Thoughts from the Otherworld

 
 
Upon our return from Elshimo Island not too long ago, we made the decision to go hunt for cockatrices in Meriphataud Mountains. The area being only superficially familiar to us from several trips to gather various items needed and numerous passings on chocobo-back on the way to Jeuno, we decided to look around the more remote parts of the region in order to familiarize ourselves with it a bit more. Not to mention that while we had heard cockatrices were present in the area, we hadn't heard where exactly to find these creatures. So we took it upon ourselves to head north.

This proved easier said than done, for high mountain ridges were facing us in most every direction. But luck was with us, for upon reaching the very eastern parts of the area we managed to find a pass north. What was before us I could not have imagined. It was a wondrous forest full of ancient trees - some wider than a house at their base - and mysterious stone or crystal formations gently glowing purple at their tips. I wonder what stone exactly they are, they seem like they could be very valuable. Not that any decent being would have the heart to cut out these stones, they are truly magnificent.
The forest was not only home to magnificent natural phenomena, but strong monsters. Coming into the forest from Meriphataud it did not seem too bad, but upon encountering a peculiar species of blue leech and a being that I later identified as a golem, we made the decision to turn back and head to Jeuno to find more information, both about cockatrices and about this mysterious forest we ended up in. I think this was a wise decision. Looking through maps upon our return I discovered that the area we ended up in is called the Sanctuary of Zi'Tah, and it is relatively famous among scholars for housing incredibly ancient constructs and dangerous monsters the like of which cannot be found elsewhere on Mindartia. In this light, turning back was a wise decision indeed.

Having returned from our unplanned trip to Zi'Tah, we encountered a most curious hume who pushed upon us a task of advertising for his company from Aht Urhgan, the Salaheem's Sentinels. Why all this talk about Aht Urhgan recently?
He did not really give us a chance to refuse his request, so somehow we ended up walking all over Jeuno, advertising this company we knew nothing about. For our troubles, we only both obtained reference cards to the company headquarters in the - or rather, a - capital of Aht Urhgan. I suppose I should be thankful he was willing to reward us even with such an apparently useless thing.
 
 
I think I have verified my suspicions. The place, that familiar yet unknown world that the maws take us to..that is the world of more than 20 years past, during the time of the Great War when the Allied Forces fought against the Shadow Lord's hordes of beastmen. I do not know how it is possible, but there is no other explanation.

Kii Kalira was initially most sternly against trying to return to a maw to see if it would let us through again. However, it turns out her sudden enthusiasm for dancing was to my advantage. By her insistence we went to see miss Laila of Troupe Brilioth the following day from our return to Jeuno. Much to my shame she had indeed heard of our failure upon the stage, and was willing to set for us a next task, upon completion of which she promised to teach us the basics of dancing. I am still not very convinced this is a good idea, but if it makes Kii Kalira agree to trying a maw again... well. The task she set for us was to bring to her a stone of some fame, called stardust pebble. Stones of that kind are practically impossible to find in the present, but that were plentiful enough in Lake Mechieume even as much as twenty years ago.
With some hesitating on Kii Kalira's part, we set out to the only maw we know the location of - the Rolanberry one. It was somewhat nerve-wrecking, but the maw did swallow us again, spitting us out in the Rolanberry of the past. From there we carefully made our way to Jugner Forest where Mechieume lies. On the way we saw many differences. The stone arches standing between the areas of Rolanberry and Batallia were intact. Many strange beasts wandered about the areas - upon reaching Jugner, we even saw a few of the fabled pixies! That was the last proof I needed to confirm my theory. I do not know how or why, but these maws do indeed transport you to the past.
On the shroes of Lake Mechieume we met a little girl who turned out to be miss Laila of the past. If I needed one more proof, that would have been it. I think it to be somewhat sad that such a sweet little girl could turn out to be that strict and unfriendly leader of Troupe Brilioth, although it is easy to see that her hard work on working on her dancing has paid off, her troupe being one of the most famed dancing troupes of current times. We did in fact find some stardust pebbles in the lake, and were able to complete miss current-day Laila's somewhat unreasonable request.

..what followed, I like not to think of. At least it can be said that if I was requested to do that dancing on stage now, I might not embarrass myself so thoroughly. Although I do wonder about the applications of this dance in battle. It sounds like this dancing, the Kriegstanz, has a long history. I find myself yearning to research it some more.
 
 
I will never wonder about the mysteries of the world again. That is my most prominent feeling right at the moment. I have experienced something so wondrous, so out of the realm of normal possibilities, that my mind can barely comprehend it.
As we left San d'Oria after Kii Kalira's birthday, intent on embarrassing ourselves in front of the Troupe Brilioth leader, we took an alternate route that took us through less-trodden parts of Rolanberry Fields. With nary a malm left of the journey to Jeuno ahead of us, we came upon a monstrous apparition, jutting out of the ground like it had always been there. It almost appears to be some kind of a living being with a gaping jaw, if it would not be for the fact that it was covered in plants growing around it, and obviously did not move. I do not recall ever seeing or hearing about the like of it before, but on our eventual reaching of Jeuno I asked around and discovered that many people seem to have heard of them lately. It is strange though, none of the people I've talked to can recall when exactly they appeared, some going so far as to claim that they have always existed, while some would swear upon their lives that they are a recent phenomenon.
But I get ahead of myself. On finding such a strange apparition we were naturally curious and approached it. Imagine our surprise when this maw - as they widely call it - shook, and its gaping mouth shone ominously. It ended up drawing us in by some mysterious power.

I still cannot describe the experience well. What follows is quite possibly the strangest part of this. We ended up in this most unimaginable place with red and purple skies, with something resembling the shining maw - only infinitely bigger - pulsating in the sky. But hardly had we managed to realize where we were, there was a flash of light that ended up pushing us over the edge of the floating island.
Next thing I knew, we were back in Rolanberry. But this was not the same Rolanberry we left from. There were knights on chocobo-back, talking about 'the war', armies, and of Jeuno having restricted access only. They left soon, leaving us to wonder where this place so resembling our familiar Rolanberry was. It did not take us long to notice both of us had a mysteriously glowing feather with us. I think this last bit might have been too much for Kii Kalira. I could tell she was scared, and I have to admit I wasn't feeling too calm myself. A sudden change of scenery like that, talk of a war, a familiar yet strange Rolanberry...
When we turned our attention hesitantly back to the maw behind us, the feathers we carried reacted to it. We ended up being sucked in again, and this time when we came to, what faced us was the Rolanberry we know. The maw was still and lifeless like it had been before this ordeal. Thoroughly shaken, we headed back to Jeuno, where we are currently.
I...I must think of this. The war they referred to, the style of the armor they wore, the base of the Windurstian army they referred to, restricted access to Jeuno...could it have been..? We still have the feathers. I really must think further on this.
 
 
This Vana'diel holds wondrous places and stories in it indeed. After leaving Windurst the last time, I and Kii Kalira headed to Buburimu Peninsula in search of these mysterious song runes carved in stone. It was no quick process, but eventually we ended up at a beach only accessible by from the sea, descending steep cliffs to it, or taking this hidden tunnel to it. There, we found a slab of stone carved with the words of this song, and met a wandering minstrel who told us he visits this beach often. The song and the view from the beach are both indeed worth coming.

While there, the thought of the broken-hearted bard in Jeuno came to my thoughts, and we decided to write down the words on the stone and show them to him, thinking it would ease his broken heart to sing this song full of love and longing. It appears this song might not be able to mend broken hearts after all. We did find the bard again, but he wasn't too pleased at being shown such an old song, thinking it would resonate with him. I have to admit, I am somewhat disappointed. Although something may come from this yet. From the same person who mentioned the song runes originally, we heard that there is another set of runes in Valkurm dunes. I am determined to see these runes for myself now.

Walking around upper Jeuno today we came across a troupe of dancers, the Troupe Brilioth, who put up a show in the streets. Kii Kalira was most excited over this. Before I could stop her, she had started talking to the leader of the troupe, almost begging for her to be taught to dance like the people of the troupe. I do not think that miss Laila, the leader of the troupe, was very polite. I do understand that she was working, but in a performace profession like hers it would be natural to be talked with every now and then.
Although I have to admit, even despite her attitude she did give Kii Kalira some hope. She told us to get some fame as dancers before she could possibly teach us anything. I do not know how it happened, but apparently I am to be included in this. Kii Kalira is as excited as she was to see this troupe, but I am somewhat hesitant. She will not make me try to dance, will she?
 
 
I have been honored with a proper audience with the Chieftainness of the mithra in Windurst, Perih Vashai. Kii Kalira, after hearing tales of her accomplishments in the Great War from the mithra in Kazham, became excited and wanted to visit Windurst. Upon our arrival she wasted no time to lead us to the Chieftainness, very excited about Perih Vashai's mastery of the bow. I did not know she was interested in archery. She has always been more of a healer type in my mind. Maybe this is a recent thing. She sure has changed a lot. Not that I would mind, it merely strikes me as a quick change.
Where was I. Ah, yes, the Chieftainness. When Kii Kalira insisted on talking to her that day she listened patiently and then sent us on a strange quest. It involved tracking down what I think was a kind of a sabertooth tiger graveyard in Meriphataud Mountains. I still do not quite understand her insistence on us seeing this, but we concealed ourselves and waited patiently, and in the end witnessed the last moments of an old sabertooth tiger.
Upon our return to Windurst the Chieftainness listened to our reactions to this event and taught us about the mithra way of living off nature while respecting it. It was a true eye-opener, and I think it affected Kii Kalira even more than she cares to admit. She signed up with the mithran rangers afterwards.
 
Something else happened too, on our journey to find this dying place of sabertooth tigers. Witnessing that event left us both thoughtful, and since night had not yet fallen we made our way to Jeuno, to spend the night much more comfortably before heading back to Windurst to report to the Chieftainness. As we had time left over before night fell even after arriving to Jeuno, we went to spend a pleasant evening in the Merry Minstrel in lower Jeuno. The evening turned out not so pleasant, as the bard was more interested in his own sorrow than entertaining the customers. As Kii Kalira remarked on it the mithra behind the counter told us about some old song that supposedly mends broken hearts. It was most curious. It only struck me afterwards, but that bard seemed very broken-hearted. If it could be healed with a simple song, would that not be nice? I think we should head to Buburimu Peninsula and try to find this song, apparently it is carved to some stone there.
 
 
Goblins are a surprisingly crafty lot. At the moment I cannot remember if I mentioned this before, but Jeuno has many of them. They are treated with some suspicion, but mostly as regular merchants. When I first arrived in Jeuno it worried me more than it does these days. I had heard of this behavior, but I could not quite grasp it. Now, I think it may be a good thing, that some people live in such close proximity with these peculiar beastmen. It gives the opportunity to learn much from each other, if we are only open-minded enough to put aside our differences for a moment.

There is a certain establishment in Lower Jeuno called Muckvix's Junkshop, that sports a small goblin eatery in the back. It was almost by accident that I and Kii Kalira entered the place, but there we encountered this goblin called Guttrix who started talking to us. She is apparently a tailor out to practice her skills on making garments in other than goblin sizes. I was dubious as to this endeavor at first but we decided to give it a try. After all, she only required some magical patterns that for some reason were hidden away inside the Maze of Shakhrami. Since we were familiar with the place and knew going in would net us some more gil if we sold the spoils of battle we obtained in there, it made the decision to go on a wild-goose chase after these purported magical patterns that much easier. Gil is never easy to come by, and one must eat too.

It took some time to find the goblin coffers in that place, let alone obtain keys to open said coffers as the both of us quite spectacularly fail in any lock-picking of any kind. We were just about ready to give up when - surprise of all surprises, we actually managed to find one, and not too long after another one. Armed with our strange finds we made our way back to Jeuno and handed them over to Guttrix. When we returned athe the specified time for our finished garments she held up to her word and gave them to us. I can honestly say I have never been quite so surprised in my life. Not only did this goblin offer to do something for us without being asked to, she actually held up to her word. I may have to revise my opinions on the goblin-kind.

The clothes we received are surprisingly durable and enhanced with quite potent magics. I do not think we could have afforded anything even approaching this quality by ourselves. We truly are in her debt.

Although I must say, Kii Kalira in these new clothes of hers is... well, they are red mithra tribal-type clothes. That shall be enough mention of that.
 
 

Recent happenings have made me wonder about the properties of blood after being digested by a leech. Maybe I'm letting my imagination run wild though, but it might be worth looking into later? After all, that is what this journal is for. To chronicle my experiences and to provide points of interest that may be followed on later. Although I suppose this particular point of interest would make no sense by itself, so let me start from the beginning.

We came across an old acquaintance recently. A hume called Dietmund, who had left a less than savory impression after mistreating his chocobo around the turn of the year. Nevertheless, his son was not at fault for his behavior, and it was his son that needed help. Specifically, a specific flower to cure his sickness, only found on the crescent-shaped Qufim Island. Having agreed to help this wayward chocobo handler, we set off to Qufim, and soon came upon a pack of leeches intent on our blood. We disposed of the pack with some difficulty, and found this particularly vibrant ruby in the remains of one of them. Which brings me to my original point. How would a ruby end up in the stomach of a leech, if not by a curious process of turning blood into precious stone? Kii Kalira has the stone in her procession. Hopefully she will let me check it thoroughly one day. As endearing as her fascination with anything shiny is...

Our quest to find the Night Flower almost ended up in catastrophic failure. We managed to find the flower, and with the help of Dietmund who had decided he couldn't wait around for us to come back - admirable decision, all in all - even managed to dig up as much as was needed, but no sooner was that done than we were accosted by a sea monster of some kind, and barely escaped with our lives. Even this much was only possible using our newly forged energy bonds with one of the Home Crystals in Jeuno. It does not bear thinking what would have happened without it, as that sea monster was incredibly strong compared to us.

We came across some kind of a special promotion for adventurers while admiring the port area of Jeuno recently. This promotion promises to endow a free airship pass for the Jeuno-Kazham route to any adventurer who brings them beastmen chest keys from the three well-known strongholds, Fort Ghelsba, Giddeus and Palborough Mines. I have my suspicions about the authenticity of this request - a free airship pass in exchange for some keys, even if it's just for one specific route? - but Kii Kalira appears excited about this possibility. We will likely search for the required keys soon. And I admit, the possibility to visit Kazham does intrigue me somewhat.

 
 

It seems that the more time I spend adventuring, the more there is to do. I once thought it would the the other way around, but back then I wasn't aware just how many new and different things the world contains. It seems that I am forever doomed to find out three new things for having experienced something new, having seen a new place, or merely helping out someone. The world is a vast place, and the amount of knowledge contained in it sometimes leaves me speechless.
After the last time I wrote in this journal, we headed to Jeuno again. It is truly a treasure trove of information yet unknown to me. This time, I and Kii Kalira came across a tidbit that might one day save our lives. The Home Crystals. They are a system accessible only to people of at least some name, and having taken down the dragon in Palborough in January, we now seem to qualify. Not that we were offered the knowledge freely, we simply stumbled across it. Such a vast place, this world.

The Home Crystals are truly a sight to behold. They are crystals the size of a man, and while their color is the light blue of an afternoon sky, you can see through one and the glow it emits. It is possible to bind one's life force to one of these Crystals. It is a simple enough matter, requiring merely some concentration and advance thought. This simple act enables you to return to the Crystal you are bound to when in peril. Aligning your energies with one also enables casting Warp to bring you to your Crystal.
I cannot help but wonder why it isn't available to everyone. Such a thing could save so many lives. Mayhaps it has something to do with availability of energy in the Crystals, and overloading them results in shattering? This is mere speculation however, as none saw fit to explain the truth of the matter. It is somewhat disappointing.

While binding our energies to a Crystal in Jeuno, Kii Kalira decided to get creative. I wonder if she understood what she was doing. The motion to help concentration, used to bind oneself to the crystal and activate the energy bond to return to the Crystal, is supposed to be repeatable. She claims she knew this, although I have my doubts. I should keep an eye on her, you never know what she gets up to next.

 
 

We have now reached Jeuno. After Starlight, I thought we needed a change of scenery. Since we for some incomprehensible reason had not visited the wondrous Jeuno with its sky-gardens yet, this was the obvious choice.
I am glad we came here. The city is big and clean and new, full of merchants of every flavor, and its sky-gardens truly breath-taking. Looking down from the gardens, it is simply incomprehensible that something so high is really a construct, not a natural monument. And to think that the city is inside this construct...! It makes your mind spin with its magnificence. Kii Kalira is enjoying it too. She seems to be over whatever was in her mind during the Starlight Celebration, thank Altana. If this hadn't worked I would have had no idea what else to do to help her.

It looks like travel is about to become easier for us, since we managed to obtain chocobo licenses by helping Brutus, the stablemaster of Jeuno chocobo stables. Chocobo renters seem to be everywhere these days, but for now it has been impossible for us to rent any as they require a license. It is exciting, thinking about all the places obtaining our licenses has opened for us!

 
 

The 22nd year of my life has started. I took out Kii Kalira to dinner on the day of my birth. It is the strangest thing, but she did not appear to realize why. Perhaps she forgot..? She also recently spent some time with a tarutaru friend of hers - I have met her before, but it appears I did not remember to mention it in my journal - and acquired the final item for the task Isacio gave us. She has grown much stronger. I am happy for her success, although I have a feeling I will be reprimanded for being late now.

There was a little misunderstanding on the day after my birthday. A concerned citizen thought the water in the sluice gates had been poisoned, and asked for my help. Having just recently met Novalmauge in Bostaunieux, he immediately came to mind as someone who could know a way to prevent this disaster from happening. I asked him and he acquiesced to make a poison neutralizer. But upon delivering it to the person, it had already been discovered that the scare was merely that - a scare.

My mind yearns for new adventure again. The areas we have frequented recently are always the same. I think we will leave for Jeuno soon. In the meantime, we took a look around Carpenter's Landing. Despite being so close to home, I had never been there before. The area is not the most pleasant of places, it suffers from nearly constant mist or rain. One must be careful about where to step in that place.