Mission: Fetichism
The third mission I have to do is to go to the Palborough Mines (which I’ve heard of but not been to) and kill some Quadavs for their stuff/limbs. Quadavs are the turtle enemies, and they took the mines over a while back.
-I remember hearing that the Palborough Mines were accessible from North Gustaberg, but haven’t seen them yet. Gonna check around the walls. One area in particular that I hadn’t been because nothing was there on the map.
-This DEFINITELY looks Mine-y…
yup! I wonder why it wasn’t marked on the North Gustaberg map.
-Found a room in here with some super creepy looking Funguars.
-Ooh, a NAMED enemy! “Qu’Vho Deathhurler.” Its “strength is impossible to gauge.” I don’t really want to try it until I complete my quest, since it’s a looong run back.
-Reached the upper levels of the mine. There’s a giant black spot as if the map were burned at the south end.
I wonder if a boss is there. The MMO “The Secret World” marks the end-game parts of its maps with a similar burn-mark.
-Btw, really really glad I bought the map for this place. I would be lost without it.
-So far, found Fetich Head and Fetich Legs. I need two more Fetich pieces from these Quadavs.
-Woohoo!! Got all four Fetich pieces. Legs, Head, Arms, Torso. Why? Will Cid make a doll out of it or something?
-Before I leave, I want to check out that black hole on the map.
-OH GOD WHAT’D I DO?? MISTAKES WERE MADE
-Wait.. I’m… Huh! That was a short-cut. I hopped on a boat, pulled a lever, and got transported down the river straight to the Zeruhn Mines.
A REEEEALLLY fast way to get back to the city from all the way over in the Palborough Mines. I like seeing how the map connects up like that.
-Unfortunately, that was a one-way route, so I can’t go back and explore the rest for now. That’s okay.
-*dances* Rank 2.
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Bastok – Between Missions
-I can’t get a new mission yet. I need to “participate in conquests” and donate crystals to guards to get rank points. Fine by me. I have crystals coming out the butt.
-A High Guard near the gatehouse has more on conquests. Ok.
-A dude named Dalzakk comes by, turning his own missions in. I’ve heard of him. I needed him for a quest but couldn’t find him.
-As he arrives, a kid Gelka and an Elvaan woman greet him. They say that “Werei has left on his journey of rebirth.” That seems likely to be Gelka-speak for “Werei died.”
HOW CUTE ARE GALKA KIDS? Like li’l huggable bear cubs.
-Or not? (Oops – Galka, not Gelka.) He “disappeared.” And Werei is relied upon in the Mine District by other Galka.
-I donated a few crystals to an Iron Musketeer by trading them, and that RAPIDLY filled my Rank 2 gauge.
-Something else I noticed on that Iron Musketeer guard: I can spend conquest points for gear. I gotta take advantage of that.
-Now another mission is open to me: The Crystal Line.
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Mission: The Crystal Line
-This mission is about the Crag of Dem, that weird structure in the Konschtat Highlands. Apparently, crystals are drained of their power when you take them to a certain part of the structure. Cid is investigating, and wants me to bring him a faded crystal.
-I head to Cid to find out more.
-There’s a resonance somehow between that structure and Jeuno, the kingdom. He calls that resonance “the Crystal Line.”
I like how jovial and exuberant Cid looks here. SCIENCE!
-So I have to go bring a crystal to a telepoint by the Crag of Dem, “trade” it to that telepoint, and return with the faded crystal to Cid.
-Checked in with Ayame. She still doesn’t trust me. But I’m not worried – maybe I get her trust at rank 3 or 5 or 8 or something, but I am not just fucking around now. I have a clear path.
-btw check out my jaunty new cap
-Found the right telepoint at Crag of Dem, gave it a Wind Crystal, and got back a faded crystal.
-I have a long run ahead of me back to town and was really hoping to use the Chocopass I got from some quest or other for a free ride. Tried trading it to this chocobo person, but no luck. They wouldn’t accept it.
[Non-rhetorical question: how do I use this chocopass, if I can’t trade it to the person next to the chocobo?]
-I return to Cid. He notes that the deterioration in the crystal is similar to what he’s seen from Beaudeaux. So there’s a wider problem of stuff draining crystal energy.
-Cid wants me to get word to Volker, the dude who I saw before talking to Cid, but Volker is hard to track down so I should give it to his fellow Iron Musketeers Naji or Ayame.
-I give the letter to Naji (and learn that Volker is the captain of the Iron Musketeers), but he asks me to give it to Ayame instead. She’s more science-savvy than him, but he wants me to promise not to tell her he said that. She’ll make fun of him. XD
-I bring it over to Ayame, and she thanks me. Takes this to mean that her company may be moving out soon. Hm.
-lololol she asked why I didn’t just bring the letter to Naji, and I can reply with:
a)Naji didn’t look smart enough.
b)Ayame looked more reliable.
c)Because I felt like it.
Feeling a bit trollish, so I’ll go with option a. She agrees.
-I head back to the mission giver, and two more available: “Wading Beasts” and “The Emissary.” Let’s go with… *flips coin* Wading Beasts.
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Quest Complete: Fallen Comrades
-Quick interlude though. Back in Palborough Mines, I collected a silver name tag. A memento from one of the Galka killed in a mine accident.
-The Galka I returned it to was really emotionally hit hard by seeing the name tag. I leave his house, and that woman Cornelia sees me. The music turns really sad.
-She emphasizes how big the gap in understanding history is between the Galka and the humes who put them to work. I love this. It’s fascinating world-building.
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Mission: Wading Beasts
-This one is pretty straight forward. I have to collect a lizard egg from beasts in Dangruf Wadi and bring it to a Senator, Senator Alois, for some reason.
-Took some killing, but after a bunch of Steam Lizards went down in Dangruf Wadi, got the egg and now it’s time to find that Senator.
-Ok. I get the sense that the politicians of Bastok are jackasses.
SENATOR ALOIS: “These are delicious when cooked – uh… I mean, this is very important to the safety of Bastok, yes! It’s imperative that you do not tell anyone you’ve brought this to me!”
-A Galka walks in just now and is like “really? This shit again?” with an epic face-palm to boot.
He walks out. The Galka is named Iron Eater.
-I head outside to talk to him, and he gets meta as fuck.
IRON EATER: “Tell me… do you not sometimes wonder if these missions are truly worth your time?”
-He’s loyal to Bastok, but it seems that while Chief Engineer Cid has respect, most of the higher-ups here do not.
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Mission: The Emissary
-The initial questgiver doesn’t say much here, but asks me to speak to Sir Naji of the Mythril Musketeers. It’s an important mission. I don’t think I’ll be collecting anyone’s dinner this time.
-I’m apparently going “overseas.” I have to meet with the president’s aide about this.
-Oh wow, he’s not kidding. I have to go to both San d’Oria and Windurst, the two other capitals.
LUCIUS (president’s aide): “Let me introduce you. This is Sir Karst –“
KARST: “President Karst. That is how you will address me.”
Yeah. This guy’s a windbag.
-So this mission is to go to San d’Oria and Windurst with a letter of introduction and present that letter to the consuls of each nation.
-San d’Oria is in Northern Quon, the same continent as Bastok. I get there by land.
-For Windurst, I have to go to the port town of Selbina in the northwest, then take a ship to Mhaura, and walk over to Windurst.
-I’m being sent to investigate the internal state of those countries. Essentially: to spy.
-About to end this session, but I first made the mistake of getting a new piece of gear. Something that sounded like an upgrade called a “Legionnaire Harness.”
It’s… not my style.
Better. Good ol’ linen robe.
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Next time: Traveling abroad.
