Gegenji

The Lalafell's eyes narrowed. This was it, now or never! He may have looked as if to bash aside the shield with his own, but that was just happy coincidence for his real tactic - something far more reckless and wild. Having undone the straps on his shield arm, the crossover as in fact in preparation for throwing his shield! "Eyah!" Chachanji shouted, launching the shield like an over-sized discus as the Hyur's head and upper body. It wasn't particularly well-aimed, so whether it would actually hit was another matter entirely, but that wasn't the point. The true purpose of the fling was as a simple, childish "made-ya-look." Not even waiting to see if his bluff would work, the Lalafell immediately dropped into a power-slide to slip betwixt the Highlander's legs. As he passed, he sought to slash at the Paladin's shins and knees with an erratic swipe of his blade.

Yeah, I just can't put that kind of commitment in these days either. The gear may look nice (like the caster robes with the Bahamut wings, so stylish!), but it's all "look, but no touch" for me now. I'm content enough driving myself crazy with the zodiac weapon quest, which is more monotony and gil-sink than anything else. I do like reading about what takes place lore-wise in there, though. Even though I have no actual stake in it, it's neat to get some follow-up for that grand cutscene that introduced me to FFXIV. I just don't care to bash my head against the raid wall to see it, so I'm happy enough with the YouTubes and the lore musings that people post based on the scenes themselves.

Chachanji, as was becoming the norm for this training session, stumbled and skipped backward at the shove. He windmilled a bit to avoid topping over, giving a very odd scene for swordplay practice before he regained his balance. He gave an angry little snort - Warren used his arm to block his shield! That was totally cheating! "Jus' tryin' ta hitcha!" the little Lalafall grunted as he fell back into his slowly improving battle stance. His purple eyes flicked briefly to the straps holding his shield to his arm. If Warren was gonna be tricksy, then he would too! Chacha started fiddling with it some with his thumb and forefinger as his gaze turned back to the Hyur. "'n I'm gonna do it!" He lunged forward again, shield forward. But it was a little too far over across his chest, as if he planned to counter the Paladin's deflection with a bash of his own shield. His blade was low, almost dragging against the ground as he rushed in.

I think I'm kinda lucky I'm playing a naive little cutie-patootie who will probably never be in any sort of ERP. I always have a nasty habit of saying party stuff in guild chat and vice-versa. FFXIV is extra bad for me about that since I keep switching which chat I have set a "main" and often forget. A good example of that was last night when a bit of RP chat went into LS rather than in Say. Obviously it was nothing of import, but doing that always miffs me a little. I fear the day when typing "MT" becomes reflex more than anything self. (Also, Tobias totally missed out on calling the thread "Mistell Hell." :lol: )

"AHM TRYIN'!" Chachanji wailed as he again skittered off-course a bit from the deflection. He had much less down-time in his recovery this go-round, though this may have been due in part to a childish frustration that was building up in him. Both his eyes were open now, and his face was scrunched into a pouty look of determination. Again he charged, shield leading, but made for a weird play this time around. Rather than swing his sword, he moved as if to barrel into the Highlander with his shield. Whether this was to knock him off-balance or force him to deflect shield with shield was hard to say. Little guy was just flustered and eager to do better. Gran watched all this with a practiced eye and gave a simple snort as his evaluation.

The deflection of his blade sent Chachanji stumbling a couple steps in the direction his weapon had been diverted. To his credit, he still had his sword in hand, but that may have been solely due to the death-grip he had on it. He managed to regain his footing well enough, though his back was to his opponent. His eyes had squeezed shut out of habit just as he swung - perhaps still afraid to see the results of his attack, for good or for ill - and he forced one back open as heard Warren's command. "R-right!" he blurted out, glancing over his shoulder with the one open eye. Silently repeating the mantra in his head again, he pressed his assault. His form, perhaps due to the suggestion echoing in his mind, was almost the same as the last - right down to the same closed-eyed horizontal slash at the end. Also likely was the fact that he had been praised for it, so he was sticking to that rather than try mixing things up. Gran, bored now that his playmate was suitably distracted and his victory won, settled down in the dirt beneath Victory's shadow. His glistening black eyes also found the sharp movements of the training interesting, and thus his focus went there. What they were actually doing, besides his assumed guess of play-fighting similar to that betwixt the chocobo and himself, was lost on the baby behemoth.

"O-oh, o-okay!" Chachanji managed, still a little shaken from the impact and what came after. "Sh-shield up, eyes o-open! G-got it!" He fell into a battle stance again once Warren was away and back in his own. He had the shield forward now, all right, and looked to all the world as if he was trying to hide behind it. His sword arm hung more limply at his side, the tip of the blade almost touching the ground. "Shield up, eyes open. Shield up, eyes open. Eeled up, shies open..." the little Lalafell repeated nervously, a mantra to both burn the hints into memory and to center himself before charged the imposing Paladin again. He wanted to close his eyes again, but knew not to. In some sort of strange compromise, he ended up with the eye closest to Warren open while the other took comfort in being squeezed shut. "Ayaaaaaaah!" he shouted again as she charged. Or, more appropriately, it looked like his shield was charging and he was being dragged along with it. At least the slackness was gone in his sword arm now, the blade held up and out to his side for what would most likely be a wild horizontal swing. Gran, on the other hand, had finished up his second victory dance under the shadow of the towering Victory - either oblivious to or ignoring the fact that the chocobo's attentions were elsewhere. He might have pressed his attack with his opponent thusly distracted, but the little porker felt he had proven his martial merit.

This is actually something I noticed and was bothered by back in WoW. "To run this raid, you have to have run this raid." Before the advent of the Raid Finder modes and the like, the only way to get experience on the raid content was to have an in through a friend in a raiding guild who was willing to vouch for you. It's certainly not a field you can just waltz into, and I still remember how daunting it was as a fledgling raider back in the days of Molten Core 40 mans. At least there, the raid sizes were so bloated that you could coast along on everyone else's skill until you got the hang of things. I'm terrified to think how such things work in Coil, where there's such a difference in raider number. As such, I've only gotten to the first Coil... 2 (?) - the one before the "bouncy castle" - and that was through Duty Finder queues.

A "pwang" Warren expected and a "pwang" Warren received as the Lalafell, his eyes squeezed shut as they were, ran headlong into the shield. From the Hyur's angle, he could easily see the length of Chachanji's indigo-hued blade peeking up over the curved steel. It wobbled from the impact, then fell back out of view as the green-haired youth staggered backward briefly before tipping over. The tell-tale squeak of Gran hitting armored chocobo leg at around the same time didn't help matters either. "Ooooooow..." Chacha whined, rubbing his button nose with an armored hand, hoping to massage the stinging pain out of it. His eyes, wet with fresh tears, were focused crossly on said nose. It was only once he had assuaged that problem that he actually looked up to see Warren's much larger blade pointed squarely at him. "Wah!" he yelped, skittering backwards a couple yalms out of pure instinct like some sort of strange river crab. His blade lay forgotten in the dirt where it had fell, and his shield only still with him through the merit of it being strapped to his arm. Both hands, now no longer focuses on aiding in the rapid retreat, were now waving wildly in the air. "I yield! I yield!"

Everyone's doing the Mehderville.

Gran was right upset when his little victory dance was interrupted by a sneak attack from the crafty Victory! He gave another irate squeal as he stumbled to regain his footing, though ultimately tumbled onto his side. He kicked and flailed and spazzed about with a litany of what could only be the piglet-version of unchecked swearing. After a couple good, solid kicked with all four little legs, though, he was back on his feet. And he was fightin' mad! Chachanji, on the other hand, was a bit more nervous about his chosen opponent. He was of two minds on it, really. On the one hand, this was a freaking Paladin! While utterly awesome, was he sure that he could even land a blow on the well-armored Highlander? Success only led to his next concern: his father had oft boasted on the quality of the family's craft, so what if he actually ended up hurting Warren? Sure, he knew some minor healing magicks thanks to his brother, but it still wasn't very heroic to hurt a friend! Still, Warren looked quite sure of what he was doing. And, as a Paladin, he should easily be able to repel the little Lalafell's attack. So, at best, Chacha might show some talent but be carefully parried at the end. At worst, he makes a fool of himself and shows his utter incompetence at handling a blade. The Gegenji child found himself suddenly hoping for the former. "O-okay, um..." he stuttered, sliding his indigo blade from its sheath and prepping his little bronze shield. "... Here goes!" He paused for just a moment in his awkward little battle stance, if it could even be called that. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath to center himself, and opened those violet orbs again. His whole tiny Lalafellan body tensed. "Eyaaaaaah!" came Chachanji's little war-cry as he rushed the much taller Hyur. There was no form, no finesse to his charge; he was literally doing little more than running forward with his shield at his side and his sword over his head as if he meant to squash an errant spider with it. Adding to that was the fact that he charged just like he had with the hornet - with eyes closed and face scrunched in determination. As if moving in tandem with his master, Gran too charged the much larger Victory after a brief pawing at the air with his tiny front legs. Unlike the Lalafell, however, his glistening black eyes were dead-set on his towering target. He closed the gap with his own squealing war-cry, which mingled with Chachanji's. The two both also made their attack in surprising synergy. As Chachanji swung with all his little might blindly at Warren's upper thighs, Gran finally broke gaze with Victory to bring his fledgling horns to bear. The entire scene was almost poetic, if not rather silly-looking.

I'm helping! :thumbsup:

Ah, but Gran was ready for the assault this time! With a glimmer in his porcine eye, he dodged to the side and away from the oncoming beak. Seeing his opening, he pressed his advantage and charged into Victory's leg! ... And bounced off with a sound not unlike a dog's squeaky toy. Still, Gran considered this attack a success and spun around once in a little victory dance. Eyes closed, snout upturned proudly, one would think he had defeated a long-set rival rather than merely bumped a bird in the leg. Chachanji, on the other hand, was currently still engrossed in much more peaceful matters. At Xavarian's admission to his weariness, he took on a shocked and then apologetic look. He padded his way lightly towards the Duskwight and gave him a gentle pat on the leg. "If yer sleepy, ya should go sleeps," he advised wisely. "If'n ya need ta get in touch wit me, I'm pretty sure ya can leave a message wit Momodi. She's lettin' me shack up in th' Hourglass while I do my halpin' out 'round Ul'dah, so she'd be me best bet." He took on a firmer tone once that was said, looking at the much taller Elezen sternly. "Now, off ta bed wit ye! Ya need yer sleeps!" With his piece said, the little Lalafell marched his way back over to Warren, looking up at the almost-as-tall Highlander. He looked the Hyur over, recalling what he had just said about showing him what he knew so far about the fine art of swording. His gaze flitted to his own little indigo-hued blade, then to Warren's much larger weapon, and then back at the man himself. "So... err... am I sposta attack ya or somethin'?" he queried neatly.

I figured I'd drop a post up in here and thank you guys for bringing me into the LS. It's fun to talk with folks and I hope I wasn't too over the top. :blush:

Chachanji nodded eagerly at Warren, puffing up his wee chest proudly before speaking. "Aye, I had slated most'a this day ta gettin' better wit me sword. So I'd be happy fer any halp ye can give." As the three conversed, Gran had gone back to his posturing in front of Victory. The baby behemoth was making quite a wide manner of snorts and snuffles, daring the chocobo to come at him. He rose up in a few mock charges and pawed at the ground a few times for added emphasis. Whether he was actually looking for a fight or just wanting to play was hard to tell, but little Gran seemed excited about it nonetheless. "Ah, err... ya heard that, didya?" Chacha commented sheepishly, only turning his head enough to get eyes on Xavarian again. The chuckle that followed was a melancholy one. "Heh heh... 'm sorry. Me brother was always inta th' readin' 'n bookmagics 'n stuff. All th' stuff yer talkin' about jus' reminded me o' him a wee bit. I'm sure 'e woulda loved ta meetcha, coulda talked smart-stuffs wit ya fer days." Putting a lighter spin on the matter seemed to brighten the Lalafell's mood a bit. He turned more fully to the Duskwight, either unaware that the various element-tuned aether flitting around him was odd or - quite possibly - not caring overly much. As the Elezen spoke of aetherial potency and manipulation, Chachanji just smiled and nodded. "Yeah, Gogo would'a loved you." He had no clue what Xavarian was even talking about, but he was quite certain it would be right up Gogonji's alley. He followed this up with a corrective waggle of his finger as he continued. "Anyroad, ya still know more about th' conjoory than I do, so any bit'll halp! 'Specially if'n it can protect people."

Crisiet looks evil as hell with that new hairdo. Good. Very good. *Imagines Tom Hiddleston screaming "UNLIMITED POWER!"* All that keeps coming to mind for me is: "There is a power beyond contempt. I call it Contempt Level Two."

That's always the way of raiding, I think. Especially for those who put in the effort and the hours to overcome it pre-nerf. You came at it when it was new, fresh, and hard, and managed to overcome it with coordination and skill. The story arcs that you unlocked and the pieces of gear you gained were a symbol of your achievement. It's like seeing all the people running around with Onyxia gear when you remember the days of the 40-man raid in WoW. ... Oddly enough, I kinda felt echos of that when they upped the Atma drop rate after I had JUST finished that phase of the zodiac chain. :lol:

".. A-R-I-N, got it!" Chachanji chirped, oblivious to the missing letter. Considering how many of the - albeit few - other names scribed within were also mangled in some way, Xavarian's stood out as almost looking right. The lettering on it seemed neater as well, as the little Lalafell had used the awesome might of a slightly protruded tongue to add focus to his writing. His deed done, he clapped the tiny book shut again and tucked it away so as not to lose it. "Oh! Ms. Artemis is very smart!" Chacha agreed with a smile and nod of his wee head, moving on to energetic gesticulations. "She knows a lot 'bout th' bookmagics 'N how ta wield a sword. 'n she has a bunch of neat lil' friends, like a kitten 'n a fairy!" Xavarian's insinuations did not escape the Lalafell's ear, either. Once he was done gushing about one of his first new friends in Ul'dah, his violet-hued gaze was again turned to the towering Free Paladin. Chacha positively exuded an aura of excitement. "Ah! Ye'd help me learn howta sword? Really? Really really?" His little shoulders were hunched and his hands balled into wee fists mere finger-widths from his chest, looking set to start bouncing about again. "That'd be wundaful!" A thought occurred to him. "Oh!" he breathed as he turned back to the Duskwight. "'n about learnin' th' magics! I dun know too much there, but Ms. Artemis said I should learn 'bout conjoory ta help with helpin' people!" "Tho'..." he noted thoughtfully, folding his arms across his little armored chest. "I know a lil. Me brother Gogo taught me a piece'a bookmagic after I hurt myself playin' wit onna Papa's finished axes. If'n ya want ta talk magicks, he'd definitely be th' one you'd wanna see!" A sudden sadness flitted across the Lala's features. He brilliant violet gaze dimmed as his eyes found the ground. The words that followed were little more than a murmur spilling over pursed lips. "... If'n I knew where he was..." It was followed by a long sigh, as if he was venting his depression along with the lungful of air. He closed his eyes, patted lightly at his cheeks again, and then turned back towards Warren with a bright smile. "'Ey, if'n we could, how soon could'ya start teachin' me ta sword?"

I wish I had this back when I dyed my chocobo on my main. :surprise: I managed to get to Snow White - which was what I was going for - through a ton of trawling through various posts people made on different forums, looking for those who had gotten the color and how. I ended up with Bone White, then pink of all things, and finally got Snow White. I haven't even put thought into what color I want Chacha's bird to be. Maybe Dalamund Red, so he can run three times faster. That or Honey Yellow. Either way, having a calculator that can help with that bridge when I come to it is a godsend. Also, nothing wrong with grape purple. Grapes are delicious. :thumbsup:

Welcome from another relative newbie to Balmung! :thumbsup: I can totally feel you on how daunting all the RP going on can be (I tend to float around the Quicksand, myself, and it's always impressive how many different conversations are going on IC and out). I'm still trying to get a feel for trying to start an RP with someone! :blush: And, having started as a trial meself, I know all about how restrictive it can be at times. No tells, all classes capped at 20, smattering of other things I'm sure where there but I cannot for the life of me recall at this point... ANYROAD, as you can see, plenty of us are open for RP! That includes myself, of course, so feel free to pester the little Lala and his purple pig if you see him around the Quicksand!

GREETINGS, CITIZEN. (I'm enjoying this Heavy Iron Armor too much.)

"And next you'll tell me you caught a fish THIS big." :roll:

"Th'... Gladiators?" Chacha echoed, placing a finger thoughtfully against his chin. He'd been by the place a couple times, of course, during his various odd jobs around Ul'dah. Usually no further than the front counter to drop off a package or anything, though. He vaguely remembered the clashing of swords and shields there, and mentally slapped himself for not even thinking of asking them if they'd help him out! Dummy, dummy Chacha! He was even more awed, if such a thing was possible, when Warren offered to help him out. "Ah! That'd be great! Super great! The greatest!" He bounced up and down at the proposal, enough to even draw Gran's attentions from his epic stare-down with Victory. He caught himself after his little outburst, clearing his throat and trying to look like he hadn't just done that. To further convince them, he gave Warren a sloppy little salute. "Ser Warren! I'd be honored t' have yer assistance!" Since he was in the mood for it, little Chachanji gave Xavarian a salute too when he introduced himself. Not for any particular reason. He just felt in a salute-y mood and two salutes were obviously better than one. That was basic maff! "Oh!" Chachanji piped up suddenly, digging about his person before pulling out a beat up little book. "Ms. Artemis said it's good to write down friends' names so I don't ferget 'im!" And so, in the middle of the Thanalan savannah, two new names were added to Chachanji's Book of Frands in his big, blocky script: Waren Castle Ksav Zava Tzav... He paused on the second one after trying to write it and subsequently scribbling it out a few times, looking up at the Duskwight for guidance. "... Can you spell yer name fer me? Is hard."