I saw a horrible dream last night. It started with a cat head, torn from the poor thing's body, and then it continued with another (living one) with one leg torn completely off and another leg with 'just' the paw torn off, and then there was this third cat (this one living too) that looked like something had tried to eat through her chest. .____. And nobody was doing anything! They just glanced and shrugged and said "how horrible" and went on their way.
Now, I may complain about cats when they're around me, but that's due to allergy and the constant shedding. I do actually love cats themselves. The dream was..not pleasant.
Moving on to more pleasant things. I don't want to dwell on that dream.
Started playing Final Fantasy XI again last night. Got lots of things done, and...I had the best luck ever in my drop rates. Is it because I finally went out to get stuff by myself? Always when I have Kitty around, the drop rates just plain suck and since the drops go to a treasure pool from which they drop randomly to party members...I have shitty luck with that too. Things always go to Kitty, and I end up with hardly a single crystal to show for a night of playing.
This time though? It was amazing. I went out to get four beetle shells and two black tiger fangs. I killed five tigers and six beetles to get those. Normally, it would have been dozens of each. (trust me, I've fought those particular beetles and tigers before) o.o
Quite emboldened by my success, I went out to hunt for a Carbuncle's Ruby. It's needed to unlock the Summoner job. When Kitty hunted for hers, it took her an entire day or thereabouts. I've read reports of people hunting for one for days before giving up. Me? I went there, fought maybe an hour...and there was the damn ruby. Yesterday was awesome indeed. >D
And now, since I noted that I haven't done a screenshot post lately.. well, not like I've been playing either. Anyway. The last screenshot I posted was number 755, and I have a bit past 1210 now... xD Don't worry, I'll just pick carefully which ones to post this time. Not going into as much detail as usually this time. Partially also because I can't remember exactly what happened in them, what I'd already achieved.
Carpenter's Landing, I'm not sure which landing of the three it actually is. Probably the first, the one accessible directly from San d'Oria. We were waiting for the barge to arrive. This is from the time we were still leveling in that place, I'm not even sure if I'd seen Jugner at all at this point. It was..either very, very late November or early to mid-December.
On the barge, sailing through the Phanauet Channel that goes through Carpenter's Landing. Trust me, those barge trips became very familiar, with how often we died and had to return to where we were before that - by another barge of course. xD
Yet another barge trip. I think we actually survived this one. The thing you see at the other end of the barge? It's an NM. We had no clue what kind of an NM it was, so we hid just in case it aggroes sight or something. Turns out it didn't (Kitty checked it later), but better safe than sorry...we couldn't have taken it on if it had noticed us.
This is La Theine Plateau, but a place in that area I'd never visited before. You see, there's these deep ravines scattered around the northern parts of the map. This is on the bottom of one of them. We were hunting for a Stone Monument, one of those bits of diary carved on stone by the famous adventurer/cartographer Gwynham Ironheart, some hundred years ago.
I was surprised to see that the flowers there had gone to seed. That variety can be seen aboveground too, just still in bloom.
Jugner Forest. One of my first encounters with a treant. Oh, I've seen plenty of saplings before, those baby treants...but they're nothing compared to these, oh no. These can kill you in a couple hits. xD Or at least were able to do that the last time I tried. I got this scatter-brained idea to try fighting one, and of course pulled Kitty down with me. Oops. xD;
Konschtat Highlands. I think on the way to Gusgen Mines. Anyway, this screenie is up because that's a Summoner there, running past with his Carbuncle. The avatars tend to glow, you see?
This..is Gusgen Mines. Shock, horror. I still didn't have my subjob unlocked at this point, I was missing the Magicked Skull. You might remember me complaining about it, and having to spend ages down there in Gusgen fighting ghouls...
The place is weird. You can hear a siren occasionally, a siren fighting miners about cave-ins and such. The thing is..Gusgen Mines was abandoned ages ago. And every time you can hear the siren, it means a ghost NM has appeared...those ghosts are the ghosts of dead miners, crushed alive or choked or drowned, dead in every way you can imagine happening in a mine.
This is in Konschtat, just outside of the Gusgen entrance. There are always several ghosts wandering around.
And the people who keep saying that FF11 isn't a traditional FF, please be shutting up. Just
look at that thing. What's the difference, that there are other people besides just you playing? Big deal. You'll still have every single FF tradition there is, including the good story.
My first time abovedeck on the Mhaura-Selbina ferry. =D; I've mentioned hiding in the cargohold several times, I'm sure. I guess it was kind of interesting seeing the deck for a change, even if we retreated below just as soon as nightfall came close. When the night arrives, so do the dangerous mobs.
My first time in Meriphataud Mountains, or at least one of the first. Around this screenie's numbers are tons of screenies from there, and I never take that much unless it's a new area. So...
Anyway, even though it was a new area it didn't provide much that was actually new. Just barren land similar to Tahrongi Canyon, and many cacti of course.
This to the east from the previous one. I was thinking it looked kinda funny, and wanted a screenie. What happens? Well, that was a T mob for one. That aggroes by sight. I went down in a couple hits after failing to run fast enough. xD
Thankfully my home point wasn't too far, so I just caught up with Kitty. And staid far away from those birdies after that.
Half-way across Meriphataud. This is Drogaroga's Spine. You can see it from most places in Meriphataud, arcing just above the ground in the distance. Trust me, it's
huge. It's even marked on the map, a funny ridge going across the map...
By the way, it's not really a 'spine'. It's a power line of an ancient construct. And by 'ancient' I mean 'build around 10,000 years ago', before the birth of the races of Altana (the playable races). The world looked really different back then.
Still in Meriphataud. Fields of Valor was still a new thing, and we'd signed up for a page at the Outpost you can see in the distance. Killing lizards and mayflies. Fields of Valor is truly a godsend for people who solo and duo. 500 extra exp every hour or so is nothing to scoff at, let alone the basically free hour-long Refresh.
I think this is Tahrongi? Just outside the Meriphataud zone line. I only uploaded this screenie because - hey, a green chocobo! Those are pretty damn rare.
Maze of Shakhrami, off of Tahrongi Canyon. Kitty had some business here, so I came along for insurance. And couldn't resist taking screenies of dangerous mobs again. xD Didn't get aggroed this time though, thankfully.
East Sarutabaruta, at the Field Manual. That's the thing that gives out the Fields of Valor tasks. I was leveling on my BLM (I think it was BLM anyway) and signed up for one, and picked up my free Refresh...MP regen is godly. Truly.
Still on BLM. This is down in the Horutoto Ruins, below Sarutabaruta. Kitty had something to do here too, so even though I was hardly of any level to provide protection, I went along. xD It's not like mobs in Horutoto are that dangerous even for my BLM.
I think..that door leads to Nanaa Mihgo's hideout? She's a famous thief in Windurst.
A pretty pond in Jugner Forest. =D I think it was called 'Maiden's Well' or something like that?
Jugner Forest again. I just liked the arrangement. We were heading for Davoi. It used to be a San d'Orian monastery, but nowadays it's just an orcish fort. They took over it twenty years ago during the Crystal War.
This is the entrance to Davoi. And this time, the business that took us there was mine. I needed to do my mission 2-2, and that included picking up a lost military report from Davoi. That dude peeking around a tree is the one who lost it, I think. xD
There were really too many orcs there. I didn't notice it before, but looking through my screenies I only have any from the entrance. I guess I was too busy surviving, deeper in...
Around this time the tuxedo was added. You see, even though wedding ceremonies have been available in Vana'diel since 2003 or so, and wedding dresses from around the same time..there was never any proper attire for guys to use in weddings. You'd just have to do with what you could put together from normal gear. And then, in December, they finally added the tuxedo...
The Modiste there was a temporary NPC who made available the tuxedos to guys who'd already gotten married. I just wanted a screenshot. When we do finally get married with Kitty (Altana knows where we'll get the gil for that) I'll be getting my tuxedo along with the rest of the wedding package.
Valkurm Dunes. That's a Puppetmaster there, resting with her automaton. I thought it funny because she has Kitty's face. xD
Pashhow Marshlands. Our first visit there. Cue wondering about the bunnies, of all things...
The area is really gross. The ground squelches when you walk on it, and there's always fog or rain, and the mobs are weird.
See? Mobs are weird. That's a malboro there. Even I wasn't stupid enough to go closer than this, those were still IT (Incredibly Tough) at the time, so no chance of survival. Heck, no chance of survival through a fight with even a T (Tough) malboro, I'm pretty sure. All those status effects...I'm not sure I want to risk it even with an EM (Even Match) one.
Even with all its yuckiness, there are pretty places in Pashhow too. This is not even half-way through the zone starting from the Konschtat entrance.
Yet more Pashhow. There's a Maw! I was tempted to go click on it, see if it'd throw me to the past. But no, Kitty told me not to. I was good and obeyed. xD
Those screenies get me up to...late December, I think to around the time I moved. Yay. I'll post more later, I'm itching to get back to work. Got three levels to gain on RDM to catch up to Kitty. :P
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