I do so much as an adventurer it's often hard to find the time to write about it in my journal here. No matter what I'm doing, I'm usually capturing some images of me doing it. I figured, since I often don't have time to write, but I always have images of my adventures, why don't I show those off?

So to that end I've started publishing:



Here you'll be able to see all the great things I've been doing lately, even if I don't have time to write about them. Please check it out and let me know what you think.

From my lack of journal entries lately, it might seem that I haven't been doing much. To the contrary, I've been very, very busy!

Of course, this time of year there's always alot going on. First off, the Moogles held the annual Starlight Celebration and I mostly certainly participated by donning my Dream outfit and handing out presents for the kiddies. I even participated in a Moogle event where we had to find specific adventurers and trade cards with them, among other treats, I got a pair of Dream Boots +1 to complete my Dream outfit. The boots are kind of nice actually, in that not only can they be used to cast Sneak, but they also enhance the sneak effect! I understand now why the Smilebringers are always able to get into the townsfolk's house with no disruption to the sleeping children.

After the fun and games were over, I spent some time in the Uleguerand Range honing my skills as a Beastmaster. I was even lucky enough to find another adventuring Beastmaster named Everquest with whom I teamed up to take on some of the nastiest hounds I've fought in my adventuring life.

After all of the effort, it seemed my innate Beastmaster abilities had gone as far as they would so I went back to Maat to ask for some more guidance. He sent me off on a quest that had me in the Orc's Monastic Cavern, the Quadav's Qulun Dome, and the Yagudo's Castle Oztroja. That was a bit of tough work but in the end, it helped me break some of my limitations.

After that, it was back to Beastmaster work. This time I ventured down into the Boyahda Tree in the Sanctuary of Zi'tah. It turns out that the rumors are true about this being the biggest tree in the sanctuary. As a matter of fact, there are hills, valleys, tunnels, rivers, waterfalls and many, many plants and animals down there. It really gave me quite an opportunity to hone my skills charming animals.

And, as if this all wasn't enough, I also had an opportunity to talk to the little fashion girl, Brygid in Bastok Markets who found me a nice piece of body armor called a Gaudy Harness. She didn't just hand it over though; she wanted to trade me for an Ophiuchus Subligar which was pretty tough to get. Eventually Sparkkplug and I were able to find one on a Fomor Beastmaster we defeated down in the Phomiuna Aqueducts. I can't say the Aqueducts were a bad experience though, it's not everyday you see the likes of a diremite!

Recently, there's been sightings all over Vana'diel of rodent-like (rat or mouse) creatures running around outdoors. Some have said the bear gifts and spells for those adventurers who talk to them and you know I'll need to find out if the rumors are true myself.

So, I have certainly been busy and that's my excuse for not writing in my journal lately. Unfortunately, it's also my excuse for not fishing or crafting very much lately either but that excuse will only hold out for so long. When my pocketbook runs dry, I'll need to start some more fishing for profit. I can't neglect my job for too long without feeling the impact!

After much deliberation, I decided to investigate the Cavernous Maws I, and others, had seen literally popping up all over the Quon and Midartia continents. I re-entered the one I'd found in Batallia Downs and returned to the past again. There I met Sparkklug and an old friend named Wasper. Sparkk told me how Garlaige Citadel was a San d'Orian stronghold in the Great Crystal War of the past and that we should see if we could find more information there.

So, we set out through Sauromugue Champaign and eventually made it to Garlaige Citadel. Sparkk was right, the citadel was not the decrepit, ruin of a dungeon that I'd always known it to be. Instead it was a well fortified, well outfitted, headquarters of San d'Orian resistance against the Beastman onslaught. We searched around for a bit and eventually found Randecque, who said we should join up with the Knights of the Iron Ram as soon as possible and gave us red recommendation letters to take to the Captain of the Iron Rams: Mainchelite, in San d'Oria.

Continue reading "Back to the Beginning"

I decided to enter another fish ranking competition. This time the contest was for the smallest catch, and the fish was a giant donko - which is a pretty easy hook in Rabao with a frog lure. After spending a few days at that pleasant little pond, I'd caught what I thought was the itty, bittiest little donko I would find. I went straight to Selbina that day to drop my entry off at the Fishing Guild. When I entered my fish, Chenon designated it worth 321 points (the lower the better in this particular contest). I was confident it was a pretty good entry but I wasn't certain how good.

I stayed in Valkurm Dunes overnight watching the stars against the black backdrop of night, and awoke the next morning eager to find out the results. Just as I arrived at the Guild, Chenon was posting the results board. As I scanned down the list I found my name. I'd done much better this time around than last time, I'd come in 9th place.

As a reward, Chenon gave me 1000 gil and, of course, another Pelican Ring. Also, for being within the top ten I suspect, Chenon awarded me the title "Copper Hook." Maybe not is flashy as gold or silver hook, but it's a title I can be proud of!

My adventuring friend Tsuim Nhomango asked me if I'd help her work on her battle skills a little. She said she was interested in fighting some Tabar Beaks in Sauromugue Champaign and since I was traveling through there frequently lately on the way to Garlaige Citadel, I figured I'd take a little time to help her out. After all, she's fun to be around and a Mithra after all, so how could I say no?

With a Crab Familiar by my side, we had an easy time taking out many Tabar Beaks and Tsuim was able to practice her skills in the "Attacker Style" in relative safety. She stayed with me for most of the day and we focused completely on fighting Tabar Beaks. After we'd had three outings like this, her abilities seemed markedly improved. We were even able to chain our weapon skills together a few times. She says she's about level 33 now so it certainly seems she's been learning something.

I'm thinking that someday Tsuim might be strong enough to accompany me on some harder battles. Wouldn't that be cool!?

While I was returning to my Mog House through Upper Jeuno on the way back from discovering the Cavernous Maws I noticed a small crowd gathered around a few folks that seemed to be, uh... well... dancing!?

There was a huge Galka who seemed to be as light as a feather on his feet. There was a lithe little Mithra whose moves made me think of something other than dancing... And there was a Hume women named Laila that seemed to watching, or even critiquing, the other's moves. When I spoke to the Galka, he mentioned that they were part of the dance troupe Brilioth.

That's not a name I'd heard before so I decided to talk to Laila, who seemed to be the leader. She asked me if I thought I could be a dancer. I was tired from my recent adventures and somehow I said I thought I could. She seemed to write me off but when I asked her about the dance troupe again, she thought I wanted to get into it. I must have come across as someone interested in dancing (I was tired, I'm not even sure what I said) and so she insisted that, if I wanted to learn from her and Troupe Brilioth, I'd better find her a stardust pebble. I had no idea what that was and so I figured I'd head off to the Mog House and call it a night.

Unfortunately, my curiosity got the better of me and that lithe Mithra caught my eye as I walked on. I decided to err... "chat" with her a second too. She told me if I had the guts to dance on stage at the Lion Springs Tavern in Southern San d'Oria, she'd tell me about the stone Laila was talking about. I thought, "what do I have to lose?" If I'm daring enough to jump into a Gothic Cavernous Maw, I can dance on stage in front of a few tipsy adventurers. I figured the next day when I went to San d'Oria, I'd see if the Lion Springs Tavern master would let me.


Continue reading "Lakeside Minuet"

Things are changing in Vana'diel! We seem to be on the precipice of a drastic new potentials. In many places on the Quon and Mindartia continents adventurers (including myself) have noticed strange, Gothic, and hideous Cavernous Maws rising up from the ground!

The first one of these I'd seen I found in East Ronfaure (H-5 on the map) while fishing in the Cheval River. When I first saw it, I was hesitant to even come near it. As I approached, it seemed inanimate enough for me to take a closer look. From the dark depths of the maw came a peculiar smelling air, heavy around me with a distinct feeling of age. That's really the only way I can describe it. I tried to get into the maw but it seemed I could not get in - like something was preventing me.

Later that week, I was returning to Garlaige Citadel through Sauromugue Champaign to fight some more Hellmines. On my way, I spotted another Cavernous Maw (K-9 on the map)! This one was high atop a cliff and I knew the only way to get there was through the Citadel. I wasn't interested in that trek (banishing gates in the Citadel make solo travel there tough; as you need multiple people to open the gates). Instead, I turned back toward Jeuno and on a whim, went over to Rolanberry Fields.

It wasn't long until I found another Cavernous Maw there too (H-6 on the map)! I decided to dismount my Chocobo and investigate this one further, as I found a number of adventurers standing near it. After speaking with a few fellows who had looks of disbelief painted on their faces, I learned that some adventures had tried to look into the depths of the maw and a strong, swirling magic had pulled them in! As of my arrival, they had not yet returned from within the maw. The worried adventurers were too astonished and afraid to go looking themselves, so I decided I'd see if I could get in there too (well, you never know, it could be fun! ).



Continue reading "Cavernous Maws"

After battling bombs in Garlaige Citadel for a few days, I realized I wasn't getting any stronger. Then I remembered. Not too long ago I talked to Maat about how I could break my innate limitations and realize a better potential as a Beastmaster. He told me to retrieve three pieces of frigicite from Xarcabard and while I'd collected two after talking to him, I forgot to get the third!

So, with the help of Sparkkplug and Babygirllil, I set out to Xarcabard again to collect the third piece of frigicite: triangular frigicite. Babygirllil was kind enough to teleport us to the Vahzl telepoint crystal and from there we set out to find the Boreal Hound who was "guarding" the piece of frigicite (I use the term "guarding" here loosely as I'm sure the hound had no idea that's what it was doing).

It was pretty cold when our trio arrived in Xarcabard but fortunately we didn't arrive in blizzard conditions. Beaucedine Glacier and Xarcabard are tough to navigate in a white-out and I didn't need the extra headache today! We only encountered a few undead on our way to find the Boreal Hound but my strength had grown enough that I found these foes to be no problem - even less so with the help of Sparkk's ninjitsu.

Eventually, we found the cave where the frigicite might be found. Sure enough, the Boreal Hound was there to greet us. We quickly engaged the beast and I soon found my blows doing minimal, if any, damage. At this point I called out a Crab Familiar and set him on the Hound. My little crab started doing a bit more damage than I, but still we weren't fighting very effectively at all. When Sparkkplug started exercising some of his higher level ninjitsu on the Boreal Hound, the tables turned significantly in our favor. In short order, we'd defeated the Hound and I heard some blocks of ice moving in the back of the cave. I quickly ran to the rear of the cave where I found a piece of triangular frigicite.

Babygirllil, was again kind enough to warp me back to Jeuno where I returned to Maat and handed over the new piece of frigicite along with the other two pieces I'd found. With Maat's help, my innate limitation was lifted and I returned to Garlaige Citadel where, after defeating one more Hellmine, I felt my strength increase and was suddenly able to don my Beastmaster's Helm! Not only that, but now I found I had a much better ability to charm the Chamber Beetles in the Citadel basement! I'm going to have a much easier time of eradicating the Hellmine menace now!

Today was a day to don my Beastmaster garb and exercise those skills I've nearly forgotten from neglect of use. I decided it was high time I started adventuring again. Fishing is a great profession but it gets monotonous at times. Don't get me wrong, it can be harrowing and a risk to life and limb but it's got nothing (and I mean nothing) on fighting the evil hoards that populate Vana'diel's darkest corners.

One of those dark corners happens to be Garlaige Citadel in the Sauromugue Champaign. I've been there plenty of times before, but never have I been in the lowest level. Down there, where beetles crawl and bats flutter, you'll find plenty of the undead and a few nasty Hellmines. The latter is exactly what I was hunting for.

Out of Jeuno I met Sparkkplug in Neptune's Spire. He decided to accompany me to help out for a while. It was a good thing he did. I found myself a bit rusty in my skills as a Beastmaster and without his help to pick me up a few times when a Hellmine self-destructed and knocked me out, I'd probably still be laying face down on the cold, dead, ground of that dank dungeon basement.

When Sparkk needed to be on his way, I continued the fight alone for a while, relishing in the old feelings that stir when you're back in your element. I can't say my fighting was fun down there but I can say it was something I needed to do and something I'll need to pursue for a little while longer. I could seriously feel my strength surging from the adrenaline and pure rush of it all.

As I was tromping through Northern San d'Oria after returning from a fishing trip, I happened to talk to a Moogle who had many adventurers gathered 'round. It seems that Moogles from the three nations (San d'Oria, Bastok, and Windurst) are having an argument about which was the most instrumental nation fighting against the Beastmen during the Crystal War 20 years ago. It's silly to me that the Moogles are even arguing over this - but then again, you know how Moogles get!

To end their argument and decide once and for all which nation is the best, the Moogles decided to have a little competition. They're asking adventurers to infiltrate some of the Beastmen strongholds around Mindartia and steal shards of their crystal collections. Naturally, my San d'Orian pride wouldn't allow me to pass this opportunity up. So, after talking to some other adventurers, I found out the location of one of the crystal collections in the Orc stronghold of Davoi (E-8 on the Davoi map - the Screaming Pond).

I made a trip out there and upon arriving, I saw the crystal was guarded by one of the biggest, nastiest Orcs I'd seen in a long time: Warder Neckchopper! It certainly seemed like the Beastmen (or at least the Orcs) were on to our little game already. Shortly after I had arrived, one of the adventurers in the area decided to engage the huge Neckchopper. He quickly called for help and all us adventurers in the vicinity joined in the battle.

I called out Courier Carrie for some help and while my crab was actually doing the slightest bit of damage to Warder Neckchopper, I wasn't even making a scratch. This guy strength was truly impossible to gauge! With all of the adventurers attacking at once, we eventually had defeated the huge Orc - but it wasn't easy. The original adventurer ti engage it was already knocked out during the battle. After a kind White Mage raised the fallen San d'Orian, everyone collected a few more shards and returned to San d'Oria. I turned in six shards after that run and the Moogle gave me some dandy spectacles (cool sunglasses) for the effort.

With the Warder Neckchopper down, I decided to take the opportunity to collect as many more shards as I could. I made seven more runs between San d'Oria and Davoi over the next couple days and collected a total of 20 shards for San d'Orian honor! The Moogle gave me a pair of fancy spectacles in return for all the effort. Not only do the glasses make me look pretty cool, they really help my accuracy. Unfortunately they aren't any good at all at night.

It's quite a bit of work going back and forth between Davoi and San d'Oria (an exceptional amount of travel time), but I am happy to have been of service in keeping my country's honor. I'm sure San d'Oria will prove to be the best at the Moogles' little Crystal War revisited.

Well, today is certainly a red letter date! On the ferry today I caught my very first Ryugu Titan! The fish weighs in at: 340lm and 1689pz. I'm not sure how big that is in comparison to other titans but it wasn't an easy catch - that's for sure.

Since the start of my fishing career I've hooked many but never reeled in a legendary titan. You can imagine how ecstatic I was about this catch. I ran around the deck of the ferry acting like a purely insane Elvaan. After the immediate elation wore off however, it was back to fishing as usual - albeit with a much happier outlook!

I was out in North Gustaberg the other day fishing for gavial fish for the Fishing Guild. They were a pretty easy catch for me behind the Drachenfall waterfall (F-7 on the North Gustaberg map - you have to go through Dangruf Wadi to get there). A few stacks of meatballs and my trusty Lu Shang's rod pulled in fifteen or so fish. Not a bad haul as far as I'm concerned.

The cool mist from the falls plus the view of the moon from within the chasm that Zeikt Creek cut made for a relaxing outing. The roar of the water is disconcerting at first (there's so much raw power there) but once you've caught a few gavial, you kind of forget about the noise as it blends into the background.

I saw only a few other adventurers down there and fished along side a Taru named Tonytonychopper. Not much conversation but what's to be said in a landscape such as that?

The time has finally come! That moment with the culmination of my effort and tireless work is paid off. I can truly be considered a professional fisherman now as I have attained Artisan status and finally purchased my Fisherman's Apron from the fishing guild!

What a day. I was on the ferry catching a few Titanictus when I realized my pelican ring really had been helping my skill alot. I decided I was ready for my Artisan skill test. I set out to East Sarutabaruta to catch the test fish; a bladefish. It was a little tough to catch but after a couple tries, I had one in my hands. I called HyperionEnd and proudly rode him back to Windurst.

At the port I handed my bladefish over to Thubu Parohren (the Fishing Guild Master) who graciously awarded me the title of "Artisan." Being an Artisan, I next turned to Fennela (Fishing Guild Union Representative), and purchased my Fisherman's Apron using 100,000 of the guild points I'd been saving up. Along with the apron, Fennella awarded me with the title: "Lu Shang-like Fisher King," a title she said I "fully deserved."

This is truly a proud moment and one I've been waiting for and working toward for a long, long time. I'm happy to consider myself a truly professional fisherman now.

My little friend Bdg decided it was time he visit Jeuno. I wholeheartedly agreed with him as I figured it would be a perfect way for me to have a buddy selling my stuff in Jeuno. There was only one complication with his idea... ...Bdg has no adventuring experience! That's right, he has no (zero, zip, zilch) experience. As a matter of fact, it's rare that he ever goes out of his mog house and he hasn't even ever been outside the Kingdom of San d'Oria! So naturally he asked my advice on how he should proceed.

I told him to buy a stack of Silent Oil and a stack of Prsim Powder and run as fast as he could from West Ronfaure, through La Theine Plateau, deep into Jugner Forest and across Batallia Downs until at last he would be safe on the Artisan Bridge. He asked me if I was serious and I said I most certainly was. He already had maps for all but Batallia Downs and once he got there all he had to do was head east and eventually he'd see the bridge.

Now, for a little Tarutaru, that's a really long way and Jugner, the dense dark forest, is a little daunting. Still, Bdg bravely said he'd try it and for that, I offered to give him the oil and the powder. He took the stacks of powder and oil from and I told him to go as far as he could in Ronfaure without using it - just in case he needed more than I'd anticipated.

The following is a transcript (in Bdg's own words) of his trek:

"West Ronfaure was a nice stroll, I really-weally enjoyed the tall trees and rolling hills. I saw a couple Goblins but I wasn'taru scared as I hid beneath some brushy-wushy grass.

La Theine is such a big place! I was able to run pretty far and notaru use any powder-wowder or oily-woily until I gotaru to the big cragy-wag. There were some Orcs there and I got scared so I wentaru invisi-wisible and really quietaru. Soon I got to the darky-warky Jugner Forestaru.

In the dark woods, I had to use powder-wowder and oily-woily the whole way. I saw panthers and too many Orcs. It was very-wery scary! I justaru ran and ran and ran until I got to Batallia Downs.

Batallia Downs is a beautiful open place with biggy-wig hills and I liked itaru. I still went invisi-wisible and quietaru though since I was still scared from Jugner! It didn't take long before I gotaru to the bridge to Jeuno and saw all the Adventarus selling their stuff. Jeuno is a busy place."

Well, now that Bdg's in Jeuno I'm going to start sending him some stuff to sell. Of course he'll get to keep some of the profits. I hope that little Taru's safe in the big city!

My Chocobo HyperionEnd is hiding something... Now that he's reached adulthood, my chocobo is a full grown bird. Seems he's started truly thinking for himself now too.

I spoke with Hantileon in the San d'Orian Chocobo stables and he explained to me how chocobos sometimes hide things for their masters. He said that, depending on how good my bond is with HyperionEnd, he might be hiding something too. He suggested that I search in some of HyperionEnd's favorite places sometime when he won't notice me.

Hyperion and I went on a walk on La Theine Plateau and I noticed that he'd gotten a little distracted while watching something in the distance. I decided to search the area then and there. I slowly moved around behind him, trying hard not to let him notice, to see if he'd stashed anything somewhere on the ground. La Theine was one of his favorite places and I thought that surely he'd hide something here if anywhere at all. Unfortunately, it seems I wasn't quiet enough. HyperionEnd's feathers ruffled as he detected my search!

I was determined to try again and decided to go out for another walk the following day. We headed out to Jugner Forest and, while there, HyperionEnd seemed to be completely absorbed in his activities. I jumped on the opportunity. Quickly I looked near his feet under some of the mulch there. Sure enough, I found the handkerchief (a little more worn and a lot dirtier) that I had given him when he was a very young chocobo.

I returned the handkerchief to Hantileon who said my bond with Hyperion was very strong. He handed me a chocobo whistle and explained to me how I could use it to call Hyperion after I'd registered him with the Vana'diel Chocobo Society (VCS).

I did just that and called HyperionEnd the first chance I got when out in Sarutabaruta. Hyperion is still a little slow and his endurance is not that of the rental chocobos but I believe that with time and care, he will be a mount equal to those I'm used to riding.