Design Notes

June 06, 2013

Rumors of the Warrior Women

Dage's Scorn Saga 1: The Femme Fatalities!

All right, all right, settle down now and take a knee. Grandad’s gonna tell you young’uns a story, so sit down and shut up. Especially you, Alfred. I’ve got my eye on you. Now this story isn’t gonna be like the other ones that I tell. That’s ‘cause this one is true. Or as close to truth as you can get from rumors and hearsay and what not.

You might not think it to look at me now, but I used to be young too. I grew up in Lolosia. My father was a sailor, as was his father, and his father’s father. Sailin’ is in your blood.

Anyhow, living in a port town, you hear plenty of rumors and other bric-a-brac from all around Lore. We got all sorts of tales. Sea creatures from the black depths of the oceans, big as islands, or lands across the sea with grown men and women no taller than your pinkie finger.

These stories are told with loud, boisterous voices in the seaside taverns and inns. These stories are told when a man, or woman for that matter, wants to bring up the mood in the inn. That’s how you know that they’re lies. The true tales are told when the wind is high, and the thunderstorms roll into the coast.

On those black nights, when sailors huddle together with their shipmates around the inn’s fireplace, they speak in hushed tones of the dangers and mysteries at sea. They speak of the Isle of Fotia.

No, Albert, you can’t ask questions, Grandad’s talkin’. Now, where was I? Ah yes. Fotia.

Not a lot of people talk about Fotia. There’s a good reason for that. No one who has sailed close to the Island has ever returned. The Isle is populated only by women, to hear the sailors tell it. Unlike island-sized sea monsters or pygmies, no one could deny the many disappearances of ships around that area for no apparent reason.

But that’s not the strangest thing. Only ships without a woman on board disappear in the waters around Fotia. Actually I –

Alfred, so help me... if you interrupt me one more time... No! No! I don’t care if you have to go to the bathroom, I’m telling a story. You know what? Fine. You’re adopted. There, bet that makes goin’ to the bathroom a whole lot less important, huh?

Ahem. As I was saying before I was cut off, I actually have a little somethin’ that isn’t rumor. One morning, my father didn’t return from his usual merchant run. My mom and I waited for days, but there was no word of him, until, six days later, my father’s ship drifted onto the shore. It was a miracle the thing was still floating. The hull was riddled with holes. The sails were torn to shreds. It looked like it was attacked by a dragon.

No one was on board except my father’s first mate, who we found hiding in the cargo hold, gibbering like a lunatic. His responses to our questions were more or less unintelligible gobbledy-gook, until we asked who had done this. It was his only lucid answer. He whispered it at first, his voice rising with each repetition of the name until he was screaming it without pause or restraint. Femme Fatalities. Femme Fatalities. Femme Fatalities.

Alright, that’s Grandpa’s story. You kids should go toddle off to bed now. And would someone get Alfred to stop crying? He’s givin’ me a headache.

Hi! I'm Notsgnal, AQWorlds' newest writing intern and freelance henchman. I'll be helping out this Summer, and there's a good chance you'll see more story Design Notes from me!

We're on track for release tomorrow... unless the tornado blows the Lab off-course! But if it doesn't, you'll get the first release in the four-part Dage Scorned Saga! Reward previews and more news (like the gear for Dage's Artist Showcase shop) are coming in tomorrows Design Notes from Beleen!

June 04, 2013

All Eyes on Dage!

Featured Artist Shop, the Femme Fatalities Cult, and Quibble bids farewell

Happy Tuesday! Everyone knows I’m easily excited by the smallest of things: a free cup of coffee, a pretty pink balloon, hugs from my Artix coworkers, fortune cookies, and getting the last bottle of Propel Water (Strawberry Kiwi of course!).

But you know what makes me EVEN MORE excited?!

Tuesday’s Featured Artist Showcase Shop!

Every Tuesday, a new Artist takes the spotlight, showcasing their personal armors, weapons, helms, and other items using their unique artistic flair. Jemini was last week’s Featured Artist, filling her shop with Magical Anime armors and hairstyles.

Bright sparkles, happy faces, and magical alpacas tickled the fancy of thousands—but there is one boy who despises all of that. In fact, this particular guy has made a career out of the dark, devious, and demented: Dage the Evil!

And later this evening, Dage the Evil will unleash his personal stash of epic Undead Legion items for his devoted followers of Lore! All of Dage’s items will be RARE, and a good portion of them will be Member Only or require AdventureCoins.

The sole reason AQWorlds is able to release brand-new content EVERY WEEK is because of our wonderful Members and dedicated AdventureCoin buyers. Yaaaay! =D So if you want to support your favorite online adventure game, feed the friendly AQW team, AND get wickedly wicked Dage the Evil items,

Upgrade your Membership today

and

Get some AdventureCoins! 

I’ll post another Design Notes this afternoon highlighting everything coming in Dage’s Featured Artist Showcase Shop. Stay tuned!

But in the meantime…

Isle of Fotia & the Femme Fatalities

Off the southern coast of Lore is the fabled volcanic Isle of Fotia. The volcano on Fotia (coming from the Greek word meaning ‘fire’) is showing warning signs of erupting. Large tremors beneath the volcano are causing more and more lava to spew into the ocean below. A devastating eruption is bound to happen soon… which will wipe out all of Fotia and her inhabitants!

Fotia is home to an all female Cult known as the Femme Fatalities. Unfortunately, not much is known about this covert Cult or the island itself. Fotia is surrounded by treacherous water that only a Trireme (an ancient Greek boat) can navigate.

All my efforts to contact the Femme Fatalities have been in vain. Despite my many efforts using the Derp Pony Express, no one from the Cult has responded to any of my messages.

I did, however, speak with the pirates at Lolosia. Because of their vast knowledge of seafaring vessels, Elisa Keelhaul and her crew have started construction on a Trireme. Keelhaul’s crew believes that their Trireme will offer a safe voyage to the Isle of Fotia… but cannot guarantee safe passage once on the island.

Because I am a girl (surprise!), I have volunteered to travel to the Isle of Fotia on the Trireme. If I manage to make it, I will request an audience with the Femme Fatalities Cult Leader and gather as much information as I can.

Everyone on Twitter is abuzz with questions regarding the Femme Fatalities and their rumored hatred towards Dage the Evil. So long as I complete my mission—and don’t respawn back in Battleon if I fail—then everyone will soon have answers to the mysterious Isle of Fotia!

Toodles Quibble!

Everyone’s favorite traveling sales Moglin is packing up shop! Now is your last chance at getting Quibble’s Mirror Realm goodies (or baddies?) that will probably never be offered again. Eeeep!

Over 80 Rare items can be yours—but only until tomorrow! Once the sun sets over Lore tomorrow night, Quibble will leave Battleon, taking ALL his Rare items with him. So now is literally your last chance at scoring Quibble’s Mirror Realm item sets.

Log in now and get Quibble’s awesome loot!   

And stay tuned later today for more info about Dage the Evil’s Featured Artist Showcase Shop =D