The Furball

Redecorating my Moogle House

After a long day of adventurers in the wild, there is no place like home sweet home. All your weary body longs for is a hot bath and a good nights sleep. And as you walk in the door, you know for certain that your Moogle is waiting on you.

Moogle, or at least mine, is a very caring soul, always worrying about me while I’m outside serving the Star Sibyl. As I wake up each morning, Moogle has already brought in my morning fish and a copy of the two Windurstian newspapers, the Tarutaru Times Online and the Magic Paradise.

In a recent issue of Tarutaru Times I found a fascinating article about decorating your house. My moogle house has been pretty much the same way for several years now, and I would like to make it a bit more cozy. Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s not like my moogle house is a mess like some people’s house is, it’s actually a quite nice room. I would really like to add some more light and an assortment of freshly picked flowers.

I will be spending the next week or so redesigning my moogle house, growing flowers and getting another aquarium—I promise I won’t eat the fishies in them!

When my friend Ravenclaw learned that I’m redesigning my moogle house, he sent me an invitation to come to his residence in San d’Oria. I thought it would be nice to see how he had decorated his house and hurried over there. As I walked up to the residential area, he was standing in the street, waving to me. Hello neko~chan, he yelled out so I would find him. The streets were full of people, and some of the younger ones laughed at the man who just suddenly cried out. I walked up to Ravenclaw and greeted him. This way, kitten, he said, showing me the way through the residential area.

As we walked in, his moogle greeted me by bowing to me. Welcome, kupo! he said. I looked around, the house, and were completely enticed by the many flowers he had standing on along one of the walls. So purrrdy~, I said. My eyes were dilated, delighted by the fresh flowers he had. Now now, kitten, don’t get all lost in thought, Ravenclaw said, showing me around the room.

His house had a tropical feel to it, and his room seemed clean and spacious, displaying some of the many gifts he had picked up during a few events. I cheered, as I picked up a lot of ideas of how to decorate my own house.

In the end I decided that I want a cozy home, tucked away in the residential area of Windurst. Filled with lights and fresh flowers, it would have the purrrfect atmosphere! So stay tuned!

A Crossroad, and a Wonderful Moment

Deep within the frozen valleys of Xarcabard lies the entrance to a shadow world: Dynamis. A world engulfed in darkness, forever banished from the grace of light, and the scene of a dreadful incident. Adventurers gather here, and other entrances, to battle against the shadow army.

Nyaa~, I said to Chicora, excited to see her again. Chicora was sitting in the snow, eating on an orange kuchen—her favorite dish. I smiled to her and sat down besides her. May I have some, I asked her, hoping that she would share. And what if I say no, she asked me, obviously teasing me. I’d cry… a lot. She smiled and gave me a slice of her orange cake. You are the best, I told her, giving her a hug in appreciation. I know, she grinned.

Chicora has been a friend of mine since I was but a kitten, and she is almost like a sister to me. We were both sitting there, happily purrring as we ate our cake. Our linkshell was still gathering, and our group grew bigger. I told Chicora how happy I am to finally be able to do Dynamis – Xarcabard since we have been working so hard in the cities lately. She nodded to me, hoping that it would be a good night.

Hello girls, Darrius said as he walked up to us. Would you like to team up, he asked us, bowing gallantly. Me and Chicora looked at each other, nodded and accepted Darrius’ offer. I knew Sparroweye would be a little upset as he prefers to have me as his White Mage, but right now I really wanted to party with Chicora. She is not only a good friend, but also my favorite Red Mage by far. We make an excellent team, and she does a great job whenever we party.

When the leaders finally gave the order to enter Dynamis, we were all filled with excitement and hope. Xarcabard holds a great many excellent relic armor pieces, and we were all eager to see what was in store for us. Our parties lined up in their designated spots, fending off the kindred army’s wave of attacks. Ravenclaw, my linkshell leader and a good friend, did a great job pulling, and he knows the zone very well.

The sky was cloudy, and the moon had a red shade to it, and the valley was engulfed in an bone-chilling darkness. The air was dry, and it was at times outright creepy to be there.

We were left in awe, though. as relic piece after relic piece dropped, and we were all excited about getting so many so quickly. I kept praying inside myself that a Black Mage would drop, but I didn’t get my hopes up as I’m like number four or five on the list. I was in a good mood though, and I didn’t let the drop list bother me as Dynamis is my favorite event of the week.

Some of our attacks proved futile, sometimes leaving us eating a dirt sandwich after being overrun by the kindred forces. But we were determined to go on, raising everyone quickly to get the most out of the time allotted.

Chicora did an awesome job, keeping me refreshed at all times, providing cures and debuffing the monsters when needed. Her efforts didn’t go unnoticed by Altana, as a rare item finally dropped—an item my friend Chicora has been longing for, for months:

Congratulations, I said cheeringly to Chicora, hugging her to show how happy I was for her. Now, please, please, burn that Vermillion Cloak of yours, I told her jokingly. Chicora was speechless, as all her hard work had finally paid off. Now, let us see you try it on, Darrius plead. I nodded, excited to see how it looked on her. Chicora was holding her new hat in her hands, looking carefully at it, crying with joy. I patted Chicora on the back and congratulated her again, before I slowly took the hat and put it on her head. How prrrettyful~, I cheered.

Chicora began to dance in joy, which brought back a lot of fond memories from our childhood. Chicora is an excellent dancer, and I’ve always been a little jealous of her. I guess I’m just too clumsy to dance well.

As the time was about to run out, a pair of Cleric’s Mitts dropped. Fladnag, our Dynamis leader, announced that my friend Nicia was the lucky owner of the mitts. Nicia shook her head and told Fladnag she wanted someone else to have it, and moments later he congratulated me through the linkshell so everyone could hear: Congratulations, kitten, the mitts are yours.

I jumped for joy, even though I quite frankly don’t have a need for them. It is nice to be able to store the relic armor set with the Armor Depository Service, but I’m most excited about finally being 5/5. Actually, that is my second 5/5 as I also have a complete Paladin set.

A Friend Indeed

Lower Jeuno was filled with adventurers from far and near, looking to resupply, get a good nights sleep at the inn or just spend some quality time with their friends at the Merry Minstrel Meadhouse. The evening sun was shining, and people were starting to move over to the sidewalk to catch a last glimpse of the sun as it set. I could hear people gasp in awe at the sight, and even I stopped for a few minutes to enjoy the moment.

Flowers for every occasion, someone in the distance announced. I thought this would be a great opportunity to pick up some fresh flowers to make my house cosy, so I walked over to the flower stand. An elderly woman was sitting on pleated tartan cloth, smiled hopefully as I started browsing the flowers she had for sale. Take your time, young one, she told me, offering to help me if I had any questions.

I just love flowers, but the assorted selection made it hard to decide. The elderly woman had flowers from the continent of Quon for the most part, but I prefer the Elshimo flora. The smell was out of this world, and I looked carefully before finally deciding on some freshly picked white lilies. You have a keen taste in flowers, young one, she told me. I nodded her and told her how my father is growing herbs and flowers in our back yard back home. I paid her for the flowers and waved as I walked away. So prrrettyful, I thought to myself, closing my eyes as I scented the delightful fragrance of the flowers.

Hey there! I turned around and found Galadrial, a beautiful elvaan who have been a long time friend of mine. I waved and walked over to her, giving her a cheerful hug. How are you, kitten, I asked her, hoping to learn about some of her recent adventures. Sadly, the two of us haven’t had the chance to team up very much lately. Just fine, she smiled, a little surprised to find me in Jeuno. What are you up to, she asked me. I explained that I was just in the neighborhood and had decided to take the day off to tend to my home. The moogles just aren’t trustworthy when it comes to tending your flowers and cleaning your house, I said with a big grin on my face. You’ve got that right, she nodded.

The two of sat down by the ocean view, talking about our recent escapades. She had just returned from sea where she had fought “goldfish”, but were getting tired and had to return back to Jeuno to get some rest. I really like your flowers, she told me, looking at the flowers in my bag. You know what, I told her, you can have them. Galadrial’s face brightened up, really? she asked me. I gave her the white lilies and thanked her for being such a great friend. She looked a little surprised, but very happy. She moved toward me and gave me a hug. Thank you, this is just what I needed!

Dancing with the Puppeteer

Ravenclaw clapped his hands as I moved over the floor with charming grace, dancing a waltz with his automaton. I had a glowing smile on my face, as I was in a particularly good mood today. Bravo! Bravo, Ravenclaw cheered. His automaton, one of the latest models on the market, was moving gallantly around on it’s slender feet.

I looked over at Serenade, the automaton, and petted it on the head. She is quite something, isn’t she, I told Ravenclaw. He is a very good companion in my adventurers, he explained. Serenade bowed graciously to me before it said in a very quirky voice, thank you for the dance, ma’am. I laughed cheerfully, thanking it as well. Serenade is just a bit shorter than me, but packs quite the punch while in battle. Automatons have a very diverse set of uses, and can both damage, heal and nuke. And although the way they operate puzzles me, they also interest me greatly—not that I’m nearly smart enough to control one myself.

Hello there, a voice suddenly said. I looked behind me, finding Greever and a bunch of others had appeared. We were gathering in the Ru’Avitau shrine for a diorite farming run. Me and Ravenclaw were the first to get there, and had been waiting for the others to reach us. We had already warned the other linkshell members that Faust was patrolling the hallway below, hoping that no one would die on their way up.

I thanked the linkshell for arranging a farming run in sky as it is one of the few ways I try to keep my White Mage’s experience afloat with—not that I get knocked out much anymore. But farming in sky is generally a relaxing experience where I can get some of the experience back.

The leaders sent us into the big circular hall in the middle, where another linkshell was farming as well. Some of my linkshell’s members were a little upset over the other party pulling more monsters than they could handle, so we started chasing down all the statues, killing them off as quickly as possible. Fortunately, it didn’t take long for a diorite to drop. The chunk of stone sparkled, even though it was nearly pitch black. Lucky, one of the linkshell members cheered, as these stones can be quite rare. We fought for nearly two and a half hour, but we only managed to get one.

Surprise! Black Kimiko in Limbus

Hello neko~chan, Ravenclaw said cheerfully, welcoming me to the party. We had all gathered in Al’Taieu, fully prepared to adventure deep within the Temenos tower. I was somewhat surprised that the leaders had asked me to come Black Mage, but it was a change that was more than welcome. I may have been a little nervous too to be honest, as I don’t have a whole lot of experience as a Black Mage in limbus. But if I can keep my cool and be ready to stun and sleep, I should be fine.

Al’Taieu is quite a bizarre place, as it is filled with water, yet you can still walk on the water for some reason. The area is filled with vicious monsters, ready to jump at you from above as well as below. We tried to stay away from the monsters on the way to Temenos, meeting two ufos on the way, but luckily we didn’t have to face them in battle.

The sun was shining brilliantly in the sky, and everyone was in a good mood. I was singing to myself as we tried to find the Aw’euvhi for the particular entrance we were going to. People were cheering me on, as we didn’t have any Bard accompanying us today. I blushed a little, trying to hide my face. Sometimes I just can’t help but whistle to some theme.

Found it! I looked behind me, seeing Dutton pointing west. Everyone turned their attention toward where Dutton was pointing, and surely, there it was: our Aw’euvhi carrying the chip we needed to enter Temenos. The flower-like monster was hovering a few inches over the ground, a few hundred meters away from us. The whole group rushed over to the monster as soon as Greever gave the order to kill it. I cast two rounds of Thunder at it before it dropped dead to the ground.

We entered the tower and walked up the ramp to a glowing platform that would take us further into the tower. Okay, we ready to do this? Greever was getting a little impatient by all the waiting, and wanted us to get started as quickly as possible. I shared his desire to wrap things up early, so I did the attendance call, checking to see if everyone was there. We had fifteen people total, something that wasn’t particularly bad to be honest. I hoped we would get a decent amount of Ancient Beastcoins, as I’m trying to save up to some new shiney elemental staves and a Snow Ring for my Black Mage.

Greever activated the platform, and a faint hum could be heard. Seconds later we were transported onto the third floor of the tower. I walked off the platform, making sure that I still had ten nails and ten toes. You can’t be too sure with these machines!

We ran into the next room where a group of tigers awaited us. They looked awfully hungry, but there was no way around them, so we could just as well just take them down one by one. While our damage dealers started fighting the monsters, I closed my eyes and concentrated. I started whispering a chant, and I could feel small sparks of electricity appear in the palm of my hand. As I concentrated more and more, the sparks grew bigger in size. Finally, I opened my eye and pointed my hand at the monsters. A roaring bolt of lightning struck one of the tigers.

One could smell burnt hair in the room, and the tiger roared in anger, clearly enraged by the attack. One of the other tigers stormed toward me, striking me with all it’s might. I tried to block the attack with my arm, making sure it wouldn’t hit me in the face. The tiger prepared for another assault, but I managed to stun it just before it was about to leap into the air. I quickly cast another spell, this time a spell to put the monstrous cat to sleep.

I walked back to the group, ready to resume casting elemental nukes. Once again I closed my eyes, concentrating my magic powers to form more powerful spells. Thunder worked exceptionally well against these monsters, so I continued to focus on casting bolts of thunder at the tigers. My hand still hurt, but I tried not to pay too much attention to it as I had a job to do.

Once we tried had defeated all the tigers, we advanced to the elevator to the second floor. On my way up I noticed that blood was dripping from my left paw. Could you come here for a minute, I asked my friend Nicia, our White Mage for the day. Nicia turned around and walked toward me. She had long black hair, tied neatly into a pony-tail in the back. She is a seasoned White Mage, and a skilled one at that.

I showed Nicia my paw. The tiger left this wound, I explained to her. Nicia examined my paw carefully, making sure that I hadn’t broken anything. The bone seems fine, she said, but I think I will have to bandage it. I looked at her face, worried. You absolutely sure I need the bandage, I asked her, wanting to skip the bandage as it remains me of an accident I had many years ago.

Doctor’s orders, she grinned while she wrapped my paw in some compression. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine in no time, she assured me. She knew I really didn’t want to, but Nicia has a way of comforting even the most troubled souls. Here, I’ll make ease your pain. Nicia put her hand on my paw and closed her eyes, concentrating. Moments after my paw I could feel a faint warmth. Her hands were glowing as she cast her curative spell, a spell I have cast many times before. There you go, she said, all patched up and ready for battle! She took a step back, giggling, before she turned around, almost like she dancing. She smiled at me, and I bowed to her, thanking her for helping me.

Everyone ready? We’re in a hurry you know, the leaders said. For a moment there I had forgotten all about the time. Clumsy me, I thought to myself, getting hurt and making everyone worried like that.

The rest of the limbus run went a lot smoother, and I made sure I didn’t do anything more stupid for our duration there. We walked out of the tower with three shiney ancient beastcoins.