Pasifika the queen!

Queen of monkeys, that is. ^^;

Opo-opo's are kind of cute in their own way, though, and this crown is something Pasifika has craved ever since she first saw it. Somehow level 65 just seemed so far away at that time (at level 14 or something? o_o;), so Pasifika didn't get the quest started right there and then.

Pasifika did give most of her gil to that glib elvaan red mage in Kazham as soon as she had the chance, but at that time she didn't even know his fairy tales would lead her to the ultimate prize. :o He just looked like a nice guy... so polite.

Hunting down the items to bribe, erm, bring as gifts to the opo-opos was a difficult task. Breaking the durable Mithran rod took a long while (why would they want a broken one anyway?) and Pasifika had to destroy several cardians for a suitable card, but she got really lucky with the lucky egg - first crawler had one. Lina, Romi and Feliz all helped with the ancient salt, and it didnt take too long. Pasifika gathered the items one by one, until only one was missing...

After thorough preparations, Pasifika finally lead a strong party of friends to the fiery Ifrit's Cauldron to beat some Hurricane wyverns to get a wyvern skull. After an eventful trip to the wyvern's habitat, the party defeated one of the wyverns - and discovered that it had a skull. How nice! :D

Pasifika presented the bizarre and stomach-turning gifts to the recipients, and they promptly declared her their royal ruler. Long live Pasifika! :D

New strategy for Lamia No. 13 ? o_O

Quite unexpectedly, Pasifika discovered a new successful strategy for beating the assault mission lamia No. 13. :o
It bears some similarities to the debated 'logging out' strategy, but involves unexpected and involuntary disconnects at very unopportunate moments instead. >_>

It goes like this:

Take 3 good dispellers (one of them Lina) and a non-dispelling white mage (named Pasifika).
This has been done before, with varying results, including but not limited to one or more deaths, but this time it went a bit differently - and it worked. :O

After the dispellers work their magic (literally), dispelling in perfect unison for a while, one of them should disconnect. Others continue, wondering what happened and hoping she'll be back soon.

The slight problems with having 3 fallen ones and only 2 dispellers leads to the fallen ones taking some extra damage while fighting each other or attacking the adventurers, but the white mage should be able to take care of it at that point.

A moment later, one more dispeller disconnects, leaving only Pasifika and Lina (this detail may be very important! D: ) and setting Lamia and the fallen ones after the poor white mage, who should have accumulated a lot of hate by healing everyone. Surprised and distraught, the white mage runs around the place until she finally finds herself cornered - and discovers that only the fallen imperial wizard is still after her, hitting her with his staff. He can't even hit very hard... -_-;

The white mage now returns to the dispeller, bringing the errant wizard with her, and the dipeller who disconnected last comes back.

The fallen ones are in a bad shape by now, and the white mage has her hands full curing them. Her heart bleeding for failing her sacred duties, she has to let one of the fallen ones die, leaving a more suitable number for the remaining dispellers. ;_;

The remaining two fallen ones should finish the unlucky Lamia off around the 1 minute warning, and if you run fast, you can clear this assault with whopping 20 seconds or so to spare. (Just ignore the chest.)

Excitement!

Adventures of Romidiant

Pasifika's fine adventuring fellow Romidiant is always ready, and any day is a fine day for adventuring. :D
Romi teamed up with his good friend Feliz, and Pasifika and Lina tagged along to the depths of Quicksand caves.

Romidiant was feeling steadily more optimistic about his next level approaching, first announcing he had a long way to go but soon estimating he was nearing the half point of his level.


Romi isn't only interested in fighting. He also enjoys a leisurely chat every now and then, and he loyally served as bodyguard to two little tarutarus in Tahrongi Canyon when Pasifika was helping them and Lina take down some dhalmels.

The following day little Trella-la called her adventuring fellow out to show Pasifika what a striking resemblance there was. Amerita could've Pasifika's twin! (But strangely enough, she's not but Lina is! :D)

Pasifika invited Romidiant over and introduced the two, but he naturally had no trouble telling them
apart. He seemed to take a liking to the blond young lady, though. ;)

Just a moment later, Pasifika faced a similar challenge when she suddenly saw two Romidiants. :O
Identical except for their gear, these two were quite a pair... Could Pasifika's Romi be a bit jealous of the other one's fancy gear? >_>

Romidiant (Pasifika's, that is) kept insisting his next level was close indeed, but nothing came out of it this time.... :/

Next time, surely..!

Pasifika's definite(ly subjective) guide to Assaults

This post explains all the assaults Pasifika has done so far (well, there aren’t that many) and her personal experience about them (which will be very useful to any other eccentric melee white mage who has the same tastes as Pasifika).

The assaults are very professionally sorted here by the Staging Point they belong to, although Pasifika, private first class, hasn't done that many different kinds yet...

Leujaoam Sanctum

Leujaoam Cleansing

Orders:
”Remove all threats. General Afkaam is to inspect Leujaoam Sanctum. Destroy all creatures in the area that may pose a threat to the general.”

This is an unpleasant assault. The ice cavern is teeming with worms (Eww!), but shouldn’t a general of the Imperial Army be able to handle some vermin? Maybe he’s just a decorative general who usually spends his days sitting in the office with a nice view…

While the worms can hardly be considered a threat to a seasoned general, a party rushing ahead while leaving the MP-less white mage behind can get into some trouble at Leujaoam Sanctum. (Don’t run off while the white mage is healing! D:<) However, even such a party can clear it with no casualties, so suck it up general Afkaam and do your own cleaning up! :O

Pasifika has only done this once, obviously – but it was successful. :D

Orichalcum Survey

Orders:
“Discover orichalcum ore. There is a rumor that orichalcum ore has been discovered in Leujaoam Sanctum. Find the ore vein before the beastmen do.”

This is a very nice assault mission, although it shares some similarities with the disgusting worm clean-up duty. The worms are there, but they only pop up if you dig them up – and unfortunately you have to do just that.

The excitement of digging for treasure makes up for the presence of those pesky worms, however, although the joy of finding things starts to wear thin around the n:th pebble. The otherwise friendly locals become overly curious if you happen to actually find the orichalcum, but that’s a big if. Usually you don’t need to worry about it.

Mamool Ja Training Grounds

Imperial Agent Rescue

Orders:
“Rescue the agent. An agent sent to spy on the secret training grounds of the Mamool Ja has been captured. Rescue him before he is interrogated for Imperial secrets.”

Another nice assault, this time with actual monsters!

The most interesting set up for this mission must have been the one were all the doors were under attack at the same time, and Pasifika sneaked around between them to cast Regen, Haste and whatever else might be needed. A white mage was actually pretty useful – and busy! – that way.

Pasifika is also excellent at giving TP to the monsters without causing too much damage, because she can cast dia and also wield (and if nedessary, dual wield) the bells from Starlight Celebration. :D

This mission has claimed several victims, though, so it can’t be recommended to all without reservations. Also, the agent can be very long-winded when released, delaying the appearing of the Rune of release by the crucial moments and resulting in loss. Serves him right to be held in that cage and where he can contemplate his actions. >:o

Lebros Cavern

Excavation Duty

Orders:
“Remove the obstructions. The Imperial Army plans to traverse Lebros Cavern as part of their attack on Halvung, however the tunnels are blocked with rocks. You must remove the obstructions.”

Ah, the first assault mission Pasifika has ever done..!

You might think trying to break down walls (made of “brittle rock”, which turns out to be no-so-brittle) would be boring, but skill-ups for club skill make this one a favourite of Pasifika’s – as long as the level is high enough and the party isn’t prejudiced against a melee white mage.

It’s definitely not an exciting assault in any way, but a not too bad at all.

Periqia

The tarutaru behind the Periqia counter in comissions agency can barely see over the desk (or maybe she can’t!), and it just melts Pasifika’s heart to see this brave little officer.

Seagull Grounded

Orders:
“Escort the prisoner. The Immortals have captured a member of the Seagull Phratrie, a rebel organization. You are to escort the prisoner safely to a holding area.”

The prisoner in this mission is an arrogant and somewhat rude elvaan corsair, who backs away from any monsters and tries to run as soon as you give him the chance. The first time Pasifika did this, it seemed like a walk in the park – if you can imagine a cave-like park with no vegetation but some monsters instead. It was easy and quickly done.

The second time, however, it turned ugly and left some party members dead. Time ran out while the prisoner was still making his way to the holding area, even though the adventurers laid down their lives to clear the path.

Lesson of this assault is: Always take a white mage with you. You’ll be happy you did when you get that R3. :D And don’t trust sneaky-looking elvaan corsairs. D:

Ilrusi Atoll

Golden Salvage

Orders:
“Recover the figurehead. Rumor has it that the golden figurehead from the Black Coffin, the ship of Luzaf the pirate, can be found somewhere within Ilrusi Atoll.”

This one has a sort of opposite history from the Seagull Grounded for Pasifika. The first time was unbearably boring and dull, because Pasifika and Lina were told to wait in a secure area while a certain tarutaru *cough*Dhm*cough* soloed the whole thing. A dark cave, with lots of rock and… nothing else.

The next time was entirely different O_O.

Pasifika followed Mustrum and Dibble around and actually saw the place - it also has ships and chests and fish! :O

So what if it didn’t go quite as smoothly as the first time, it was so much more fun. :D I’m not sure if Mustrum enjoyed darting for the rune with that angry fish hitting him, but it was an exciting experience.

Lamia No.13

Orders:
“Eliminate Lamia No.13. Your mission is to hunt down Lamia No.13, a fearsome creature known to have performed vile experiments on the countless corpses of her enemies.”

Why no. 13? Why not no. 2? She’s the evil nemesis of all who do Besieged… >_>

Anyway… Lamia no. 13 has three devout followers who defend her to the death – or dispel. The principle is very simple, but actually doing this assault can be challenging. It’s interesting and fun nevertheless, and a good assault for a white mage, because the fallen soldiers can be cured when they’re not charmed. If they’re not cured, there’s a risk they die before finishing the fish-lady off, and you wouldn’t want that to happen, would you?

The funny thing is, the fallen ones are supposedly undead (they look like fomors and the assault orders mention ‘experiments on corpses’), but still casting cures gives them HP. :o A bit of a paradox, but a lucky one for Pasifika, who just happens to specialise in raises and cures (and smashing with hammers).

Once the lamia is defeated, the fallen ones are actually pretty nice. :O


Conclusion:
Some assault mission are either boring or otherwise unpleasant to do, but there are some decently exciting ones and a rare truly enjoyable one - or two - in the lot. The company often plays a key role in turning a dull mission into an unforgettable adventure!
But where's the mission with penguins (oh, all right, apkallus) that Phu talked about. :o

The plot thickens... again

But will it become a delicious soup of intrigue, or a horrid, clumpy porrige..?

I'm guessing the latter, but hey, porrige is good for you! ;P


Original Scrapped Princess by Bones Studio, FFXI by Square Enix, of course.