I've been trying to complete as many Bastok quests as possible. I just acquired the Dangruf stone fairly easily. And I got the painting of a windmill in Konschat for Roh Latteh. I tried to give some NPC in Bastok Markets cinnamon sticks, but he won't take em yet. I reached level 10 in fishing so I headed to Windurst the other day to take the test. While enroute to Muhuara I went fishing on the deck of the ferry, caught a few fish anda few monsters, but nothing I couldn't handle. I reach Muhuara and head out to the Buribura plains, I check a Bull Dhamel and to my surprise it registers as a decent challenge So I transform into white mage tank mode, cast bind on the giraff-like beast then cast Bio, Slow, Diaga, Water, and Wind....oh and I cast Blaze Spikes on myself so everytime it hits me physically FLAME ON baby!
It was surprisingly easy to defeat. So now I'm 3/4's of the way across the plains and I decide to collect a couple Bull Dhamel skulls , same game plan but this time a couple pesky Goblins decide to jump in the fight......not good /em finds death. So now I'm back in Selbina, I should've just logged off at this point but noooo I had to redeem my pride by killing stuff in front of lowbies outside the Selbina gate, I kill a few sheep and a few Damselfly's, next thing I know I find my self double teamed by Damselfly's with my MP running low. But I refuse to turn tail and run, I notice I've been poisoned but the second fly is close to death so I hang in there, the Damselfly dies and I run to the gates of Selbina watching my 12 HP slowly dwindle, I reach the zone and collapse from the poison /em finds death again. I didn't have enough MP to cure myself. So I'm currently hanging out in Selbina, waiting for a sand storm so I can get some Valkrum sun sand and then I'll run back to Bastok and complete one more quest.Then I will set out for Windurst once again, this time I will avoid the temptation to kill and get to where I'm going.
Once again I contacted Krogenar the Beastmaster and asked if he would like to go to some dark, dangerous place called 'Drachenfall' - it's a waterfall that we can only get to by running a gauntlet through the Dangruf Wadi, it's a labyrinth with thick mist and hot geysers. The whole place is infested with goblins and lizards. After a few wrong turns we find the hidden entrance that leads back into Gustaberg, as we re-enter Gustaberg we find ourselves at the bottom of a narrow ravine, high above is the bridge I have crossed many times on the way to the Konschat Highlands. The waterfall reforms into a river with a path on each side, two bridges cross over it. Patrolling each side are Pugils' and Goblins. We make our way fowards, Krog uses his BST abilities and charms the Pugils and sets them against the Goblins blocking our path. Meanwhile, I rested up my MP so I could keep Krog's HP from "going red". It was slow going but the strategy worked, we get to the base of the famed waterfall. We fill our canteens with the water, and head back to Bastok. Another quest under our belts.
Since last we saw our fearless elvaan mage Tryptifaeris has spent a good 5-10 real life hours just fishing, starting off I broke many many willow rods and have lost countless amounts of bait but slowly I gained experience .01 points at a time. After reaching level 10 fishing skill I traveled from Bastok back to Windurst where the fishing guild is located and accepted my first "test", I needed to catch a specific fresh water fish, a moat carp, and bring it to the guildmaster in Port Windurst. I am now a new recruit fisherman ^^.
Once I reached level 20 Krogenar volunteered to help me reach Jeuno, as a WHM I would most like fail miserably going solo. Once there I made my way to Upper Jeuno and met Brutus who was less than pleasant to me or his chocobo's.
Along with fishing and acquiring my chocobo license I have sucessfully acquired the 3 items necessary to complete the sub-job quest (Crab Apron, Danselfly Worm, and Magic Skull). With my White Mage at level 21, I traded the 3 items to the NPC in Selbina, and headed back to Bastok to set my white mage as my sub-job and black mage as my main job. It was like I was starting new.....I went from riding Chocobo's and fighting in parties on the Valkurm Dunes where most creatures were incredibly tough, back to battling worms and bees right outside the walls of Bastok.
It was around this time that Square Enix updated all the servers for Summer fest, at night all the cities of Vana Diel celebrated with fireworks throughout the night, and the moogles came to towns to offer adventurers special quests to aquire rare items. 
Meanwhile I was running around outside Bastok blowing up bees, worms, and unsuspecting goblins. As I began leveling up my black mage my white mage spells started to become available to me again, at level 4 black mage I reaquired my level 2 white mage spells, at level 8 black mage I regained my level 4 white mage spells. After a few days of intense XPing I reached level 16 black mage/level 8 white mage and am partying in the dunes once again trying to reach level 17, once I reach level 17 I will be able to purchase the coveted black mage spell Warp, which will allow me to.....warp from where ever I may be to my home point. So that's what Tryptifaeris has been up to these last few weeks, I'll check back in once I reach level 30 with my white mage! That's when things are gonna get really interesting Until then Kweeeeeeh!
Vana Diel is changed, I feel it in the water crystals, I feel it in the earth crystals, I smell it in the Bastok air, It's a dangerous business... going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.As Tryptifaeris woke the morning light illuminated his lonely mog house, he got up and streched, his body aching from the cold hard floor. He threw on his robes and stumbled out into Bastok markets, after shivering for a few minutes in front of firewater circle his pal Krogenar met up with him and the two set out for Windurst.As we traveled thru the Konschat Highlands a giant Mist Lizard snuck up behind us Oo.We crossed the white sand beaches of the Valkurm Dunes and reached the Port town of Selbina, I paid the 100 gil for a ferry ticket and waited for the ferry to M'huara.
During our voyage I asked the captain if I could steer the ship, and was quickly escorted to the brig.
Later during our trip I tried to organize a shuffle board competition on deck, it went well until pirates came and ruined it....they're no fun!
When we arrived in M'huara Krog told me to stay close and keep my eyes peeled for mobs while we crossed Buburimu Peninsula. I didn't have the slightest idea where I was going since I didn't have the maps for this region. We crossed Tahrongi Canyon to East Sarutabaruta, the terrain was quite different from both Gustaberg and Ronafaure, windy, dry, and the land was flat and streched out as far as my elvaan eyes could see. 
When we entered Windurst I thanked Krog for being my guild to this strange land, and went off to familiarize myself with the locals, here I am visiting the Windurst petting zoo...serious! The citizens are a unique mix of races, taru taru and Mithra. 
Here we see how Windurst harnesses the power of nature compared to Bastok's total disregard for it's natural resources. I'm gonna give President Karst a piece of my mind when I get back!
Windurst is teeming with life! This lily pad sheds light upon a small pond during the night, frogs sing and crickets chirp melodies as Tryptifaeris slips in a peaceful dream of the blond girl from Al Bhed...
The next morning Tryptifaeris heads to port Windurst and visits the fishing guild, then pulls out his rod and shows it to this Mithra, my cheek is still red Oo
After spending a few days in Windurst, I got homesick for Bastok so I packed up my stuff and headed home. Once I was back I checked my Auction House sales and went to my mog house.
May 22nd 2004; a day the citizens of Bastok will always remember (well the members of Kontract anyway). Kopernikuz the thief left Vana Diel, sadly the members of Kontract were slowly fading away also, some left for other Linkshells others, like Kopernikuz left Vana Diel never to return.Meanwhile Tryptifaeris has taken a break from the chaos that is the Valkurm Dunes and returned to Bastok to begin a career in fishing. After weighing all my choices I decided on fishing because it seems the least expensive to begin. I've also bought 4 brass flowerpots and been planting the seeds I get from my strolling sapling victims.Ever since I visited San d'Oria I've been itching to visit Windurst, hopefully I'll have a report on my travels to the continent of Mindartia soon.
After spending some time in the Kingdom of San d'Oria I headed back to the Valkurm Dunes, as a WHM I never seem to wait very long for an <>. My experience thus far with parties is, some folks just don't know their roll! For a WHM like myself it's relatively easy, cast Protectra and Shellra and watch the party members HP's, and cast a cure spell now and then. As a WHM I don't concern myself with the intricacies of weapon skills (although I can learn them), the art of voking and pulling, not needed. At my level soloing as a WHM is not an option any longer, the experiences I've had so far is I'm either in a party that knows what they're doing and the members know their roll ie tank=hate monger, puller= has a ranged weapon or knows how to use ability of provoke, DDers= better have that weapon skill capped and up to level armor and mages: black=understand how to use nuke and not get hate and magic burst, red=refresh <>, white= buffs & curing.It may sound complicated but it really isn't. Unfortunately there have been a number of times where the puller doesn't know about linking mobs or how they detect, or the DD's armor is 10 levels below their current level, or the DD's don't "voke" the mob off the other members. But thankfully that hasn't been the norm, I chalk it up to all us PS2 n00bs learning the ropes.So my adventures in the Valkurm dunes continue as I battle Clippers, Damselfly's and Pugils and try and collect the 3 rare/ex items for my sub job. I forsee Trytifaeris delving into the the dark arts of the Black Mage once I unlock the ability to have a sub job.
Great events took place on April 29th 2004 in the world of Vana Diel, the Kontract Killers linkshell had one of it's most excellent adventures! I'll get back to that in a moment, the evening began as I headed back to the Konschat Highlands again do do a little XPing.So now I'm soloing in the Highlands and Kope starts asking about the sirens tear, next thing I know Kope's streaking thru N. Gustaberg . Then Outlaw meets me at Konschat on his well groomed yellow Chocobo and we begin to duo!
Soon Krogenar and Swizz log on we make plans to meet in the Konschat Highlands, Krog offers to escort Kope from Bastok and Swizz tells us he'll be coming from San d' Oria. Things were looking good soon we'd form an unstoppable desctructive force the likes that Vana Diel has never seen....but fate frowned upon Kope this day, Krog was unable to protect Kope from a Mist Lizard and soon Outlaw and I were headed to the crime scene.
On the way we meet up with Reigen and we all sat around Kope's mostly dead corpse, but thru the gloom, a ray of hope shone bright as a Bastok morning, Stealthwarrior said he could raise Kope from the mostly dead! Well time was ticking and Kope didn't have much time left....Gaia was calling! We tried to recesitate him, I poked him and Law sat on his face but things were looking grim. We killed all sorts of beasties around Kope to keep him focused and not slip into the abyss.....We became desperate and began yelling for help, but the nearest white mage took a wrong turn and alas mighty Kopernikus decomposed before our eyes We all morned Kope's passing, then headed out to the Crag of Dem...After a few minutes Krog, Reigen, Swizz, Law and myself formed a party and headed off to the Valkrum Dunes. Along the way we slaughtered some sheep and some of the tougher Gobs. I would "pull" them by casting Dia which lowers their defense and deals slight elemental damage, the creature then runs to us and Law, Krog, and Swizz attack it while Reigen and I heal the party from a safe distance. We were mowing thru the creatures on our way to Valkrum and I felt comfortable enough to begin pulling creatures without having to announce it each time. Off in the distance I spotted another mad sheep so I cast Dia and the small lump of fluffy wool came charging at us, but it was no sheep! Suddenly this monsterously HUGE Tremor Ram came thundering over a hil! The first thing I saw after it's first attack was everyone's HP go orange (not good) and after the second attack Law was down and the rest of the party was in dire straights, it looked like we were doomed, Reigen and I were healing as fast as we could, then the tide of the battle began to turn in our favor. Krog unleashed his hundred fists weapon skill, Law had the foresight to use his reraise scroll earlier so he came back from the mostly dead, and Reigen and I were keeping Swizz and the gang at healthy HP levels. The battle ended and after the dust settled Kontract stood victorious! Battered and bruised we rested awhile then headed off to the Valkrum Dunes, upon arriving at the dunes we reorganized and nominated Krog as the "puller" and law and swizz would wait with me and Reigen as healers in the back....Krog did a fabulous job of communicating and brought us not one but two sand lizards! We handled it fairly well and decided to move further into the dunes under Laws lead. OutLaw lead us across the white sand beaches of the goblin infested oasis, law spotted a lone goblin and announced to us he'd pull the gob, but this wasn't your average goblin! It must of spotted Law and cast bind on him, so now we are forced to protect Law as this Goblin advances on him. I stayed back and watched as Swizz, Krog, and Reigen had their rears handed to them! This Goblin must have been on crack cause he wasn't taking much damage from all 3 of them combined! So Law yelled RUN! and that's what we all did.....but in 5 different directions . I wound up on some beach infested with gobs and dragon flies with no one from the party to be seen. After running around like a chicken without it's head with angry gobs in hot pursuit I managed to find the rest of the party at the Valkurm Dunes outpost. Law suggested we travel back to San d' Oria with him, Reigen and Swizz, so Krogenar and I followed them through Lathiene Plataeu and Ronafaure to San Doria. Once there we disbanded, I decided to explore this new city, I found the Chocobo Stables and got a rent-a-mog house and fell sound asleep.
After running around Bastok completing quests like finding stamps for some brats, modeling some subligar for another NPC, Tryptifaeris heads to Konschat Highlands, by foot it's a bit of a trek, at this point I'm getting tired of having to hike all over I can not wait till I reach level 20 so I can get my chocobo license. When I entered the Konschat Highlands I noticed the terrain took a dramatic change from Gustaberg's barren wasteland. The ground is covered with grass and there is plantlife that resembles asparagas, I have been cautious traveling into the northern parts of this area, there are Goblin Butchers and Ambushers that roam around, Mad Sheep and wasps. As I explored assisted some Big Galka warrior getting his arse handed to him by a goblin butcher I had to use cure II a few times on this guy and he still couldn't beat it, fortunately another white mage came along because I ran out of MP healing this guy! Well after many healings this big Galka finally won. The Konschat Highlands, were eerily quiet all I could hear was the creaking windmills masked by the fog and mist, down in the valley I spotted a campfire but I didn't risk wandering out in the open, visiblity is very poor...and I don't want to run into any goblin butchers or ambushers or worse.
I killed a few of goblin weavers and thugs, to build up my TP meter, then I tackled a mad sheep, those suckers are tough! I defeated one, rested up, then attacked a second one grazing nearby, this battle didn't go as well It hit me hard and fast before I realized I couldn't see it! Well it was a struggle to keep my HP up during the barrage of attacks, then, to my dismay I spotted a goblin ambusher come up over the nearest hill and run right towards me ....I was doomed, shortly afterwards I was dead and back in Bastok. But there was a silver lining to my death, Krog mailed me a much needed bone chip that I traded with some old guy in town for a map of the Dangruf Wadi swaplands.
After 1 month in Vana Diel Tryptifaeris had reached level 12 as a white mage and had ventured as far north as Konschat, Krogenar the galka monk was a level or two ahead of me and Kopernikuz the hume theif at level 7. Our friends from the north were progressing much faster, and were able to navigate from San d' Oria, across Ronafaure, La Thiene Plataeu, Valkurm Dunes, Konschat Highlands to North Gustaberg where we met them at the Drachenfall bridge. We finally got our Linkshell pearls from Outlaw and now we could communicate with the rest of the Kontract LS.
While the new adventures were out exploring, questing, and PTing outside, within Bastok the Vana Diel Spring Doll Festival is going on. Moogles are giving lettered eggs to adventurers and they in turn are trading them, trying to collect certain letters to spell things, such as their name or a combination of letters. Also the moogles were giving out special ricecakes that if eaten had a rather odd effect... 
Last night I found our buddy Kopernikuz sitting under a tree near Firewater circle, in the center of Bastok Markets. Neither of us had any plans so we headed out to North Gustaberg, I let him go off and kill stuff while I watched in case he needed to be healed. Kope whooped a few worms and hammered some hornets so I figured I give him crabs . He got rid of those crabs pretty quickly.....it started getting dark out so we headed over to a campfire and waited for some Quadavs (think gamera w/ a sword) well Kope was a bit unsure if he could do it, but in the end he conquered his fears and attacked the Quadav and with a little healing on my part was triumphant! Afterwards we sat around the fire and bs'd for awhile.....and here's what is so kewl about this game....some guy walks by and says hello and asks if he can join us. So now the three of us just sat around the fire and talked while the occasional Quadav spawned right next us. One time Kope and I were just not paying attention and one was spawned right over kope and I was like "OMG! KOPE LOOK OUT!!!" I sprung to my feet while he pondered if "Mel Brooks lived in Vana Diel" and I decimated it in like 2 hits. Then some female hume or Mithra, Quinchesta joined our campfire. At around 3am Vana Diel time Krog comes online and meets us at the campfire we pack up our stuff say goodbye to our friends, and head to Zegham Hill to help Kope reach level 5.....After a couple more worms and hornets I felt it was time for Kope to get his hands dirty and tackle an ornery sheep so Kope attacks, things don't go well and Kope disengages and Krog finishes it off. Well after that chaos Kope kills something else and reaches level 5!! "YAY" exclaims the mighty Kopernikuz, with a bright new outlook on life Kope attacks another ornery sheep and this sheep was pissed! Kope was losing health faster than I could heal him! Next thing I know Kope is running for the hills and the blasted beast is hitting him from a distance! I watch horrified as Kope runs frantically around trying to escape from this pissed off sheep but alas Kope falls and drops down to level 4 again. Krog and I go to our fallen comrades corpse and kneel respectably, then I get the brilliant idea to take a pic of us standing over Kope's body but just as I'm about to snap the pic his body fades away into thin air...."Oh dang! His body just decomposed!" I exclaim. Well after paying our last respects Krog and I headed back into Bastok to shop!
Stay tuned for our next exciting episode....
I've been trying to complete as many Bastok quests as possible. I just acquired the Dangruf stone fairly easily. And I got the painting of a windmill in Konschat for Roh Latteh. I tried to give some NPC in Bastok Markets cinnamon sticks, but he won't take em yet. I reached level 10 in fishing so I headed to Windurst the other day to take the test. While enroute to Muhuara I went fishing on the deck of the ferry, caught a few fish anda few monsters, but nothing I couldn't handle. I reach Muhuara and head out to the Buribura plains, I check a Bull Dhamel and to my surprise it registers as a decent challenge So I transform into white mage tank mode, cast bind on the giraff-like beast then cast Bio, Slow, Diaga, Water, and Wind....oh and I cast Blaze Spikes on myself so everytime it hits me physically FLAME ON baby!
I killed a few of goblin weavers and thugs, to build up my TP meter, then I tackled a mad sheep, those suckers are tough! I defeated one, rested up, then attacked a second one grazing nearby, this battle didn't go as well It hit me hard and fast before I realized I couldn't see it! Well it was a struggle to keep my HP up during the barrage of attacks, then, to my dismay I spotted a goblin ambusher come up over the nearest hill and run right towards me ....I was doomed, shortly afterwards I was dead and back in Bastok. But there was a silver lining to my death, Krog mailed me a much needed bone chip that I traded with some old guy in town for a map of the Dangruf Wadi swaplands. 
