Kaleidoscopic Voyager

I often forget that the very act of living is a work-in-progress. Instead, I shuffle myself to the sidelines, where I vicariously watch and learn from others. I dabble in many disciplines, like a country buffet. Perhaps it is to avoid regretful commitments? At the same time, I'm concerned that I remain a wildcard of possible could-haves, rather than actively making choices and learning to work through their repercussions. From them, I would be forced to develop and grow as a person.

Although, inaction is still a choice. Truthfully, I am anxious to speak or write particularly strong opinions on most matters. I do not frequently find myself to be someone who can stubbornly choose a side and justification, and stick with it until the end of days. I am certain that there are subjects in which I am strong about in my stance. But generally, I prefer a more explorative approach to learning and conversation. I detest political discussions that are filled with seemingly purposeful misunderstandings, projections, and neglectful ignorance. There's a kind of arrogance to promote a single “correct” view to a nuanced topic. To do this is to forget the impacts, implications, and flaws of the chosen approach, as it does not exist in a perfect vacuum. I imagine it rather to be like the weather: a chaotic system. There is going to be a catch when executing one's ideal approach. Pitched ideals are safe within a purely conversational vacuum, not when exposed to the raw chaos of the world.

Unfortunately, I find that some “political” conversations do not look to inform and engage with problems with a nuanced approach. Rather it is about being “correct” and “winning” the “argument” as a means of ego-stroking. That said, participation in mature topics can be beneficial as a means of engaging and expanding ones' own perspectives, bringing differing views closer at their crossings.

The root of this anxiety is my own self-doubt in education and knowledge. I have spent most of my life in school, jumping through hoops of assignments, exams, and getting high marks. My days revolved around an established routine that served to “optimize” my performance on these faux-meritocratic metric-oriented systems. Presumably to be rewarded with opportunities and pathways to flourish and enrich my knowledge and abilities further, right? But it didn't seem to pan out that way. Instead what I had gotten was further confusion, disorientation, and alienation in several dimensions. Socially, nothing much has improved and academic performance is far from a core basis of respect. It is more so a means of confirming preexisting positive perceptions or confirming expected flaws in the face of under-performance. Social integration remains far more important and, in many ways, is beneficial when someone doesn't already struggle with inclusion and needing to reaffirm their communal value to receive, at the very least, begrudging social tolerance. Hey, it's one step closer to proper social support, right?

But even casting this aside, the education I have experienced feels sporadic, disjointedly structured, and incomplete. Being told that I have a well-rounded liberal arts education when I couldn't be bothered to truly follow world events let alone what goes on in our local county beyond parroting what my feed is screaming... ...well, that's a bit disingenuous. Perhaps I haven't taken advantage of the privilege that I've been granted as well as I should have? Then I very much lament that I wasn't failed as a student rather than marked as highly performant. Then again, perhaps that wouldn't far off the mark. But my concern, is that although I acknowledge the ways that I find my education to be unsatisfying, I wonder how many have been exhausted or disillusioned with the overall notion of education, even one pursued out of personal curiosity and growth?

It is frustrating when I run into the bounds of my knowledge, especially in matters that I feel are (or should be) fundamental. Whether it's in matters of economics, civics, real estate, basic home maintenance and machinery, crafting and trades, gardening and agriculture... ...practical matters that are handy and likely will stick with you no matter where you go, at least with examples closer to the latter. It is those kinds of skills that are valued and can even to an extent be an art. They are the practical application of some of the theory we learn in school, but we aren't simply cramming to get a nicely laminated paper, rather we get feedback and empirical experience. So why isn't this the basis of widespread institutional learning as it can link theory, application, and social integration all together, rather than creating an uninspiring, soulless, and inefficient prison-factory that's bankrupt of thought and creativity? For the good that can come out of public schooling, I can't give credit to the structure itself as much as the blessed people who work hard within it to provide truly valuable lessons to their students.

It is equally frustrating that entering the workplace, at least in the post-pandemic world, is no less of a mess. I think back on massively multiplayer online games (MMO), and how they have to introduce the world as well as the game mechanics to a new player in a way that is engaging and clear enough to understand the basics. The new player experience is vital to ensure a steady flow of fresh faces to a game whose well-being directly relies on its community. So why on earth isn't the same done for on-boarding in companies (or perhaps on a larger scale socially), let alone providing a more practical reference for everything that a young adult ought to know with a means to evaluate their own present abilities with pathways to becoming more functional in common society? Perhaps parents can only do so much to prepare you for adulthood, and the rest is on you to learn for yourself. There is no handbook on life. But I am not asking for it, as the phrase seems to be uttered derogatorily, implying that you desire to be served everything on a silver platter. No, rather I desire to not have to learn the same bloody systems and lessons prior generations had to puzzle through myself by sifting past the clutter of the Internet, and be given at least a table of contents and page numbers to follow myself. Of course, no one can cram the knowledge and experience into my head for me. I am not delusional, but neither should you meaningless waste others' time and wits with confusion by expecting certain ideas to be 'well-known' or 'common knowledge' but weren't bothered to be treated as such amid upbringing. And what does one do if someone's familial/social experience did not allow for these common lessons? It takes a village to raise a child, but nowadays I can seldom find a village so much as islands drowning in echoing self-interest and egotistic delusion.

Brains, I love and hate them. When random bits of music or snippets of your past can just place you back in time so clearly... where you can see and feel how everything was for you, so strongly... it makes one smile but also so sad.

I remember a time when I'd love browsing through the App Store on an iPod Touch and download a bunch of free games, demos, and online games. Walking around playing music through the crappy white Apple earphones/pods, that would give out after a couple of months.

I remember coming to and from music lessons, before which I should have practiced more. I also remember leaving my iPod touch in the car. When we came back, it wasn't there. Turns out, it had fallen under the car wheel as I'd got out. I'd found it missing only after we'd driven over it as we'd reversed. Screen was cracked into powder and smithereens. My mom was certainly not happy when we'd found it in the shape it was.

I'd listen to music from game soundtracks, ones I'd scoured the internet for and downloaded. With them, I'd go on my own adventures. How often I'd wished that I wouldn't be the only one. I suppose that's why playing pretend was my favorite recess and playground activity, one I'd drag other kids into.

In a way, that's why I enjoy online games, roleplaying games, and now tabletop games. How I hope to enjoy life like so again, perhaps I'm relearning now after years of constant schooling and entering the job market.

There's so much information slowly fading away, only remaining in the memories of few and filed away in old digital archives in the corner of the web. That's why it's best to at least create new records of whatever memories and thoughts that emerge, before they, too, fade and be forgot.

Originally published April 21st, 2019

“It all began with a stone, Or so the legend says...”

Note: There may be visual (and written) spoilers for the end of FINAL FANTASY XI's base game. Proceed with caution.

Hello to everyone who stumbles or miraculously reads this blog. In case you're new here, which is entirely likely, this is a personal blog of sorts where I post whatever I feel posting. I haven't been doing so lately due to life and being a college student; however, I've realized that while I was caught up in the mundanities of life that I've been unable to enjoy myself. Now I won't pour my heart and sorrows out here, especially since my life is by no means a difficult one. Far from the worst, as I have much to be thankful for. But I've felt as though I wasn't doing anything with myself aside from what I needed to do, in particular going to class and being academically achieved. I can't say I'm not successful, but I've come to realize once again, that success in the way others seek from you (academics, career, love, etc) does not bring about happiness, and certainly does not serve as a good reminder of one's self-autonomy. If anything it does the reverse, where having to be in obligation to one's own responsibilities and meeting the expectation of others serves to undermine ones ability to enjoy being alive. However, this honestly reminds me of when I was a freshman in high school, I attended the graduation ceremony for the seniors that year. One of the speakers was a senior with whom I worked with in the theatre club at the school.

I'll be scattering random images from when I played FFXI without posting about Lostwanderer's adventures.

We go on casual timetraveling related adventures, concerning a girl name Iroha.

Yes, I count as a theatre nerd, in case you couldn't tell by my fancy spelling of the word. Ho ho!

Visiting Kam'lanuaut in preparation to take on the Shadowlord.

Invasion on Xarcabard.

But what to garner from this little story is that the speaker mentioned that we are living our lives regardless of how mundane or draining it may feel, since after all we're alive and time stops for no one. We spend time with those around us regardless of whether we like them, dislike them, or could care less. No matter how boring of a time we may be having in class and with homework, that still counts as living out our lives. Thinking back on it, it's slowly nearing a decade ago since I've heard that part of the speech and it still sticks with me, you know? That regardless of whether we find ourselves doing what we'd like or are stuck with our own responsibilities and duties, that we're living our lives. Our “best life” doesn't start within a month, decade, or whenever we end up attaining what we sought after.

The Inner Sanctum of Castle Zvahl

The Shadowlord, himself

We stand facing the Shadowlord, formerly named Raogrimm

Ah, well Kam'lanaut is a backstabber. YOU'LL NEVER SEE IT COMING!

I don't believe that there is a best life to be found or to aim for, since it's simply life with all its ups, downs, joys, sorrows, rage, etc. We're living our lives right now, and making decisions regardless of how automated it appears or feels to be. Our duty, as existent beings I guess, is to keep on living and acknowledging what we aim to get out of our limited run here, reflect on what we value, and make an effort to make our playthrough worth it and valuable. For me, while I'd like to be a skilled professional with a job to support myself in the near future, I first and foremost hope to be an empathetic person, and to be someone who I personally can look up to. Call me cheesy or perhaps even naive, but in a world that comes off as increasingly cold, polarized, and cynical, either due to age, or the way we're going socially, I simply just want to be a good person. I don't want to give anyone trouble, but to live a peaceful life, and hopefully provide the same to those around me, the best I'm able.

Sanctuary of Zi'tah, one of the headstones we were sent to hunt on our quest to defeat the Zilarts, Kam'lanaut and Eald'narche.

I'd like to not restart, but instead pick up and continue where I left off. If I were to do the former, that would mean that I'd given up on that run, and would prefer to begin afresh, not bothering with struggling and persevering through the complexities of that continued persistent struggle. I've been alive for about two decades, I'm far from a point when I can restart. The real time to “restart” was when I was zero years old. That has long past, so I must continue on and push through my endeavors to attain and provide myself as well as others with what I enjoy and find worthwhile in my short stay here. Thank you for sticking through my rambling. So for now, I wish all of you a good night, morning, or day. Until next time, take care! May we continue living on, and enjoy our current ephemeral existence.

Lostwanderer decides to take on becoming a Red Mage, and thus turns to Valkurm dunes to continue improving himself to trudging through the lands and ages of Vana'diel.

Originally published December 28th, 2017 Much time has past since the last time I journeyed into Vana'diel with the thief, Hatanu; however, upon my return to the distant world I had decided to start my journey anew, this time with a Galka monk by the name of Lost Wanderer.

Introducing Lost Wanderer

Say hello to everyone! Beginning once again in the Republic of Bastok, within the rocky wastes of Gustaberg, we tore through the monsters with knuckles and tensed up fists searching for zinc ore. We had decided to assist a young girl, Cornelia, in helping her injured friend, Parraggoh, a fellow Galka much like Lost Wanderer. Unfortunately, Parraggoh had hurt himself on a job for the Tenshodo, a smuggler organization, to deliver them zinc ore. Sadly he was one away from completing their request, and as a result, Tenshodo member Talib refused to pay him for an incomplete order. Lost Wanderer was to obtain the last piece of zinc ore, and bring it back to Talib, and thus we scoured Gustaberg through the day and deep into night, until we found what we came for.

We trudge through Gustaberg, in search of strength and zinc ore!

Hunting out in Gustaberg

With the dawn rising behind our backs, we returned to Talib, delivering what he required and gave us the pay they promised Parraggoh: Detailed Logs about the Palborough Mines, a once valued area during the peak of Bastok's industrial revolution. We gave Parraggoh what he desired from the Tenshodo. With recieved gratitude and a request to pass on thanks to Cornelia, we were about to leave Parroggoh's house. Suddenly Parraggoh retracted the request, and instead asked us to tell Cornelia to keep away from the Galka, much like Lost Wanderer and himself, for her own sake. In our minds flashed a brief memory of Talib, reacting to our eagerness to assist Cornelia and Parraggoh, muttering under his breath, “I don't know why anyone would bother helping a Galka... but it's your life”. We returned a pained smile before heading back out to Bastok, and continuing upon our new journey.

We spent some gil on some holiday exclusive fire works.

Lost Wanderer and his house Moogle, Mog.

Originally published August 12th, 2017 Goodness me! It has been quite a while since the last post. I've been busy with life, and have been playing a bit of FFXI here and there.

Hey, I may not be a millionaire (yet), but I've been saving up some gil lately! :D

Aside from almost quitting it to focus on my life, I decided to try to incorporate FFXI (and video games) into my schedule healthily without sacrificing other things. Recently I've unlocked the Ninja job class after finding my way to Norg (at last)! Now that I could use the Ninja job, I had to pretty much start from square one with it: grind it up to level 50. So my journey, once again, began in Northern & Southern Gustaberg, and led me along a familiar journey that I took, not long ago, as a thief.

Well, I find myself back at Qufim Island once again! Time to slay more strange flying fish!

We meet again Delkfutt Tower. I see you have plenty more Giants waiting for a good fight.

More recently I've been grinding in Crawler's Nest and I hated it since the area where I was camping was awfully crowded, the Crawlers themselves were tanky, and they kept linking and attacking me in duos (Can't really pull effectively). I stayed there until I got to level 40, then I left a dust trail behind me as I ran happily back to a place I know: Garlaige Citadel.

Panting “Finally... Level 40... Let's get out of here... NOW!”

Once again, I was seen bringing the Siege Bat and Borer Beetle species to nigh extinction until I finally made it to level 45. It luckily didn't take that long. Once again, the sound of my blades shall resound in this citadel (and perhaps many more times in the future. Who knows?)

Haha! Level 45 at last! Progress! ;^; (And I'm not even playing how FFXI originally was, which was far slower... but with more players to hang around with!)

Additionally, in the meanwhile, I've been gaining plenty of Sparks, a special kind of currency for those unaware, so getting new equipment wasn't too hard (and it was pretty nice to see some visual progression in terms of gear).

Some sort of celebration is going on in Bastok, and without a doubt in the other cities!

Fireworks, a nice way to end the day~

Once I attain 5 more levels, I'll be hunting down all of the Ninjutsu skills that I can learn (up to level 50, of course) via the shop and quests. After that's taken care of, I can at last be a Thief again! Hahahahahaha (This grind has honestly gotten to my head. I just hope I can resume the story soon. :< ). But anyway, my enjoyment of the game sort of dipped once I began grinding Ninja, and now it's all steadily rising up again. I'm actually pretty excited to have a functional sub-job to use for the rest of the way to level 99. But we'll see! If I change my mind, then more grind shall be my price (and more tears). But anyway, that's all for now. Thank you for reading my near-incoherent mess of thoughts and summary as to where I disappeared to. Once I've done all the grinding and preparatory work, we can resume the Bastok missions, and hopefully face the Shadowlord soon!

Now I'm starting to look like a proper Ninja! Although it'll only be like this for a few levels, but still! It looks nice nonetheless!

But for now: until next time, farewell!

Originally published on July 22nd, 2017 This will probably be a shorter post. Lately, I've just been grinding in the Garlaige Citadel (again) to get to Level 50, and hilariously enough, ended up getting knocked onto my behind by a Puroboros, because it decided to self-destruct and wipe over half my party (myself included). It wasn't that big of a deal, though I found it to be pretty hilarious. Darn you Puroboros and your Self-Destruct! That temporary item chest sure ain't goin' to help me now!

But anyway, I decided to stick around Garlaige Citadel grinding Siege Bats until I got around Level 50, when I stopped receiving bonuses (and experience) from the area's Grounds Tome quests, which are repeatable quests that task you with killing a number of certain monsters for more experience (and other rewards). By the way, not sure where to say this but LOOK AT THESE ADORABLE THINGS! How could I have been endlessly killing these for the past few levels! What kind of monster am I!?

So I decided to finally start training at Bostaunieux Oubliette in San d'Oria. But first, I decided to put on the new gear I got with my Sparks.

Yay! Raptor Gear! Now I can stop looking like a weird dagger n' shield wielding mage thing! But anyway, after I equipped myself I headed to Bostaunieux Oubliette, took on a a Grounds Tome quest there, and started to hunt Funnel Bats; however, they were as hard as they were when I last tried to test out Bostaunieux Oubliette as a hunting spot. Curillia, my Tank Trust, ended up dying at least three times because another Funnel Bat would always link/join in right when we were about to kill one. Though after a while, along with a hefty stuggle to pull only one Funnel Bat at a time, I finally made it to Level 50! Yay!

Oh, and I helped someone with a Vampirism-like disease since I just so happened to have a vial of Beastman Blood on me.

I actually decided to check Isakoth if he had anymore THF-wearable gear, and he did! So I decided to purchase pieces of the Crow Jupon Set, which gave bonuses to Evasion and decreased Enmity.

And I still DON'T look like a weird dagger n' shield mage Conquistador! Yay! This is the point when I decided to start using Equipment sets and setting them to Macros, in order to switch between them quickly; however, I'm starting to realize that it may be time to expand my inventory a bit. Actually, my plans as of now in FFXI are to do the following:

Do the Gobbiebag Quests to get more inventory slots. Finish the Ninja Job quest (I need to get to Norg for that. ;–;). Level the Ninja Job. Switch back to Thief, and get a pair of good daggers to dual-wield. Do the first Genkai Limit quest to raise the level cap to 55. ...Level to 55 obviously. Finally do Missions 5-1 & 5-2, and maybe start doing expansion missions.

Another thing I've been considering is starting to synthesis and sell stuff for gil and to raise those skills so that I could make myself some gear. I might either look into that before I finish the Ninja Job quest, or perhaps I'll get to that once I do all of the above. I'll see. But that's the end of this post! Thanks for reading! Until next time, farewell!

Originally published July 18th, 2017 It was finally time for me to accomplish my mission. Everything was ready, and all the items I needed were in my bag. So I left the duchy of Jeuno behind as I first marched to Davoi, an orc-occupied fortress set in the middle of Jugner Forest.

The entrance to Davoi

My party and I took little time to fight through the lines of orcs who dared to stand against us and our mission. One by one, they were cut down. The battle was waged until finally, we reached the cave and chamber within where the Magicite was held.

The Davoi Magicite

At first I was rather stunned at how strange it looked to me, but I remained vigilant in my mission. I did not forget what I came here for. For what reason beastmen blood was shed today. There was a small Magicite crystal laying at the base of this structure, and so I took it; however, then something strange happened!

We see Ulrich, a member of an expeditionary group that Raogrimm was also sent on to Xarcabard, an ice-covered land littered with ruins. Ulrich, maddened with some sort of hatred for the Galka, attempts to take Raogrimm's life.

There was so much more to the vision, but I fear that I cannot recount all of it here. But these visions did not stop here. After all, I had two more Magicite to claim at both Beadeaux and Castle Oztroja. Thus, my party escaped Davoi intact and traveled onwards back to the Pashhow Marshlands, where the Quadav fortified themselves in their fortress of Beadeaux.

Thus, we found ourselves in Beadeaux once again. This time around the Quadav hardly engaged us, and we managed to swiftly charge our way into the inner sanctum of their fortress: a place they call the Qulun Dome. It is there we found the second Magicite, and the moment I touched it, yet another vision came to me.

The Beadeaux Magicite

A vision. Dead Quadav laying around?

We see Raogrimm, a Galka, saddened by the endless killing of beastmen. He notes how the Quadav who were killed here, were simply trying to defend their eggs. What were these visions? Of betrayal? Of slaughter? Why am I seeing this? Many question popped into my mind, as my party ran out of Beadeaux, with Magicite in hand, and turned onward toward our last destination: Castle Oztroja, which was situated in the Meriphataud Mountains.

Inside Castle Oztroja, we found it heavily gaurded by the Yagudo, a group of sentient bird-like beastmen. Castle Oztroja was enormous, with its twisting hallways, multiple floors and stairways. It took a while before we finally made it to where the Magicite laid. On our way there, we were badly injured by two skilled Yagudo spellcasters, as well as accidentally going into the wrong room.

Oh by gods! Really? We seriously entered the wrong room!? We mostly snuck around the castle, by using Prism Powder, an item that allowed us to be harder to see. But after an arduous time of being lost and getting our behinds handed to us, we found the Altar Room. There we were met by Fickblix, the goblin we saw in Jeuno who was friends with Verena. He seemed to have been gravely injured. Then, out of nowhere, Verena appeared. Had she been following us?

Verena kneeled beside Fickblix in his final moments. Verena had asked Fickblix who had done this to them, but he simply begged her that it was no one, and that she ought not hate them. With his final breath, he told Verena, “Thank...you...”. His small body went limp and his life faded away. I continued on to the last Magicite. After all, I was on a mission from the archduke of Jeuno. I have come too far to turn back, even if this will bring about more death to their kind, but even then I still felt that I wished that there was another way.

There it was. The final Magicite.

I touched the Magicite, and saw a vision of some Taru Taru in Windurst. It seemed that they wished to summon something, but then it shifted to an image of Yagudo fighting amongst themselves, then I saw a Taru Taru trying to find out from them why their lands were being drained of resources, but the Yagudo proclaim that they only had themselves to blame. That it was Windurst, that went inside one of the towers and attempted something. What was it that they tried to do? I do not know, but then I saw a Taru Taru from the first image. From what I gathered, she was referred to as “Star Sibyl” and she was calling out to something as if she were summoning it. Was this all the past? What did they do? More questions pounded from within the recesses of my mind, but then I found myself in front of Oztroja's Magicite again. Then an image appeared in the corner of the room. Proclaiming its return to the living was the Shadowlord, the late leader of the beastmen who was presumed dead. It seems that the beastmen were trying to bring him back after all. I took the Magicite, and swiftly hurried back to Jeuno.

The Archduke of Jeuno. I presented him with the Magicite. Do I really trust him? After giving the Magicite to Archduke Kam'lanaut, I was presented with an Airship pass, which allowed me unlimited use of airships in Jeuno. As great as that boon was, I thought to myself if it was all worth it? I returned to the Bastok embassy in Jeuno, and, yet again, was sent on a mission to Bastok. It seems that the three nations of San d'Oria, Windurst, and Bastok were attacked simultaneously. Presumably the attackers were after some sort of “key”, that each nation held. Did these “keys” have to do something with the Shadowlord's imminent return? I took the next airship back to Bastok, with my mind screaming at itself, demanding answers for what was happening.

Thus I took the next airship back to Bastok...

Wee! I'm on an airship! Look at the view! Goodness me! I ought to travel by airship more often!

Goodness me! I'm finally making a lot of progress in the story of FFXI, and it's turning up a few knots. I'm following it pretty well, but there are a lot of things that I want to know more. Like “How the hell did Verena and Fickblix get into the Altar Room? Was Verena flippin' following me the entire time!?”. But plot-related questions aside, I'm enjoying this game very much, even for how old it is. Despite the game being on its last legs, I still hope that I can keep enjoying it for as long as possible. Anyway, I'll most likely be grinding my character to level 50, then do the quest to raise the level cap to 55, and grind to 55 before I take on the next mission. Maybe I'll make a post, maybe not. We'll see. But anyway, for whoever is reading this, thank you very much and I hope you have a good day. Until next time, farewell!

Originally posted on July 15th, 2017 Greetings! It's been a few weeks in Earth time since I have last recounted tales of my journey through Vana'diel. Lately I've been attempting to fulfill a mission granted to me by the archduke of Jeuno to seize the Magicite from three beastman-controlled fortresses: Davoi, Beadeaux, and Castle Oztroja; however, first I had to meet with Aldo. The problem was that in order to meet with him, I need to gain membership into the Tenshodo. For that to occur, I needed to make my name known in Jeuno, before they'd consider me as a potential applicant. Luckily, I heard that a farmer by the name of Melyon in Selbina needed some feed for his farm. Thus I set out to make my myself known as a handy supplier of only the most premium feed: Boyahda Moss. This Moss can be found growing on the backs of Goobbues, and so I made my way toward to Pashhow Marshlands. When I arrived with my Trusts, Valaineral, Mihli Alipoh, and Ayame, we immediately began to track down the Goobbues and hunted them on sight.

Fighting broke out, and we trudged through the marshlands as we continued our search for more Goobbues to harvest the moss from, until we finally managed to get a hefty pile.

We turned towards Selbina, and met with Melyon, who happily took all of our Boyahda Moss for about 7200 gil. Though the money was nice, our main aim was to attain some sort of a reputation back in Jeuno. Before long, the denizens of Jeuno became aware of my reliable services as an adventurer, and so I turned back to the Neptune's Spire Inn.

I stood in front of the door for a few moments, took a breath and entered.

Once inside, I talked to the inn clerk and shopkeeper, Ghebi Damomohe, who told me of the Tenshodo, who are a band of smugglers. In order to join them, I had to head back to Bastok, and find a Galka by the name of Silver Owl in order to obtain a Tenshodo Application Form. Once that was taken care of, I returned to Ghebi, and in return for the form, I was finally granted membership into the ranks of the Tenshodo. Finally, I could continue with my mission. Once I was allowed into the headquarters, I navigated its rooms and hallways until I found Aldo's office. Inside, as expected, I found the man I needed. He gave me a Silver Bell which was somehow meant to allow me to venture deeper into Beadeaux. I wasn't sure what was so special about that particular bell, but I took it gratefully. Suddenly, a woman by the name of Verena came in and interrupted our conversation. Apparently she felt concerned about the beastmen who live and work in Jeuno being forced out. It seemed that she wanted to make peace with the beastmen, which was pretty ironic considering I was in the same room on a mission that'd most likely require me to fight beastmen. As much as I would've loved to not have to draw my dagger, I don't see these times allowing me such a luxury. So I left the room, and bumped into a Tenshodo Taru-Taru named Sattal-Mansal who told me that I would need a Coruscant rosary and a Black Matinee necklace in order to infiltrate the places I've been sent to. In return for those items, I had to find Sattal a Quadav Charm and a Quadav Augury Shell. Both of these were to be found in Beadeaux carried by Dev'yu Headhunter and Go'Bhu Gascon respectively for each item. Goodness me, the amount of names I have to bear in mind for this mission is astounding. I quickly jotted down my targets on the back of my Beadeaux map, and once again found myself traveling toward the Pashhow Marshlands. My party, after a long day of slowly marching through the marshes, finally made it to Beadeaux. Upon our arrival, our plight against the fortified Quadav, as well as our hunt for our two targets began. The Quadav weren't particularly inclined to let us freely prance around killing their kind.

Before long, we found our first target.

It fell, and so we rested a bit, before continuing on.

Then finally, after most of the day faded away, we located and hunted down the second target.

And so I warped back to Jeuno, carrying with me the Quadav Charm and Black Matinee Necklace!

After the task was completed, I received what I was promised. Additionally, I had already attained a Yagudo Torch, another item I would need for this mission. It was given to me by Verena's friend, Fickblix, before he decided to journey to Castle Oztroja by himself in an attempt to quell tensions between the beastmen and the citizens of Jeuno. His beastman brethren, Verena, and even I were rather concerned at his safety, especially if he were to be mistaken as an enemy beastman by a band of adventurers. But I can say, without a doubt, that this mission is starting to get rather interesting. TO BE CONTINUED...

Anyway, hello! It has been a while. I've been taking a bit of a break from FFXI in order to focus on my life, and because I was a bit burnt out of FFXI; however, my passion for FFXI has been rekindled for multiple reasons. First of all, I managed to get enough reputation in Jeuno to be able to continue the main story, so that's promising. Second, I adjusted how my UI looks and installed some addons and plugins via Windower in order to add some functionality to my current UI. Additionally I managed to get mods for some of the fonts and status icons to make them a tad bit more readable. In short, I think I'm at a point where I am happy with how the game looks and feels UI-wise, and I'm happy that I'm finally making progress in the main story of FFXI again.

Made some personal UI adjustments~ :D

I'll hopefully continue very soon, but for now I ought to rest after a long day of adventuring. To anyone who is reading this, thank you and I hope you have a wonderful evening (or whatever time it is you're reading this).

Toasty! :)

Until next time, farewell!

Originally posted on July 2nd, 2017 Greetings! I'm Hatanu, an adventurer extremely new to Vana'diel! I started my journey a while ago in the Republic of Bastok and have worked up my way through its ranks by doing a few missions and bashing a few Quadav shells in North & South Gustaberg and within the Palborough Mines. Once I grew comfortable with my fresh-yet-barren-looking surroundings in Gustaberg, I journeyed alongside my Trust NPC companions: Valaineral, Adelheid, and Joachim to the Konschtat Highlands, then pushed onward into the Valkurm Dunes. While avoiding the roaming goblins, my party and I slayed countless Hill Lizards and Sand Bats. We trudged through the sand until we finally made it to Selbina, and rested there. Little did we know, that we'd come back here very soon on an assignment set by the bosses in Bastok. Once I felt confident enough in my strength, I ran onward to Jeuno. A massive city that I'd been told to aim towards in my training as a young adventurer thief. Thus, I turned back towards the windmills and green hills of the Konschtat Highlands, and journeyed northeast to the Pashhow Marshlands. I remained wary and vigilant in my avoidance of the roaming Malboros and Goodbues, for I knew they were too strong for me, and kept at it until I made it to the Rolanberry Fields. I knew I was close, yet I was horrified by the incredibly strong (well, incredibly strong in relation to me at the time) Quadav that guarded the roads. Many times I had to run off into the grass, and navigate the ruined stone fences as I approached the grand walls of Jeuno. It was finally when I arrived at the gates, that I took a large breath and sighed in relief. I finally had made it. But then upon entering I stood witness to a mysterious vision of a crystal floating in the air, and a young boy watching it while everyone around me stood frozen in time. I recall hearing an ethereal voice saying something, as if it were telling a story. It began its words with:

“It all began with a stone... ...or so the legend says...”

Meanwhile the boy turned to me and spoke. He told me to seek out three things; the Seedspall Lux, Seedspall Luna, and the Seedspall Astrum. Then once I had found those things, I am to bring it all to him at Qufim Island. Shortly after he finished speaking, he disappeared and all returned to as it was. As if it were all a dream. Weird visions aside, my arrival in Jeuno sent me on a goose chase for a Chocobo on the loose. After dealing with that conundrum, I treated an injured Chocobo because some irresponsible man wasn't capable of being a decent master and human being to this beautiful creature. My introduction to the grand duchy of Jeuno was very tempestuous, but very amusing; however, I turned back to Bastok. From there I set out to do my duty in the Federation of Windurst and the Kingdom of San d'Oria. Afterwards, I scaled a bit of Delkfutt's Tower in Qufim Island, and unintentionally found and defeated Poryphion, a massive Gigas whose defeat rewarded us with the Delkfutt Key (and boy did it come in handy later for a task set unto me to find/rescue an ambassador).

Thus that is my recollection of how I started my journey through Vana'diel. Yes, my humble beginnings in a massive over-pressurized nutshell. I most recently journeyed into Garlaige Citadel, situated amidst Sauromugue Champaign. Many Sauromugue Skinks were bothering my entire party as we seeked the entrance to our next training grounds. Once we finally found what we were seeking, we were met with a rather desolate scene.

The inside was in completely rough shape, and I ended falling down one of the holes in the floor. Below were monsters far beyond my league, so I attempted to run back to where I'd fallen from, only to be defeated by Citadel Bats.

After returning to the citadel, this time I did my best to avoid falling and went after Wingrats and Skeletons. At one point, I spotted a Siege Bat from across one of the holes in the floor, so I whipped my crossbow out and shot at it. I waited for it to go around and enter the room I was in, and it did. Except one minor thing I overlooked was that it brought friends... lots of friends. In little time I was swarmed and defeated by the Siege Bat and the many Wingrats that joined it. I returned a third time and this round I just cowered in the corner and lured lone skeletons and bats toward me and my companions until I'd gotten stronger. Then, I turned my gaze back to Jeuno, where I would serve the Bastok ambassador and the duchy's archduke, Kam'lanaut. I was to seize magicite from the beastmen, Vana'diel's common enemy from what I could tell (and from what I experienced with the Quadav at least) from three different bases of theirs. First, I had to meet with Aldo (Wait wait, that name rings a bell. Why am I thinking back to that weird vision with the boy?) at the Neptune's Spire Inn in Lower Jeuno. Little did I know, that the place was under the influence of a group known as the Tenshodo according to one of the temporary residents there, and Aldo was no where to be found. Thus my only lead is to gain membership into the Tenshodo, and what better way is there than to gain some notoriety... I mean, fame, of course. The good kind! But first, I decided that I ought to make a name for myself in Bastok, and thus I returned and have been doing favors for the residents of the Republic.

These range from advertising/recruiting individuals for an Aht Urhgan mercenary group to trying to find an old foreman and his dog (Plot twist/Spoiler: Apparently they're both dead and the dog went undead. I had to kill it to find this all out. Oh, the things I do). In the meantime, I managed to expand my little Moghouse, so now my Moogle and I have a second floor to feel comfy in (Boy, I really need some furniture ASAP.). Also did I mention that I'm also taking care of a baby Chocobo!?

I'm not sure I've covered all of the things that have happened over the course of my first few months in Vana'diel. It's been completely confusing and chaotic, but very entertaining I must say. Now that I've caught you up on my journey, perhaps my future tales will sound less like insane ramblings and more like those of a weary-but-calm adventurer sitting at a campfire. I hope to return to Vana'diel soon, and with me I hope to bring more tales of my encounters and misadventures!

Hello! In case you haven't noticed, this is a personal blog I'm running to keep track of my journey through Final Fantasy XI. As this was an extremely condensed rundown of what happened over my first two months, the next posts I make will be far more focused and less like a sugar-rush. I'll post whenever I can/feel like and I'm running all of this for fun and for record's sake. Anyway, to whomever is reading this, I hope you'll enjoy this. To those who happen to also be adventuring in Vana'diel right now, feel free to join/message me sometime! Until next time!