Pre-Vacation Activities

Neyla

I keep Neyla patched up while he fights dhalmels in Tahrongi Canyon.

and I were going to see Tropic Thunder and watch DVDs, but he got hit with the headache stick this morning and called off. He might've come over, but the opportunity to head to my parents' house a day early and begin my vacation suddenly materialized and I took it.

I had enough time to wander out to Tahrongi Canyon awhile and powerlevel him a bit, though. He chewed through most of the mobs, although the dhalmels were a little tricky at first. I kept him cured up and, again, grinned at the idea that he was leveling dragoon.

I'll be on vacation for a week. I'll probably log on to do guild points, but that'll be it. The real adventuring can begin again when I return.

Fire Up The Grill and Grab the Crow

Neyla's has been talking about leveling a melee job after achieving some meriting goals for Paladin, but I certainly didn't expect to log on and see him running around as Dragoon. He's teased me a lot about that job and sighed heavily at my affection for the wyvern; it's the last job I ever thought he'd touch. I was prepared to serve him several large helpings of crow and laugh while he ate it.

While

Neyla and Vhiki fight bees near the West Sarutabaruta outpost.

he geared up, I went fishing. I didn't realize how close I was to obtaining the final key item from the guild, so I've been had renewed interest in working for daily points. I had to hit the Den of Rancor to catch four Zebra Eels.

I spotted Woodland Sage on my way to the cave and immediately attacked, not realizing I was about to get my White Mage ass handed to me. I survived, but only because I managed to run for the zone. Neyla switched over to Beastmaster and quickly outposted to let Courier Carrie attack, and I jumped in with Hexa Strike. We managed to bring him down and I got a Petrified Log.

The fishing was annoying because I'd forgotten my Skulker's Cape. With unreliable Sneak, I was constantly having to reel in my line and run back to the narrow passageway so the scorpions wouldn't kill me. It took a lot longer to get my eels.

When I finished, I ran around Sarutabaruta and watching Neyla and his wyvern Vhiki fight awhile, inwardly gloating the entire time. I don't know if he'll stick with it, but it was rewarding just watching him flirt with the job.

Elvaan Surrender Monkeys

Neyla

I'd punch 'em if I could reach 'em.

always disses the elvaan, and now I'm starting to see why. Windurst and Bastok have slowly but surely fought their way through Campaign, taking back territories from the Shadow Lord's hordes of beastmen, and both are holding three territories this week. The elvaan are still hiding behind their city's walls with nothing to show for it. Poor things are under siege.

Let 'em rot, I say. No wonder Tavnazia fell.

Today offered a new experience. I've never tried a Campaign battle in Pashhow Marshlands [S] because I'm not a fan of True Sight monsters. Today was my first visit, and I'm really not going to lose sleep over the idea that it could be my last. It's an annoying zone without a lot of room to fight, easily trumping Vunkerl Inslet as my most-hated Campaign area. The petrification used by the mobs sucks ass, too; I was rooted to one spot for far too long.

It was doubly annoying because Neyla died during the fight and nobody did a Raise. I can understand not wanting to cross a big zone and all that, but when someone with Raise is sitting right there beside your corpse and gets up to teleport back back via NPC without taking a moment to get you on your feet? That sucks ass. I switched jobs and did the Raise myself since those oblivious fucks couldn't be bothered.

Uday returned to the game Friday after nearly a year away from it. He didn't have a linkshell but tracked me down for a pearl. I took a short break from Campaign to give him one. It's nice having him back, but his time zone is twelve hours removed from ours, so it's doubtful we'll see him very often.