I'll just, um—
[ are you a stranger, or someone familiar to her? it doesn't matter, actually, because she won't raise her head to look at you. ]
[ i didn't have a plotting comment because i'm Very Very Late but you're welcome to throw any sort of wildcard prompts at me, or feel free to hit me up at
overload
At first, he wasn't sure if it was a person hunched over or a bundle of packages sitting stacked on the corner of the road. Whatever phone call he was on had been quickly ended (having to maintain the airs of being a
Yakuza bossbusinessman was so tiring) in favor of investigating this strange trick of the eye.A short jog later, Kaito's realized that this is no optical illusion, but instead his ex-wife-to-be (is that the proper term?), also from his carefully-crafted false life. He only really recognizes her by the sound of her voice as she frets.
Stepping around to her front (but not too close), he squats down to her level and spends 5.478 more seconds than necessary thinking about how best to get her attention before clearing his throat. ]
Hi, Ruby.
Do you need a hand?
no subject
[ as she says it, her head jerks up so quickly with a tense, appeasing smile that she loses her balance and falls back on her ass with a little oof! but no real harm. now that Kaito can see Rudbeckia's face, there's an unhealthy pallor to her and dark circles under her eyes; now that she can see his face, her expression falls with surprise and she blinks at him a few times. ]
Oh... Signore, you're here too?
no subject
[ Half snark, half joke. Either way, Kaito leans over to follow the trajectory she fell in. Gloved hands reach out towards the blonde. ]
C'mon now, grab on. You look like you could use some rest.
Where do you need to be?
no subject
[ there are two different instincts that come to her mind, looking up at him—a sort of double vision where her memories overlap. they hadn't been close in the Netherworld. he'd treated her kindly out of pity, presumably, and she had been wary of him. those memories, the real ones, tell her to accept his assistance with a pathetic gratitude, make herself out to be a damsel but retreat before she can become burdensome.
the memory of Kaito Nagano, her ex-fiancé, has her wanting to reject his hand entirely and excuse herself from this encounter. her family used her as bait, after all, and yanked it away at the last second, the way they always do; he must resent her, so she should try not to get involved with him ever again. it's better for both of them that way. except that she doesn't want to do that, she needs to hang on to any connections she has from Stygia because she can't start from scratch, and those memories aren't even real.
Ugh, you're making this way harder for me, Ruby. ]
Thank you, Signor Kaito. [ she does take his hands, using him for support to balance herself as she gets to her feet. ] I-I was just on my way back to Dodo House, that's all. I'm sorry, this is so embarrassing...
on world- around town
Not wanting to be the reason this young woman may have it any harder on herself, Machina accepts the gift. ] I see... [ He keeps his tone even, although the corners of his lips curve down. ]
...And where is your princess?
SORRY THIS IS SO LATE i moved house the past week.......
[ no discontent or resentment shows on Rudbeckia's expression, but she does seem nervous, standing in front of him. she's mulling over the fact that he looks displeased. she can't blame him, but—is he going to go and confront the princess? there's no doubt the princess will blame Ruby's poor approach for the failure, if he does tell her off. how can she convince him not to... ]
Um. [ her slowly rising anxiety seems to spill over, and she blurts out: ] Are you angry? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause you trouble.
no subject
Best to not make things more difficult for her!! ]
Guess you can say I'm more worried about making her highness upset.
no subject
I-It's okay! [ she brightens at the assurance that he isn't angry with her, and laughs off his concern, looking cheerful if somewhat sheepish. ] I'm sure she'll move on...
[ from what Ruby has seen so far, some of the princesses might have bad personalities, but none of them are actively hostile or harmful. these are inconsequential NPCS, set dressing more than anything, so it seems like they can't significantly obstruct the PCs. when considering the long-term, the one that she should focus on appeasing is— ]
I could tell her that you're busy? There's a lot going on, so she can't be too upset with that.
no subject
What's her name again? Rosalina? [ (No, it was Rosalind but who's checking--)
Lowering his hand from his head, he straightens his posture, smoothing out an imaginary wrinkle of his coat. ] I'll be right back.
[ And there he goes, off to decline the princess! ]