Reinylla commented out loud to break the ambient but relaxing sound of rain falling over Fallgord Float.
“Yeah… nice night to take a break here. At least we made it to the inn before the rain picks up even more.”
She quickly turns to look at Elizara.
“What? Is the ‘big bad’ ole Elizara scared of’a some rain? Afraid’n you might just’a melt?”
Elizara doesn’t respond directly, but the color of her cheeks give the answer. Reinylla lets out a lighthearted laugh.
“Ah I was’a just kiddin’ there, darlin’! Yer right though, nice place’a to call it a night!”
The two have had quite the journey thus far, having taken out two primals and a chimera along the way. Elizara doing her best to continue to learn and understand herself, and her skills, better while making sure to keep the green-eared Reinylla safe from harm as much as she possibly can.
As for Reinylla, she’s becoming quite the artisan in the Dark Arts of black magic; if I weren’t to know any better, she might even be a rival for Miss Laureine in understanding it very quickly! Always seeing the world in wide-eyed wonder, it almost reminds me of the early days upon seeing Eorzea for myself while seeking out where Aikirees had ran off to many months before.
From the letters I receive, and I assure everyone do read as they do not get lost in the pile of desk letters already in existence, Reinylla has gotten pretty close to Elizara, but as for her I think only more time will tell how she’s feeling. I suspect being out and about as an adventurer has helped but still far from where she’d like to be.
I’ll keep looking forward to reading the letters from them as they continue to adventure forth, and from Miss Laureine’s visit with my Sister when she does the task I entrusted her with.
Six Summers have passed now, ever since Aikirees first reached this place. She always likes to come back and reflect on the year that has passed. Originally she’d come here alone, but after our journey to the ends of the universe and back, I’ve been accompanying her since then.
This time, Aikirees was there well earlier than I was, and since she’s grown this past summer by quite a bit, both literally and figuratively, finding her in the usual spot was pretty easy to do. I landed close by on my golden glowing bird, and headed over to greet her.
“Beat me to the spot this year!”
Aikirees nodded with the biggest adorkable grin on her Hrothgar snout.
“Zee yup yup! Got zee here’sies at zee dawnbreak’sies!”
Aikirees over the months had gotten a lot more quiet; she hasn’t really explained as to why, but I suspect it has something to do with her transformation, I suspect even now it weighs on her mind.
“I probably would have gotten here sooner, but letters from Laureine and the Leporines held me up. It’s not because of the mess on the desk!”
“Uh-huh’sies, you ever gonna’sies clean that thing’sies?”
I paused, stunned to think of something witty to reply with.
“Y-yes, j-just… oh shush!”
Aikirees bellowed in laughter; her laugh especially now is really contagious as I started to as well.
“It’s good to see you like you used to be, ‘Little’ One.”
She smiled, and gave a slight nod. We glanced out over the clear skies of the Churning Mists. It’s been at least the summer since we were here together last. Always gorgeous views there, and the crispy cool winds over my ears felt so nice. Thoughts of our Tural journey went through my mind, and began where we’d head to next and as to what is going to happen with the strange ‘Vana’Diel’ in the near future.
“…Mama said’sies to tell you zee ‘Hi’sies when I returrrrrned from my journey’sies.”
Unprovoked, Aikirees said the first thing ever involving her journey. I looked at her in complete surprise.
“Y-you saw mother??”
She simply nodded with a warm smile.
“I didn’t realize that you– wait don’t tell me, did you die again!?“
“It’sies a bit zee complicated. Lot’sies of zee things I don’t understand’sies, but zee Sissy Tess and zee Miss Laureine probably’sies know zee more about it. Zee Mama did give’sies another life’sies, which kind of might have caused zee beeg change’sies.”
Mother always said she’d give her life for us, I didn’t think she’d do it literally, even after she’s been gone for so long now. I honestly didn’t know how to react to the information, but the fact that Aikirees is still here, even if she’s bigger an a lot more fuzzy, is thankful enough to whatever happened out there.
“…Thank you, mother.”
I said quietly to myself, but I suspect Aikirees heard it as well.
“So, tell me, you have anymore surprises like that up your sleeves?!”
Aikirees just laughed.
“Zee nope’sies!”
“Ah, well, I guess I shouldn’t be that surprised honestly. Having a Viera pop out the Archives, Tess’ odd behavior the last time we all got together. We certainly are a quirky trio of sisters aren’t we?”
Aikirees laughed and beamed a grin.
“Just zee awesome’sies that way’sies!”
“I suppose so!”
We both laughed a laugh that could be heard across Moghome, and then small talked for a bell or so. Not sure what this next year holds for us; only the path we walk will tell that tale, but I know we’ll be back here once again next year to swap stories and enjoy celebrating another Churning Mists Day again together.
I was expecting a harder couple of weeks until we found a new person to come aboard, but I did not expect what this week throw at us. I can sum it up as ‘damage control’ became my title to just keep everything moving. It was exhausting to say the least. Thankfully the new feller comes aboard today, so I’m hoping things start to downturn back to somewhat normalcy as we head into the summer season. That’s when we get a smidgen slower.
Usual weekend adventures, kind of stayed the course. Watched Pom Poko which was a hoot and incredibly fun! Bit more cleaning I suppose. Going to begin a sub-project soon, that is kind of sort of a prologue to 2026’s big project – kind of a huge reorganization project that… well probably should have been done about 6 years ago. It’ll be nice once it’s done though for certain, but it’s going to look rather comical in said office while it’s being done.
Trainscape hit a lot of problems like near simultaneously, one was my own clumsy mistake, which ultimately left me down to only one operation train from three. I’m leaning towards just shelving it for now as it’s gone from being fun, to just a chore to maintain. I love watching them run though, and the weekly cleaning isn’t too rough, but all the little issues that keep adding up have given me pause to continue it right now.
The Media Server is coming to a conclusion, and it’s been great. Aside from some personal ‘oopsies’, my experience with Linux Mint has been pretty positive, and I can certainly recommend it for anyone wanting to dabble into Linux to get away from Windows – just, be prepared to go into it understanding it’s not Windows, and it should be pretty smooth of a process. Brush up on how permissions work too as that can become confusing pretty quick (I still have a bit to learn there as well!)
Switch 2 & The Non-USA World Tour
So. Real quick in regards to this, and I do hope this ages like sour milk in the future. “President” Trump has been on a ridiculous Tariff spree, which has caused so much unnecessary headaches for just about everyone/thing in the global market. For literally no reason aside from his own ego. I mean, he’s done a lot of other terrible things to the country, but let’s stick with this for the moment. The Switch 2 release date was announced (June 5th) and aside from an exhaustive amount of complaining about the cost of games (I still assume this is only 1st party related), preorders were to go-live for the entire world on April 9th.
…Except the Moldy Cheese-ball of a president decided to go ballistic again with more Tariffs, which now has caused Nintendo to delay the preorders starting here until a later date to more than likely up the cost to counter these new Tariffs assuming the idiot goes through with them. Yes, this does irk me a bit; the whole thing irks me. It reminds me of the incidents during his first tenure in office where folks (especially in the FFXIV community) we’re trying to write off the notion with ‘keep your politics out of my Fantasy.’ So. Fun Fact about most if not all Final Fantasies, they’re all political in some way! Quite honestly, most games that have some sort of story are political in some way, so this notion is just absurd in it’s own right.
So, why bring that up now? Well because it is, in essence, repeating history with politics not only part of gaming, but literally affecting it in RL as well now. What frustrates me more though is that while this could have all been avoided if he didn’t get into office, and the cost for certain aspects of it is a bit steeper than most folks expected, I am just so gosh darn excited to see and eventually get one! The console looks so fun and I (even if I feel as I’m in the minority) and looking forward to it – politics/costs/tariffs be darned!
While I do hope the delay is temporary here state-side, and the cost doesn’t shoot through the roof, I just… want to enjoy seeing what I can and continue to be fascinated at how much more potent this critter is compared to the first Switch without seeing a sea of anger about it everywhere I look. The console itself is just bonkers to me and I’m already planning on which games I’d upgrade for it – Mario Kart World Tour looks so fun as well!
Anyway, enough of that, there’s enough politics and anger out there, just… try and see some light in the darkness, it’s there and it’s going to grow rapidly especially with the fire that was started over the weekend.
With 7.2 for the most part behind us, it’s back to the normal weekly routines until 8.0, and that’s fine. RL being so brutal last week made our routine a lot harder to get done. We did, but it wasn’t easy. There’s little things around HQ that we’d like to get done, and we’ll probably spend an afternoon down the road looking into that – maybe Memorial Day weekend would be good. I really don’t know if I’ll post long-remarks comments about anything in 7.2, but it did make a good lasting impression. I can also feel the warmth of the community once again, and that’s something I’ve sorely missed. Maybe all that downtime between 7.1 and 7.2 did the community good being able to socialize a lot more.
Today is also ‘Churning Mists Day’ – the day Aikirees made it to Churning Mists for the first time six years ago, so Aiki and I will (hopefully) have a little tale for that up today later on! The rest of the week will probably be filled with more of the Leporine stories as their adventures slowly approach Heavensward.
I’ve made this long enough! Kick tails and Happy Monday y’all!
This will be a quiet week as we really just focused on Patch 7.2 content this weekend, so nothing was able to be scheduled out. Next week will return to normal though!
Completed most of 7.2 content, with the only thing remaining being the new Cornservant quests. Arcadion 5-8 was very fun, but a lot more challenging than the first 4. M5 being probably my favorite 8-player raid as of right now primarily for the aesthetics & music of it if not anything else. It in itself is a pretty potent challenge, but it’s just so gosh darn fun! Player-wise, it has been overall pretty warm, which that has been a really nice change of pace. The only major incidentals were my first attempt on the Trial, and M8 was very cold. Aiki’s M8 went just disastrously, but once the remaining party regrouped, it went alright.
Audio project hit the ‘S’ lettering now, and that does include Square Enix Music. This will be a monumental hurdle to get over as over the years I have collected a lot of SE soundtracks. The good is it’s just mostly checking the tags and adding artwork before sending it off to the Media Server. Probably a next weekend project amongst catching up on a few neglected tasks that I pushed off this weekend.
I did watch another Studio Ghibli, this one being The Wind Rises. It was good, a bit slow in parts, but overall had a saddening tone to it. Still would certainly recommend it, but just be ready for some feels. Not much else aside from that happening. RL is still chaotic, but we did hire a new person, so once they get on board and up to speed hopefully things will level back out – it is winding down our busy season, so that will help tremendously.
Happy Monday y’all! Kick tails, and have a wonderful week leading into April!
Episode LVIII! – I-I think this might just take ‘exploring fashionably’ a bit too literally. Well, at least we’ll keep our feet dry while we make our way back to civilization.
“He said do… what with this fish!?” “Put it around’a here for some reason or’another.”
Unable to comprehend the reasoning, Elizara continues to look upon Reinylla dumbfounded.
“A. Fish. Freshwater no less. Right. Here?” “Yessum, darlin'” “To what purpose!?”
Reinylla shrugs.
“Somethin’ about’a frog?” “… a what?” “Frog, ya’know those little hippity hoppy fellers.” “I know what a frog is!” “Oh good! I was worried there fer’a moment that where you came’a from, there were no fro–“
Elizara interrupts Reinylla with a loud huff.
“Fine! Now what?” “We just wait’a over there fer a bit’er so and somethin’s supposed to happen.”
The two retreat back a bit and within the bell a massive bullfrog-like creature appears and gobbles up the fish.
“Now!”
Reinylla states in a whisper to Elizara. The two leap out and dispatch the massive creature with ease.
“Well that’a was sure fun! Wasn’t it, sugar?” “It. was. A huge frog.” “It sure’a was, wasn’t it!”
Not really even phasing Reinylla, the two head back up into Costa del Sol to plan the next course of action now that the beaches around it were just a bit safer with such a creature gone. They take the next day to enjoy some rest at Costa del Sol, as Aiki and I have many times. Upon nightfall, Reinylla heads down to the shallow waters of the beach, not realizing Elizara was coming right behind her.
“Oh! Well’a if I’a knew you wanted to come too, I’d ‘ave offered as well!” “It’s…fine. Mind if I sit alongside you?” “What a silly ‘ole question is that? Of course it is!”
“Hey. Sorry about earlier.” “What’cha mean, sug?”
“About being huffy and skeptical, I just sometimes still don’t understand why we’re running around doing these things. Like… don’t we have some big bad… what is it called again, ‘Primal’ to deal with?”
“Oh, well’of course we do! We’ll get to that soon, darlin’! This is all just part of the journey! Helpin’ people and seeing the sights! It’s not’a always about the destination!”
Elizara ponders the remark for a moment.
“Huh. Good way of thinking I suppose.”
Reinylla nods lightly and grins, not saying anything.
“…thanks.” “Fer what, sug?” “Just. Thanks.”
Reinylla smiles and boops the side of Elizara’s head with her own, then go about stargazing for a while longer.
“Yer’a good bean, Lizzy. Dun let anyone’a tell you differently.”
Not really reacting to the remark from Reinylla, aside from a soft sigh and a faint smile. They small talk for another bell or so before retiring that night. Another big day ahead tomorrow for the two of them while they inch ever so closer to their final destination.
While Aikirees and I have been in one end of Tural, the cousins were taking part in some touring in the other. Assisting the Tural Tourist Center being Miss Laureine’s top priority to help it flourish to allow as many folks to learn about the local cultures as much as possible; while Miss Lizz wants it to as well, she simply thinks it’s just a very fun, relaxing, and… well ‘rad’ place to taking in the food & nap.
After the two of them take care of their tasks, Lizicus and Laurieine come together to enjoy an evening of chatting while enjoying the scenery and sounds of the waterfall just behind them. It’s a very gorgeous site to behold every single time visiting the area; seeing visitors from across the continent and even beyond enjoying the sites as well is just so the reward both of them love witnessing the most.
I don’t know if I will in detailed earnest or not, but Aikirees and I last night completed the MSQ-side of Patch 7.2. Arcadion will have to wait until the weekend – between the two of us in the past, we’ve learned to not try and knock out all four of those in an evening.
Non-spoiler talk about it, but it did pull me back into being interested in the story as a whole again and not just bits & pieces. I knew that would happen eventually, and just glad I didn’t have to wait until 7.3 or beyond for it to do so. Just hoping the community starts to turn warm again sooner than later on the content side of things (another ill-experience in the trial due to yet another Legendary Titled player having a superiority complex).
That’s probably all I’ll say on the patch for now, and if I get time or decide to talk about the details of 7.2, then I’ll break it out into its own section as to avoid spoiling it for anyone. RL got brutal with someone walking out on us at the office, so things have gotten more difficult whilst trying to juggle everything currently happening.
Kick tails y’all! Have a great & wonderful time in 7.2!
While traveling through the Black Shroud, Reinylla was tasked with investigating Haukke Manor. While initially not concerning her all that much having Elizara with her, upon reaching their destination is when the reality of it sank in.
“This’a place sure is creepy.” “… we’ll be fine, let’s get to it.”
Elizara’s stark response somewhat gave Reinylla the courage to get her legs to move forward.
“Y-your’a right behind me, right sug?” “Yes, you’re going to be alright, come on.”
Elizara walks up alongside Reiynlla with her bow in one hand, and gently grabs Reinylla’s hand with the other.
“Here, let’s go.”
Elizara, trying as best as she could, beings to gently and slowly walk towards the corridors, feeling the shivers in Reinylla’s hand every step as they proceed. Once the first area was cleared out though, Reinylla’s fear lessened and the two proceeded with the investigation as planned.
“I don’t think I could’a done that without you, darlin’.”
Elizara scoffs at her remark at the end of it all.
“I said you would be fine! You got that strength in you, I-I just nudged it is all.”
“I think you bein’ there, sug, is what gave me that strength. Don’t be sittin’ there sellin’ yerself short, and thank ya.”
If one were to look hard enough, one could see a faint shade of pink across Elizara’s face appear.
“L-let’s go.”
Reinylla chuckles lightly and the two make there way back to Gridania. Onward to their next adventure!
Less-paced weekend this time around, which was a nice change. Mostly worked on getting more music onto the media server now that it’s up to full steam. Being able to access it from work is a really nice boon as well, not a planned perk but a very nice one to say the least. It took a smidgen to get it up and running the way I wanted it to (Linux Permissions are still a bit nebulous to me), but once it was there, it went smoothly. Kind of broke another part of it as well, but that was quickly rectified once I figured out how to circumvent the issue that I created.
Not much else on that front, but just on the Studio Ghibli kick; might just go ahead and watch the remaining ones I haven’t seen. Porco Rosso was the weekend’s movie and that was such a fun adventure! Think that’s all there as well, RL has kicked back up, but as for personal projects, kind of winding them down for the year: I have a trip to plan and I want to be fully prepared for hurricane season this year. Being blindsided by Milton last year took a toll and in the event of another mult-day power loss, I want to be sure to be able to alleviate that far better.
With the RL kick-up, it kind of concerns me with Patch 7.2 and beyond. It worked out really well in Endwalker, but… with the shifting of (some) power of authority over to me at work, it also means more responsibility/hours. Don’t get me wrong, I love what I do and if I didn’t, I’d have left the industry… again. However, it is a bit frustrating from time to time since I miss my old daily schedule.
As for Patch 7.2 itself, Aiki and I are pretty much ready to go. We have a long-term plan still in place all the way to 8.0, and it’s going pretty well overall. Cosmic Exploration and other things like that could add a bump or so, but I don’t foresee anything out of the ordinary (RL willing of course) causing issues. Outside of that, I think for a bit y’all will probably see less of our adventures here, and more of the Leporine’s. Not that we’re disappearing or anything, but our adventures have taken us to the normal ‘main schedule sequence’ and that will not end until 7.5 when all of our equipment is augmented sans probably the relic this time.
Aiki and I will pop up (cousins too) on the semi-regular regardless, including Fashion Reports when we do those, but I think their story is more steady at the moment. Speaking of Fashion Reports, there should be one this week as this current week’s was a hoot! Also, no, have not forgotten about concluding Aiki’s journey, but that’s going to require a smidgen more time (and Data Center traveling) to complete.
That’s all I can think of right now, happy Monday and Patch 7.2 eve y’all! Have fun in the new content, but please do pace oneself and remember to eat/drink/take breaks if anyone out there is hitting the ground running right after maintenance. As always for new patches, please don’t spoil it for anyone, and have a great adventure!
“No. Not really. Just. Everything is so fuzzy. Like, some sort of structures? Nothing I’ve seen so far here with you even remotely resembles it though.”
“Huh.. I’a wonderin’ what you’ra seeing then…”
There’s a small pause between the two as they both look at the warm campfire they decided to stay near for the night.
“Maybe~”
Reiynlla begins while not taking her eyes off the fire.
“There’sa rumors I’vea heard that over in that thar new world of a place with marvels far exceedin’ that of Hydaelyn herself! Maybe we can’a get there one’a day it’ll jog somethin!”
Elizara turns to look at Reiynlla with a faint smile.
“… yeah. Maybe. I’d might like that.”
Reinylla smiles, turning back to Elizara.
“So’a tell me then, darlin’! What you do remember, tell me some regailin’ things even if just ole silhouettes! We got’a fire here, might be fun to try and make shadows out of them!”
Elizara laughs.
“Yeah? Alright then, let’s see how good your skills are at that!”
The two laugh at one another, as Elizara begins to, as best as possible, tell some faint stories from before her arrival in The Archives. As much as Elizara continues to be reserved, Reinylla’s determination to get her to open up is almost as strong of a will as ever – rivaling that of Aikirees’ potent will to protect everyone and everything she cares about!
The two talk for a few bells, and with the fire burning out, the two call it a night. Until next time~
Reinylla and Elizara decided to return to Ul’dah, which just so happened to match up with the Little Ladies’ Day even going on. The two split up for a bit to walk around and see the sights, with Reiynlla paying a visit to the Sapphire Avenue for a spell.
“Oh! There you are, darlin’! Here! I gotchu a little somethin’!”
Reinylla excitedly hands over a fairy sized boxed, practically shoving it into Elizara’s hands, tied together with a twine-like rope.
“Uh, thanks? What is it?” “Just’a open’er it, sugar! It’s a surprise!”
Elizara carefully opens the package, with Reinylla’s excitement beaming off the tufts of her ears.
“Wait, what is this?”
Elizara holds part of the gown up from the package, not exactly sure what to make of it.
“It’sa dress, darling! Surely you know’a what that is??” “Y-yes, just never wore one before.”
Reinylla furrows both her brows and ears a smidgen.
“What’cha mean? You’ve a neve’ring wore one before??”
She ponders for a moment.
“Well, here’a then, come along!” “Wh-hey, hey! Slow down, will you?!”
Reinylla once again dragging Elizara off towards the Adventurer’s Guild by the hand, nearly causing her to trip over practically everything in the way. After some struggling, mostly on Reinylla explaining the process, Elizara was dressed up and soon after was Reinylla.
“You look’in so gorgeous there, darlin!”
Reinylla exclaimed in sheer delight. Elizara looks over herself, not sure what to make of it all.
“T-thanks, I think? I feel a little… silly. What’s the occasion that I can wear my normal clothes anyway?”
“It’s fer the Little Ladies’ Day event, sugar!”
“The, oh, the reason for all of the decor, I take it?”
Reinylla nods several times.
“Why, yeppers! The very same! Come along, let’s go!”
Rather than dragging Elizara by the hand again, she beckons to her in the direction they needed to go in to take all of the sites, sounds, scenery, and festivities that this year’s Little Ladies’ Day had to offer.
The event this year was assisting someone new to being a Seneschal Prince, while seeking out information as to how & what it all entails.
It was wholesome and good as they usually are, with the ending being a big fun performance on the Little Ladies’ Stage.
Dusk fell upon Ul’dah, with the two Vieras feeling a bit on the tired side, with a healthy dose of being able to accomplish helping out the big event take off without any major hitches. Once the sun started to set and the festive lights were lit, the stage was set for the big performances.
The two took pause to enjoy it off a little in the distance from the steps leading down towards the stage itself. While watching and listening to the Songbirds perform, Elizara turns towards Reinylla.
“Hey, Rein. I-… thanks for this day. Means a lot.”
Reinylla beams.
“Anytime there, sugar. We’ll get’cha memories back before’ya know it!”
Not exactly sure how to react, Elizara half smiles before the two return their gaze towards the stage. The two end up watching the performances and enjoying all the festivities until the very early bells of the next morning. Not exactly certain how to disgown, Elizara simply flops onto the bed and gets some sleep for the night; she’ll inquire with Reinylla in the morning in regards to such a task.
The two’s bond grows stronger, but their journey is still just in its infancy. Only time will tell where it finally leads and what ultimately is discovered about Elizara’s past. Until then, the two I’m certain will continue to look after themselves just as strong as ever.
I can’t recall the last time Aiki and I slowed down for a moment. Just happened to catch her sitting on the outskirts of town after taking care of the local custom deliveries for the week. We have always enjoyed this part of Tural with its scenic/calming environment and rusting little towns that are scattered throughout.
Even with the small downtime feeling pretty brief, the night was pretty, cool and dry out, with naught of a single concern even if a fleeting moment. Have forgotten such a familiar feeling with everything happening.
Hope everyone has been having a wonderful one, y’all got this!
This has been years in the making. Lizicus got the Kamuy of the Nine Tails doggo that she’s been seeking out on her journey ever since the early days of traveling around on the First. Still a bit personally concerned with yet another large pupper in and around HQ – as Sirena, and Aikirees have theirs, but I suppose with all of them running around it’ll keep the surrounding area safe from any harm. I-I’ll just keep my ears away from their chompers for a spell.
I think the story goes, according to Miss Laureine, is Lizicus first saw the Kamuy while traveling over in Othard quite some time ago now, and became enamored (read: ‘Rad’ded) with the site that she began to seek them out. At first it was a bit difficult but as time progressed, and a little help from some friendly moogles, she slowly befriended each one by one. Miss Laureine did assist when she could, and now, after going to the ends of the universe and back, she finally was able to earn the right to fly on the big pupper itself.
The rest of us will still have to wait and keep seeking out the remaining Kamuy before earning said right as well, but for now, she is one really happy lizzer. I think Miss Laureine even heard a squeak or two of excitement upon ending the journey, but we’ll just keep that to ourselves.
The trainscape officially cleared Phase 1 last Monday on my day off, also watched Star Trek: The Motion Picture (2022 version), and that was awesome! Haven’t watched it since the 2001 Director’s Edition on DVD, so it was a huge difference in a positive way. Probably should have watched it less tired, but still very much enjoyed it. Been on a Studio Ghibli trend lately too, so also watched My Neighbor Totoro as well – loved it.
The Media Server project hit the major milestone of being functional. I decided to go with Linux Mint for it, but with it being Linux, it’s a massive learning curve as I don’t know Linux all that well. It’s still got some tweaks to work out, but I’m pretty happy with how it’s been going – even with the curve, but I am learning a lot along the way.
Talked to the folks and saw them over the weekend too, it’s been a spell so it was mostly nice. Planning future events too around patch cycles, which is looking pretty good as well. Speaking of Final Fantasy XIV and patches, just a little less than 2 weeks until 7.2, and we’re pretty much ready to go – just… not all that thrilled for it. Don’t get me wrong there’s things in it that look really fun, but for the first time in I can’t even recall, I just don’t care overall for the story. Hoping something in this one or leads off with anything to pique up my ears in 7.3 at the very least. We’ll see.
This time five years ago marked when the birth of EOCA was conceived, as well as me joining the Adamantoise Alliance & The Aether Event Center. There’s folks I still remember upon looking over these photos once again: Chococo, Rhaza, Kami, April, Sean, Kiba, Morrigan, and I think a couple of really old Burgundy members were there as well. I was invited to the early party for this show – Saint Patrick’s Day Murder Mystery – as a VIP for some of the preliminary work on mapping I did, but this event marked the beginning of it all officially.
I can’t believe it’s already been five years now, and some of these folks are still long time friends that I keep in touch with. That was a really magical time, and I do miss it, but I know as time moves forward so do we all in our own ways. Those memories, amongst many others, I’ll cherish for as long as I live.
Ah old memories, Happy Monday y’all! Kick some tails today! We got this!
“What is it, Sug— oh my good gracious! Where did you get such’a dorable feller?!”
“S-someone in, what’s the name… ‘Drybones’ gave me it, and it just, I don’t know, picked me up and then took off into the air?? H-how does that even— are you listening!?”
“Who’sa adorable big’ole fluffy kitten? You are, just arent’cha!?”
“I–….”
At that point, Elizara knew she was temporarily trapped sitting atop a flying cat in Eastern Thanalan, while Reinylla ecstatically petted and doted upon the adorable feline for as long as she could. The burning questions of how she got into this predicament and how it took flight to begin with will have to wait until a later moment it seems.
As Laureine told Elizara, she approached me the next morning while I was at my desk having my morning tea glancing over some documents.
“…I see. T-this is a rather interesting turn of events, even for The Archives.”
I respond to Laureine’s entire recount of the night prior, still a bit unsure how to proceed.
“May I see the scroll you found next to Elizara?” “Oh! Why, of course, Missus! Here, this is what I found with the faint glow.”
I gently take the scroll from Laureine’s grasp and began to examine it. The scroll appeared to be incredibly ancient with near impossible language to understand. The glow that Laureine had mentioned was all but gone now.
“This is a rather unique artifact… not anything I would have placed or asked anyone to put in there…”
I say out loud while continuing to examine both sides of the scroll: in and out of the light, the material it was made of, and the way it was written.
“W-what of Mistress Elizara…?”
Laureine inquires, almost holding back a feeling of force; I ponder this for a moment.
“…well, hmm. She doesn’t know where, or even what she is, which in itself very strange. I don’t think it’s a good idea for her to remain in HQ, as I believe her going out to see the realm would do her some good and hopefully give her a recollection to her memories.”
Laureine agreeably nods.
“I concur with that, Missus, but… on her own…?” “Oh Twelve no! That would be cruel. However, the question becomes as to who will go with her. You are busy with your own tasks, along with keeping Miss Lizz on her tasks.”
I resist the urge to chuckle at Lizicus’ and Laureine’s rather interesting relationship, as I all well know how family can sometimes be.
“Well, let’s see here….”
I pull out a tome with EOCA’s roster and start to thimble through it.
“Well, Sirena and Juli have been making a really wonderful and cute team as of late. Aryiah is off to Twelve knows where, and I don’t even know when we’ll see her again. Aikirees and I are usually off doing the same, as y’all are…”
I flip a couple more pages through the roster.
“Hmm… Reinylla.” “Oh! The Viera who helped us found EOCA and you relocate?”
I smile and nod.
“Yeppers! The very same. She’s incredibly warm and has been wanting to depart from Ul’dah for a time now and see the Realm. It would also benefit for Elizara to be around another Viera – help her better understand herself.”
Laureine’s worried expression softens.
“That does sound like a good idea then, Missus.” “Hopefully so. I’ll make contact with Reinylla via linkpearl to let her know where to meet her. Laureine, please escort Elizara to the rendezvous point in Ul’dah once the time has been established. Answer and/all questions she might have on the trek, and please do try to help in any way you can too.”
Laureine smiles and bows.
“At once, Missus!” “..oh, and one more task for only you.” “W-what is it, Missus?”
I hand the scroll back to Laureine rolled carefully up and sealed.
“You need to take this to Terrestia. If anyone can understand where this came from or what this is, she’s the most likely.”
Lauriene slowly takes the scroll from my hand.
“Y-your sister…?” “Yes. You’ll have to do it without any of us making contact, but once you get close, she’ll find you just from that scroll alone. Just… when you have time, no hurry or anything, but until then keep that scroll safe.”
Laureine nods uncomfortably.
“Y-yes, Missus, it will be done.” “Right then. Let’s get these two together and see what happens.”
As asked, Laureine escorted Elizara to Ul’dah. Within a bell, she’s approached by an enthusiastic, red-haired, heterochromatic eyed Viera.
“Well, howdy there, darlin’!”
Elizara snapped out of her daze to look up at an excited Viera greeting her.
“Oh, erm… H-hello? I.. take it your Reinylla?” “Sure ‘am there, sugar! Nice ta meet’cha, Elizara!”
Elizara continues to look up at Reinylla, not certain what to make of her.
“Mind if I take’a seat next to ya?”
Elizara without saying anything subltly nods at her inquiry.
“Thank ya! Awfully kind’of ya! So, tell me about yer’self?” “… it’s just Elizara, there’s really not much else to say right now.”
Elizara began to recount the story of where and how she appeared without knowing much else aside her name – not even what she was.
“Quite the tale, hun! Can’t say I understood’n all of it, but sounds like ya had quite the journey! Can’t say I can’a boast anythin’ close, just a humble Viera from across the Eastward Sea yearn’in for adventur’in!”
The two began to talk for a number of bells, well mostly Reinylla regailing her quiet beginnings in the far, far Southern part of Othard – far more southern than Aikirees and I. Just nearly the opposite side of that continent from where Lizicus and Laureine grew up, in fact.
“…You’ve had quite the journey here…” “I guess’in so! Neva’ really thought of it that’a way!”
Reinylla chuckles.
“Wonder how far I’ve traveled then…” “Well, there’sa only one way ta find out, sugar! How’a bout it?”
Elizara pauses, nearly frozen, at the thought.
“…You want me to come with you?”
Reinylla excitedly nods at Elizara.
“Absolutely, hun! How’a bout being my travelin’ companion? I’ve been a’itching to go out on my own fer a time now!” “I.. don’t know.”
Reinylla furrows her brows for a moment. “Aww, come’er on! It’ll be fun! Who’a knows, some’thing or other out there could give that’a memory of yers a good jarring!”
Elizara doesn’t say anything, only going back to being lost in thought.
“Well, that’a settles it then!” Reinylla hops up from the stone bench with an incredible amount of delight.
“Come’on, Sugar! We’ra burnin’ daylight!” “W-wha, b-but I didn’t agr—“ “Yes’a you did! Come onnnn! I want’a see the realm! Let’s go, Hun!”
Elizara, slowly gets up from the bench, with some reluctance, but Reiynlla quickly grabs her hand and tugs her towards the Adventuring Guild.
” I’am so excited! We gonna to have such an a’venture together!”
All that Elizara could muster was a smirk while trying not to trip being nearly dragged towards the Aventuring Guild there in Ul’dah.
“But’a first! We need ta’get properly equipped ta head on out’of here!” “‘Properly Equipped…?'” “Yeah, sugar! Can’ta be runnin’ around out there wit’ no way of defending ourselves!” “..Ah?”
With that, the two of them begin their journey across the realm, one with aspirations to see it all with the other just trying to make an understanding of everything. Only time will tell what what those two will get themselves into, and what will be uncovered of Elizara’s mysterious past.
It’s rather uncommon for Lizicus to be seen lost in thought, but it does happen. Just so happened to catch her off-guard while traversing Western Coerthas one evening while trying to construct some furnishings. The snow slowly landed on her shimmering scales as she looked up to the falling sky, pondering and seemingly in deep thought about everything; including tacos because, of course.
The cold strangely never bothered her, so being in such a revealing top didn’t even phase Lizicus as the stood there nearly enjoying it. What was on her mind? Not even Laureine knows. Lizicus puts up such an incredibly strong ‘happy-go-lucky’ front that even sometimes everyone forgets there’s something deeper to her than just napping and all of the ‘rad!’s’ she’s known to spout.
Perhaps Laureine knows deep down the turmoils in her heart, but really only Lizicus herself knows first and foremost all the thoughts she continues to have.
Give folks hugs even when they don’t seem to need them, they’ll appreciate it more than you’ll ever know. Y’all have a wonderful Wednesday!
One late night, well after all of us had turned in for a nice rest, Laureine decided to step into the wandering corridors of The Archives for some light reading. She’s not unfamiliar with The Archives, as she has done this many of times before, while initially just to place old documents from my desk to the main entry point area in the early summers of being part of EOCA. She’s always had a fascination as to what old tomes, books, and documents she’ll stumble upon in there within The Archives’ many many winding corridors; however, no one really knows what one will find within The Archives now, as it’s become its own entity upon itself.
After a few bells of simply wandering and greeting the local will-o’-wisps that reside within The Archives, Laureine found a nice thick book relating to comparisons of Allagan technology (one of her personal favorite subjects) and other-worldly technologies not familiar to even the Alexandrians. She fell into a deep concentration of all the diagrams with incredibly exquisite details that are far beyond my comprehension, but not for very long as about one-third through the pages, Laureine heard something echoing throughout The Archives that had not ever been heard before.
Placing the book back upon the shelf, Laureine decided to investigate whom or what would/could have made such a sound so deep into The Archives. She had her trusty spear capable of being summoned for the ready at any notice, so she wasn’t concerned for her well-being.
“I-it’s probably one of the Missuses, it has to be this far in The Archives…”
Laureine thought to herself as she continued to cautiously get closer to where she heard such a noise. The thought of it being a malevolent will-o’-wisp did cross her mind, but she was on friendly terms with those denizens of The Archives, so it was quickly dismissed.
“Missuses…? Are one of you in here? …Cuz… is this a prank??”
She inadvertently hoped it was Lizicus just pulling her tail, but alas, that wasn’t the case. The closer Laureine got to where she heard the sound, another strange almost voice-like echoed through the corridors. It sounded like a person, but one unknown to her.
“H-ello…? Is anyone there?”
Laureine called out, but with no response, beyond hearing her own voice bounce across the walls lined with shelves. This was a part of The Archives that Laureine, nor anyone really, has ever ventured through in the past. The corridors themselves seemed to bend as time and space that made it up were being manipulated in some way. She grasped the small node that could summon her spear very tightly now, but restrained from using it as to not make matters possibly worse.
This area of The Archives felt darker, and the eerily quiet of no response to Laureine’s call out began to unnerve even her. Upon getting very close to where she heard the initial sound and voice, Laureine turned into a side corridor to be greeted with a rather big surprise.
“A.. a… Viera!? H-here!?”
Laureine thought to herself in disbelieved surprise. She kneels down to check and see how she is – alive, but just mostly unconscious.
“Where could have you come from…”
This part of The Archives is just endless winding and warping corridors with the main entrance yalms away from here; the questions that began to boil up in Laureine’s mind became near limitless. She looked around at the books to try and understand the context of the situation, but nothing really stood out as a clue. Looking on the ground around the mysterious Viera to see if any of those could be of help to even remotely how anyone could have made it back there.
A scroll near the Viera’s back side faintly glowed with unintelligible letters to Laureine. She picked it up and carefully examined it.
“It’s not Eorzean, nor any language I’ve ever come across while traveling the Realm and beyond. Perhaps a Reflection…?”
She decides to take the scroll with her and ask me about it later on, and upon placing the scroll into her carrying node, the Viera stirs to regain consciousness.
“Hnnng… w-wh–..?”
Her eyes open to see Laureine kneeling over her with a concerned expression.
“Who– wh- what are you…?”
Slowly trying to get up from off the cold ground, Laureine assists.
“H-hey, it’s alright. You’re in a place called The Archives held within Eorzea Cartographers’ Headquarters. I’m Laureine, and you are–?”
The Viera winces back from Laureine’s hands.
“What are you!?”
Laureine pauses, unsure of what to make of the inquiry.
I’m an Au Ra, Miss Viera. We’re fairly common here, but I suspect where you’re from, we are not?”
The Viera shakes her head in disbelief.
“I’m a… what…?” “You’re a Viera, or that’s what you appear to be. The Missus is such one who hails from Southern Othard. Are you familiar with the term?”
The Viera shakes her head at Laureine’s question.
“Never heard of such a place, or this ‘Eorzea Cartographers.'”
The Viera’s ears begin to tingle with subtle twitches to her surroundings.
“W-why is everything so loud? Why can I hear literally everything so clearly?” “It’s your ears; being a Viera gives you heightened sense of hearing to the point of capabilities no one else really can.”
She touches her long lightly fuzzy ears in more disbelief.
“Argh, I don’t understand any of this. How can I be here, what am I!?” “W-well, how about a name for starts, Miss Viera?” “… Elizara.” “Ah! Well, please to meet you Mistress Elizara.”
Laureine bows to Elizara in greeting like she has done so many times to new folks she has met – more times to me than I’d prefer but she really keeps to her etiquette.
Laureine helps Elizara off the ground and begins to explain where they are, what continent, City-State, and what Etheirys is to give her some sort of foundation to see if any of it helps. Unfortunately, Elizara seems to be completely unaware of where she is.
“So, none of that helps?”
Elizara shakes her head more puzzled than before.
“N-no, it doesn’t. L-aureine was it? C-could we please get out of here. The sounds of this area are starting to give me even more of a headache…” “Ah! R-right! Apologizes, Mistress. Let us quit of this place and see what The Missus has to say about what to do.”
Elizara shakes her head in annoyance.
“P-please, just… Elizara. I’m no Mistress.” “A-pologizes, Mistress. It’s rather habitual.”
She shrugs at Laureine and the two of them begin to slowly with caution make their way out of The Archives. The winding feels like it takes many bells before reaching the entry area. As Laureine opens the door to HQ’s first floor, she glances at the wall time-keeper to see only a single bell had passed since her entry into The Archives.
“W-well that’s new…” She remarks with some disbelief at the lack of time that had passed.
“W-well seeing as only a bell has passed since my journey through The Archives and meeting you has happened. It’s still the middle of the night. You can stay in my chambers until the morning. I have a very comfortable area with a warm fire to make you feel at home, I hope.”
Elizara’s annoyed bewildered expression that she has kept for most of the journey out of The Archives softens.
“…Thank you.”
Hearing this delights Laureine as she had been worried all this time of hostilities.
“…Let’s also find you some clothes so you’re not wandering around in skivvies too.”
Laureine lightly chuckles to help break the ever-softened tension. Elizara looks down at her clothes, or rather lack-thereof and smirks in return.
“…Y-yes, I guess that would be a good idea, it’s freezing in here!” “Ah! R-right! One fireplace coming up – that is one accompany we very much do no lack in HQ, Mistress! I’ll get you some tea as well?”
Laureine begins to escort Elizara to her chambers as the night continues for a set of practical clothing, a warm fire, and apparently a strong cup of coffee. This is just the beginning as Elizara adventures have only just begun…
Taking the day off, but the weekend was rather productive. Two-parter story going up this week and I’m pretty happy to have been able to get back to writing. It took a smidgen longer than expected so ended up pushing back some things, but that’s alright.
Trainscape is incredibly close to concluding Phase I, which is good as I can just enjoy it running with just doing the usual weekly maintenance on the wheels/tracks to keep it running smoothly. An item got delayed in the mail as of writing this, which has (of course) slowed it down again. I know all projects have their delays and unexpected dilemmas come up, but this one has got to take the cake. However, the learning from it has way outpaced the problems, and the reward is endless enjoyment of trains.
The day off was initially supposed to happen sooner, and not on the weekend of when we Time Warp forward a hour, but that was just how it landed. The idea was to relax 100% today, but I wanted to return to the audio project which has evolved into a media server project – something I’ve been yearning to do for years and it just happened a part given to me by Mama Kosmikros has given it a sporting chance.
Final level of Sea of Stars now, and I think I’m starting to get close to the end of Horizon: Zero Dawn – nearly 60 hours in. I’ve taken my time in that game, so it’s kind of comical to run around at level 50 seeing the story that recommends level 21. After this one is done, I very much want to seek out Forbidden West to continue Aloy’s journey – it’s been really fun.
Adorkable Sister is Adorkable
Final Fantasy XIV progress is still chugging along until 7.2. RL is making it really hard to continue with my weekly schedule, which I’m hoping doesn’t affect progressing moving on, but only time will tell. It’s all good things, but I still need my relaxing time as well. The ‘Status of Things’ from last week is still full in effect and probably will be for some time into the foreseeable future. I just hope it doesn’t waver my enjoyment of adventuring through Eorzea that much more.
I think that’s all for now. Y’all kick tails and have a wonderful Monday & week ahead!
