Volcanic Eruptions

After seeing a Lv. 75 Beastmaster whipping ass in the Necropolis, Neyla suggested we try that escort mission instead of the Crawler's Nest. In a few ways, this was actually easier than the nest. We had to kill everything along the way, but it didn't take long and the route is much more direct. It was nice being able to eat the xp scroll on BST after so many months of dropping them on my Summoner.

We

The engraved stone makes a great camp.

traveled out to Mount Zhayolm to try the camp I'd scouted. The Wootzshell crabs were all Decent, while the Sicklemoon Jagils checked Very Tough. It seemed like a great place to me.

We got off to a bad start, roaming along the cliff's edge and fighting in any clear spot we could find. Eventually it bit us on the ass and we got a new crab and pug popping on us and determined to kill us. We died. Neyla couldn't get up because of the pugil, so he had to wait for my weakness to wear. Once I'd put a pet on it, he got out of the way.

Neyla was frustrated with the place, but I suggested making camp at the engraved stone. That's when it clicked for us. Nothing spawns there, so it was completely safe and Neyla could pull pugils there for orderly disposal. Sometimes the last two pugs would link, so we'd each solo one. New camps just take time to figure out.

We

Vanguard Jerkface, if you ask me.

kept going until time for Dynamis-Beaucedine. Two pairs of Monster Gaiters dropped; Moink and another guy got them because they plan to level the job at some point. We also got a Warrior Mask, which went free lot. The big drop for us was the Valor piece, making for a very happy Paladin and a relieved linkshell.

We're going for Dynamis Lord on Monday. I'm not really expecting us to reach him unless we have twice the number of attendees as our last visits to Dynamis-Xarcabard, but it'll be fun to try.

Whispering Wind

Neyla

Quoth the raven: "Hit the floor."

and I returned to Bibiki Bay to earn the 3k needed to finish off our subjobs, killing off Ravens and Marine Dhalmels near Sunset Docks. We made quick progress, and the only real mishap came when Neyla linked two birds. I'm so used to handling links it's sorta automatic for me to attack the other, but I forgot I didn't have Leave at my disposal and couldn't pet swap as needed. It didn't help that I mischarmed the dhalmel I'd planned to throw at it.

Neyla died and I was in the red when I zoned back to Buburimu. He got snippy, starting to chew me out because he didn't have Reraise up and had to homepoint to Windurst.

"You've leveled BST before?" he asked. "You know the pet gets hate on a link. You shouldn't have attacked it."

"And you should've had Reraise up," I pointed out, thinking of all the time he's heard me bitch about White Mages who don't use that spell. "We're even."

It was relatively minor drama, since he was so close to leveling that he only lost about 400xp. We dinged 37 and headed out. Unless I find some ultra-informative Summoner soloing guide that lets me get to 75 on my own, that pretty much retires the job for me. Whispering Wind may well be my final Blood Pact. I have no interest in main healing a party as Summoner; I don't feel like learning my job all over again with half the tools I've grown to know and love.

We sent all that mage gear back to our assorted mules and I traveled out to Kazham to buy Chestnut Wands for guild points. I'd flown out there earlier and accidentally bought Chestnut Poles, which I ended up throwing away because I was too lazy to sell them to an NPC.

I decided to hit the Sea Serpet Grotto and fish awhile, completely forgetting we'd planned to do the escort quest for the Necropolis as a change of pace.

Neyla

Carrie is not quite strong enough for this.

logged, and on a whim I traveled to Al'teau to see if I could farm some organs for a Soil Gorget. I need ten Xzomit organs, five Aern and one Yovra. I popped a Courrier Carrie and pulled one of the baby Xzomits, but it didn't take long to realize I wasn't going to be able to solo it at my current level. I don't think it would be too difficult at 75, but for now it's out of my reach.

I curse the lack of charmable mobs in Sea. It makes no sense.

At any rate, Veresko said he'd help me farm at some point. He solos that stuff on his Ninja all the time.

An Adventurer's Footsteps

I quested the Crawler's Nest map ages ago, but the final piece of Selbina Clay has been taking up space in my moghouse ever since. With Neyla sleeping through every afternoon this week in a desperate attempt to adjust his internal clock and recover from vacation, I had nothing to do. I decided to complete the quest.

I'd

The final slab is mine.

forgotten how to get to the small island in Batallia Downs, so I ended up running through the glacier and all over the place before realizing I'd need help getting through the necropolis gates. I dragged Quieren out of Al Zahbi so he could trip them for me. We zoned out to the island, and he decided to kill the treant NM, Ahtu. Three rounds of ancient magic followed by Sleep II turned him into wood splinters, and Quieren had me lot the Engraved Key it drops.

I traded my clay to the Stone Monument and received my final tablet. Quieren warped out, and I outposted to Selbina to speak with the mayor. He thanked me and gave me 10k gil. I hit Windurst and bought a dozen Tarutaru Stools for guild points and then outposted to Ronfaure and ran to San d'Oria to find the quest-giver who wanted the key. When I traded it, he gave me 10k gil as well. Not bad. I traded my stools and grabbed the next airship to Jeuno.

I'm not sure why I busted my ass getting there on time, because we were an hour late getting started for Limbus. People logged on late or kept disconnecting because they were playing the Atari 2600 version of FFXI.

We'd

Mimics have disturbing range with their attacks.

planned to fight Omega, but our only tanks were Quieren (PLD/NIN) and Nomar (WAR/NIN). Our solitary Red Mage said "BRB" and was gone well over ten minutes, and for some reason that put people in a panic over our chances. We finally said "Fuck it... we'll farm."

The RDM logged on again after we'd gone inside, so he was out of luck. We hit Apollyon SW, working our way through fomors, treants, mimics and elementals again. Zoner had the only death of the evening and each of us walked out with two Ancient Beastcoins.

I'm a pain in the ass when it comes to punctuality. If I were king, it'd be simple. Gather in Port Jeuno and have your detergent by 6 p.m., because we teleport out at 6:10. If you're not there, we farm without you. It's probably a good thing I'm not in charge of such things.

In other news, I still haven't found that stupid item for my chocobo whistle. Papa Paprika's strength and endurance are now "substandard," though. I'll keep boosting his stats awhile before I try breeding him.

Ugh... Unexpected Semi-Hiatus

I was at my parents' house over the weekend and was sick as a dog yesterday and today (not sure if they're related, but considering Dad was ill last week...), so I haven't been playing much. Here's the recap of the few things I managed to do:

Papa

Papa Paprika exercises with other birds.

Paprika is now an adult chocobo, capable of being ridden around Vana'diel. I don't have my whistle; I have to take him for walks and find an item he's hidden from me. I splurged and bought two Chocolixirs for extra walks, but I had no luck. Hopefully I'll get it in the next few days, because being able to ride from the Ley Point to Al Zahbi would be too handy for words.

Sunday's ENM was a success, and I managed to haul my tired ass out of bed long enough Monday night for Dynamis-Windurst. I was on total auto-pilot for that one, zoned out and reacting slowly to everything. If I hadn't been drooling for a shot at a Monster Helm, I probably would've stayed in bed. Naturally, it didn't drop. Ajs is planning to schedule 2-3 Windurst runs next month, so maybe I'll get lucky... although the odds are tighter with the addition of new Beastmasters from The Flock to lolDynamis.

I killed a few crawlers to draw even with Neyla's xp level and bought a Panther Mask +1 in anticipation of hitting 72 in the next week. I also toyed with leveling Monk, but I gave up and decided to take a nap before I could finish the airship ride from Windurst to Jeuno.