Note: I played these sessions way back in mid-2017. I'm collecting and re-posting in advance of my upcoming 50-70 black mage quests.
I also think it's fun to see my perspective on the game when I was so new.
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Intro [from Part 1]
-My friends pick my class: “Thaumaturge.”
I’m a wizard, Harry!
-There are three starting cities: Gridania (woodsy), Limsa Lominsa (port city), and Ul’dah (desert). Lalafell Thaumaturges can only start in Ul’dah.
-The Thaumaturge class hall is NOTHING like I expected. I expected something typically black magey. People studying fire and ice and lightning, zapping each other, reading books. Basically Mysidia from FFIV.
Instead, it’s an ossuary. A house of the dead.
The Ul’dah Thaumaturges are basically magic morticians. They eventually learned that burning and freezing could be useful in war, but they started out learning about those magics simply to assist in preparation of the dead. Cremation, storage, etc.
What a cool, original take on mages! And it fits with my gleefully murderous Lalafell.
-The controls take some getting used to, but the system is 700% smoother than FFXI’s.
(I’ll try to go easy on FFXI comparisons, but they help me get my bearings early on.)
-The thaumaturge is so much fun to play! The class mechanics center around fire and ice. Fire magic does more damage but rips through my mana. Ice magic does less damage but boosts my mana regeneration. A nice cycle between them.
-The early quests are straight-forward. Killing bugs in the desert newbie zone, local fetch quests, that sort of thing. It’s mostly a chance for me to get used to the combat system.
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The Yawning Abyss [from Part 2]
-My quests derive from a textbook: “Thaumaturgy: The Yawning Abyss.”
-Chapter One: “The Threat of Intimacy.” I LOVE THAT NAME! It teaches me to keep distance in combat.
“Our most effective strategy is to topple our adversaries with overwhelming force before they have a
chance to respond. Honor is for knights… and dead mages.”
-Throughout the quest is Cocobusi, an alchemist. He dreams of being a thaumaturge, but his “aetheric levels” are too low. I think this is like midichlorians. He spends his trying trying to concoct potions to fix that.
I feel bad for him. It’s like he was denied entry to Hogwarts.
-Next chapter: the Threat of Paucity, about managing my mana resources.
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The Threat of Superiority [from Part 3]
-My level 15 quest, “The Threat of Superiority,” warns me against fighting enemies too strong for me. Wise advice.
-lolol I thought he was warning against soloing tough enemies, but no. Our guild used too many potions and can’t afford to pay the alchemists.
“Thus I pass onto you the secret of my last and most potent defense: shameless weeping.”
THAT’S MY QUEST. I have to emote /cry at the thaumaturge guild’s creditors to win their sympathy.
-I’m then sent to shatter a stolen and cursed urn. Like so many of this game’s quest, it serves a teaching purpose. The enemies on the way are high level, so I use sleep on them to sneak past to the urn.
-Cocobusi finds me. He’s the Lalafell without any power who dreams of being a thaumaturge. He followed me in hopes of proving himself.
-He walks up to the cursed Mormo Urn to break it. It… talks to him.
THE URN: “Hee hee, well, yes, I AM Mormo, but I’m one of the NICE voidsent.” He offers to grant Cocobusi a wish if he’ll open the urn rather than breaking it.
Dude. Cocobusi. I feel for you – I do! It SUCKS to not get that invitation to Hogwarts. But you know nothing good will happen from opening that urn, right? Right?
Guess not. He asks for the power to become a thaumaturge and opens the urn.
-Purple light flows out of the urn and into Cocobusi. He’s definitely possessed, though trying to hide it.
-When I return to the guild, everyone’s all “Huh, Cocobusi has been acting weird.” Ququshu may be a thaumaturge, a gladiator, a miner, and a goldsmith, but I fear “detective” is not in her future. My character apparently doesn’t realize that Cocobusi is possessed.
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Threat of Perplexity [from Part 3]
-The next chapter/quest in my textbook is “Threat of Perplexity,” about dealing with crowds of enemies.
-A serial killer has popped up and is attacking thaumaturges! He’s known as “Mageslayer.” Gee. I wonder what possessed Lalafell this could be.
-“Cocobusi” comes by, cackling and tee-heeing. He just wants to help me take out the Mageslayer, WHOEVER IT MAY BE!
-We head to the desert, where the last thaumaturges were killed, to investigate this baffling crime! I kinda like that Cocobusi isn’t even REMOTELY subtle.
-A hired warrior and I take out some demons in the area. Mission accomplished!! Right?
-ALAS! “Cocobusi” tells me a demons escaped into that abandoned cave over there. Quick, I have to run heedlessly in and find it!
-I do so, because Ququshu, much as I love her, is a bit of a dorkus malorcus. “Cocobusi” creeps up behind me.
-OKAY THAT LEGIT SCARED ME. He got this LOOK on his face as he hurled a knife my way.
-Cocobuki, my thaumaturge teacher, and Cocobusi’s brother, saves me by burning the knife out of the air. He suspected Cocobusi, which is more than I can say for Ququshu.
-And yet. Cocobuki can’t bring himself to kill possessed!Cocobusi. They’re brothers. “Cocobusi” takes this chance escape, disappearing in to the ceiling.
-Poor Cocobuki. He feels like shit. Now, possessed!Cocobusi will find new hunting grounds, kill against… but how can you blame Cocobuki for not killing his brother?
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The Hidden Chapter [from Part 6]
-Just hit level 25. New class quest!
-We’re following up with Possessed!Cocobusi. His brother, Cocobuki, doesn’t want to obliterate Cocobusi, despite that being the textbook solution.
-Mormo is the Voidsent that possessed Cocobusi. I’m sent to East Thanalan to investigate Mormo.
-I collect the data from researchers (lol – the Book of Mormo) – and return to Cocobuki. Things look grim, but there’s one last hope: if Cocobuki can offer a more tempting magical vessel – himself – that might draw out Mormo to the point we can kill her.
-To prove I’m ready, there’s a hidden chapter of “The Yawning Abyss” that I’m to read. One with some sort of trial.
-It’s a major challenge. The test starts by pitting me against smaller enemies to crowd control and kill. Then swarms of silencing bugs come out. This part kills me the first time, but I adjust my strategy on the second attempt by standing farther back and targeting them as soon as possible.
The third challenge is a big gross fly enemy that keeps me on my toes. Victory!
-See, guys? We have hope to save Cocobusi after all!
I imagine that the level 30 quest will be our move on Mormo!Cocobusi.
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Facing Your Demons [from Part 8]
-The next class quest is to track down Cocobusi, possessed by the voidsent Morno, and exorcise her. “Cocobusi” has been spotted in Vesper Bay.
-People around town noticed him. He hit on some ladies and left with them. Morno likely means to kill them and drain their power.
-“Cocobusi” is nearby. The thaumaturge Cocobuki offers himself as a substitute for Morno, and Morno powers up. Sheds the Cocobusi shell and unveils her true form. Now’s our chance.
-Mormo is a tough fight. She uses Fire II and Blizzard II, and summons tough skellies. The adds kill me once. I get her on my second attempt.
-OH SHIT COCOBUKI IS UNCONSCIOUS! He gave up his energy to Mormo so we’d have a chance.
YESSSSS!!! This is an amazing ending. Cocobusi wakes up and uses one of his alchemy potions to revive Cocobuki.
Everyone lives – and Cocobusi’s life path is validated.
-AND NOW I GET A QUEST TO RISE FROM THAUMATURGE TO BLACK MAGE!
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Next time: collecting and reposting the 30-50 black mage quests.
