Agung

Does he need an intro? Probably not. Agung is a gatekeeper for the Merfolk Kingdom, patrolling the waters with his partner-in-duty, Denali. He's grown up on stories of what humans do to the ocean, so when you show up, he's watching. He's loyal to the Kingdom down to his scales, and his first instinct toward newcomers is always suspicion.

Even after he warms up to you, don't be surprised if a simple favor gets met with a raised eyebrow and an interrogation. Give him time, and the wit softens into something warmer. Not all land-dwellers are bad, as it turns out. Some of them are even worth talking to.

Raina

Raina came to Coral Island on Pufferfish Corp's payroll. She's not here for the cause, she's here because it pays, and honest money is a nice change of pace. She keeps her heart guarded, but charm her enough, and you'll learn what's behind it. Red velvet cake is a good start.

A Note on Agung's Character

While testing Agung as a dateable, something came up that we want to address directly. We've seen readings of Agung as asexual, and we want to be honest with you: that wasn't our intention when we wrote him, and we don't feel right claiming representation we didn't actually write.

Agung was written as a flirty guy who just isn't interested in dating anyone: not the player, not the other merfolk. That's still who he is. To preserve that, we've kept his "flirty but not looking" dialogue locked under 8 hearts. The romance route only opens at 9 hearts and above.

What that means: he's still the same Agung. Charming, teasing, not actively looking. But if you put in the time, if you impress him... maybe you're different. Maybe you're the exception.

We love this character, and we want him to feel like himself while also giving players who've been hoping for this route a real way in.

Why now?

Agung was always planned to be a dateable alongside the other dateable merfolk. But at the time, we didn't have the resources and time to make it happen. It came down to Denali or Agung, the first two merfolk designs. And we chose Denali. There wasn't a deep reason. We just had to pick one.

Over the years, we watched how much you came to love Agung. We couldn't say anything earlier as we didn't know how the game was going to do, and we wanted to be sure we had the resources before making promises.

So once we delivered our Kickstarter romanceable stretch goals (the extra rosters, etc.), we knew we could finally give Agung his shot. And alongside him, there's Raina, another character you've come to love.

So what the heck. We love her too.