Legends of the Red Mage

Whirlwind Month

2008-03-08T07:46:00.002-05:00

Well, for having been back almost a whole month now, it was a fun whirlwind. I will just touch on a few of the fun points. Once my HUGE set of downloads got done, I logged in and Zira and I partied a bit in Qufim, where I met up with Chieftobique, and finally got my TL pearl that I was gonna pickup from Valark a ways back. Did a few ZMs with some of their members, and got to see Munei before she vanished at the end of February. Only time doing anything with her ingame, ironically, though having read most of her LJ entries and such, seems like more, haha!

Chief (MNK), Dasheem(DRG), and I (SMN) staticed for a bit early on, got from around 21-31, and schedules went kinda haywire, along with much camping of Mee Deggi. Served to remind me that I should really camp some things too.

Joined another semi-static with Bigpapa, Elianna, and Hutman, and it has been fun times for me being Monk and Samurai again there. So much going on with RL right now with trying to move, work, etc, that I lose track of things. I know there was much more here, please forgive me if I missed it!

Back...

2008-02-12T00:50:00.000-05:00

Well, after being off the game around 9-10 months, I returned, and saw that some things are still the same, and some people I actually missed. So awwww to you all for being good people and such.

I'll try to get back into more writings at this time. Much thanks to Chieftobique and Dasheem for our fun static with SMN, MNK, and DRG while it lasted. Now...gotta go swipe Dash's DRG some more xp so he'll be caught back up, haha! Enjoying being finally able to be in TL, was supposed to meet up with Valark long ago before my vacation, but our times don't mesh too well. (Darn this 3rd shift job)

So hopefully I'll go back and finish that battle now, with a bit of the comedy that's happened in the game while I'm gone...sounds like a game plan.

Dust in the Wind - (Ch. 7)

2007-09-06T17:10:00.000-05:00

Battle Music! -- Joe Satriani - Crushing Day

Thankfully, that wasn't all, and I prayed fervently as my mind began to think of the best way to remedy the situation. Murmuring softly, the darkness heeded my call as sleep overcame the group of warriors, except for their leader. "Now THAT'S more like it, the odds go back to my favor now pal," I laughed, slipping Genbu's Shield onto my arm as I surrounded myself with shadowy clones from the shihei.

However, the creature merely transformed in front of my eyes, his golden eyes glowing as he assumed a much more serpent-like appearance. "Then I guess it'sssss time to reveal myself, messssssenger..for what messenger daresssss to seek out the god of darknesssssss and the desssssert?" His forked tongue flicked incessantly as he hissed out all the S sounds in each word, a habit that I found quite annoying...I already dislike snakes enough on their own before their combination with gods, dark magic, or any of that!

The battle begun, as he cast out a hand, and warped his followers...somewhere. I didn't have much time to ponder their destination, however, as his movement speed in the sand was ridiculously fast in serpent form, and it was all I could do to parry the first of his blows, and the second shredded one of my clones. Although my landing the Gravity spell helped slightly, his quickness was still superior to my own, as he dodged my crescent kick with a backhand swipe of my blade with a laugh, "Time for some of your own medicine, Aspir!" The darkness felt like a boiling acid ripping through my soul, as I felt my mana slipping away, and quickly...perhaps this truly was a god of Darkness.

But...darkness can't help you with THIS, I thought as I focused upon the winds to silence the creature. To my dismay, a forceful whip of a tail crashed into my chest, sending my flying over the sand and into a rock wall! I bounced off it, but as I went to stand, a medium boulder landed on my back, half-burying me into the desert itself. "Oh, that was SO un-graceful," I muttered, hating to waste my little precious mana on it, but inciting a thunderbolt to shatter the rock so that I could rise again.

Looking up, it had paused to begin to drain the remaining mana out of me, and with my health as low as it was, I decided I didn't have time to think, acting on pure instinct, my aura lighting up as time itself bent to my will, Cure IV remedying my injuries as Silence and Bind followed in near simultaneous succession before the serpent could react and approach. "Enough of this..." I closed my eyes but for a moment, feeling my mana replenish and my body grow weary, and marking a divine seal quickly on the ground, felt my body fully recover as I cast another Cure IV upon myself.

"Cheap parlor tricks are not the mark..." it laughed as it broke the hold of the silence, but that was all it managed before a powerful Flood washed it back into the tunnel. I spun around to see Eckardt and Val standing behind me. Eck tipped his Turban as I threw a refresh on him as well, and followed with a Thunder spell to the Creature, sparks cracking part of the wall down on him as well.

Val was the first to speak, "Titan told us what was going on, and of course we got here soon as we could...Could tell something was wrong just by the massive amounts of Antica stationed outside. Malu and some others from another realm are holding their own, but the ants don't seem to run out of reinforcements."

Eckardt added, "Of course, I also dropped that note to Doc, and he's 'rallying the troops' again, so I suspect there will be a genocide of Antica happening shortly, but for now, uhhh...that thing doesn't look to happy, and it just picked up that huge boulder that fell on it. What are we fighting, anyway?"

I could only smile at my old friends, "The god of desert and darkness, apparantly. Sutekh, the one from the South. I hope the others get here soon. Val, watch those blades of his, they have some hellacious effects on them," I chided, giving her the blessing of Protect and Shell, while my Phalanx II wrapped her in its holy protection. "Just like old times," I said softly, time returning to its own flow around me after hasting the entire group and quaffing a Hi-Ether.

Southern Winds (Ch. 6)

2007-09-01T21:28:00.000-05:00

Soundtrack – Breaking Benjamin - Blow Me Away

I teleported out to the heated sands of Altepa, a deserted wasteland that was a far cry from the lush wilderness and harmony that once prospered there. It was now full of dunes and the underground communities of the Antica. I tried speaking with some of the nomad tribes about the Sutekh warriors, but they were all extremely tight-lipped and wouldn't even mention a general direction. They looked panicked as if an arrow might fly out of nowhere to silence them were they to even attempt to speak to me.

It wasn’t long before I’d exhausted my options seeking information from them so I rode out from Rabao, and headed to see one of the Terrestrial Avatars, Lord Titan, guardian of the earth element. Now, one thing you will learn about Titan is that he doesn’t like to wear clothes much…and walks around in an insipid thong that really inspires me to cast a Blind spell upon myself!

As I approached the large crystal where the avatar slumbered, I couldn’t help but notice the shadows that seemed to slip along the walls, and the shiver that ran up my spine. Something was near. Something POWERFUL. As I murmured to refresh my armor, the creatures emerged around me, powerful figures that appeared to be a fusion of Hume and Scorpion! One in particular stood out, wielding a pair of gleaming scimitars, one with emerald inlay, and one with black pearl. Instinctively, I knew this had to be one of the Sutekh warriors, who'd probably found out from the nomads that I was looking for them. Joy. Always good to be on your own turf, right?

His aura was cloaked in a dark shield, and it was then I realized that the only way out was through all of them. The odds of one on 5 didn't exactly look promising once I felt the power emanating from the black pearl in the hilt sear into my aura, melting away my stoneskin; the armor of the winds abandoned me as well, but I realized it just in time for me to spin and parry the blow from the other blade with my own. Not too bad, I thought to myself, as the other creatures closed in as well...

Balance and Love (Ch. 5)

2007-09-01T21:11:00.000-05:00

Soundtrack - Alicia Keys - A Woman's Worth

Returning to the realm of the Wind Goddess, I gathered my belongings and prepared for what could be a long time away from home. I spoke with my friends and family and let them know that I was being summoned away. They seemed to understand, but I knew at that point there was much more I needed to learn before I could even consider revealing the whole story.

A convenient portal was waiting for me in the Metalworks, where Master Engineer Cid placed a hand on my shoulder. "Guan, you've got a journey before you that I would've hated when I was your age. Better you than me, son." I couldn't help but laugh and smile at the man, who had done so very much for the city of Bastok, and wonder how exactly he seemed to know everything that was going on regardless of where it happened.

"I need to get your spy network, Cid-sama. I am never unimpressed by the span of your influence." We shared a knowing glance, and he watched as the portal began to envelop me.

"May Death find you well, Guan." The familiar salute brought his hand to his chest as a Bastokan send off.

"And return my body to my homeland," came my reply, returning the salute as I vanished from the realm of the Wind Goddess again, appearing on an elegant windswept plain...that was devoid of a breeze. "Irony," I thought to myself as I headed toward the direction that I was naturally drawn.

The palace shimmered where it stood, like a crystal and hematite spell, inlaid with marble flooring. I was almost afraid to touch it for fear of breaking something and having the walls come crashing down around me. Hematite wasn't really known for its durability, you know! I'tedaal waited there, elegant in her strapless ice blue gown, stark contrast to the colors of the room. "Welcome Guan, I am going to keep this short and to the point, just your style." Her smile seemed gentle, but I noted there was almost a malice behind her soft petaled lips.

Before I could ponder what that bitterness might coming from, she continued, "Love is a vicious and jealous mistress. She will not see her own flaws before she passes an unfair judgment to those with her; when she does realize these same flaws, she will find ways that they are justified. She has been twisted by the darkness of the society and has become somewhat of a project for it to lead astray. She is like a fallen avatar in a sense, that the elemental messengers have been unable to reconcile with her natural way of being. This job now falls upon you since you have accepted the mission assigned to you from the universe."

I nodded, "It doesn't sound that bad really, does it? I help people, set the elements right, and make love pure once again in the world." No, it didn't sound bad at all...but it sounded like something I was totally unqualified to do. Even my will and power wasn't strong enough to overcome all the darkness of the realms, if it had corrupted Love herself, I worried. Dealing with the Shadow Lord, Kirin, or even Hydra was one thing...but this was a beast that couldn't be harmed by blade or spell, nor even debuffed. Confronting it directly would be like standing in front of a charging Behemoth and just seeing how much impact it would make. Not the brightest of ideas.

I'tedaal smiled, and before I even blinked she was right beside me; her voice had a venomous edge to it that compelled me to be silent and listen motionlessly, "Know that everything you come to care for, she will smile as it is lost to you, Guan. This is her revelry in the darkness, where Love has made her domain. If you take this path, you will find pain. A crystal is held by the warriors of Sutekh in the lands of Altepa, a place I understand you are quite familiar with. Go there first, and I will only warn you this once, Guan Kim. Shield your heart, lest it be wrenched painfully from your chest."

How Destiny Dreams (Ch. 4)

2007-09-01T20:58:00.000-05:00

Soundbytes: Three Days Grace - Wake Up

Keeping my Joyeuse at my side, I nodded. “Quite kind of you actually. Thank you muchly.” Something is wrong with this picture, I thought to myself. Most often, I could estimate an opponent’s skills and feel their power with a look in their eyes, but this being was impossible to gauge!

“I’m I'tedaal, Keeper of Balance.” As black silken locks fell from under the helm, the voice softened as well to a soft feminine tone, “And that would make you Guan, who is about to travel to the realms of Vana'wrap." She put away the scythe and smiled, though there was something deeper to it. It wasn't a welcoming smile or a greeting, it was a knowing smile. TOO knowing.

"Vana...'wrap? I think you fell on those lovely dark tresses of yours, dear, this is Vana'DIEL, and well, I'm already here, so no need to get further here." I smiled in return, and guided my blade back to my side as well. "But anyway, I'..Ite...m'lady. What does you being a keeper of balance have to do with the urge to swing that farming tool towards my head?" I suddenly had a not-so-random craving for a chicken crunch wrap from Taco Bell. Gee, wonder where that came from...

"It means that I'm here as a messenger of the One, the master of the universe."

"He-Man!?!"

"No, you moron, the being who created all that is."

"Oh, you're preaching that Altana and Promathia theory again...?" I sighed...apparently I didn't pay the priests well enough, or else I'd committed some sort of unspeakable sin.

She suddenly laughed out of nowhere, the lilt carried across the mountains and I wondered if that was her meaning of balance...anger then peace, spite then compassion, hate then love. "Ah my dear boy, they are but young ones compared to the One. They're my children, nothing like what you'll be working with now."

"Maybe sane then psycho should be added to that list," I thought. I nodded, and bowed to the crazy person, "Then I think I should really be getting to work, take care, and see you again!" With that, I quickly cast warp, and found myself in front of a very familiar Mog House. "Enough insanity for the day...time to get a nap before heading up to duel Byakko and Kirin," I mused, heading inside to rest.

"Welcome to your Mog House, kupo!" The chipper moogle beamed at me.

"Any new deliveries, Kapo? You wouldn't believe the weird event that just happened," I started to explain, reaching to grab my reraise earrings from the locker where I'd left them. "And do you know what I did with my earrings, I could've sworn I left them in the locker yesterday."

"Yesterday, kupo? This is the first time you've been here, Master. I was about to explain how Mog Houses work to you." The moogle's antenna drooped as it seemed confused. "And I'm not Kapo, I'm Kipipu."

Just as I was thinking it was going to be a long day, a voice spoke inside my mind. "You may not have believed I'tedi...I'tedo... the Keeper of Balance, but maybe you'll believe me. I was the jar of marmalade that spoke to you earlier today as well."

"Damn you tasted good, hate I dropped you, sorry about that." I threw away the thought of a crunchwrap in hopes of a marmalade sandwich now.

"No..I wasn't the..." The One sighed, "Never mind. What's important is that you are to be my messenger of Love. And no, you won't have a specialty like some of the other messengers, because love needs to be able to adapt to the person it needs to help. You could be all things, you just have to prepare yourself. That is why we wanted to choose a red mage."

"So you drag me off here to randomly go around finding people and helping them live happily ever after or something?? That is mighty cliche of you."

"We offer a good benefits package?"

"Oh, for feck's sake..."

"I'm KIDDING, you know, haha? Gods can joke too you know, just ask Genbu."

"You sure you didn't mean BE a joke?"

"Well, you have a point. However, my point is that you're not just to make them live happily ever after. Sometimes you'll have to do the harder things, like help them deal with reality when all they want to do is hide away. You have to know TRUE love. To be kind is sometimes to be harsh. Such why I sent... Balance to speak with you. This is a step beyond the destiny I created for you, if you will accept it. Love is dying, her last messenger fell to the deceptions and mistrusts, and no others would step forward. Will you help her?"

I sighed, sensing the desperate times in the world, and merely nodded my head. Alright, look, what do you expect me to do when the one who created the one who created the ones who created us asks for help in keeping the world together? Love isn't such a bad thing, maybe I'd even find it for myself one day.

Dreams of Destiny (Ch. 3)

2007-08-27T02:17:00.000-05:00

Your soundtrack: Destiny - Stratoverius (Probably misspelled)

The cool mist wrapped around me like a velvet glove as I tussled with my cloak in my sleep. Something was wrong, the dreams didn't stop, even when I woke...

"Guan, you have to go, this is your destiny, stop trying to hide from the truth and listen to me!" Was this a turtle that was talking to me now? Geez, maybe I needed a doctor...or just to hit myself. Too much revelry apparently makes Guan a very confused person. I was still dreaming, must've killed the alarm again. Damn those easy to cast thunder spells. I sighed, rolling out of bed and heading to the locker to pull something out for breakfast. Hmmmm, cranberry marmalade with some bagels, sounds like a plan.

"A much better plan would be to go to the shrine and pay attention," said the jar of marmalade, which I promptly dropped, and it shattered on the floor, much to my moogle, Kaporegi's, chagrin. "See, you won't be making sense until you resolve this, you know what you need to do."

As Kapo looked at me questioningly, I simply asked, "I suppose you didn't hear that, did you?" The poor moogle shook his head, and I nodded, turning and heading back to my room, "If I'm not back in a week, let the Warriors know that I might not be returning for me, and feel free to distribute my things."

"But Master, you can't just leave that way, they need your help to train!" Kapo was always so sensible and energetic, and I admit was a reason I was able to maintain my sanity in the recent weeks that this had been going on.

"Tell Masters Kenshin and Doc what is going on. I'm sure that they'll probably know more about it than I do, but I'm going to this mystic shrine now...we'll see what happens from there." I bowed my head to my old friend, and vanished into the thick darkness that enveloped my room. The only beacon from within - a small solitary flame of a crimson cinnamon-scented candle that Tess gave me long ago, and that I used for meditation. I sat on my zabuton and breathed in deeply, focusing my spirit towards its origins, and traveled.

I ducked to the side just in time to save the feather from being sliced off my hat by a scythe's swing intended to decapitate me. "Ah, lucky for me Dark Knights can't aim worth a damn." Of course, I was in such a rush to move I didn't have buffs cast, "Very bad RDM form," I thought to myself, and cast Gravity on the being, my Auster's Staff coming easily into my hands as I unleashed the spell and dashed back out of its range and adding the barrage of armors that I'd studied, and a Barsilence just for good measure while listening to the speech with pretty much disinterest. The typical I'm so-and-so and I'm here to kill you had gotten old by this part, but when I tuned back in, fully buffed, I hear:

"That would imply you think me a simple Dark Knight. I'm a composite, just like you are, Guan." A small smile seemed to come to the creature's face, though it was mostly shadowed by helm and armor. "Do you want me to repeat it for you now that you're paying attention?"

The Tale of the Heart's Blood (Ch. 2)

2007-08-23T01:45:00.000-05:00

And the soundtrack for today's story -- Nightwish - Ever Dream

This is when I met Tessah, who to this day remains one of very few women that come hell or high water, if she needed me, I would drop what I was doing and teleport to her aid without question of my own welfare, no shove from the One needed. She brought a fresh perspective of life to me, and let me see that just perhaps, the One above really does know what they're doing. Faith wasn't something meant to be tossed away at a whim, especially when one has already seen the truth of the matter. That was why she had taken up the path of the healer. Later, the avatars spoke to her and she surpassed all her limits as a summoner before embarking the way of the Corsair, which is where we reunited for a while, joining together for a powerful refreshing combination to parties with COR & RDM through the higher levels of battle. Now that our times have shifted again, I still miss her from time to time, like when you look over your shoulder expecting to see a shadow but find nothing, there is a hollow in my heart that I have come to accept there, in lieu of the pain one might expect.

During my journies, I think the One decided to show me another shard of light when I met Vally. She's a tall Elvaan with bright sparkling eyes, silver hair, and a smile that I swear is everpresent. Always a cheerful word, and one of the most selfless people that I've ever met. I try to dig up things that she would enjoy and volunteer to do them, since it's rare for her to ask for anything for herself. I think my times with her have been a personal meditative solitude in a way, just a sense of peacefulness that I've never known before. I'm just glad she shared her heart with me these times, and allowed my song to borrow her grace. And now...times changed again, and we rarely get to see each other anymore, another hollow to absorb the pain that refuses to exist.

I could spin you tales of the people I've met, the hearts I've seen, the deceptions that I've witnessed both of self and others... Ultimately, it would all boil down to just a being trying to make the right decisions, knowing that there are people in need, and being willing to change and go with that feeling wherever it may summon him. But somewhere in this spiraling tale lies the center of me, and that, dear reader, is the path we now travel.

From the beginning... (Ch. 1)

2007-08-20T05:37:00.000-05:00

((As some of you know, i have been slowly working on a bit of a story with themes of the character, and various people I've met in the game. During my absence from the game, however long it may end up being, I'll just put up a few of these, and maybe it will get me back on track writing...Meanwhile, hopefully this offer incoming for the house will let me pack up and vanish finally ^^;))

For your read-along theme music -- Nightwish - Dead to the World

This tale begins with a young child born to a couple with no love for one another, and the child seemed to be the culmination of their distrust, despite the passions between them, they couldn't agree on anything, and didn't want any evidence as to why they should be bound by law to remain. From this, I came forth, known by some as the Century Child, to others as the Universal Messenger, or Guankim. But to many it is simply Love. After my abandonment, I grew with the Galka of Altepa who had foreseen my coming, as well as the impending takeover of their homeland, but raised me as one of their own, teaching me the martial way of the monks. When the Antica invaded, we fought for a bit, but only to allow the others to complete the move to Bastok, and we soon followed suit, leaving behind the first place that we'd been able to call home.

The Humes we encountered there were very unreasonable, but in retrospect, we could see how they took that stance, with a pouring of new people into their city, surely it doesn't aid their economy and constraints of living that they'd been setup for. One of the ministers of something-or-other seemed to look at me like he remembered me and talking something about my parents. I decided never to take him up on his offer of seeking my ancestry, though he offered many times. Meeting people who would dump you off in a desert at four years old isn't exactly high on my priority list.

And besides, the Galkan Talekeeper has this uncanny ability to see the threads of fate connecting ones spirit with the world, and told me that mine was not one of a rebirth, but one of an eternal quest of redemption and emotion. I didn't understand this for a while, and closed myself off, as dead to the world as could be, studying my books and the arts of the monk.

I got the Magic Stick!

2007-07-16T05:58:00.001-05:00

And geez, that's an old reference to a funny song. But it suits my BLU well, just Bludgeoning things to oblivion. I went out partying with Eckardt and Verrick, planning to either find a party, or just trio RNG/NIN/BLU. So we rode out to Yhoator Jungle, and took on some mandragoras. We were probably SLIGHTLY underlevel with some 26's in the party, but I was being lazy and would rather just struggle a bit and then make it rather than have to move shortly after. And besides, it lets me get all spammy on my BLU spells to try to kill quicker, which in the beginning was slow going unless I had a good chunk of MP. Made me very wishful that I wasn't helping main heal with a BLM, but our SMN didn't want to main heal, just backup only. The BLM kinda took main healing so I could BLU spam into the Mandies, and I'd take over a bit to let him unleash a powerful spell too...it was crazy at first, but then it picked up up once we were all 27-28, got up to chain 4s I think...so I was content. Sadly at the end, I did my (now famous) move, and fell asleep. ((Long days just kick my arse, although at least this one wasn't after a double shift!))

Next night, I went hunting BLU spells as BLU/NIN. Perhaps BLU/WHM might've gone better, though. First Gigas I fought in Qufim seeking Grand Slam went down no problem. The second one...Well, it wasn't a monk mob, but damn if it didn't hit like one!!! Its Double Attack triggered five times in a row, and with only Ichi, I couldn't keep up. Tried to stun via Head Butt, but it missed both times, and interrupts baned, and alas, defeat ensued. A passing BLM/WHM dropped me a raise, and as I was healing up, Eck stopped by, and then, it was time for vengeance! Haha!

Fought another Gigas with Eck there to help out, and learned Grand Slam on the first try....too bad I didn't learn it on the FIRST first try, heh. But Eck mentions there are a couple others in the area we could get, so sure! Time to grab a couple others it was: Leapt into Lower Delkfutt's Tower and fought some bat triplets, from which I gleaned the knowledge of Jet Stream from the third bat also! Then it was time for some Dancing Weapons outside again along the bone ramp. They took a while more...I was feeling kinda like a slow stupid mage at that point, but finally deciphered the pattern to cast their Smite of Rage. Eck stayed a bit and helped me ding 30 since I was around 800 from it after the death, which let me equip the joy of Wild Carrot! So now the /WHM isn't as imperative, at least, and I can shadow and heal solo. I could really get addicted to this job, it's just insanely fun!

Also, Wights are squishy to Bludgeon, so if I need to catch up, that's my targets!

Spiraling sands

2007-07-12T04:18:00.000-05:00

((It's been a busy RL month, meaning less busy in the fun world of Vana'diel! Overtime is good for some things, though, so I can't complain TOO hard.))

Going to rummage through my memory bank here and see what we come up with...Last night, went and fought Garuda, and ended up with this spiffy dagger:
Now I need to fight her, Ramuh, and Fenrir to get their Evoker's Ring items and be done with that quest! And Fenrir maybe in the works next couple of days, dun dun DUN!

Got RNG up to level 29 now through a fun party at Yuhtunga Jungle (May upload some pics later if I remember), where I had the joy of partying with 4 SMNs and 1 BRD, and I basically pulled, and tried not to rip TOO much hate away from the Diaboloses and Shiva and Fenrirs that came about to play while I felt very....small! Thanks for Lorddocster, Fullen, Blueeyedbeauty, Fey, and Basara for having me. ^^ And I managed to almost use up all the arrows Verrick had given me, as well as all of my bullets. Yay for space, Boo for knowing I need to buy more, hehe!

Eck and I did a bit of partying with our duo of my BLU and his NIN, and then got a bit of XP back with RDM & BLM on princes for a while...and another day on pudding camp with a party. RDM/BRD is fun, but it's just busy!!!

I had the most fun in the game I'd had in a long time. Doing what, you ponder? Well, I went 31 SAM and Val brought her 30(?) BLM, and we duo'ed giants, bats, and whatever else up Delkfutt's tower way, then went out and hit Rolanberry fields for some more fun of the same lines! Now mind you, it wasn't uber experience or anything, but it was FUN!, the xp wasn't our top priority.

Assaults: Did some Assaults the other day on an off-chance shout from someone I can't remember their name, old friend of Jai's from GYS. Their name was SOMETHING like Itsuki or something. Eck probably has a s/s of it from doing Evade and Escape, and can comment and I'll change this paragraph later, haha!

My WHM static continued, with Kenshinshiro as SAM, Zirasharia as RDM, and three pickups per party, and got to almost 63. Did a bit of partying at the Valley of Sorrows along the way, as well as through the fun of the Ayd{tab} (lol, I can never spell that zone) fighting some of the crawler mobs, got a sapling mobs for S&Gs, though those buggers are NOT fun, and had a good time all around. would've moved, but since half the party was leaving in around 30m, we just finished up there and then left for the night.

I managed to get THF caught back up to static, and getting TH2 in the process. Ironically, I now should take it farming since i'm quite broke. Sounds like a plan to get it up again since I will probably miss next static night as well. ;;

PLD and WAR to 37 for max sub level...but that went down the sands of time some kinda way. One of these (I'm thinking WAR?) partied with Alcindor when he invited me to a party just after another group. That went rather well, quick enough to decline the other invite in a polite (cheesy) way without getting drama central, haha! I end up tanking as PLD (obviously) but also as WAR, so I think I merge the parties in the memory. The other one I partied with Kenshinshiro after getting to a point where my COR (33) wasn't enough kick-power to kill things without risking deaths, I changed to PLD to alleviate some of the pain our party was experiencing. Hopefully the sands don't cough more.

Sweet Dreams

2007-06-11T01:34:00.000-05:00

Recently, I've been traveling with Lorddocster, one of the fearless leaders of our LordsofHydra LS, a lot. LoH is affectionately known as the Starbucks of Garuda, for we cover everything imaginable with a different flavor of linkshell. Dynamis, Limbus, Salvage, Social...there's a shell for everything, and some great people in it. And when hanging with this group, there's always fun times to go around! So here we go on a short whirlwind tour of my past weeks.

A) We had a couple of LS members that I partied with my COR, and drug it up to 33. I'm seriously thinking of being the "purely support" COR from now on if I level, going COR/WHM, like I did to start out that party due to lacking healers. Those bullets are just too costly with my currently financial status. Sounds like I need to do lots more BCNM runs to get some funding going! Limbus = broke Guan, despite 30k prices. T.T That leads into the fact that

B) I Started doing Limbus, and where else? Right home with LoH. Of course. :P Had a nice first runthrough for me, no RDM af item drops, but we got the win and the Omega piece, so all was well ^^

C) The terrestrial avatar of dreams, Diabolos, had long been summoning me to see him, so we took a group to oblige. I knew Eck had been wanting a round with him as well, so I coaxed him away from his RDM party (I'm sure they hated me for stealing their refresher xD) to come BLM with us. Our setup? BLM/(RDM/WHM) x3, NIN/WAR, WHM/BLM, RDM/DRK. I was all hyper when this went down, as it was one of my first major chances to Chainspell Stun something into oblivion!!! And that's very much what happened. Talk about a breeze, no one got injured at all!!! The BLMs opened with AM2, and upon landing, I unleashed the chainspell stun barrage while everyone unloaded on the sleepy one, who didn't get a single move off that I could tell. I really felt like I was one of the key parts of that plan, it was such a good feeling being able to be that useful for a mission in totally nullifying some wicked effects rather than purely the support role a RDM usually takes.

D) Running about, hoping to start duo'ing BLM with someone there, it's currently at 47, and would like to duo at LEAST to 50 to get freeze, which would help a lot with being able to solo pet things BLM/NIN.

E) Now that Divine Might's out of the way, and I have a shiny new Suppanomimi, looking forward to heading on towards the Storms of Fate. Those sound like great fun, and I can't help but wonder if there will be a tie-in to those from the ToAU storyline like where RotZ and CoP merged for requirements.

F) Went to sky and helped grab some pop items and beat down a turtle god...He appeased us with a decent set of drops, Kabuto (Grats Fullen), Hands abj (Grats Lordesequiel), a shield, which I got to toy with now and tank RDM/BLM, hahahahaha!

G) Started working on a compilation story that's being told on various forums...when I get a few chapters into it, I may begin posting it on the blogs here as well.

One full month later...

2007-05-31T00:09:00.000-05:00

...but yes, I haven't died...well, twice knocked silly while running around as a samurai, mind you, but nay, I still exist. My times are quite...skittish recently, and between a combination of overtime and other menial tasks, the adventuring that I have been doing is quite little. So you get a small blog as well with basically a list of recap things that I don't have much time to describe. Gee, how kind to the journal I am, ne?

1) Went with LoH to kill for Diorite, later came to help kill Genbu and Kirin. Sadly, the other sky days, didn't get to go play with the other gods. ; ;
2) Got all jobs up to a minimum of level 20, a step on the mini-goal of clearing lower level gear from my MH clutter. Not being able to login at regular times really adds to the incentive of just grabbing a small job and soloing or going with a few friends, though.
3) Ran about getting Kazham keys for three people, which proved to be not as time-consuming as I remembered, even going RDM/WHM for the easy teleportation, there are a lot of new people joining Garuda, it makes for interesting times.
4) I was invited to a wedding! This should be great fun, Elianna and Bigpapa are having a traditional Tarutaru wedding, so in the meantime, I'm going to help with a Bachelor's party or something. Hmmm, but where to go for that...Seeing how Whitegate is lag central, unless the Hostel gets separated from that (ie instanced), not interested in that slow zone. Valkurm, perhaps.
5) Did some Hakutaku fighting, and realized that I need to adjust my mules and line things up, so I will probably have to take a whole day just to do that. My MH, ML, and ST are all cluttered. There's a new (at least to me) item called "9-Drawer Almirah" that gives 7 storage spaces each! That's almost double from the cabinet layout that I was using for mine. Maybe if I can gather enough of those for all my mules to have 80 storage, then I can adjust my own setup to assist more with Goldsmithing, a bit of lightning or Fire depending on what I'm crafting at the time.
6) Just last night, had a fun run of Assaults with the old GYS crew, so that brings me up to 10/25 for next promotion, I really haven't been doing those recently, shame on me, I know.
7) Tried to go skilling with Eck for old times' sake, but I fell asleep in the middle of fighting a Steelshell! ><; Orz, sorry about that Eck ><; Thanks for the D2 when you finished it off, I was dead to the world apparantly, thought I'd have an hour left in me with the aid of the drink, guess not.

So the chains were broken...

2007-05-07T06:28:00.000-05:00

...finally, after much delay, CoP was beaten for the time being with the defeat of Promathia, the Twilight God (Daddy!) with the aid of great friends from GYS, including Eckardt, who I'm proud to say, despite me poking him into CoP originally, finished the series ahead of me while I took a vacation, got his Tamas Ring! Being the friend that he is, he was one of a few who prodded me into getting mine complete, and came along to revisit CoP 8-3 and 8-4. However, just as the Red Mage is a Warrior Mystic, I do work on all jobs...as such, my choice differed when offered the choice of relics by the Cardinal: I chose the Rajas Ring:

But that is getting to the end before the details of the beginning, isn't it? Forgive the poor quality of my pictures, sometimes it's hard to take good shots while not actually holding the camera, you know? But I went back down memory lane to start pulling up pictures of a few of the members that mean so much to me, in particular the ones who kept reminding me to complete CoP and gave me the inspiration to continue on when our original static had split.

Eckardt: I remember dragging you to the earlier promies, and then CoP times diverged for us, but we met back up at mammets, I think, and from then on, you were the power within our static, and wanted to make sure that we both made it to the end, even when vacations and static splits tried to keep that from happening. I appreciate you for all that, and for always being true to your way of honor. Also, the duties of group photographer is something we all appreciate, even as I swipe that picture from your collection, as all mine of you came out rather blah >.>

Valynne: I can't think of words in the English language to describe the kindness and selflessness of this wonderful woman. Very atypical Elvaan from those you meet in general, always has the best interests of her friends before herself. Sadly my pictures were my no means optimal of Val, but updated today on 05/21/07, she donated me a picture from our run through 8-2 so I could have a much more modern version. You can still lend your grace to my song anyday, hon. Mamboleo? xD

The CoP static: Vitehite, Bryer, Anubahnnu (I repeatedly misspelled that :P), Azean, Toree, Mirrodin, Cerene, and all those who helped our core along the way. CoP is a daunting task as it is, but with a reliable core group, it makes it that much less daunting. Thank you all for being willing to endure through to the depths of the sea. A special thanks to Vite - your leadership and prior experience was invaluable, thanks for sharing your experience with us!

GraveyardShift LS: For helping the adopted one out with the final battles of CoP though you'd all completed it already. I appreciate it more than can be said through these simple words. Though my times have caused me to drift from your presence a lot, I'm still supporting you in spirit. Sumiko, Dahoman, Kaname, Keana, thanks for helping to shatter some pottery and save our realm yet again from the God of Twilight's rebirth.

Time has shifted around me now...and a large part of me feels lost in this land with which I am so familiar. Not the path around, but merely trying to find my place in this world again. Would seem like I would be more active, but right now, I think I'm still adjusting to the shift, been very tiring working out in the heat instead of the cool nights that I was used to having, haha!

As if ye didn't know!

2007-05-03T19:09:00.000-05:00

You scored as Red Mage. Red Mage. What are you? A black Mage? A White Mage? A Warrior? You can be all three! You can fight solo later in the game, and, yes you get the mighty pimp hat.

Red Mage - 100%

Black Mage - 75%

Paladin - 75%

White Mage - 72%

Bard - 59%

Summoner/Beastmaster - 59%

Ninja - 53%

Samurai - 47%

Ranger - 47%

Thief - 47%

Dragoon - 41%

Dark Knight - 38%

Warrior - 25%

Final Fantasy 11 Job

Created with QuizFarm.com

SMN/BST (combined WHY?!?)

Sword and Dagger

2007-04-19T15:03:00.000-05:00

Vacations are wonderful things, they allow you to take a breather from the hectic life Vana'diel throws upon you, and enjoy the beaches and mountains without the pressure to defeat any monsters along the paths. That being said, mine was wonderful, but now it's time for duty to return and for my own desires to take a backseat...well, at least partially, I admit I was actually looking forward to returning for more than one reason!

I didn't do much on getting back, just went out with GYS to do ... something? and then I split off to go skill with Verrick for a bit in The Boyhada Tree. Went RDM/NIN with his BRD/NIN and it was fun fighting the Steelshells there. Sword ended up at 239.3, and Dagger at 228.7. So, when he got sleepy, I decided to log there and use the next night for soloing towards finishing up my skilling goals for a while, and sure enough, surpassed the levels needed for Savage Blade and Evisceration.

Last night, I went to PL a friend in the dunes, and figured we'd go near where the Valkurm Emperor pops so I could finish out my 100 kills without getting the hairpin. >.> Eckardt came out after a bit (I think they did Assault first?), and after I was 0/1 invited me to a party and was like "Guess what I got?" and as I ran over, the emperor died again, and Ta-Da!!! Another insect wing. -.- That went very much like the other 1-98, keke. So we're still out camping and PL'ing, and Doc sends me a tell to see how long I'll be on, and I told him I'm gonna kill the 100th VE and then log for the night. So Veme kills the crab, and as I loop, I see VE in the NW corner, and Dia claim as there were a couple others hunting. Gravity on it, and I bring it back, where Eck and I proceed to poke it to death, and true to comic form... 1% = Empress Hairpin (1/100, FINALLY! hehe) And again a big thanks to Eck for being the photographer of history! Hehe.

First there is the capture of the 100th bug, and then, the irony of the item FINALLY dropping. It was a long affair, thanks for at least leaving me in your will, Empress :P

Not quite Red Bull, but it works!

2007-04-01T17:20:00.000-05:00

Yes, I have sky access now, and it is a nice zone, the floors intrigue me with the shining steps, though I guess it wasn't as "OMG what a cool place" since I've already seen the wonders of the sea, which is absolutely beautiful. That notwithstanding the sky has a lot of wonders to see! On LoH, our shell leader, Lorddocster (You may recall his mention a few times back), asked me if I was going to farm gods with them that night. You see, he's getting old, and his memory slips him that I still don't have access yet. So I reply, "Sorry, I'm unable to make it due to not having access, unless you're about to do a run?" And well, Doc mentions there's a certain monkey that needs access too (Snowape), and it's time to roll!

On that note, our adventure began...so I changed from where I was leveling my little puppet, as I got the little guy a RNG frame now... Bah, I'll jump topic for a moment for this -- I've been guiding Serenade along with the help of Malumake, a friend from GYS, whose hat fight we did just the other night as well, and was quite fun, actually. I have to send out my congrats to him, as he actually resurrected my interest in PUP, which I'd given up as a dead job prior to duoing with him a bit!

Ah, but back to the original topic, eh? Doc's favorite term came into play at that point, time to 'rally the troops!' And well, soon after that, we were on our way to the headstone fights with the following group: Snowape (NIN), Eckardt (BLM), Dwayna (WHM), Fullen (WAR), Nojoke (THF), and myself (RDM). All of the fights went down without a hitch, but Dwayna had to leave after the 2nd in Yuhtunga Jungle, and Eck after the last one, so I changed to WHM and did the tele thing. Much to my amusement, I changed back to RDM in Rabao for the run through the caves helping Snow get the non-NM fight ones, and conveniently didn't have a way to tele us to the next point. *coughoopsycough* So we warped back to HP (Mijin Gakure + Warp ftw), and I just stayed WHM/BLM through the other ones, teleing whenever he grabbed the headstone, and dropping him off at Vahzl before taking a moment to prep for the following rush of the events that would come.**

((**Note: By 'prep' I mean capture 3 SoBe No Fears, and cook some sausage, eggs, and grits. This time for LoH EU core was around 1PM, so for me it was getting started at 7AM before I'd been to sleep - ouch. This day, for the record, was one of 37 hours straight awakeness starting with a workday, but thankfully, the next was my one day off, so I said heck with it!))

Next up, a few ants...no biggie, elemental seal sleepga, and keep 'em napping while we picked them off one-by-one. First fight went smoothly, and when we did it again for Sly and Akira, it was smooth too until one part when I let Snow's Haste slip (yes, I got carried away over-debuffing), and the RNG woke up in time to feed him a EES while the shadows were down. Orz ><; I'm trying to get lolRDM to match my WHM? O.o Oy. But we finished them off, and Snow got an R3, and wasn't upset about it. I was, nonetheless....still am :P So then we have a fight that might ruin a bit of plot for you, but Vlacatocc, the Galkan BLM of Doooooom stepped up and joined us, lending some nuking might to our charge, and soon the foe fell flat and we realized who was running things behind the scenes.

We continued on, and come to the pots battle in QSC, where we buffed up, a pot spawned, I braced, knowing their magics, and....we quite literally broke it to tiny shards, and took the papyrus back to the Mithra. It was so much easier than I was expecting...and all because of the great group of friends that made the travel with me, thank you all! Ever time I step into the clouds, I will remember our travels. /bow

MAJOR THANKS: Lorddocster, Snowape, Eckardt, Fullen, Dwayna, Nojoke, Hewison, Slykoontz, Akiracobalt, Vlacatocc, Legos, and any others that I might have forgotten during that long night where I managed not to fall out from exhaustion during the run: THANK YOU! It was great fun farming, and glad we got a pop item on my first trip pretty quickly, that was a blast! :)

And to any of you kids out there looking to head to the clouds, just know this: It's a lot easier to fly than it is to descend to the depths of the waters! CoP > Zilart xD

Walk on the ocean...step on the shore...

2007-03-23T20:41:00.000-05:00

Sing with me! Gotta love Extreme! Well, as to CoP progress, all I can say is already explained here...And boy, did killing Omega and Ultima feel good!!! Go go RDM nuking, haha! And thanks to all who came: Eckardt, Vitehite, Azean, Mirrodin, Hediger, and our guest tanks, Giorgioarmani and of course, Victoriasecret! But that being said, of course that now leaves me to say even more, haha! Thank you Eck, for the wonderful pictures, truly you're the historian and photographer of our group! ((And the source of the screenshots that I'll abuse here without draining your server, heh!))

Well, the first run was...weird. Some kinda way, when the NIN had aggroed and was being healed, the WHM had drawn hate from them, and it rapidly spiraled downhill from there. Soon, the entire party was looking at a less-than-eventful view of the airship, and we chose to just be booted out of the BC at this point. ((Editing: Found out the aggro was due to healing MP by resting somewhat near the kiting.))

After raising up outside, we went in for a second bout, which went much better, but a beatdown by Omega halted that. We reraised and went into operation Burst, just for our amusement to realize that it had the Magic Shield up! I, for one, had a huge laugh at that, and we got up and Eck nuked it for spite and the CS begins, showing us with... 1 second remaining! ((And the apparant difference of lag from my machine to Eck's, he had 2... <.<)) No chance of beating Ultima there, I assure you! I popped a few hi-ethers out my tank, and passed the rest of my Yagudo drinks around, since we were low, and I just figured I would refresh only myself in case we got to that supposed point where MP would be scarce, and the RDM wouldn't have time to refresh the mages. Alrighty, now that we had a general idea of how things should flow, it went much better! Third time truly was the charm (Well, first non-dry run, haha!). Mammets went down quickly this time, as we had less MP and such remaining due to more nuking, and I was trying my damndest to avoid using Convert unless it was neccessitated. I was quite pleased that I didn't have to use it this section. On to Omega, who everyone did a great job on; we had, I think, something like 33 minutes remaining at this point? Oh yeah, much better than the dry runs. My job basically amounted to keeping the NIN and WAR hasted, which was ugh a bit at first, as I thought WHM was keeping the NIN hasted and I did the rest, oopsy! Oh well, once I realized that, we were fine the rest of the way, nearest I could tell. A bit awkward with my Haste cycle starting with the nin, but just did it every time I threw my refresh to make sure it stayed on, and pretty much was constantly casting some sort of Debuff on Omega! I converted about 1/2 way through, hoping it would be up again for Ultima, and I was appeased. :) Towards the end, I joined in on the nuking, and managed to pull off the murder of Omega!
Riding a high at the 22-ish minutes left for Ultima, we reupped our buffs, and charged forward through the CS into battle yet again! Ultima was pretty much the same strategy as Omega, and I should mention that Aspir is joyous for these, it's like a way that Eck and I would replenish our MP pools at his expense! Everyone did such a great job on these beasts that I actually kept a haste and refresh cycle for a majority of both battles, and only healed in fix-it spots when WHM needed a brief rest. Then of all the cheese --- I swiped the kill on Ultima too!

Enjoy the view, and we'll see you in sea! Which, ironically enough, I find myself to be in a small select few adventurers who have attained sea before attaining access to Sky. Well, ain't that something? Looks like I need to hurry up and fly! Zilart - Do you need it? Can I have it? lawl!

Lists of things and leaving stuff out

2007-03-20T20:53:00.000-05:00

Sections:
1) Hunting fails. 2) CoP slows. 3) THF flees. 4) Pointy Hat! 5) Other

1) I have a love/hate relationships with NMs. Some, like Mysticmaker or Morion, love me, and drop items well. The counter to this has recently been my bane, the Valkurm Emperor. You see, VE and I go waaaaaaay back to when I was leveling Ninja in Yuhtunga Jungle...and before the item drop was even the femme fatale version. He drops a hairpin. Sounds simple enough, right? And yet last night I have reached an astounding rate of 0/97 in achieving said hairpin. I decided if I went under 1% accuracy (aka, 0/100) that I was going to hang it up for that drop, and likely just level without it, until perhaps I can do the BCNM "Dropping Like Flies."

2) Haven't done much with CoP -- Not sure if it's from the lack of the static members, or from the difficulties some have had going through the Snoll. At this point, I don't know if our whole static is up to the Airship, or if we have to get some people through the Snoll Tzar still...so we'll see what's going on with that this week...

3) THF static went wonderfully well the other night: Lanoire (NIN), Alcindor (SAM), Zaria (DRG), Valynne (WHM), myself (THF) of the usual crew. (Sumiko had other static and thus wasn't in attendance) We brought Eckardt's WHM on as a 6th member, and headed out to the Crawler's Nest, where with two excellent WHMs (Go go Val & Eck), we were never in any danger of death, despite the horrible puller (me) who managed to get a few links through the night, including a set of crawlers before we had gotten Sleep available from the BLM subs. >.>;; But we handled everything smoothly, so I was quite joyful with how it turned out. Now maybe Noire and Alci will like dual WHMs next time! ^_~ Luv ya! Haha!

4) Much thanks go to Lorddocster and the Lords of Hyrda HNM crew - Fade, Legos, Fullen: Team Taliban ftw! and so many others I can't name them all, haha! We did quite a few runs of Hakutaku, and i now have some decent skillup gear when coupled with the Assault body piece I posted about a bit back!

5) I've recently been duoing my BLU with Eckardt's NIN, figuring I'll go up to about 27 and switch to take DRK on up to 37...however, having a 37 BLU sub might just be more useful for RDM than the Chainspell Stun...to have Chainspell Head Butt/Bludgeon. I'm not sure about that at the moment, it will take a bit more thinking on the matter before I decide if the setup is worth it, but going O Hat and high accuracy, it seems at the moment quite a viable option for Stun-nage as well.

Ahh, the plight of the poor...Sorta.

2007-03-05T19:51:00.000-05:00

It's been a long time since my last entry in my journal, but much of that time has been passed with my friend Eckardt, who takes much better pictures than I do, so I've been content to let him tell our tales recently. However, I recently got quite a windfall from an experience that I couldn't help but feel very n00bish on. Upon inquiring with Lorddocster about a few KSNMs, I got an Atropos Orb and a Lachesis Orb and headed down to the Waughroon Shrine to meet up with the LoH KSNM service. Did two runs, and ended up with a couple of D. Ingots from my first run, but in my haste ended up claiming the record as I forgot to let the BLMs have time to exit before I hit the chest. It was sad, the party message popped up right after I had clicked on the crate, and I had forgotten from reading on TT's report, I was just... ugh ><;; But with a drop like that, they weren't TOO ticked at me. I still felt bad about, geez. But anyway, that used up the majority of my KSes and brought in a decent bit of change, so I can get my gear back up to above par for RDM, and equip WAR a bit perhaps... We had a fun round of playing with the Feeler Antlion and its friends as we did a few Rostrum Pumps runs. Congratulations to everyone who got their pumps there!!! Hopefully this coming Saturday will be the Optical Hat run! Also almost got enough points for the Pahluwan Khazagand, which I think I'll pick up for skilling up my RDM, and when my THF gets to that level ^^ Looks like loads of fun and a cheaper skillup option than kicking out for a Scorpion Harness at this point.

The Dark Side Calls

2007-02-18T23:50:00.000-05:00

Well, after being a 'generally' nice guy for most of my career, I finally decided to let a little bit of that evil nature come to surface, and take out a bit of frustration and pent up wrath upon the beasts of Vana'diel. Things started out rather scarily upon a jaunt into Qufim to join a party, while at 18-20 (We had one 20, the RDM >.>) the leader wanted to take on crabs instead of my recommended wormy fiends! First battle, our BLM bit it as the PLD hadn't fully attained the fine arts of when to provoke and cure yet, it appeared. Alright, so we get a raise, and I mentioned AGAIN that we should fight worms instead...however, he pulls back another crab. This time, we have a beatdown session where the poor PLD bites it, and yes, the BLM was next, and well, suffice it to say that a soul-sucking weapon will save your life in that situation!

Anyway, someone had to go, and left abruptly, so I assumed leadership, and recruited a cool Beastmaster named Knugg into our ranks. He stayed with us the rest of the time, as we plowed through worms and crabs with the aid of Tigerlilly, a sweetheart I should've really mentioned before in this journal, a longtime friend of mine who came to hang out in Qufim with me and beat down some Banshees with her WHM wickedness! She aided us a lot and it allowed the RDMs to get down and dirty with some sword skilled Enthunder on the crabs since the former leader left and already had his own replacement, a 2nd RDM. :/ At 21, we plunged into Lower Delkfutt's Tower, and ran through a barrage of Goblins and Giants until we reached 24.

After I arrived at 24, a small group of us decided to break for 30 minutes, eat, and then travel on to the island of Kazham. Maxevo, the NIN from the Lower Delkfutt's Tower adventure, started up a party for Yuhtunga Jungle, and we were 23-24 for the most part. Max spoke Japanese and English fluently, and I was the only pure English speaker in the party. Wish I had those kinda language skills! We had a rough start at the camp on the SE side of the jungle near the hole towards Yhoator that had me ironically changing back to WHM in Kazham for a couple of R2's. We began looking for a new camp. Max asked what I thought of camp ideas after discussing with the party, and I remembered a little camp I from my days earlier as a THF -- a little spot around G-7 near the tunnel. There's one goblin that appears there rarely, but compared to the multiple gobs that wandered near us on the other side, it was a change for the better. So I ran over on chocobo after changing back to DRK, and the goblin wasn't there, so we decided to move camp to that location. From there, we didn't have anymore deaths, but we did have to zone that rare goblin once, though a passing WHM killed it the other time it popped. I ended up reaching 25, about halfway into 26 by the time that the party ended, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, looking forward to partying with them again! Just 12 more levels of the dark side, though...and then Diabolos will have new cause for fear...ME! Muahahahahaha! May the force be with you, young padawans...

Maze of Madness!

2007-02-08T23:08:00.000-05:00

So our group gathered at the gates to the dread Sacrarium, where earlier there was a painful memory that needed to be erased along the pathway to our Promathian dreaming. So the usual crew of Bryer, Anu, Eckardt, and myself were joined by some others in need of the mission. Ramathorne (MNK), Cerene (NIN), Mirrodin (BST) (with her pet Blubber Eye that she made into a familiar), Hediger (SMN), and Akiraku (SAM). Verrick was nice enough to come along as WHM to help us out on this one, and we handled the ghosts fairly simply enough. I kept somehow drawing hate with just paralyze and slow at first, which rather annoyed me, but that's what I have Stoneskin and Blink for, isn't it? Haha! We finally corralled the teleporting old ghost, and it was destroyed to allow us access to the keys.

Eck and I went around and talked to quite a few people afterwards, but people kept distracting me during it, so I'll let him tell you about it instead. Look over there on the right side and you'll find a path to his pad (Where I stole this picture). Have fun, I'm kinda busy tonight!! ^_~

A Life of Crime, or Just Bad Influences?

2007-01-28T22:12:00.000-05:00

I blame the Mithra. (Arketa, this means you, yes.) I know, I know...that's a common solution, but really, this time I could blame a certain Elvaan woman too. (Yes, Fiery...or Alison) But actually, this all follows from the first thing I learned when studying the arts of the treasure hunters, was how to shift blame...and we shift it well too! You see, I've been living a life of theft and avoiding blame recently, and damn, it's been a great ride! Treasure hunting and the arts of a ninja go beautifully together, but having a great core static is making it even better! I've leveled from 30 to 34 thus far with a group from GraveyardShift LS in following formation: Lanoire (NIN/WAR), Alcindor (SAM/WAR), Valynne (WHM/BLM), Sumiko (THF/NIN), Zaria (DRG/BLU), and myself finally (THF/NIN).

I may go solo'ing a bit need to catch up a bit so Sumi's SATA's aren't quite as high above mine >.> Next level will grant me new daggers, however, so I will definately enjoy that boost! There is something powerful about getting new daggers to accompany those shiny Drone Earrings that I've been hoarding for this point in time. Drone + Dodge will make me very glad that I don't have to deal with pierced ears and can just change clips during battles. It's been a busy but fun weekend, and I will be sure to Mug you later....errrr, I meant meet you later! *waves and flees*

And for those who mailed wondering about Fiery... This is the one whose fault it is that I tapped into my criminal nature...Least I can do is offer you a picture, right? *He reaches into his wallet and pulls one out from a distant past*

Softly spoken

2007-01-20T00:35:00.000-05:00

As I've learned at the higher levels, the powers of a summoner are not those to be lightly ignored. For example, I've joined with a 75 SMN in duoing the Shadow Lord for my Rank 5 way back when I was but a 51 RDM...so you know that's been a good while...and also that she did most of the work! Ya know I love ya Tess! ^_~ However, the secrets that make them truly shine are the pacts with the beings that allows them to actually summon anything. Carbuncle told me about this, and was very eager to help, joining when I brought the ruby to the house of the hero in the annoying city of Windurst. However, the rest of the Avatars aren't exactly as friendly, to say the least. It requires a knock-down, drag-out fight with them to prove your power and show them that you are worthy of their service. So as they demand, we must oblige and do it their way, ne?

Vitehite, Anubahnu, Eckardt, and myself have quested to engage these elemental masters recently to acquire the abilities to summon them in battle. And voila, by our powers combined...(No, you don't get Captain Planet, folks!) the Prime Avatars fell, one by one. Eckardt has pictures here where you can see all the fun of who was killing what there. Gotta love friends with good cameras in the middle of battle, ya know? Great albums to look at when we retire from all this running around saving the world deal, ne? As long as I don't have to explain it all to any kids anytime soon, I'll be alright! As it stands now, we are planning to gather together our band of warriors for the battle with the Dark Elemental Puppy, Fenrir. Battle on, warriors of light!

It's all about skills!

2007-01-12T18:27:00.000-05:00

Recently, I've taken a fancy to going out at the edge of the Wajaom Woodlands and just dueling some birds. The soft feathered buzzards...errr...Colibri...have a nice supply of MP as well that lets me abuse my Dagger skills for Energy Drain, and I appreciate them for it. Getting the hang of timing with this Utsusemi: Ni thing on them before I go off to attempt to torment Garuda Prime. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? I can almost feel a new skill within my grasp for my daggers and swords, and there are rumors of a master skill that I can seek out once complete with those. Hmmmm, sounds like I'll be playing around with the birds and spiders for a bit more, they're interesting creatures at a bit under me, and they're good game as their feathers sell to the Al Zhabi vendors for decent money, over a grand just for plucking the little birds in the course of my own training, not too shabby for a side benefit!

Well, that got boring pretty quickly, and after a short while, I decided to sharpen and polish my blade, and headed out to level one of my old favorites, the samurai. One thing you have to realize is that I haven't even gone to the Samurai's guild to investigate ever since the class was upgraded to allow new abilities...This led to an interesting discovery upon realizing that occassionally when I missed, my instincts kicked in to redirect the slice again towards its target. Upon asking one of my masters, he said that this was an essential skill for the samurai that I had been enlightened to realize, known as "Zanshin." He gave me the following explanation as from Venerable Anzan Hoshin roshi. (Old teacher if you're wondering, one who has created teachers below him.)

"Zanshin means “the remaining mind” and also “the mind with no remainder.” This is the mind of complete action. It is the moment in kyudo (Zen archery) after releasing the arrow. This is “ Om makurasai sowaka” in oryoki practice and drinking the rinse water. In shodo, it is finishing the brush stroke and the hand and brush moving smoothly off the paper. In taking a step, it is the weight rolling smoothly and the next step arising. In breathing in completely, it is this breath. In breathing out completely, it is this breath. In life, it is this life. Zanshin means complete follow through, leaving no trace. It means each thing, completely, as it is.

In the martial arts, Zanshin means having no break in our activity, because there is no time to take back a stride or block and fix it. It also means going beyond technique, because we cannot force the situation to conform to the technique. The angle of the strike and the force of the strike must be adjusted immediately to the energy of the partner. In practice we must go beyond strategies of defense and hesitation. We must open up to the energy of mind itself as it expresses itself as seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, smelling and thinking. Penetrating into this energy, we must go beyond all barriers." Intriguing, but a wonderful philosophy. With a variety of slower but steady XP coming in from mostly VT chains on the clippers due to having a mage who was 23 when I was 21, and 24 when I hit 22, it was somewhat of a slow grind. Melees higher than mages should be the general rule for most balanced party setups, but then, a WAR/RDM would not be near the top of my list for a healer, either, even with pie!!! >.< Ouch, that's why I love Qufim Island, learning experience. I did see Rosiel again, a member of Nekotess' LS, Hestia, so we had a chat while mad chaining, he was tired of the area already, but ready to be tired of the next area instead, haha! I like being forgotten, it suits the attitude of a samurai just fine. I'm no one special, just let me fulfill my purpose, and the fame and recognition will fade.

I pondered the effectiveness of using a polearm on the crabs, mostly because I knew my tachi skill had reached its limits, and was saddened to find that though crabs are weaker to piercing, the spear (that I had at least) wasn't up to damage, though Double Thrust ate Enpi alive when it came to weaponskill damage to the tune of 110 versus 80-ish.

The next party I had brought me into the position of hate-holder, and as the lowest level in the Eastern Altepa party we had, I got eaten alive as a Paladin by two SAM who were WS king and queen respectively. Hutman joined me and brought out his Galka Summoner, which aided lots as we fought beetles and Dhalmels...and the darn Berserk dhalmels decided to do HUGE healing breezes a couple of times, making it very close to bye-bye Paladin-boy! Can't wait 'til I get Auto-Refresh and Flash, that will help a lot. If they really decided to go off, it took Sentinel, Cure 3, and Provoke to get the darn thing back on me...But all things considered, with Garuda's blink and Third Eye, they could avoid quite a bit of hate just splitting it between themselves, so it ended up working out pretty well, just, just...I was wishing I had a SATA at that point for my hate-holding lack of ego! Yeah, I will be glad when Sunday comes and I get to be a Red Mage again...

I needed a break...

2007-01-09T18:06:00.000-05:00

...and there's nothing like getting those lower-level jobs out and going for a romp in the Valkurm Dunes of my own galaxy to get that out of my system. I partied with an old friend, Hutman, getting him to drag out his neglected Bardic skills and we ventured into the dunes with 2 new players in the family LS, HeavenEarthWarriors, and picked up two other learning players. Having 4 out of 6 learning and not having a death in Valkurm would've been amazing enough, but it didn't happen that way...what, you thought I was a healing god? Sorry, I can't do that much about healing as RNG/WAR. ^^; Also, without having the aid of a white mage was an interesting experience, so when pulling, I leaned towards just making high chains with Toughs as we went. We had a setup of a 12WAR, 12BRD/WHM, 11RDM, 11RDM/WAR, 11BLM, and I filled out the roster as 12RNG/WAR. I should start taking a journal for names in my groups, as I really have a horrible memory, unless a person makes a heck of an impression.

As one who's considered a "veteran," I thought it might be amusing to remember some things in the future, so I took out my little journal and made notes:

1) I've also learned it's good to bring food for the entire party when venturing out to the "School of Hard Knocks" outside of Selbina. It's true: Kids are broke, and don't get allowance.
2) I've learned that Evasion is my friend. Rangers geared with +Evasion can tank! Hahaha! OK, not really >.> Ouch....Voke now prs.
3) I've learned that steady XP without death is far superior to great XP with high chances of death...oh, wait...i already knew that!!!

Anyway, it was a blast, and I advanced my ranger skills to level 16, evening them up with that of monk and summoner now. Brings my potential level capacity to a grand total of ... *drum roll* 534. Getting there, I want the mystical 777, then I can be content never bothering with numbers again.

((For those wondering, that's the addition of all the levels on all your jobs total ^^))

I think I'll bug Eckardt, Fullen, Gravv, and Kala (Read: con them) to help me get a Caederva Mire map soon, walking around that place without one is just annoying! For now, though, it was a welcome change to finish up having paid my dues at the Valkurm School of Hard Knocks...And I'll be damned if I'm going through puppet training there. ^^;

And the monsters continued to fall.

2007-01-06T01:39:00.000-05:00

Has been a rather fun week thus far, even with the good (but horrible) run we gave the Under Observation BCNM. I will say I think we would've won if perhaps 2 things hadn't happened: 1) I hadn't attempted to cure our most damaging BLM and he died first, leaving me with Divine Seal + Stonega II instead, didn't make best use of my time on that one. >.> And the other BLM that was with us came in a level 1 Aketon and not too much INT gear outside of rings and a seer's piece (not crown)...which hampered the major damage in the party. Besides actively facing the eyes (which can petrify that way), it was also sketchy as to why she was using an ether while having over half her mp as well when it's imperative to quickly -ga down the stupid eyes before they beat us down into oblivion, especially without Stoneskin, but meh, we brought it what looked like under 10% HP; sadly, it smacked me before my final Thunder spell could get off, and I noted the horrible brimstone-esque taste of the BCNM floor.

I have achieved with my thief that which is called "Fuidama," and boy is it ever fun! Even if I do abbreviate it SATA, nothing beats getting to run up behind someone and *WHAM!* - Suddenly doing around 250 damage that the mob thinks your buddy did. Haha, because that's what good melee friends are for, to make you that much better! ^^; Domo arigato gozaimasu Master Kenshinshiro for being my first SATA target and letting the PLD realize he wasn't Mr. Super Hate-holder when a SATA was going off opposite him, haha! /cheer ^^ And yes, I would note we were going to set it up on the PLD, but he was all meh about SATA powers and didn't want to setup really, just voked off the bat and such, so we did an alternate setup SATA where Ken would armor up on BLU, and I would SATA him, the PLD took a while to get hate back, sometimes not even before the mob died. I was easily amused, and as it neared time to go to work tonight, I didn't get to wait long enough to see if he'd comment ((He didn't in the 15 minutes notice I gave, and since 3 of us were leaving, we were disbanding, and soon as that was up, I had to run quickly to work ><)), after his comments about being (mostly) "all capped" and not having problems with hate.

Moral of the story: Everyone can contribute something individually, but working together, that's where true greatness lies. Now...about that vengeance on those Hecteyes....

A return to the airy landscape.

2007-01-01T01:01:00.000-05:00

Hmmm, so it seems I haven't done much recently in the way of keeping you informed. Well, that is about to change with this post, as much has transpired since the time I was summoned across the galaxy to assist a 'young' Elvaan woman who had invoked me across the realms. I can only hope that her heart is sorting out the feelings that she was going through and realized that she deserved better than to be led on deceitfully. At least be honest about your intentions, as I will stand by: If you can't be upfront about what you're doing, then you probably have no business doing it. If you're content enough with yourself and secure in your deeds, then as long as you harm none, do what you will. Well, that last part wasn't actually very original, but it fit perfectly to my point.

As many of you know, I was at the point where I needed the scroll for Utsusemi: Ni to take my soloing skills to the supreme level that is envied by nearly every other job around Vana'diel.
Issue #1 with this: Ni sells for around 600k at the Auction House. Ouch, that's a big HELL no.
Issue #2 with this: Ni has a piss-poor drop rate in the BCNMs

After very little deliberation, since multiple people needed either Utsusemi: Ni or gil in general, Master Kenshinshiro came as Samurai, and Vaulaut came as Dragoon (with George, of course.) I joined as Red Mage, and we setup inside Waughroon Shrine in preparation for the Royal Jelly Notorious Monster Battles. As the lone mage, I had a fun time, snacking on a delicious Melon Pie before battle and maxing MP. Upon entering, we buffed pre-battle, and I used a Yagudo drink for refresh, as the blamed area we were in restricted our abilities so that Refresh was just out of my reach! Using the Seal of the Elements, I bound the first of the jellies on my left, and the others dashed right, unleashing an onslaught into the jellies as they began an advance into the circle, where I decided best to make my stand. It was mostly exchanging Dia II on the jellies nearest the others, and as soon as Bind or Gravity was available to alternate them on the jellies on the other side, clockwise, and throwing Cures as needed before reinforcing Stoneskin and converting near the final charge to the last two.

Lord Kenshin was impeccable as always, his blade seeking out the souls of the enemies as his TP shot through the roof, erupting into explosive assaults that detonated the very essences of the piles of preserves that littered the ground. Dragon Knight Vaulaut and George were quite the tag team as well; his skillful spearwork combined with the various degrees of wyvern's breath to unleash incomparable destruction unto the quite...[i]jiggly[/i] targets, bursting through their gooey shells and deflating them onto the cavern floor. We did the run 6 times, setting the current record time for the quest at just over 4 minutes, causing me to ponder what the overall best time had ever been. (SE should store that on the official site somewhere xD)

I ended up with some great drops, getting very lucky and picking up Utsusemi: Ni, Erase, and a Gold Beastcoin for the efforts, making it quite worthwhile and very fun as well! I think I'll aim for a PCC and Empress Hairpin next for good measure, or either Leaping Boots, since Lizzy and VE obviously harbor ill will towards me with the 0% drop rate despite the multitude of times defeating them.

I managed to help Titi with the Beadeaux part of her LB3, but I was very tired, and I bowed out before making the journey to Oztroja or Davoi, those long trips would've done me in for sure, and either at the top of Oztroja or the depths of Davoi, the beasts aren't particularly cheerful. While we were down in Beadeaux, I helped her kill Ruby Quadav, who obliged us by dropping a Red Mage Testimony for her upcoming duel with the old man in the Garden. That will be a fun one, I'm sure, haha!!! Until next time...

For Honor and Country

2006-12-19T22:15:00.000-05:00

Well, during this gap of things happening, a mad dash was made against some Anticans in support of the Galka in the Bastok Mines district, which the President actually supported us in. It was rather refreshing to be able to at least think that he might truly care about the good of all our people. We journeyed through the Quicksand Caves and to Kuftal Tunnel, seeking out the clues left by the wandering Werei in the name of the Talekeeper's Quest. Thanks to Anjana, Lexi, Hatchetwarrior, Pupp, Enedin, and anyone else whose name now slips my mind. That's what I get for waiting this long to tell the tale, eh?

I know, I know! Guan, didn't you say you were going to add more pictures? Yes, I did. But that would require me not doing things in my limited time and instead just going through the navigator to clear loads of S/s. (Would help if they let me do that during UPDATES!!! ><)

Ahhh, and Diabolos. It was a fun battle, but one that he stood no chance in! Aurridaur (BLU/???), Vitehite(WHM/BLM), Anu (BLM/WHM), Ssjgogeta (NIN/WAR), myself (RDM/NIN) and Werewolf (THF/NIN) went into the depths of the shadows and sought out the Terrestrial Avatar of Dreams, Diabolos. And ... we promptly handed him his arse. There wasn't even a danger of death. Major props to Aurridaur who Head Butted his WSs into oblivion, as Nightmares never were able to come out. I really could've slept through this one, HAHAHA! Onward we go to Riverne Site B01.

Towards the demons...

2006-12-03T23:01:00.000-05:00

So they tell me of a place called the Shrouded Maw...it is where our little party shall be venturing next. Bryer, Anubahnu (aka, the one I massacre in spelling ><), Luneve, Jaymu, and myself will pull another, likely Verrick again (if he's around and available!) will be venturing into the depths of the area to seek out the dark one, Diabolos. Being well prepared with medicines in CoP is a necessity, but I should revert to our Promies as evidence of that.

Jumping topics like a game of Q-Bert, the Mammets....were astoundingly easy. Of course, I got to show the joys of RDM/NIN there, and run around kiting the peons with Bryer while the core party battered the other down one at a time. Then Bryer took hers back to the party, and soon it was just me and a little Mammet. It was iceday, though, and bind was working well until it changed into mageform...."Eh? Firaga? You mutha...SILENCE!" That being done, it was just a leisurely jog across the room, and healing a bit while the Mammett waited on the spell to wear, and then found it upon him again as it switched to Warrior, only to whiff at my images as I trotted across the field again. Then the rest of the crew stormed into the circle, and we proceeded to light up the Mammet's world. Even our gimpy RNG *nudge nudge* Jaymu landed a few shots here and there. So with that, we ran about talking to lots of people and tracking the lost tarus, and well...it was a damn lot of detective work that eventually led us to the coming showdown with Diabolos.

Gardener's Union

2006-11-24T20:37:00.000-05:00

I really need to find some others who have better rates on Gardening. Putting my Moghancement setting to Gardening didn't seem to do much with better growing things. It implies to me that my moogles are doing nothing more than what I myself do. Very wasteful for the use of my Moghancement...I think I'll likely set him back to absorbing my XP loss when I go fighting avatars and get Aerial Blasted again. >.>

But, from 3 stacks of tree saplings, I ended up with 4 lightning ores. I swear I need to find what they "un-nerfed" when they hurt the cuttings/saplings rates. Darn the gardening gods and their tricks. Now that 650k turns into about 1mil, but...over 4 weeks time! Not exactly a grand turnabout, admittedly, but better than some I have had prior.

This one was for Fiery...

2006-11-17T23:04:00.000-05:00

I placed the testimony from the stupid turtle upon the Burning Circle in Palborough Mines, and it granted me passage to a long corridor leading into some sort of Rock Dome where I saw the old man again. I knew of his vehement battles against Red Mages in the past, having experienced one run of just pure bad luck, where not a Sleep II would stick, but this time, the possibility of that happening didn't cross my mind. This was vengeance...dedicated to someone. Failure just wasn't an option. As I arrived, I sprinted forwards towards the hermit, shouldering Pluto's Staff, and as soon as I got within range, unleashed a sleep spell, which took a shadow. Quickly using Dispel to get rid of that pesky condition, the follow-up Sleep II landed without problem. Drinking a Yagudo Drink, the Red Mage's instincts kicked in, and quickly Protect and Shell 4 were cast, followed by Stoneskin, Blink, and finally Phalanx.

It was offense time! After binding the old bugger and switching over to the Moldavite Earring, Elemental Torque, and Auster's Staff, I backed up and unleashed the mightiest spell in my repetoire: Aero III, which landed for a decent 407. Quickly followed up with a Sleep II to send him back to dreamland, and recast Blink as his Fire II and punches managed to eat my shadows. Lather (Aero III), Rinse (Sleep II), Repeat (Healing/Yag Drink/Hi-Ether)...Made me wonder what was so hard about it after it was over. I just had to have motivation, apparantly. First time I fought him I was rather "Meh" about the whole thing, and didn't fight to full potential, I feel. Not landing a sleep will make one think that...But this time I made a promise to win for someone, as I hadn't before...and that drove me onward. So Fiery....the old man's down.

Is that a heart I feel...or just a singeing flame?

2006-11-16T23:10:00.000-05:00

((OOC: This is dedicated to you, Fiery. Wish you well in all you do RL, I know you'll do fine. You can always drop me a message if I can help anyway within my power. I'll miss you in Vana'diel. Here's my attempt at a overly emo poetic embellishment...I know, {Too weak} LOL)) {{Side note: I will try to remember to add a couple pics to this later}}

Last night was the closest to bringing a tear to mine eye that I have been in a long time, as one of my dearest friends took an indefinate leave from Vana'diel. I was ecstatic to see her for the short time I was able, and hurriedly sent her a message on my communicator as I sensed her presence. "Hey, glad you're not gone yet, had me worried there."

I waited for the reply as I finished that annoying Windurst run for the stupid mace-weilding Al Zhabi wench, and then it scrolled over my communicator, "Yeah, it's my last day here, I'm getting ready to leave now."

"Well, you can't leave yet," I quickly sent back, for some reason slightly nervous she might have to leave before I arrived, "Where are you now, hon?"

Meet her in Jeuno? Alrighty...a short combo of Mazurka and Flee later, I arrived at the Windurst Port and waited for the airship where we talked about her impending departure, and then she helped her friends in clearing out her things together. Now, those who know me will tell you that I'm a toreador when it comes to matters of the heart. It is far easier for me to avoid the horns of the bull with delicate evasion while pulling the strings of the beast as it pounces....However, I knew a genuine sadness as I went to say my farewells, knowing that a person who had aided in shaping my ideas in the game, a travelling partner, and overall, a good friend...was leaving.

As I arrived at the port in Jeuno, she was waiting there for me, as I took a moment to gaze upon her visage one last time. She was the elegant sort of beautiful, her face was the one of a warrioress who had been through countless battles, and hardened a bit from them without losing her delicate feminity. The silver webbing silhouetted her facial features, bangs falling softly to the side of her face to compliment the slight scowl upon her lips, her pride shining through ultimately, and I sighed inwardly as I knew our promised match in Ballista wouldn't get to happen anymore. We comrades shared a long look that passed many things without so much as a word...

My turn to break the silence, "Before you go, would you make me something to remember you by?" I paused slightly with that cocky grin of mine, "And of course, it will insure your legend lives on in Vana'diel, too." She laughed, and after picking up a couple items, we headed to the Kazham port. It struck me that this legendary Thief was wearing her Red Mage gear, while I was dashing about in my silly RSE as BRD/THF. So we went to Kazham where she made a lot of chocolate, and I changed to White Mage to teleport us to the Mea crag for a run to Windurst...where I could finally get comfortable in my Red Mage gear myself.

I remembered my first encounters with Fiery, as she was running about stealing things, helping me with various items and LB1...and the first time I got to party with her, while she leveled her Ranger in Eastern Altepa Desert, and I got to pull my Red Mage along...so very close to my homeland that had been decimated by the damned backlash of Vana'diel's energies. By the time I returned, she'd completed her crafting, and had decided to leave me with a Wrapped Heart with her name on it. I smiled, reminded of the little heart candies at Valentine's Day, and immediately set it for the max bazaar to show the world, and if someone buys it, well, damned if she won't have a huge gil surprise upon her return.

We talked for a while about what true friendship is, and how rare it was to find in modern life with the way people have become. She offered me to trade, and as I was shocked as she placed in my care a lot of valuable equipment from her Red Mage, and confided that I was the only one who hadn't asked her about getting her gear when she left, only about her and her future. I told her it would all be waiting for her when she decided to return to Vana'diel one day, and I would be sure to defeat Maat with it for her.

She looked at the time, and we hurried on to her Mog House, where her moogle was waiting to send her to the other dimension, and shared a long look at the doorway before I gave her a light kiss farewell and whispered that I would always remember her, and would do my best to live up to her legacy. In true toreador form, I left unsaid was that which I think she already knew, and neither of us would mention...so I'll say it now for all of Vana'diel and the world to see: I think you taught me of love during the times we shared in this world, Fiery. I can only hope I was able to show you something as deserving and worthy in return. May your flames forever burn brightly.

Oh, the places you'll go!

2006-11-12T18:32:00.000-05:00

Yes, that was a wonderful book by the legendary Dr. Seuss. However, it also explains my joy at having access to Lufaise Meadows, as through a great team, including Bryer (WAR/NIN), Luneve (SAM/WAR), Vitehite (SMN/WHM), Eckardt (WHM/BLM), and Echriedz (I think I spelled that right, WAR/NIN), with myself going as WAR/NIN as well, we managed to complete the final part of the puzzle, Promyvion-Mea. It was a great battle, and the Delver truly is an annoying creature with its painful Carousel move...quite annoying. But the anima trips paid off, as it was paralyzed a majority of the battle, even though I get the short end and reraise when it got pulled and anima'd again, only to find the joy of another spinning horsey move, which let me die-through to Lufaise though. >< Great place to wakeup, and then Vitehite escorted me to Tavzanian Safehold. Next step is to go through and get all those maps, yessir.

I feel very blessed to have gone with the great groups we've gone with. Through the excellent leadership of Vitehite, we ran into very little trouble the entire way up all of the promys. Looking forward to getting an Alliance together for the Minotaur fights, perhaps in conjunction with the Lords of Hydra LS. Awesome group they are. I run about with them a bit, but they're on GMT generally, which is a horrid fit with my schedule. Great group of cats, though.

Zilart Mission 4...point 5.

2006-10-29T18:21:00.000-05:00

Saw a shout in Whitegate the other night, that people were putting together a Promyvion run for Holla, and needed a WAR and WHM. So, I asked LS mate Ashke who needed it if he was available, but he needed Dem more, come to find out, that party was crap, and ended up basically dropping off myself and a cool WHM named Edo on the floor right before the Spire Entrance....Wasn't that fun!? So, we watch them all die, after we realized since they all planned to 2-hr that fight, there was not a snowflake's chance in hell of winning it even if they managed....and Edo goes and to bloodwarp back, while I'm saved that joy by the use of my Treat Staff II. One of only three good things to come from this harvest festival, IMHO. And all of them have WARP!

Well, we regrouped, and seeing as Edo was going to work on the ZM4, went with him on that one, changing back to my usual RDM self, and upon running to the AH, who do I see, but none other than Jasinde! So we have a little conversation, and she offered to come with us on the ZM4 run, and was suiting up as bard before realizing the other party members that were being got together was a bit...weakish! So she jumped into her wickedness of BLM, and we hunted down a tank, for which I recruited Jazzeal from HEW, who needed the mission too. Jas was quite a dear, very personable person with whom I actually enjoyed speaking. She joins a select few who have my attention when needed... ;D Let me see if I can remember the rest of the party. There was Fobby (Taru BLM, I think), Edo (Hume WHM), Jazz (Hume PLD), Jas (Mithra BLM), Carrieanne (?) (Mithra? BST) and myself (Hume RDM). The fight went decently well save for a painful lesson from the Tonberry SMN that caused a death, and a mean throat stabbity on poor Jas. I owe her my help for stuff, poor dear. All helpful and the Tonberry decides to pick on her. Note to self: kill lots of tonberries in the future, and keep that door in mind.... Further note to self: Get the map for the rest of the missing zones, and mark said door on it. So after the long story from the Tonberry spirit who rose against the Zilart, and seeing the evilness revealed, we parted ways, and keep talking through our handy communicators while Edo, Jazzeal, and I ran to get Jazz's Yhoat crystal, and then set about getting the cermet headstones in La Theine, Altepa, and Fei Yin.

Red Psychiatrists?

2006-10-29T18:18:00.000-05:00

Advanced Global Personality Test Results

Extraversion	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	60%
Stability	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	76%
Orderliness	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	46%
Accommodation	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	50%
Interdependence	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	70%
Intellectual	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	83%
Mystical	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	90%
Artistic	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	63%
Religious	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	63%
Hedonism	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	43%
Materialism	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	83%
Narcissism	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	56%
Adventurousness	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	56%
Work ethic	\|\|\|\|\|\|	30%
Self absorbed	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	56%
Conflict seeking	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	70%
Need to dominate	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	76%

Romantic	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	50%
Avoidant	\|\|\|\|\|\|	30%
Anti-authority	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	76%
Wealth	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	50%
Dependency	\|\|\|\|	16%
Change averse	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	36%
Cautiousness	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	76%
Individuality	\|\|\|\|\|\|	30%
Sexuality	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	90%
Peter pan complex	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	36%
Physical security	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	83%
Physical Fitness	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	70%
Histrionic	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	43%
Paranoia	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	76%
Vanity	\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|	76%
Hypersensitivity	\|\|\|\|\|\|	23%
Female cliche	\|\|\|\|	16%

Take Free Advanced Global Personality Test
personality tests by similarminds.com

Thought you all might want an insight into someone who thought they could pin a personality test on a Red Mage, HA!

Respect: {Do you have it?}

2006-10-22T17:22:00.000-05:00

Two kinds of news: Good and bad. I'll start with the bad and end on a good note.

Bad: Well, despite having a very under-used blacklist, it grew two nights ago during what should've been a simple enough expedition to Garlaige Citadel to get a couple of coffer keys for two LS members looking for RDM and PLD AF coffers. OK, easy enough, as I can solo anything down there for keydrops if I have to (70 RDM), and the members needing drops were 56 RDM and 67 PLD. CAKE! Well, we go to start whacking away, and well, there is a friend of one members (Bluemage) who is helping someone else (Fightingfurball aka FFB) with the coffer as well, so okay, we disbanded our party and joined up.

It's going well, and Jazz passed the first key drop to Zira, being his usual gentlemanly self, so only one to go, and we get to go through. So we are fighting on, and Bluemage starts solo'ing Hellmines (as BST) while the rest of us were generally working on undead and magic pots. FFB was astoundingly AFK for long periods of time, just in range to be drained by the undead specials, so I took it upon myself to keep a regen on him so he wouldn't die, being the delicate Taru that he was. No keys had dropped, and we'd expended all of our undead, so I pulled a Magic Jug back to the party, using Silence pulls because of their wicked spell skills.

At this point, FFB was mysteriously AFK again, and Bluemage had gotten linked up on two Hellmines, which when he came running over to the party, we of course healed him. I set about throwing Refresh on him as he was low on mp, and a regen to start his healing. Then from healing him, the Hellmines liked Zira, so I healed her which put the hate of one hellmine as well as the jug fully on me. We managed to get the hellmine down, but with the other RDM AFK, doing 3 heavy hitters at once doesn't really give my Blink/SS a fighting chance. To my dismay, I think both mines must've had DoT on them, as my Elemental Seal + Sleepga failed even when nothing was hitting them... /sigh.

So we're starting to dip slightly in HP, and one of the hellmines decided to Self-Destruct. Luckily, my SS ate most of that blow, but it wiped the PLD. Joy. So the BST grabbed a beetle to fight the Hellmine, as the Jug unleashed a nice Burst on me. Damn, no SS up that time, was busy recasting. HP dropped around 71, and I was quite glad the undead weren't there. Had to convert for *HP* when SS dropped next hit, and we managed to Drain/Aspir it to recover a bit to get Blink/SS going again and find the rythym. However, while doing that, I didn't get to silence it. The other RDM was really underlevel for it, and hers weren't sticking well. Poor Zira-san! She did try, though! So then I get it back silenced, and we set about plunking it down, while Jazz re-raised, and we went to a safe spot to recover. While I'm apologizing for Jazz's death and getting everyone healed back, Bluemage notes that he doesn't understand why the Hellmines would've attacked the party. We point out because we healed him to save him from dying. His eloquent reply? "Well I didn't ask him to heal me." Umm....can I get a little respect here, for a person willing to lay down their life for yours since you were willing to help, or even a little thanks? Not that hard, ya know? Just be POLITE!

But anyway, Bluemage had passed lead to FFB, and at this point I was rather just ready to leave them and look on our own for the keys, but they wanted to go open the other gates for FFB as we were fighting another undead. In the process of slamming through this, I've not replied yet, busy holding hate and killing said creature, now that both of them ran off. Joy of joys, the key drops, and I pass, Zira passes, Bluemage passes, and Jazz lots on it, FFB hadn't passed yet, but had congratulated.....Everyone's all /joy and such, as we start heading to the Banishing Gate #1...and someone caught bat aggro, so I Stone 3'd the bat to take hate, and start fighting it...bats aren't really a problem, even when not maxed out, but then.....I see Jazz and Zira looking at me and look to the bottom of my screen to see that the party was disbanded...Yes, FFB DISBANDED the ENTIRE PARTY as he left to do whatever...which apparantly involved walking out into Sauromugue Champaign. Needless to say, the key that he wasn't even involved with getting for Jazz dropped, as he already had one of his own, then he blames Jazz for not lotting (which he did) and then says that oh well, his hand was already on the disband button when it dropped (I find it odd of you to have time to send a full line of congratulations and such 'with your hand on the button' so that you couldn't pass first.)...and Bluemage tried to pick up the blame for him by saying he passed him leader without telling him. Maybe it's just me, but I look at that before I disband...Yeah, that's just me....

But on to brighter news, as I'll go back later and help Jazz with another key..probably tonight.

Good: Did the WAR static again, with the usual Lanoire (NIN/WAR), Valynne (WHM/BLM), me (WAR/MNK), Zirasharia (NIN/WAR) and Alcindor (our SAM/WAR), who dumped the yellow dot of doom on me (aka the leadership of the PT), so I pulled Naoo as a 6th (RDM/WHM), and xp went very well. When Naoo had to go, we had about an hour left, and we got Sis-something (I'm sorry! I think it was Sisstin? Someone can comment correct ^^;) who was another WHM/BLM, and we continued racing along joyfully. I made it from 2k til 30 to 2k 'til 32 in this party, quite pleased with the WAR/MNKness, and will likely switch to either /NIN or /THF. I'm just not online enough to level the MNK past the 15 to keep it up to leveled subjob. that was excellent, only 4 more levels to go! T.T

Working at it.

2006-09-06T17:14:00.000-05:00

((So, work has slammed me the last couple days, not been on very much at all :( Looks like quite a few overtime shifts in the upcoming weeks, so we'll see how things go.))

Ahhh, the strive for skilling up. Hard to get into a skillup party as a RDM nuker, I'm finding. Obviously, my Enfeebling and Enhancing are capped. I get to do those on the regular in parties, so why would I need to skill those up? Get a WHM who doesn't want to actually skillup heal! My healing is capped as well, plenty of people wanted me to do that...but now I just need to nuke, pure and simple. My Water 3, Aero 3, and Stone 3 need to vent their wraths, dammit!

Now...for that Mercurial Kris, it appears I would actually have to level fishing up to 30. Ugh, I will have to grab Mandy or some other fishaholic to inspire me into that one, haha. I guess it would be worth it for the much easier dagger skillups on RDM/NIN then. Throw one dagger for Acc/Eva, and the other for multi-hit. Whee! Note to self: Must...endure...fishing.

Saw Alci was actively trying to level his THF last night, but no one else was seeking. I have a 25 THF, so 2 THFs would be scary trying to duo. xD I was very tired, and so I just hopped into RDM and went with him to Lower Delkfutt's Tower, and PL'ed him on the Gigases there. Don't think we got any socks, though (Verrick was looking to desynth them), and the NM's didn't appease me by popping to give me more Elemental Magic skillup opportunities, haha! Since I know they drop socks, they would've been useful too!

Partying and Horrible NM drops

2006-09-03T21:17:00.000-05:00

Well, had a getogether again of mini-static since Kenshin was off, and when I got home, I PM'd Verrick (who wasn't on) and went straight to voicemail. Heh. So I left a message, and proceeded to go about muling to setup for my BRD just in case Verrick decided to call back or login. Somewhere in the middle of that, he did. As he mentioned on his blog, we have issues with tanks at our party level, yet for all of my amusment, a Hume BRD/WHM and Tarutaru RDM/WHM have oft-times managed to main heal. Though this party Wwcc did an admirable job as main heal, while Verrick to go play nuker for a while. ^^ I'm sure it was a welcome change for him. We were chaining well, and MP was stable, seemed like we had races to dispel the Chamber Beetles from time to time, and the WAR/NIN did an awesome job keeping hate. Slow + Elegy on the beetle plus a Haste + March makes for a nice shift in speed there. Everyone was very good, and it was overall very enjoyable. (Damn bards are about busy as RDM's! lol)

Then I vanished into my Mog House for a bit, save for using the AH and checking my plants, and got some quality Dynasty Warriors 5: Empires time. I love Koei games, they are a great escape from the stresses of the adventurer's lifestyle to escape into a world of defeating powerful enemies and legendary warriors. Well, it COULD be like that here in Vana'diel, but people are too lax with their Ballista fun. 4k from 70.

Time to fight Maat before I run onto level 70!!! Sheez, hard to level up Elemental Magic at this point, I have to heal too much in most skillup parties....VERRICK! Come duo so I can break 70! xD Last night, went out to a quick party, and got a few Elemental Magic skillups, only need about 8 more points, and I'll be capped. Fought lizards in Den of Rancor, collecting eggs to cook chocobo pastes! Fun times. Mambypandy was in that party as WHM, and apparantly, no RDM's ever try to help her out with her WHM stuff. Shame on them. Give your WHM a chance to rest, take over healing for a second, and then when your convert timer isn't quite ready, you have a nearly full-MP WHM to pick up and keep the chains going! Works quite beautifully, IMHO. Same reason I'll pick up BLM elemental enfeebles in a blink of an eye! (Actually, that's b/c they give me ele skillup casting regularly, haha! {Yes, please!}

Afterwards, the party was all warping out, and I decide to just run outside, figure i'll go play with more Tonberries to get my ZM4 more out of the way, and log outside of the Temple of Ugg. So I go la dee-da out of Den of Rancor, all buffs had worn by this point, when suddenly, WHAM! O.O 240 dmg, 140 dmg. Threw on Raven gear, and warped like my life depended on it before pondering, looking with camera to find Woodland Sage. So I asked Mamby what level was it and all, and when we heard the drops, the two of us tele'd back out and dashed over to give it a beating. After much long beating...TIMBER! And we received the glory of.... 27 xp. >.> Not even a mahogany log for our trouble. This tree annoys me, i should go skill up more on it, since it should pop now right around the time I log in tonight, haha. Makes for good hunting fun, and if those log prices are right, I might have to drag Skylee or Munami or Kenshin with me... (or all 3 for 3 x TH2!)! xD

Staging Points.

2006-08-27T17:16:00.000-05:00

Well, we did a little run through the other night to Dvucca Isle Staging Point. That was annoying, but with Escape, I managed to escape unscathed. Sadly, it casted to slow to save all the rest of the PT. T.T Got out with the WHM and the DRG bit it. Got them raised, and we dashed on towards our goal. At the boats, danger! Soulflayers are True-Sight, when I saw it start casting burst as we all dashed past, it was like... 'Oh, Hades.' (In more colorful language of course) -- So DRG bites the dust again, and we tractor -- Raise 3, heal up, and make the final dash. Dvucca, I own you now....just getting past that Soulflayer could be a {Bio}{Tachi} trying to make the run up to Ilrusi Staging Point. Blah. But that's somewhere next on the list, the only staging point left, and then I need to start doing some Assaults.

Verrick decided to point out to me the other day that his favorite kitty, Chafarrra is now a level 48 BLU. Instead of the hint that we needed to level our RDM & BRD again, the frustrating reply I send >>Verrick: Sweet, she's still in party range! Or something to that effect. Catching everyone's schedules together is annoying, good thing that's a sometime static xD But yes, it seems Verrick is actively wanting to play RDM. He too has been seduced by the power and wrath that can be evoked by the mere mention of the legends! Muahahahaha!

RDM is 69, testimony achieved...as well as a BLM test and WAR test. O.o We went to Beadeaux, and lo and behold, the first ruby Quadav we fought dropped a RDM test and a ruby! Then, we decided to fight the Ancient, which dropped the WAR test, then a Sapphire Quad that dropped the BLM. The Darksteel Quad didn't drop a PLD test, so we were content with 3/4 ^^ Stuffing those in storage for when our WAR static gets to that point, and the BLM goes up about 22 more levels. Stayed there a while helping another RDM get his test, while skilling up elemental magic with the nuke & sleep tactics. Sleep -- nuke nuke -- Sleep -- Aspir -- nuke nuke -- Sleep And so the process went until it dropped dead.

Die in Mass. Hmmmm. Verrick keeps telling me the joys of this. I will have to do it one day, but not really sure of the strategies and such, will have to do much reading and all, and generally follow around the crowd while there, lol.
I actually have a few pics this time, even though I can't do the nice edit and shrink thing, so you get the full SE trademark and everything on them. Anyway, without further ado, one of Tess & i while leveling our RDM & COR together out by Colibri-ville. xD

Guan & Tess

And here's Verrick and I out in Western Altepa, during that party with Kenshin and Iamweasel, where Ryos pulled out his old WAR to help us with tank duty. That's the BST that you read about on his blog. (Admit it, you know you read his already) ^^
Guan & Verrick

Breaking in a few goals.

2006-08-24T17:25:00.000-05:00

Alright, been a mostly useful week, save for the dread party a couple nights ago. Five deaths in six hours... Let me say here that I hate, loathe, despise, and otherwise ABHOR a Caederva Mire party...And I don't plan on accepting any of them anytime soon. I'll go Mamook way and fight Spinners before I do that. 1k in 6 hours, ugh. On to brighter things, though!

Have you heard the whispers? Yep, that's right, Avatar central, working on this so I can use a SMN sub next time I party my WHM instead of my usual BLM...maybe. Picked up Titan, and last night with the help of Cloulien, got Ramuh. We were going to get Shiva, but meh. It was Iceday, so we didn't risk the wrath of uber-Diamond Dust. So Garuda and Shiva are next on the list, then will be time for the dread Ifrit's Cauldron, a place I really dislike xD

Time for a job update, methinks, I really should make that somewhere on the board, but work doesn't allow me the nice PS or anything to do it with, sooooo.... I'm too off & on from calls to focus to try to find a spot to do it here. (Maybe this is why my blog is very stream-of-conciousness style.) Here goes! RDM 68, WHM 56, BLM 46, BRD 46, NIN 35, PLD 30, THF 25, COR 24, WAR 24, SAM 22, DRG 17, DRK 17, MNK 14, BST 13, SMN 11, BLU 10, PUP 10, RNG 10

Got the Mamool Ja staging point thanks to a NIN in my party the other night who I forget the name of now >.>; So 3/5 on those, got Azo (tab), Halvung, and Mamool Ja. Other 2, hopefully soon!

Of parties and fun.

2006-08-17T20:48:00.000-05:00

Well, in recent days, I've been partying with a great PLD who joined our linkshell named Fullen (/wave). The rapid amount of jobs he's gotten up in a short 4-month timeframe just makes me go O.o -- But then, I'm the same player who's been on since release date around 3/23/04, and yet just recently passed 100 play days...and that's counting my recent lot of falling asleep with character logged in, as well as overnight bazaaring. Give or take a lot of that happening, I'm probably still around the lower 90's, haha.

The nerfed gardening thing annoyance factor #3 -- Everyone I know runs short on space, or either has a lot of mules, so here's my question: Why give me a plant that dumps like 3 stacks of shell bugs into me, that before this was a main source of my income? That hurts, lol. And the elemental ores, where I used to avg around 4-5 per month & a week, now just gave me 2? Not really worth it, turned a 20k profit on 5 weeks of work. Pathetic, I need a new way to make money...again. Maybe time to dust off the 25 THF and run it up around 60 or so.

Onwards and upwards to ramblings of another kind. Had an interseting little talk with someone (75 MNK 75 PLD...more) who I've known since I started FFXI. His playtime has since eclipsed the 350 day plateau O.O and he was wondering why I don't just take one job all the way up and then just merit, which would help all my other classes when I do them. I don't really know, save for that I enjoy all the classes, and like them as they are, I suppose if I went 75 RDM I could be more useful to my LS and friends, and that was the sole reason that I wanted to go all the way with a job...That and everyone knows I'm a RDM at heart anyway, loved them since the original FF, played through that whole game with 4 RDM's once for the love of it :)

Maat has told me about my testimony and all, gonna hit 69 and then have to farm a LOT for HQ staves, unless I can be so lucky to borrow some and then farm for my vile elixir ingredients or save up for them. Under 200k now. Ouch. I need to go hit up the Yagudo @ Oztroja with Munami next time she goes. Gosh, this thing's getting long, I'll hush now.

2006-08-10T17:24:00.000-05:00

So, upon being dragged here by Verrick, and posting, and eventually growing tired of logging in Anonymously, I bothered to create an account, which probably will receive little use. However, given that I have little else to fill my downtime at work, it could surprise you! Time will tell.