Currents : Love Me, Hate Me
I love Lion. No, it's not a lesbian thing. But her charisma is hard to pass by. That woman has a lot of presence, which ends in most other people respecting her. Maybe the only ones hating her are Jeunonian officials, due to her ties with the Tenshodo. Otherwise, she's quite discreet when it comes to Jeuno. She knows when to hide in the shadows and when to let her presence known.
When I visited her hometown of Norg after we defeated the Shadow Lord, I was quite startled when she asked me what I intended to do with the "Arch-Duke Problem". I asked her when he became a problem, and the more she detailed what she meant, the more my memories were being rattled. I pondered more and more about our last encounter at Castle Zvhal. So much that a migraine pounded my head into submission as I collapsed to the floor.
Apparently, I got knocked unconscious so hard I plain forgot about everything that transpired back there. And as I relived the episode, I understood why I forgot. I wasn't exactly thrilled to re-experience the whole ordeal. Big old Shadow's gone, someone else takes up the slack. And that someone else has powers. ...political powers, amongst other things.
Lion asked us to meet with her father and leader of Norg, Gilgamesh. That's when I understood where all that charisma came from. He might be old, and a bit rowdy, but gawd he knows how to convince people to get themselves thrown into a world shaking conflict, at the peril of their own lives. He asked us to investigate something at the Temple of Uggalepih, but first to ask the leader of Kazham for more details on the ruins deeper inside the Tonberry stronghold.
Once all was said by all parties, the investigation was put on hold for a while, until recently that is.
Gaarah >> Hey Coeurl! Wanna stick it to the Tonberries?
It wasn't long a full party was organized to investigate the ruins. Setup was as follows :
PLD75 - Gaarah
BLM75 - Sbec
BST74 - Criminalz
PLD70 - Coeurl
RDM70 - Harald
RDM70 - Rectorz
Thankfully, a lot of information goes around about those famed ruins and how to access them. Problem was only Criminalz had an unlit tonberry torch. We still needed three more torches, and an Uggalepih key so we can pass through the paintings room.
Joy oh joy...
On the plus side, we had no trouble dispatching wave after wave of Tonberries coming back to replace the guards we've slain in the previous batch. Sadly, not all of them carried torches, so it took a while to have the prerequisite for lighting the way to the depths of the ruins. Next, we hoped getting the key would be easier, considering we only needed one. How wrong we were...
I knew that so much slaying would continuously increase the amount of global enmity the tonberries would have against us. Towards the end, Everyone's Grude was hitting me for around 400 damage. That's not exactly fun, even with 1,200 HPs. It's still not as aggravating as a Throat Stab, but still... So yah, we finally got the key... two actually. Having split in two teams, we got two keys simultaneously. After a bit of confusion as to where to use that key to get a Paintbrush of Souls, we were finally ready to head out for the final challenge of the investigation.
Rectorz >> Wait, someone's lost his connection.
Indeed. Gaarah fell asleep, and he showed no sign of waking up, so he was transported into a limbus state, for safety's sake. We waited, in the hope he would shake himself back up, but sadly, after five minutes of anticipation, we decided to not expect his return anymore. We lost our star tank for the upcoming battle.
Rectorz >> Mind if I ask a friend to come?
Rectorz >> He already has a torch too.
Thankfully lots of people get around to gathering torches, but fall short of getting the four needed for the latter part. So instead of a PLD75, we got Antarah, a THF7X to come pick the last spot in our team. All I hoped was for the notorious tonberries to not be exceptionally strong. I thought that an Everyone's Grudge of 400 should be manageable if we're all pulling our weight.
And yes, I'm aware of the irony of having a Thief come along after having to gather all those items.
Our descent into the Den of Rancor was interesting. First, we had to find the blazier which held the flames that would light up the way into the depths of the ruins. It was fun to try and fight a bat and a bomb at the same time, when only half the team found the place. Sadly, Criminalz wasn't in that half, so I had to tank a bat that didn't go down easy, and a bomb that might go boom-boom at any second. Thank goodness that wasn't the case. We all lit a torch, and found our way down a hole to the doorway sporting the four pedestrals needing some flaming. However, the whole place stunk of tonberries and bats.
...and someone's Sneak wore of.
Thank goodness Criminalz was there to mind the bats, and the rest to Stun or Sleep ancient magicks. Elseway I would have probably taken a dirt nap there. We finally cleared enough room for the ceremony. As we opened the door, another group of adventurers arrived and followed us through. They were the same group who were killing tonberries at the entrance of the Den of Rancor. Did they stalk us through the gate? Did they simply coincide their arrival with our passage through the gate? I don't know. I felt a bit cheated though, we almost died killing the guards on the ceremonial grounds, where were they when they could have helped us? I was too busy paying attention to my surroundings and tanking whatever unslept monsters with my back to the gate to know whether or not they were in a position to help us out.
Anyways, my concerns were more centered on the fight beyond the final door. We all briefed ourselves on the data collected by past adventurers who went this far into the ruins. Three Tonberries. One Thief, one Summoner, one Black Mage. Only the Thief would be highly resistant to spells, so we'd be killing it first. Other than that, the strategy was to rely on each of our acquired skills. So we went in, and went to work.
First thing that set me off was Grav'iton, the THF tonberry. Damn, he was big. Second detail was its wearing a crown. Ooookay... That didn't bode too well. My concerns were qualmed quickly though, as it took only an instant to get the big daddy of 'em Tonberries halfway to its doom. However, that's when it hit me.
Grav'iton uses Everyone's Rancor
Coeurldelionne takes 4345 damage
Coeurl >> =O.O= !!!
Sbec >> Whoa...
Criminalz >> Kill it quick!
Thankfully, that's the only move it was able to pull off. I was given a Raise and I asked them to try keeping the other two tonberries slept, or to kite them until I recovered.
Sbec >> Let's take on the Summoner.
I didn't feel too confident for our chances of survival. That is until I saw Courrier Carrie go to work on it. I felt humiliated. A crab was tanking the others' attacks pretty well, and was dealing more damage than I could have ever hoped to do. Besides getting up to do a Rampart as the Black Mage tonberry woke and cast a Firaga II on the crew, I stayed back with my measly 340 HPs.
However, it apparently wasn't far enough.
Tungs'iton uses Astral Flow
Tungs'iton's Avatar uses Diamond Dust
Coeurl takes 390 damage
Coeurl collapes again on the floor
Coeurl >> erm... Medic!
Honestly, what use would I be? I could have waited until we were out of the sacrificial chamber. But heh, heat of the action. Got raised, Cure III, did a Warcry, then got the hell back. It wasn't long everyone else wasted the two remaining tonberries. That's when we got to learn a lot about Tonberries, the Zilart and everything else in between. We all laughed at the ease of the fight, which we thought would be a real pain in the butt. I laughed too, looking at my records and seeing how I practically broke even between my two deaths and the experience we got killing all those tonberries earlier. We got the hell out and too a well deserved rest.
The next day, first thing I did was to look for a man in Norg that I heard knew the secret of dispelling all that accumulated hatred tonberries gathered over my commiting a genocide in their midst. Sure, that cost me 3 Gold Beastcoins and 1,500G, but hey, might as well be ready if I'm asked to return there. For giggles, I killed a Tonberry Cutter with my reset hate, praying it wouldn't Throat Stab me and follow through with some hard hitting attack, but the fight went well, and...
Coeurl obtains an Uggalepih key
Coeurl >> WHERE WERE YOU LAST NIGHT?!?!?
Now, I have an unlit torch in my storage and a paintbrush of souls in my back pocket, in souvenir of that trip. I also told Gaarah about the fight, so he could avoid what I had to go through. Blood-soaked dirt leaves a terrible aftertaste.
When I visited her hometown of Norg after we defeated the Shadow Lord, I was quite startled when she asked me what I intended to do with the "Arch-Duke Problem". I asked her when he became a problem, and the more she detailed what she meant, the more my memories were being rattled. I pondered more and more about our last encounter at Castle Zvhal. So much that a migraine pounded my head into submission as I collapsed to the floor.
Apparently, I got knocked unconscious so hard I plain forgot about everything that transpired back there. And as I relived the episode, I understood why I forgot. I wasn't exactly thrilled to re-experience the whole ordeal. Big old Shadow's gone, someone else takes up the slack. And that someone else has powers. ...political powers, amongst other things.
Lion asked us to meet with her father and leader of Norg, Gilgamesh. That's when I understood where all that charisma came from. He might be old, and a bit rowdy, but gawd he knows how to convince people to get themselves thrown into a world shaking conflict, at the peril of their own lives. He asked us to investigate something at the Temple of Uggalepih, but first to ask the leader of Kazham for more details on the ruins deeper inside the Tonberry stronghold.
Once all was said by all parties, the investigation was put on hold for a while, until recently that is.
Gaarah >> Hey Coeurl! Wanna stick it to the Tonberries?
It wasn't long a full party was organized to investigate the ruins. Setup was as follows :
PLD75 - Gaarah
BLM75 - Sbec
BST74 - Criminalz
PLD70 - Coeurl
RDM70 - Harald
RDM70 - Rectorz
Thankfully, a lot of information goes around about those famed ruins and how to access them. Problem was only Criminalz had an unlit tonberry torch. We still needed three more torches, and an Uggalepih key so we can pass through the paintings room.
Joy oh joy...
On the plus side, we had no trouble dispatching wave after wave of Tonberries coming back to replace the guards we've slain in the previous batch. Sadly, not all of them carried torches, so it took a while to have the prerequisite for lighting the way to the depths of the ruins. Next, we hoped getting the key would be easier, considering we only needed one. How wrong we were...
I knew that so much slaying would continuously increase the amount of global enmity the tonberries would have against us. Towards the end, Everyone's Grude was hitting me for around 400 damage. That's not exactly fun, even with 1,200 HPs. It's still not as aggravating as a Throat Stab, but still... So yah, we finally got the key... two actually. Having split in two teams, we got two keys simultaneously. After a bit of confusion as to where to use that key to get a Paintbrush of Souls, we were finally ready to head out for the final challenge of the investigation.
Rectorz >> Wait, someone's lost his connection.
Indeed. Gaarah fell asleep, and he showed no sign of waking up, so he was transported into a limbus state, for safety's sake. We waited, in the hope he would shake himself back up, but sadly, after five minutes of anticipation, we decided to not expect his return anymore. We lost our star tank for the upcoming battle.
Rectorz >> Mind if I ask a friend to come?
Rectorz >> He already has a torch too.
Thankfully lots of people get around to gathering torches, but fall short of getting the four needed for the latter part. So instead of a PLD75, we got Antarah, a THF7X to come pick the last spot in our team. All I hoped was for the notorious tonberries to not be exceptionally strong. I thought that an Everyone's Grudge of 400 should be manageable if we're all pulling our weight.
And yes, I'm aware of the irony of having a Thief come along after having to gather all those items.
Our descent into the Den of Rancor was interesting. First, we had to find the blazier which held the flames that would light up the way into the depths of the ruins. It was fun to try and fight a bat and a bomb at the same time, when only half the team found the place. Sadly, Criminalz wasn't in that half, so I had to tank a bat that didn't go down easy, and a bomb that might go boom-boom at any second. Thank goodness that wasn't the case. We all lit a torch, and found our way down a hole to the doorway sporting the four pedestrals needing some flaming. However, the whole place stunk of tonberries and bats.
...and someone's Sneak wore of.
Thank goodness Criminalz was there to mind the bats, and the rest to Stun or Sleep ancient magicks. Elseway I would have probably taken a dirt nap there. We finally cleared enough room for the ceremony. As we opened the door, another group of adventurers arrived and followed us through. They were the same group who were killing tonberries at the entrance of the Den of Rancor. Did they stalk us through the gate? Did they simply coincide their arrival with our passage through the gate? I don't know. I felt a bit cheated though, we almost died killing the guards on the ceremonial grounds, where were they when they could have helped us? I was too busy paying attention to my surroundings and tanking whatever unslept monsters with my back to the gate to know whether or not they were in a position to help us out.
Anyways, my concerns were more centered on the fight beyond the final door. We all briefed ourselves on the data collected by past adventurers who went this far into the ruins. Three Tonberries. One Thief, one Summoner, one Black Mage. Only the Thief would be highly resistant to spells, so we'd be killing it first. Other than that, the strategy was to rely on each of our acquired skills. So we went in, and went to work.
First thing that set me off was Grav'iton, the THF tonberry. Damn, he was big. Second detail was its wearing a crown. Ooookay... That didn't bode too well. My concerns were qualmed quickly though, as it took only an instant to get the big daddy of 'em Tonberries halfway to its doom. However, that's when it hit me.
Grav'iton uses Everyone's Rancor
Coeurldelionne takes 4345 damage
Coeurl >> =O.O= !!!
Sbec >> Whoa...
Criminalz >> Kill it quick!
Thankfully, that's the only move it was able to pull off. I was given a Raise and I asked them to try keeping the other two tonberries slept, or to kite them until I recovered.
Sbec >> Let's take on the Summoner.
I didn't feel too confident for our chances of survival. That is until I saw Courrier Carrie go to work on it. I felt humiliated. A crab was tanking the others' attacks pretty well, and was dealing more damage than I could have ever hoped to do. Besides getting up to do a Rampart as the Black Mage tonberry woke and cast a Firaga II on the crew, I stayed back with my measly 340 HPs.
However, it apparently wasn't far enough.
Tungs'iton uses Astral Flow
Tungs'iton's Avatar uses Diamond Dust
Coeurl takes 390 damage
Coeurl collapes again on the floor
Coeurl >> erm... Medic!
Honestly, what use would I be? I could have waited until we were out of the sacrificial chamber. But heh, heat of the action. Got raised, Cure III, did a Warcry, then got the hell back. It wasn't long everyone else wasted the two remaining tonberries. That's when we got to learn a lot about Tonberries, the Zilart and everything else in between. We all laughed at the ease of the fight, which we thought would be a real pain in the butt. I laughed too, looking at my records and seeing how I practically broke even between my two deaths and the experience we got killing all those tonberries earlier. We got the hell out and too a well deserved rest.
The next day, first thing I did was to look for a man in Norg that I heard knew the secret of dispelling all that accumulated hatred tonberries gathered over my commiting a genocide in their midst. Sure, that cost me 3 Gold Beastcoins and 1,500G, but hey, might as well be ready if I'm asked to return there. For giggles, I killed a Tonberry Cutter with my reset hate, praying it wouldn't Throat Stab me and follow through with some hard hitting attack, but the fight went well, and...
Coeurl obtains an Uggalepih key
Coeurl >> WHERE WERE YOU LAST NIGHT?!?!?
Now, I have an unlit torch in my storage and a paintbrush of souls in my back pocket, in souvenir of that trip. I also told Gaarah about the fight, so he could avoid what I had to go through. Blood-soaked dirt leaves a terrible aftertaste.
posted by Coeurl de Lionne | 11:07 p.m.
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