Greetings, fellow adventurers. Silentlucidity here with the second edition of Silent's Saga. I took some time to think about what to write about, and it seems like the beginning might be a good place.

I don't talk about my past travels in Vana'diel too often, leaving many of even my closest friends with nothing but a clouded vision of my history. So in this blog, I will explain how I started back in the day, and what adventures have sculpted me into the Galka I am now.

I've been a long time Final Fantasy fan. Not as long as some, granted, but I've enjoyed my experiences that Square has offered to me. I never considered myself an online gamer. In fact before Final Fantasy XI, I never played a game online. In June 2004, I finally changed that.

My first experience began on the Kujata server. I was Kamahhl, a hume warrior from the region of Bastok. My start in Vana'diel was a rocky one, caused by my past style of "just keep hitting the enemy until it dies". You'd think it wouldn't take me long to realize that strategy didn't work. I lost more experience in my first 2 months than I may have the rest of my life.

I began to meet people along the way that would become some of my first friends. Zarkala was at level 7, and in my eyes, an expert at the game. He was the one I turned to for advice, and he was always willing to provide.

I also met 2 other new adventurers, Hardkore and Lastmage. Many of our first encounters in this virtual world were shared together. While I'm sure they've long forgotten about me now, the comrodery we shared at that time was unbreakable.

I also met a man named Fusuke once I was in my 10's. Me and him, a fellow warrior, spent a lot of time in the mines, duo-ing whatever we could find. He was a step younger in levels than I was. In some ways, I considered Zarkala an older brother, and Fusuke a younger one.

Zarkala was later reincarnated as Jackson, after his real life younger brother deleted his character. Fusuke and myself did all we could to bring him up to speed. And once we were, we knew it was time to get serious in the FFXI community. We began our first linkshell.

The 3 of us led it, although I've long forgotten the name. We got up to 10 members, which were thrilled about. Granted it wasn't much, but for three adventurers who thought they've seen the world at level 15, it felt like a major accomplishment. But then, my greatest descent began.

Jackson's work schedule changed, and we were no longer the immortal triangle we once was. In the days to come, Jackson hit level 18, and Fusuke and myself 16. However, by the time Fusuke began to catch up to level 17, I ended up de-leveling to 15.

Sadly the pattern continued. Jackson 19, Fusuke 18, myself 14. With such a gap between us, I knew I was no longer an equal in the group. As they continued to grow, and I continued to fail, I felt as if I didn't belong in this world. That I wasn't meant to adventure Vana'diel. I gave into the negative thoughts, and on a gloomy day in August 2004, I quit Final Fantasy XI.





...And that's how it all began! Of course there's more to this story, much more in the years to come. And this saga continues next time. Thanks for reading, as always comments are welcome.

Tags: Adventure Log Silentlucidity

Bookmark: