Hey everyone,
Having finally reached 30 with my Red Mage, I breathed a sigh of relief. My 32 Black Mage was now cleared till 60. Thank the force (or spirits, or God, or what have you). That leg of my journey was over. Now... on to Black Mage.
Well, I realized quickly that Garlaige Citadel would only last me for so long, and I'll be heading to the Crawlers' Nest very soon. So, being the obsessive compulsive that I am, I started going about the arduous task of obtaining a map for the Nest (I need maps of every area I visit, and will bend over backwards to obtain those maps).
Enter.... the Selbina Clay quest. I remember very clearly the groan I let out when I realized what lay ahead of me. Damn it, this was going to cut out leveling, farming, crafting, and all the other things us power gamers do. It was gonna slow me down in my goal of being the best! Damn it! "Ah well," I thought. May as well get it started....
So, I set my home point in Selbina and started a systematic run from zone to zone, obtaining the imprints and then warping back. Rinse and repeat. Just another thing to do so I could get back to leveling...
This is where my enlightenment began. As I went from zone to zone, acquiring imprints and reading what was inscribed on each monument, I started realizing... this place has a history. And a deep one, at that. Square-Enix has done a marvelous job giving life to Vana'Diel, and here I was taking it for granted and just grinding along like all us other fools.
Not only does each monument give a brief history on the area, it also has Gwinheim Ironheart's personal feelings inscribed on them. Very briefly, it states his thoughts as well as the hardships he has gone through to get from place to place, and almost each monument leaves an open-ended thought to let our imaginations take and run with. What exactly ARE the glowing spires of Bubumiru Penninsula? Discover the monument and you just might find out... Why have the Elvaan not yet orgainzed an army to raid Ghelsba Outpost? Find the monument and discover...
In addition to learning some more of Vana'Diel's history, I also had the pleasure of helping others out in some of the low level zones these monuments are located in. I will never forget the onslaught of thanks after a hapless young lad ran up to me in panic, screaming he was poisoned and begging for a cure. A simple Cure II brought him to his knees in gratitude, saying he would have cried if he had died again. That gave me a good feeling that I haven't felt much as of late.
Anyway, the point of this ramble is the point that many posts have been making as of late. And a point that I just recently have subscribed to. Take the time to discover the world of Vana'diel. Yes, it is a game. Yes, we do have real life to worry about. However, when you log in, you are placing that real life on hold for the 2 or 3 hours you are in Vana'diel. Enjoy the experience. Don't let it drive you crazy trying to get to level X or getting Y amount of gil to purchase item Z so you can then move on to level X.
Oh, and take the time to do the Selbina Clay Quest. Not only do you get your Nest map from it, it's an excellent way to learn some history behind all the areas you've been to but knew nothing about. Plus, all the gil you get makes up for all your chocobo and Tele-taxi costs. :)
--Arondight, Bismarck