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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[the tap of the lance draws her attention to it, and she thinks about it. yeah, it'll probably hurt. but she also feels fairly sure she won't die. she's not sure whether it's memories of trust and belief that sit in the back of her mind, knowing that this is someone she considered a protector, almost family - but she figures she can share something.]

There's something written into my body that'll always work to heal me, increment by increment, to keep me alive. It's probably slower now, since all my powers are dampened... but you probably couldn't kill me if you tried.

[it's a mix of that regular rin confidence, and disclosing something just a little bit more important. the tohsaka magic crest won't let its charge die so easily.

the little girl that sylvain looked after when they were growing up didn't have anything like that, troublesome as her childhood was.]

Our princess probably isn't as tough as I am, though, so it should be fine.

[she's not afraid of a little pain, not when there's been so many times she's laid her life down for the sake of a fight she never even believed in.]

[ he regards rin for a quiet moment, the diamond looped around her neck. she reminds him of someone, or perhaps merely of another implanted memory of a headstrong child in red ribbons and pigtails. a girl who he remembers has always been brave, not for an absence of fear but the ability to move forward despite it. a girl who's always done her best to carry herself in a self-possessed manner, like she does now.

(he wants to feel proud of her, but... that doesn't seem quite right.) he shakes his head instead and smiles wryly. ]

'f course you do. [ possess some sort of crazy magic that'll keep her alive. what does she even need it for? she's only a kid. (though he supposes his classmates were her age when war broke loose.) ]

...Good thing this eyesore [ the relic ] doesn't pack much of a punch anymore, either.

[ it doesn't make him feel any better about this arrangement, though. he's not really sure what exactly he's feeling—there's a sense of guilt, but also necessity. ]

So. You ready?

[ he'll make it as swift as possible, a stab through the side of her torso, missing any vitals but by no means painless. ]

[it definitely doesn't seem like it'd be an instantaneous kill - but who's she to say? magical items can always be surprisingly misleading. even her gems, so mundane in the hands of most, can be awfully destructive when she's the one wielding them.

but instead of reaching for them, she'll just place her hands on her hips. no obstruction, no fighting back. her expression becomes so carefully curated, obscuring any signs of hesitation or fear - if she had any to begin with.

to be harmed by someone she once regarded dear... at least give her a new trauma, dungeon. so with an overconfidence that she makes sure she feels, she nods at him before raising a brow in challenge.]

Whenever you are. Don't hesitate - it'll only be more of a pain.

[prolonging suffering would be cruel - well, more cruel.]

[ hah. she tells him not to hesitate, but he's already been biding his time. it's not like he wants to hurt her, and, finally out of conversation, he almost second-guesses his—their decision.

he's never cared about saving face in front of others, but with rin? maybe he'd like to try, for reasons he can't explain. even a fake memory can inspire emotional attachment, a feeling of indebtedness.

but in the end, there's no right answer to this dilemma. punishing rin for someone else's crimes can hardly be called justice, and yet avoiding it would just be cowardice, the way he sees it. he reminds himself that between the two girls, only one of them will die from this blow.

well, there's nothing more to say, so he faces her and drives the lance through its mark. it's a clean strike, or as clean as he can make it given the shape of his weapon. by the time he pulls the spear back he's already stepping forward to catch her. ]

1.0 game launch log

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