The Spice Must Flow

I

Shmedly, Neyla and I stay away from the Sandworm.

finally got my first look at the giant Sandworm NM added to the game. It wanders around in the past, crossing from zone to zone. It doesn't seem to drop anything interesting, but it probably isn't heavily hunted and may have a low drop rate. We'll probably discover in a year or so that it drops Herald Gaiters or something.

It was really easy to find this time because it was hanging out around the outpost in Meriphataud Mountains. I was following Neyla out there for a Campaign battle, and the sandworm was slithering around nearby. It'd already killed a few people trying to get tags. Shmedly died in three hits. The beast was a little smaller than expected, but still creepy.

Neyla and I turned to Windurst and focused on campaign battles in other zones. Grauberg was particularly kind to me.

I

The Campaign NPCs battle the Sandworm.

had to log out to get ready to vist my parents, but Neyla called awhile later with some interesting news. He wasn't sure what triggered it, but the NPCs around the tower started battling the sandworm and took it down. It sounded like a hell of a fight, and he was good enough to get some screenshots for me. I would've liked to see it in action.

I'll get back into Campaigns next week so I can finish off the three merit points I need to unlock Formless Strikes. I wonder how that ability would play against one of those elementals in Sky...

Fishing Follies

Neyla

Hanging out at the guild.

has been at my apartment for the past two afternoons, watching Homicide DVDs. I logged on for short periods to do fisherman's guild points after he went home, but otherwise haven't played much.

I'm closing in on having enough points for the final two key items. I'll start with "Serpent Rumors," which unlocks the Ebisu Rod quest. The other is less important, since I won't be needing the live bait extension. If I decide to go after that mythical rod, I'll probably use the ring method to stave off madness.

Magic Sludge

Shmedly has been living in Attowha Chasm for the past few days, camping Xolotl. Neyla went out there today, and they ended up watching linkshells compete for and kill Tiamat.

"Tiamat is going apeshit on them," Neyla said after awhile.
"As an HNM, that's probably a job requirement," Alfonze said. "'Mr Tiamat, are you able to go apeshit at random intervals? ... Really? HIRED!'"

I

My powers are wasted on the Magic Sludge.

was working on guild points, waiting for Dalamar to log on so we could finish his AF stuff. It was largely pain-free.

The necropolis coffer was easier than expected. We didn't even have to drop down below, because it was up top behind one of the gate switches in the final room of the NPC escort.

From there, we headed for Toraimarai Canal to fight the Magic Sludge elemental. I didn't realize the fight was so close to the entrance, so I went MNK/WHM for Sneak instead of /DNC. It wasn't a difficult fight, although Dalamar easily got hate with nukes since we didn't have Provoke. Formless Strikes would've been handy, since it converts physical damage to magical damage.

We needed help getting past the Banishing Gates for the final coffer, so Shmedly sent out his other character to run with us. Neyla managed to grab a huge bat train while trying to get to Old Two Wings; we didn't claim the NM, but I got to kill a lot of flapping things. Heh. We found the coffer and finished up the day by killing Dark Spark.