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Strafe Maru's FF XI Adventure Blog -- Day One
- April 21, 2004 13:34 PM PST
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Our very own Strafe Maru ventures forth into the dangerous lands of Vana?diel. Will he survive? Only time will tell...
Final Fantasy XI is not a typical Final Fantasy game because there is no linear path. You can do almost anything and adventure seems to be around every corner. To give you a taste of the world, I will be keeping a diary of my travels and posting updates to the site. If you see me in the game, be sure to say "Hi."-Strafe
WARNING: What follows may contain SPOILERS that involve various quests, missions, and revelations. While I am undoubtedly progressing rather slowly through the world of Vana?diel, there is a chance that you may read something you have yet to discover while playing? just so you know.
Upon arriving in Windurst from the Mithran Isles so many of us used to call home, I am overwhelmed by the sheer size of this bustling, yet rustic city. We Mithra have nothing like this on the islands!
I now understand why so many of my sisters have developed a fondness for our diminutive allies, the Tarutaru? they are the cutest little people! Every time I see one waddling along, I just want to pounce on them and squeeze them!
Unfortunately, I have already discovered that behavior of that nature is frowned upon by almost all members of polite Windurstian society? I shall endeavor to be more careful in the future.
For all of the city?s attractiveness, I allowed myself only the barest fraction of time for sightseeing, as I was anxious to test my skills in combat with the many beasts assuaging the countryside. Never before have I seen a land more in need of exterminators! Bloodthirsty creatures of all shapes and sizes positively overrun the surrounding environs of Windurst.
Regrettably, my first battle did not go as I had planned, but served as an excellent learning exercise and taught me that, no matter how small, the pervasive Tiny Mandragora are not to be trifled with. In my eagerness to distinguish myself from my fellow warriors, I?m afraid that I have made more than a few mistakes? indeed, there were many times when I ?bit off more than I could chew? and needed the very aid of those I was attempting to outshine.
After spending the entirety of my first day battling the minions of evil (also known as rabbits, bees, and little humanoid onion-headed people), I can feel my skill with the blade growing and the heft of my coin pouch increasing. Unfortunately, bees aren?t known for their fat sacks of Gil, and I have taken to retrieving whatever I can salvage from these beasts? mostly rabbit pelts and the appendages of the little onion-headed people (they look like leaves, but who knows).
My hope is that these scraps may fetch a decent stack of Gil in Windurst; however, due to the volume of creatures plaguing the land, I am sure that any compensation would be based on the act of making Windurst a safer place to live and not on any inherent value in my fallen foe?s body parts. Still, feeling the light breeze riffle my fur as I stalk what must be the hundredth Savannah Rarab through the underbrush of East Sarutabaruta, I cannot help pausing to enjoy the fact that I have never felt more alive. Truly, Windurst is a land where I can forge my own destiny and the feeling of a greater purpose invigorates me.
Exhausted by the day?s adventuring, I returned to the Windurst city proper where I inquired about lodging. Of course, the friendly Tarutaru that I met were only too happy to explain to me one of the queerest socialist benefits of Windurstian culture: the Mog House. Or, rather, my Mog House? you see, every sentient being in Windurst has the right to lodging (at least, that?s how the kindly Tarutaru explained it to me) and thusly is provided an unfurnished domicile in the residential district and a helpful Moogle to care for it while its owner is away.
I?ve heard that this custom is becoming popular across Vana?diel and after retiring to my very own Mog House; I can see why it would. While certainly not luxurious, the room is clean and cozy and my Moogle (his name is Macintosh de?Vermillion, but I just call him Max) is friendly and accommodating? as nearly all Moogles are. It?s not much, but it?s mine and, as I lie on my small rug recounting the details of my first day in Windurst to Max, I am filled with a profound sense of satisfaction, and yet also with a yearning for adventures to come.
