Thoughts from the Otherworld

 
 
I think all that researching and synthesis I did in Bastok left Kii Kalira slightly bored. Hardly had I finished my business as she insisted we go hunt for treasures. I did not know what exactly she had in mind, though, and I think I mgiht not have agreed to this had I known beforehands where we were heading to. She had heard somewhere that the tomb of King Ranperre had treasures for the taking to anyone who happened to wander by. I do admit that the tomb has a bit of a monster problem these days, but to go there in search of treasure! Unimaginable.

Nevertheless, I did not discover her intentions until we were already at the entrance of the tomb, and it was too late to protest her intentions at that point. At least we managed to exterminate quite a few monsters from the tomb. Previously I had only gone a little ways in, but this time we ventured much further. I did not know the situation had gotten quite so bad in there. Goblins, skeletons, even some ghosts, and this in addition to the expected bats and worms that are more every-place pests than anything.
We did not discover anything too valuable, thank Altana for that. Although while wondering around by herself, trying out her new dancing techniques on anything that came too close, she somehow managed to acquire a cloak with some relatively weak enchantment in it. It is slightly worrying, but I do not think the tomb would have originally included an item of that quality, and must deduce from this that it is a spoil of battle some monster had brought to its nest in the tomb. And I do have to admit, the loot we gathered from these monsters, while cheap by themselves, when sold in volume were very helpful in making a little gil to help fund traveling.

It has been a long time, but I visited the Cathedral with Kii Kalira today. One of the friars there had heard of our achievements - from where, I do not know - and had a request for us. We are to replace a seal of banishing deep in the Gusgen Mines. I remember the last time we went there, the place was full of undead of all kinds. They must have pushed off replacing it for some reason. We will head out towards Gusgen in the morrow.
 
 
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.
 
 

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.

 
 

It has been some time since I last wrote in this journal. Despite the clouding thoughts of the Shadow Lord's return, nothing out of the usual has happened as far as I know. It is unnerving, having to just wait. Altana give us strength in this ordeal.

It is now the morning after Valentione's Day. The day went well, all things considering, although I must once again wonder about Kii Kalira's recent small oddities. She has always given me my favorite dark chocolate before. This year, she gave me an assortment of store-bought chocolates. Perhaps she was too busy to make them herself? I certainly hope it is not an indication of anything else. Nevertheless, I am glad she remembered me on this day.

Quite as usual, the Mog House Management Union had come up with a plan to enliven the feast day, once again asking adventurers to help. We ended up matching and delivering chocolates all over San d'Oria. I suppose it was fun in its own way, although I very much doubt how useful such an exchange of chocolates is. Moogle magic is known to be somewhat quirky - and even if it wasn't, isn't it better to find a love without such tricks?

 
 

First day of the new year. May it be as event-filled as the last one.
Although I am not entirely certain I should be hoping for that. I...I am confused. While Kii Kalira did seem to be cheered up by our visit to Jeuno, I certainly did not expect her to kiss me. Ah, there you have it. I can barely write it down, my head becomes so filled with thoughts of her I simply cannot coordinate my hands enough. I'm afraid I'm taking it too far. While she is sweet, and Endahren especially has mistaken the situation - quite permanently it seems - in reality I cannot recall any instance where she would hint about something more. It was just a new year's kiss, that is all.

I must take my mind off this matter.

We will be going to Bastok soon again. With the festival season over, we must retain our duties. The both of us have been ordered to make a visit to the capital as a continuation to a display of mutual willingness to help other nations. It is quite convenient that we would both receive such orders at the same time, although I suppose convenience should have nothing to do with it. It is a matter of political importance to keep good relations with your neighbors, and our missions are just small examples of that.

 
 

The days just fly by. It is the eve of the Starlight Celebration, and I finally managed to acquire Kii Kalira's present. While thinking about what to get her I remembered her mentioning her favorite scent. I don't think she has been wearing it recently. Maybe she ran out and cannot? So I decided to get her a bottle of it. It proved to be surprisingly hard, but I did manage it in time, thank goodness.

The city has already been decorated for some time, and Smilebringers run the streets. It is indeed a magnificent time to be in San d'Oria. Maybe we'll visit the other cities too, see how the day is celebrated in different nations. But tomorrow, we will relax and have a good time. We have deserved it.

 
 

I and Kii Kalira have just visited the Passhow Marshlands, close by to Konschtat. San d'Oria controls the area this Conquest period, and I signed up to deliver supplies to the region. Choosing that particular area might have been a mistake, though. Kii Kalira most certainly appeared not to approve. I suppose I cannot fault her for that, the marshes were not the most pleasant place to be in, especially when wearing sandals.

Starlight Celebration is approaching fast. I have not yet decided what present to get Kii Kalira. I only have faint half-formed ideas, but nothing too concrete yet. Thankfully there is still time for that.
Since we were conveniently close to Bastok after getting ourselves away from the marshes, we entered the city for some rest. Might stay here for a while.

 
 

Not long ago, I was given one more mission by my country. I have not mentioned them for some time, I think. We had just finished a mission for Kii Kalira in Windurst and arrived to San d'Oria, but we took off again. This time the journey took us through Jugner Forest to Davoi. It used to be a monastery, but was taken over by orcs during the Great War. We could not enter the area too deeply, but it was a sad sight, especially considering how peaceful it must have been before. There were orcs everywhere, and we barely managed to retrieve the papers I was told to retrieve from the area.

Our journeys had taken us through Jugner before, so the area wasn't unfamiliar to us. The forest is home to a breed of rather strong and vicious tigers. I suppose everything is relative, though. When we first encountered them, they brought us considerable trouble. These days, not so much.
Our journey to Jeuno has gotten delayed, it seems. It is rather amazing how many new and exciting sights the world holds when you open your eyes to them. One thing is for certain - we will not run out of things to do.

 
 

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.

 
 

Kii Kalira has seemed restless recently. I think she has been caught up in the adventuring fever. It is admittedly slightly amusing, seeing her chatter on. And I do not mind, adventuring is what I left San d'Oria for, after all. And to be exact, that is our current location. It has only been a very short while since we left, and we aren't planning on staying for too long.

On the way from Windurst to San d'Oria, we stopped in Selbina for a little while. We came across this old man by the sea, Isacio by name. Somehow, we got to the subject of adventuring. He has agreed to teach us some of what he knows from his experience as a soldier before, if we can pass his tests. We are now working on completing the task he has set us. We will return to Valkurm Dunes once we have finished our business in San d'Oria.

It is the strangest thing. Before, walking around the Valkurm area was quite a trying situation for the nerves. But now, if I am with Kii Kalira, we do not need to worry ourselves needlessly, beyond some normal considerations for safety. It is a freeing experience. We must have gotten much stronger since we started. Leaving San d'Oria was truly the best decision I have ever made. Nothing much can be accomplished by cowering within its walls endlessly.