The Chronicles of Latcarf - Chronicles

Tsuim at 37

nospam@example.com (Latcarf) — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 18:41:04 -0700

While I was helping Koblakiq by searching for her brother in Davoi, Tsuim decided to join me. Between my CrabFamiliar, Tsuim, and I, we must have finished off 20 or more Orcs. It was during this time, I realized Tsuim had grown stronger. Now that I'm back adventuring, I'll need to take her out on some more quests with me. This is a great way to advance her skills and accomplish my tasks. It's a win-win situation!

Missionary Moblin

nospam@example.com (Latcarf) — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 16:28:00 -0700

During the time I was fishing armored pisces for the Fishing Guild's rank contest, I happened to talk to a Moblin by the name of Koblakiq. She just sat around with a forlorn expression watching me fish and I couldn't help but try to find out what was wrong.

So it turns out she'd stopped receiving letters from her brother Zeelozok who's gone to Davoi to speak with the Orcish Overlord. I kinda felt sorry for her and when she asked me to go to Davoi and search for him, I kinda agreed to do it.

I looked all over that rustic place but I couldn't find hide nor hair of Koblakiq's brother in Davoi. I killed a bunch of Orcs and eventually I found a soiled letter that looked as if it were penned by Moblin hand. I figured I'd take this back to Koblakiq and see if it would give her any clue to her brother's whereabouts.

The letter I found was indeed from Koblakiq's brother. Zeelozok wrote that he was able to talk with the Orcish Overlord but that the Overlord was too stupid to understand him. He was taken captive and the Orcs told him Moblins and people were "only good for eating." Fortunately, Zeelozok (being a very good digger) dug a tunnel out of Davoi and escaped. He also helped out some other captives who repaid his kindness in gil. Koblakiq passed on the gil to me as the Moblins really have no use for it.

It's never a bad thing to do favors for folks in need and it's always a great thing when you unexpectedly make 4000 gil from doing it! Thanks Koblakiq!!

Veteran Fisherman

nospam@example.com (Latcarf) — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 23:00:02 -0700

During my armored pisces fishing trip, I felt my skill increase a bit. I decided, after I'd dropped off some "catch-of-the-day" silver sharks to Fennella that I'd ask Thubu Parohren about my fishing rank. She said I was ready to be promoted and told me to catch her a gigant squid.

I'd seen a few fishermen pulling up those squid on the cliffs of Qufim Island. I figured I'd head over there and get one myself. It was long before I'd managed to catch one and I immediately returned to Thubu Parohren to offer her my catch. She seemed totally amazed that I'd actually caught a gigant squid and although she was the one awarding me the title of Veteran, she said it was I who could teach her a thing or two!

So I went back to my Mog House feeling pretty great today! I've reached the top of the fisherman ranks and am proud to think of myself as a Veteran fisherman!

The Latest Fish Rank Contest

nospam@example.com (Latcarf) — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 23:17:34 -0700

Stopping by the Fisherman's Guild in Selbina I decided to stop and chat with Chenon. It seems they've just kicked off another Fish Rank Contest. This time around they're looking for the largest (weight and length) Armored Pisces around. I dug my fishing guide out of the chest in my Mog House (glad it was still there), dusted it off and found that Armored Pisces could be a real challenge for me.

So I set out for Oldton Movalpolos via North Gustaberg. With my trusty Lu Shang's rod and a sinking minnow lure, I set up for a few days of fishing on one of the lower platforms (H-10 on the map) above the deep underground reservoir.

The Moblin's around me didn't seem to mind me being there and I kept my nose out of their business. Even with the full moon on my side, Armored Pisces didn't bite too much. When they did nip at my bait, I had trouble wearing them down enough to be able to land them sometimes. I probably only reeled in 98% of the fish I hooked. The guide was right, these are tough buggers!

After a few days of fishing, I'd caught what I hoped would be a good candidate for the Fish Rank Contest and so I returned to Chenon in Selbina and had her register my catch. I hope it puts me in the top 3!

Oh Goodness....

nospam@example.com (Latcarf) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 13:11:23 -0700

It has been so long since I've written. I'm not about to expend the energy it would take to recap what I've been doing but I will say that none of it has been adventuring! In an Altanian effort, I pulled myself out of my Mog House today and headed straight for Qufim Island for a little black sole fishing. Unfortunately, the moon was not on my side so I promptly quite after a few fruitless casts. Oh well, in any case, you ought to be able to find me there fishing again for a while.

It's so nice to feel the cold air biting my cheek and the salty spray tickling my nose. It's been along time since I've indulged in my favorite pastime...

Latcarf's Image Gallery

nospam@example.com (Latcarf) — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 10:40:21 -0700

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:

The Chronicles of Latcarf Snapshot Gallery

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.

Busy, Busy, Busy...

nospam@example.com (Latcarf) — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 14:52:00 -0700

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!

Back to the Beginning

nospam@example.com (Latcarf) — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 23:50:00 -0700

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"

Copper Hook

nospam@example.com (Latcarf) — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 23:22:40 -0700

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!

Tsuim Nhomango - Getting Stronger

nospam@example.com (Latcarf) — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 00:24:34 -0700

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!?

Lakeside Minuet

nospam@example.com (Latcarf) — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 21:38:00 -0700

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"

Atop the Highest Mountain

nospam@example.com (Latcarf) — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 12:50:47 -0700

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!

Battling Bombs in the Citadel

nospam@example.com (Latcarf) — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 10:24:00 -0700

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.

Crystal Wars Revisited

nospam@example.com (Latcarf) — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 15:55:24 -0700

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.

Lu Shang-like Fisher King

nospam@example.com (Latcarf) — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 01:12:00 -0600

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.