Journeybell's Big Adventure

Riding my chocobo to find Journeybell.

I got bored and decided to run out to West Sarutabaruta to farm beehive chips and silk thread. I cut over to East and threw a cure at a Level 6 Hume Red Mage named Journeybell. She'd been trying to do Windurst Mission 2-1 but kept dying before she could make it to the canyon.

"I'll help," I said. "That's the one where you have to go into the maze for the lapis coral."

We went back to Windurst so I could change over to White Mage and so she could turn in crystals for rank points. We set out for the canyon, and I offered her some advice; she's only been playing a month or so and still has a lot to learn. I also assured her I couldn't guarantee she wouldn't die on the way, but that I'd do my best to get her through it in one piece.

It wasn't easy getting her there because she wasn't having much luck following me. I gave her Sneak and Invisible, but they had a habit of wearing off at bad times. At one point she accidentally veered off and was killed by a Yagudo before I realized she was gone and made it back to her. I used Raise and led her to Shakrami.

I felt like a badass little taru, helping her out. Most of the monsters in the cave are decent challenges for me at Lv. 25, but I wasn't going to risk fighting any goblins because they link. I just wanted to get her to the cave. I would cast Sneak and Invisible on her, then on myself, and we'd hug the wall and run past monsters while leapfrogging from one tunnel to another.

"This is taking so long," I told her. "I'm really sorry."

"It's fine," she said. "What next?"

We finally made it to the tunnel opposite the lapis coral room. I told her to get ready to run. I did the spells and we dashed across, passing the maze scorpion. I was surprised to enter the room and find it was full of carnivorous crawlers. When I did the mission, the room had been empty. This could suck really bad, I thought.

Her invisibility spell wore off, but the crawlers left her alone while she searched the rock for the coral. I made her invisible again and we booked out of there in a hurry. She became visible at the wrong moment and a maze scorpion killed her in two hits. She homepointed back to West Sarutabaruta, and I made my way out and rented a chocobo at the crag to rejon her.

The adventure was the most fun I've had in the game in quite awhile.

Down the Drain

The Qadav beastmen roam Bastok's area.

The plan, according to the linkshell, was to have everyone who needed to fight a dragon be ready to go at 4 p.m. A few higher-level members would serve as guides and help them with the fight so they could attain Rank 3. I left an experience party in Quifum Island at 3 p.m. to prepare, but the dragon fight never happened. Nobody seemed to know what was going on, and I was highly annoyed by it. Quieren is going to take me tomorrow.

The day wasn't a complete waste. I managed to raise my Black Mage level to 24. I also quested for the Drain spell, which lets me suck the life out of a monster to replenish my own health. I bought three stacks of bat wings and traded them to one of the townies in order to raise my local fame, bought a vial of Beastman's Blood at the auction house, and got the scroll. My total cost was $7k for a spell which sells for $20-40k in the auction house.

Better yet, I made my first trip to Bastok last night after the Eco Warrior quest and explored the region this morning. Each character must begin in one of the three main cities, and the designers offer a stat-raising bribe to nudge players into beginning certain races in their respective cities. The magic-minded tarutaru and mithras are centered in Windurst. The regal Elvaan begin in the Kingdom of San D'oria. Humes and galka begin in the mining city of Bastok.

After seeing the lush greenery of Windurst and San D'oria, the bleak landscape of Bastok is disconcerting. The city itself is pretty enough, but the area around it is a sterile pit of sand and stone. The local beastmen -- the Qadav -- look like pissed-off armadillos with swords. It must be strange to start a character in that place and have your expectations of the game colored by it before traveling into one of the prettier cities.