Steelshell Mayhem

Today's

Neyla and I get skillups in Boyahda Tree.

campaign battles were okay, but not overly thrilling. I had fun jumping into a group attacking a Yagudo Turret in Meriphataud Mountains, but otherwise it was kinda "meh." Neyla suggested hitting the Boyahda Tree for some skillups, so I switched from Monk to Dragoon.

We started out fighting Robber Crabs, carefully avoiding Aquarius. A Beastmaster came along and started soloing him, which made me a little nervous because you're screwed if he fails and the big crab wanders through your camp on the way back to its den. It didn't happen, but I'm not sure he killed it.

Neyla started moving upstairs, not telling me it was because we had an invitation to join a skillup group until we got to the mouth of the cave. We joined Mysticalone, Sorcha and Darkbass at the central tree where the ahriman NM pops to fight Steelshells for an hour or two. Darkbass was trying for Guard skillups, but he wasn't having much luck and decided to switch to Samurai to work on Parrying.

I wasn't able to cap my gimpy polearm skill, but I added about ten levels to it so I'm not completely terrible. It certainly took the edge off my feelings of dragoon inadequacy.

Dancers in Distress

Neyla

I clubbed saplings awhile.

asked me to get caught up on Wings of the Goddess stuff so he could round up some people for the next fight. I'd attempted it once before but managed to take a wrong turn in Jugner Forest [S] and never bothered to go back. Since he was off playing Fallout 3 today, it seemed like a good time to finish it.

I switched over to White Mage and teleported back to old Jugner to track down the Elegant Footprints for a cutscene. After answering a few questions about Cait Sith, I was tasked with locating a Nyumomo Doll. I traveled to Batallia Downs and punched orcs for about twenty minutes until I got the doll. I didn't have much competition to worry about the way Neyla did when he did it.

There was more running around for cutscenes after that, and I had to farm a Cernunnos Bulb from the saplings in Jugner. One batch of saplings was surrounded by gnoles, which I avoided. There were more to the north with no aggro mobs around, so I set up shop there. The saplings were more stubborn than the orcs, and it seemed like I was there quite awhile before I got what I needed.

I finished out the remaining cutscenes, so I'm ready to fight the treant NM Cernunnos in Jugner when Neyla recruits more muscle.

Taking Turns

I

It was Titan Prime's turn to be a jerk.

was at my parents' house all weekend, but I flagged the escort and avatar fights before I returned to my humble apartment. I got back with enough time to fish two more stacks of black sole before the regular Sunday escort and avatars. I also doled out fishing advice to Cuacos, who sent me a /tell asking when he could regularly start to fish them up himself. I saw he was fishing them in Qufim Island and advise a move to Port Jeuno. Part of me says I should've kept my mouth shut to discourage a competitor, but I'm not wired that way.

We fought Shiva on Iceday again, but she was in a better mood this week. She knocked me into the red once, but she didn't kill me. Instead, Titan took it upon himself to be a jerk this time, and he dropped Dalamar like a hot rock. If there's a pattern, it means next week Ramuh will find an excuse to kill Neyla.

For the proverbial shits and giggles, Neyla and I used our two-hours on Ramuh. We would've broken the 3:25 record if we'd triggered them a little earlier, but instead we fell one second shy. Lame.