Warzibe

I failed to fall into a burning ring of fire.

War comes to West Sarutabaruta.

Due to mechanical difficulties, I'm not going to Mom and Dad's house this weekend like I'd planned. Naturally, I'll spend a lot of time playing the game.

A group of players recruited me to fight the dragon in Giddeous this afternoon. It seems there's a giant eyeball to worry about, so my job was to keep the dragon asleep while they dispatched the eye. Unfortunately, I didn't have "Sleep." Chianakitty and Marakas pitched in some gil to help me buy the scroll, and we set out.

We ran through Giddeous, which is the home of the Yagudo birdmen. We were okay at first, but then five or six of them decided they wanted to taste taru meat and attacked me. I had no idea I was being chased until the first one struck. They were easily taken out -- my panic was completely unwarranted -- and we made our way to the glowing seal which marks the entrance to the dragon's lair.

Unfortunately, Marakas and I were unable to enter. Neither of us were doing that particular mission, so the way was closed to us. I stood outside while the others went in and quickly killed the dragon. They didn't need me after all, but I'll be farming to repay the gil I owe the others.

Marakas and I had a Monty Python and the Holy Grail moment when I decided I'd stand on the seal and waylay adventurers. "If the dragon you would see, you must answer me these questions three," I said.

"What is your quest?" I asked.

"What is your favorite color?" Marakas chimed in.

"What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?" I asked.

"African or European?" Marakas asked.

"I don't know," I said, and then started screaming before we cracked up.

Kristofer came over for awhile and played as Demone. He was killing giant bees and Yagudo near the West Sarutabaruta outpost when about 20 players turned up. They were doing some kind of garrison mission, and fought wave after wave of Yagudo. These weren't the weak birdmen from Giddeous, either; they were strong as hell.

It was wild seeing an army at work. Every time I think I've exhausted the wonders of this game, they throw in something like this. It's just amazing to me.

Marathon Session

Demone and Rojamasru... Get your mind out of the gutter.

This was Final Fantasy XI weekend.

Kristofer created his character Friday night and spent Saturday evening running around outside Windurst. He bought some news spells and armor before taking on new monsters in the field. Gravely jumped on for a little while, which led to the game screenshot I took while Kristofer was in the bathroom.

"You perv," he said when saw it.

I spent all day Sunday in Valkurm Dunes. And I mean all day. I didn't plan to, but the experience points were flowing like wine. I managed to take my White Mage from Level 17 to 20, and now I get to spend the next week or two farming until I can afford better armor.

One guy in our party, a Warrior named Treg, was nice. He knew what he was doing, and we shared several private messages about the impulsiveness of the group. There's a fine balancing act involved in leveling up -- you can tackle Incredibly Tough monsters which give you 150-200xp and drain my magic reserves so that we have to rest a long time between fights, or you can fight less impressive monsters for 50-100 experience points over and over with little downtime. Treg and I favor the latter method.

He complimented me on my gaming and said I was a good White Mage, which made me feel very good. I never know how effective I am, so that kind of feedback is always appreciated.