Thoughts from the Otherworld

 
 
Being able to attune your own energy to many different strong energy sources is a blessing of kinds. For this purpose, recently I and Kii Kalira have been practicing our skills in fighting differently from our usual ways. It started with Kii Kalira's fascination with the art of summoning finally overcoming her good sense after arriving in Windurst this time. I think I will be content in the knowledge it is possible for me to summon Carbuncle to aid me should I so wish, I have no intention of making use of such a skill. Indeed, I think I might rest easier knowing I had no such skill, for it is one forbidden long ago.
Yet I cannot judge her for being curious about it. I think she has a bond of kinds with Carbuncle that I do not have. I suppose that comes naturally with fighting with him by your side for longer periods of time.

While Kii Kalira was busy experimenting with the art of summoning, I took it upon myself to practice my physical fighting skills. I have known the very basics of hand to hand fighting for some time now, and since I now had the extra time on my hands I decided to try it out further. I think I've gained many skills in this relatively short time, and once Kii Kalira realized what I had been doing we ended up teaming up to see how the combination of a physical attacker would work with a mage aided by Carbuncle. It works surprisingly well, and we were able to take down opponents we could not have taken at this level of experience on our usual battle styles. I think our knowledge of battle and our adversaries made a difference in this, too.

I think we may be talked about in the Cathedral, and much more than I thought. After completing a task for friar Eperdur in Cathedral proper and arriving in Windurst, we heard word that a pilgrim friar had been asking if we had been in Windurst lately. Not wanting to keep a friar in waiting, we made haste to his reported location, and did indeed find him. He had a rather similar request for us, to place some spirit incense in a fire in Eldieme Necropolis.
We have never been to the Necropolis, and the stories I have heard of it are not too encouraging. Thankfully by his words we do not have to venture in too deep, so we agreed to burn this incense. It is for the purpose of calming the dead after all, and as such a good deed.
 
 
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 am afraid that I have made an absolute fool of myself this time. Kii Kalira's enthusiasm for dancing did not seem to abate, and once we had reached San d'Oria right in time for her 19th birthday, she somehow managed to convince the proprietor of Lion Spring Tavern to let us dance upon the stage there. Needless to say, I had no idea what I should have done, and wished to stay far away. If only it hadn't been her birthday, I might have been able to evade this request somehow...
I think I might not show my face in the establishment for a while. Our joke of a performance ended up in us being nearly thrown out, it was clear from the proprietor's words that he wishes to have nothing further to do with us. I suppose at least Kii Kalira is excited, she wants to head back to Jeuno now to see Troupe Brilioth's miss Laila again, now that we have fulfilled her criteria. I am not too certain if this is such a good idea, convincing someone like that with an incident such as this. I do hope she won't be too severely disappointed if miss Laila ends up refusing her still.

On the way to San d'Oria we stopped by Valkurm dunes in search of more song runes carved on stone. Having extensively scoured the beaches near Selbina before and reasonably certain such a stone could not be hiding near the town, we ended up walking in an entirely unfamiliar area of Valkurm. While the way we picked brought us further away from the shore at first, it soon doubled back through a small tunnel to an isolated beach where we did indeed find an almost exact duplicate of the stone in Buburimu peninsula. But it was not only the stone that greeted us. We found there not only Lewenhart, the bard we met in Buburimu and later in Jeuno again, but the heartbroken Jeunoan bard had also made his way there. What a coincidence for us all to reach the stone around the same time - although I do think Mr Lewenhart had been there a while before us. It turns out he is a bard of much fame, legendary among other bards. To have been able to meet such a person entirely by accident!
We talked for a while, and I think Kii Kalira was much enchanted by his words. She has been humming suspiciously often these few days since that meeting. Sometimes, I wonder how so much enthusiasm can be held in such a small body. At times, she seems she could burst with the sheer power of her energy and interest.
 
 
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.
 
 
It is good to spend some time in one's home nation every now and then. At least, this was the thought in the back of my head when I and Kii Kalira headed to San d'Oria after making our aqcuaintance with the goblin Guttrix. But as an adventurer of some name I suppose one should not expect too much time to rest. Hardly had we entered within the walls of the city that we came across Balasiel who had previously awared both of us with the rank of a San d'Orian squire. He had one more test for our skills it seems, for he read us a riddle from the Book of Tasks. While somewhat tired, I did not hesitate to start unraveling this riddle. The first part of it was much more easily solved than the second, but I must admit to being almost defeated by the next two riddles. As Kii Kalira claimed to not be interested in riddles it is entirely possible they would have remained unsolved but for a chance happening - an official mission from San d'Oria. And not just any mission, a mission that enabled me to meet Prince Trion! It was a great honor to meet His Highness once again. To have word of my accomplishments reach the ears of one of the princes, it is almost unimaginable.

Ah, yes, the riddles. As my mission orders I was instructed to head to Davoi to retreave a report on the moves of the orcs there. Upon researching my destination - mainly its map - I had the most enlightening idea. The clues, while for certain could point to just any place with a river, could very well coincide with the layout of Davoi as well. I wasted no time picking up Kii Kalira before we headed to Davoi. I have been there on a mission before as well, but that time did not require me to head as deep in as this time.

Once I had successfully retrieved the report from a knight on duty in the area, we started searching the area. While it might not have been too good to dally around like that while on an official mission, I justify this to myself as having been a ssemi-official mission from a high-ranking San d'Orian official.

...I cannot deny that it was somewhat difficult to sneak around Davoi. There were orcs everywhere, ones far more skilled than what we have previously encountered. But once again, our spells came to our aid, and we managed to retrieve a peculiarly disfigured sword from a disused well at the very edges of Davoi. Upon returning to San d'Oria, not was I only congratulated on the completion of my mission by Prince Trion himself, but by presenting the disfigured sword to Balasiel as proof of solving the riddles I and Kii Kalira were awarded the title of honorary San d'Orian knights. I cannot help but feel that my heart is about to burst with pride. I must attempt to bring myself to ground somehow soon, becoming proud over these recent events would not be a very good way to pay back all this honor I have been awarded as of late.

Maybe the way to achieve this lies with Kii Kalira. She does not seem too affected by becoming a knight, but instead grumbles about everything. I wonder what is wrong with her. Maybe she did not agree with coming to San d'Oria after all.

Somewhere along the way, a whole year has passed since I set out on my adventure. Certainly many things have happened, too many to conveniently downsize to a simple sentence. May the next year bring as much excitement, and avoid the sorrows and worries that plagued parts of the last.
 
 
This world holds many secrets indeed. Some of them are secrets that could not hurt anyone, while others are dangerous, and can bring harm to many people. I do believe we have come across one of the latter secrets, that of the art of summoning. To think I would one day be capable of casting that forbidden magic, it chills me just thinking about it.

I suppose one should not be so curious if one were to avoid finding out these secrets. What is done is done though.

The ruby I mentioned before was a peculiar one indeed. It did not take us long to figure out the meaning behind the mysterious words referring to the colors of the sky. Right as we left Windurst for the sunny region of Sarutabaruta and were pondering on the mystery of this ruby as we went it shone brightly, confirming one fo the colors. Final confirmation came soon in the form of a dust storm - these colors of the sky were indeed different kinds of weather. Nevertheless, gathering them was no easy matter. I am especially referring to the matter of snowing.

It is spring already in most areas of the world, so finding snow proved problematic indeed. It wasn't until we decided to make it all the way to the Beaucedine Glacier that we managed to gather this color that was indeed the last one. Indigo completed the colors of the rainbow within the ruby, and one of the avatars graced us with his presence, telling us to hurry to a certain place in La Theine Plateau. I recall passing this place before, idly wondering what its meaning was. Even now, I wonder..were those stones erected in that location simply for the purpose of communicating with avatars?

When we reached the circle of stones the ruby called forth Carbuncle before us once again. And thus we now hold the power to call forth avatars, should we first have made a pact with one.

Carbuncle's departure displayed for us a magnificent rainbow. I have never seen one quite like it. It lasted for so long I was starting to think it would not disappear at all.

It seems to me that Kii Kalira is not very used to colder climates. Not only did she not prepare for the cold weather even though we discussed thoroughly where we would be going, she...started clinging to me the moment it started getting a bit chilly. It was most confusing. Even that isn't enough however. Upon reaching Beaucedine she somehow decided to attempt climbing a snow drift, this much I gathered from her words. As was to be expected, the snow did not hold her weight and she ended up falling in head-first. It gave me quite a fright before I managed to get her on her feet again.

I think I must speak with her about survival in snowy areas before we next head out to one. Thank Altana we did not have to go further in, with her like that.
 
 
Not unexpectedly, major events seem to be happening in the world, bit by bit. Kii Kalira received an official mission not too long after my latest journal entry. It was the follow the minister of Orastery, Ajido-Marujido. Apparently, this high-ranking Windurstian has been acting strangely recently, Kii Kalira had witnessed this before these recent events herself. I am not too clear on the details, but we managed to track down the minister to Castle Oztroja, the yagudo castle in Meriphataud Mountains. It was a formidable place indeed. Barging in head first would surely have resulted in our deaths, so we found ourselves sneaking in aided by the power of our magic. Rarely has there been a time when I have been this thankful for our ability to conceal our presence from others.

We wandered about the castle for some time before finding the minister. He wasn't in too good shape but had somehow managed to meet the yagudo leader Tzee Xicu shortly before. My mind still refuses to quite accept that I have been that close to the leader of these beastmen. At the castle it did not quite reveal its full impact, but after I had time to think about it...it is a fearsome place indeed, Castle Oztroja.

After the minister had left us, telling us he would head to Windurst but to please conceal that fact from the other high-ranking Windurstians - he must have had his reasons, although I do believe Rii Kalira to be more privy to them - we discovered that he had left behind his ring. I am not certain if it was such a wise thing to do, but as the child Kohlo-Lakolo, the leader of the group calling themselves the Star Onion Brigade, had been wanting a minister's ring to see what was concealed within the sealed house of Karaha-Baruha, the hero of the Great War... we found ourselves lending the item to him, it concealing the power to unlock the seal of the house within it. While it might not be the most ethical thing to do to break into the house like that, I have to confess to feeling curious as to what it might be hiding.

...what awaited us was not something I would have guessed. There was a Cardian within the house, and the mana orb from before reacted with it, making it activate again. This Cardian was called Joker, which somewhat differs from the usual naming convention for these dolls. I have to wonder if there is any significance behind it, but I might have to be content with just wondering as the Cardian appears to have lost his memory.

Something else unexpected happened right when we were leaving. The children of the Brigade had just left with the Cardian as the ruby - the very same ruby we found in the stomach of a leech on Qufim Island not too long ago - started..speaking to us. Although I have to confess to now knowing why Kii Kalira had the ruby with her, as our approximity to the House of the Hero was likely the cause for the ruby to activate, I suppose we should be thankful for her. Apparently, this ruby is no ordinary ruby. On top of the voice advising us to gather the seven colors minister Ajido-Marujido appeared before us again. It seems he had taken refuge in the house, and was disturbed by our leading the Brigade in. I'm not certain how he felt about this. Nevertheless, he told us the voice was telling us to gather the colors of the sky. I have several theories, but I think writing about this will have to wait. We will be leaving Windurst in the morrow.
 
 

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 has been quite some time since the old man Balasiel gave me the task of retrieving stalactite dew from Ordelle. When Kii Kalira received the exact same request from him on the day before Valentione's, my interest was peaked. I had looked into the matter previously and discovered that there are several restrictions on obtaining the dew, but had not discovered how to in fact do so, the matter had slipped my mind. However, with additional incentive I now managed to track down a person who knew how to do this feat. Such a simple matter, yet confounding to one who does not know to do so.

Armed with this information, we headed out to La Theine Plateau, beneath which Ordelle's Caves lie. I have briefly visited the caves before, while participating in a San d'Orian rescue mission drill, although I do not think I wrote about it. I had more important matters to think about at the moment. Nevertheless, I did not venture too far in that time. Now our task brought us deep into the belly of the caves, and it was more beautiful than I ever imagined. The stone in the caves is light in color and smooth to touch, and the water is unexpectedly clear. Due to the many bats in the caves we had to keep casting Sneak and Invisible so as not to gain the attention of too many for us to handle. As such, the journey down was largely uneventful, and left us with plenty of time to admire the natural beauty of the place.
Having reached the particular cave we were aiming at, we were dazzled by the sight before us. The water in the cave, for some reason I could not fathom, sparkled with light. It also seemed to be the habitat of a kind of crab, although they left us alone on our task. And well so, for that was the place where stalactite dew could be gathered safely. We took some and headed back out. I hope we will return some time. It is truly a miracle to behold.

Upon our return to San d'Oria and Balasiel, I was surprised to be awarded the rank of a squire. Who knew this frail-looking old man was actually a high-ranking official in the San d'Orian army? I do not think Kii Kalira liked this surprise too much. She kept snapping at me the whole day. It was strangely endearing.