duologs | 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.

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

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!

Nina is a talented assassin, and moreover, she's mad as hell. Basically a flurry of knives that lashes out from the dark corners of the room, she'll specifically target princesses.

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.

duocaeli

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[ help the way felix keeps pulling ]

Looks like someone's popular.

[ sylvain doesn't sound particularly jealous, at least. he just thinks it's all very entertaining... poor felix trying to do his job, and everyone (including sylvain) making it more difficult for him... ]

Need a hand?

[ he's out of hairpins to pass out, so he can stand to help his bestie carry a few shopping bags or ten... like damb these princesses really went all out ]

[he's siblings with itsuki so the slut gene is strong]

Do you have to use your gutter brain on everything you see? It's a job.

[the girls are making eyes emojis at sylvain, now, too. felix rolls his eyes, shakes his head.]

If you're really that keen to volunteer, then here.

[and starts unloading the bags off his arm to sylvain. and then...... more? apparently the pile behind him is ALSO what he's been watching out for?]

[ isaac noah fraldarius.......... ]

What, it can't be both? Clearly, they like you.

[ despite all the bags hanging off of him, a petite, pretty princess is trying to latch onto felix's arm as well, batting her curly eyelashes at him. a taller princess tugs at sylvain's sleeve, trying to get his attention, and he offers her a winning smile. ]

Sure, anything for ya—

Whoa. There's more? Did they buy out the entire market?

[ now he has a princess on each arm, and also several dozen shopping bags in between them. and maybe some nicely-wrapped packages precariously stacked in their hands, too. it really looks more like a clown show than a picture of chivalry. ]

Most of it.

[he's pointedly ignoring the first half of sylvain's comments, batting the princess away as he piles another box into sylvain's hands. the princess with her eyes on felix is undeterred, and wraps her arms around his upper arm as he does, tittering.

as he loops the remainder of the bags on to his forearms, the princess attached to him leans forward—and felix leans back smoothly, an entirely too-practiced motion.]

Help me get this to their airship, and we can be rid of them. Try not to make anything worse.

[the two girls making a sylvain sandwich are not making it easy for him to walk, though.]

[ sylvain sandwich... well, it's not always a bad thing to receive some positive attention from cute girls. though, he finds felix's widespread popularity far more amusing. maybe the princesses are so used to being handed everything on silver platters, that they enjoy the brusque treatment? (or maybe they're just really into the thigh-high and balloon sleeve combo... or maybe it's the Cool Sword(s) at his hip. felix might appreciate that, at least.) ]

Uh huh. And how exactly do you think I might make things worse?

[ u wound him... 🥺 ]

I'd say you'd best be careful not to leave a trail of broken hearts in your wake. [ (like he has in crane city) ] —Or shopping bags.

[ that's so many bags and they're all stuffed to critical mass. ]

...How far away is this airship anyway?

Don't make me spell it out.

[sylvain may have moved on slightly from his ho phase of youth, but he's still incorrigible, as far as felix is concerned. addicts are always backsliding.........

another bold princess leans towards felix, and he neatly sidesteps her advances, expression properly sour at the redhead's insinuations. the shopping bags sway gently on his arms as he picks up his pace a little more, still scowling.]

And that's the last thing I want to hear from you. No more talking. [with a jerk of his head, he indicates a shape on the near horizon, looming and lofted slightly in the sky.] There.

[the princesses are not giving up, though—the young, and young at heart tippy-tap after them, and it seems almost like the guard and princess situation has been role-reversed. felix pointedly ignores this, trying not to think too hard about the willful determination of his charges.]

[ felix isn't wrong... it's much better if he doesn't spell it out, because sylvain trusts he absolutely would, in brutal, exacting, and truthful detail.

and also he's not wrong. sylvain hasn't gotten any action in AGES (and then he DIED), so even if this is all supposedly a simulation he's definitely tempted by the thought of having a little... fun. it's not like the interest isn't reciprocated, he thinks, though he will say felix's air of unattainability works far better than whatever flirting sylvain might try to pull.

anyway! ]

I'm happy to keep mum if you'd prefer to chat up one of our lovely princesses instead.

[ wink-wonk. don't u see he's doing u a favor? he's giving felix an out from conversing with his gaggle of fans... (yeah... that's definitely what this is...) ]

Gotta wonder what being on an airship is like. [ pegasi and wyverns being the closest they have to air transpo back home... ]

[he shoots sylvain a Look, and huffs.]

I'm not interested in conversing with anyone. I just want this job to be over.

[although he's clearly made his choice—he's talking to sylvain again, and not any of his pursuants. he shift the straps of the bags on his wrists, and makes a disgruntled sound, just enough to betray (to sylvain, at least) his own muted struggles with this whole situation. he could probably stand to talk about things, talk about the attention, the memories, the on and off-world strangeness...

but instead, he just picks up the line of wondering sylvain is putting down.]

It can't be that different to a pegasus, except more... stable. [like a chaise lounge in the sky?] If you're that curious, ask them to take you on a joy ride.

[ sylvain is struggling himself with secondhand retail therapy, an absolutely astronomical amount of it, and yet when he sees felix waver even in the slightest he automatically moves over a step, as if he could possibly help him catch a stray bag or box should one fall. (this is false.) ]

Nuh-uh, what if they take off with me and I never see you again?

[ also patently false, he will eventually get booted off the server anyway. he then immediately changes tack– ]

...I bet they'd take us both if we asked nicely.

[ the princesses are all within earshot, of course, and nod fervently along with this suggestion. ]

[at sylvain's movement, he consciously catches and rights himself, turning away with all the airs of someone who never struggled in the first place. his boxes wobble, but his voice is even, disaffected.]

Don't be stupid. You wouldn't even last the day. They'd throw you overboard within the first hour.

[he does not look at sylvain as he says this, gazing off at some random shop in the middle distance, looking askance every time one of the princesses attempts to catch his eye. it was exhausting. he'd managed to stave off any chance of this happening for most of his life, leaving him ill-equipped to cope in a normal way.

the idea of it continuing on their royal barge seemed absolutely dismal.]

Pass. I've got better things to do. If you want me to join you anywhere, it should be training magic for this ludicrous place.

[the princesses seem to visibly wilt—but to their credit, are undeterred. some of them seem to be planning something, whispering back and forth to each other, tittering with excitement...]

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