Belated Update

[lathany]

As the temperature doesn't seem to be dropping any time soon, I thought I'd write a quick update of the remainder of the babyless week before it becomes any more historical.

On the Thursday I finished my re-run through Final Fantasy VIII. The game may be incredibly flawed when compared to VII, but it has some nice touches. I like Ultimecia's castle and the "locked" fights with the servants. Plus the final battle has its moments despite being far too long. And the sequence of FMVs at the end are very watchable. However, it's still not as good as VII (or X - I'm impatiently waiting for the UK release date to be confirmed for X - 2) and was a great disappointment at the time. Next on is Final Fantasy VI (first run through) - but only when it cools down out here.



Friday afternoon bateleur and I went to Oxford, firstly to do some shopping and secondly to play in part two of chrestomancy's Final Fantasy roleplaying game.

We started the afternoon in Thorntons drinking coffee and eating cakes. I thoroughly recommend it as a start to any shopping trip. After that we moved on to the business in hand - shopping. bateleur often tells me that I should spend more money on myself. On Friday I did just that. My purchases ranged from the practical to rather less so. The list is :

A pair of triangular earrings with blue topaz stones - I wanted another pair of stud earrings because I daren't wear hanging ones around the twins. I looked at a huge number of them and wanted these because the shape was so unusual. The colour is much better than blue topaz usually is too.

A bright red summer dress - Moving on to the main street, we dropped into Monsoon and I spotted this in seconds on the sales racks. I tried it on and it fitted. I really, really loved it (despite having a sneaking suspicion that it's the sort of dress you need a deep tan for) and bateleur encouraged me to go ahead and buy it. It's now hanging upstairs and is the brightest thing in the bedroom.

A new necklace of tiny chains and beads - I have very few necklaces that are not gold or silver. I found this in Laura Ashley, liked it, bought it.

A pair of black shoes - On to the practical stuff. I'm wearing shoes less often now that I'm not working, but my current pair have reached that "comfortable and wearing at the seams" stage. So I wanted a new pair. Found and purchased in Marks and Spencer.

A new card wallet - Also in M & S.

A bracelet of black metal and painted red roses - Another whim purchase. I spotted it in BHS and decided I liked it. It became the final item in my shopping basket.



This is going to be a rather shorter write-up because I've left it for nearly a week and don't have my character sheet with it's convenient set of scribbled notes (and, more importantly, names). So, on with the story...

...we returned to Arcana and reported Galant's absence and the little matter of the Eastfield human->machine conversion. Professor Herfall was vaguely interested in the latter but insisted we set off again straight away because finding Galant was going to be a matter of supreme importance. So I (Iona) handed him the strange green gem (from the villain architect Norton) and set off again with my group of loyal guards (Sirocco, Cid, Klondike and Topaz).

We travelled to Passtown, again meeting no wandering monsters (to the disgust of Cid and Sirocco). However, on arrival, shopping became a possibility which instantly cheered the entire party. Whilst Sirocco (zandev), Cid (ao_lai) and Topaz (Frances) bought armour (or, in Topaz's case, watched the other two buy the last supplies) Klondike (bateleur) went onto the pub and talked with a group of snobbish, rude human cavaliers who suggested that Galant was with "his woman" in a tower on the other side of the southern pass. They also talked about a huge monster ("The Beast") which was attacking Faeall on the pass.

We stayed at the inn, met a polite Faeall and a small girl (both were Galant fans in different ways) and then headed for the tower. When we reached the centre of the southern pass we saw an unnatural storm hit Arcana and then head in our direction. The result - our first fight of the session ! Fire proved a useful spell as we were attacked by various ice monsters including a wolf, a crystal and a bush (I think that the last was supposed to look more triffid-like than it did).

After the fight we headed onwards, still in the stormy weather, and eventually found the tower. A woman (whose name I don't have), with Faeall traits (probably half-human, half-Faeall) welcomed us and suggested we stayed the night. She explained that Galant was in the Fire Caverns hunting for The Beast (we're all polite people and didn't ask questions about her relationship with him).

We agreed to stay for the night. This was a good thing, because three stone gargoyles crashed through the ceiling and tried to kill her. (Cue "Boss Fight" music). Being the heroes that we are, we saved her. And she thanked us and taught Iona a Thunder spell (and that made three). In the morning we helped repair the roof.

She took us to the Fire Caverns. We searched and searched for Galant. We climbed in and out of caves and finally... we found his sword. And a pile of ripped up rags. And lots of blood. And The Beast (SHIT !!!). Cue "Sephiroth" music (yep, we were playing VII music).

And the Beast was too much for us. When three of us had been taken out (Klondike, Topaz and Iona) Sirocco and Cid used the desperation tactic and threw the last phoenix down at the creature. This seemed to work. It stopped hitting us, it howled and it ran away. We're not sure why. We think it was sent to kill Galant and suceeded - or maybe it was Galant ?

We searched the rest of the caverns and found a pile of bones. Then, finally, we headed south to the Fortress from which the Queen's sister (Annabella) ruled the South of the Kingdom and met Wedge and Biggs on guard at the gate. They gave us the grand tour of the Fortress (which was short - just buildings, guards and three gaps on the wall were three gargoyles had once stood !). Then we went home.

Professor Herfall was sorry that we had arrived "too late". There were hints that he had sent the letter to warn Galant that he was in dire trouble after rumours had reached the Queen and her sister (about him and the Faeall lady, we think). There were more hints that Galant's doom and the storm were linked. Plus, we thought that Annabella might be the Bad.

And that was that. Next comes the campaign (with a new set of players) and chrestomancy has hinted that I might get to play the Human-Faeall lady. So I guess I'll need to find out her name by then...



After a Friday in Oxford, we headed back to Feltham for a morning start to Dragonblooded.



Saturday was Dragonblooded, of which elethiomel has already written a perfectly decent account. We're about to descend into the Pleasure Dome (I mean, leisure complex) of the First Age and rescue (I mean, arrest) the seven bandits we find there. Plus we still have a big bandit boss to find. I think we could be staying in this town a while longer.

The game was twinless and overheated. elethiomel and quisalan disappeared off to get icecreams at one point, returning with a box of malteser icecreams, a box of white chocolate magnums and a carton of mango sorbet. These were much appreciated.



I've already written about the return of the twins; life has become busier and noisier with their reappearance. Beatrice has learned to "Baaaa" at her sheep picture whilst Ryan has insisted on bringing the musical snail along to nappy changes.

And that brings me up to date.

This week I've been trying not to melt. chrestomancy's present of a fan has proved very welcome and I'm also drinking lots of water and washing my wrists and face frequently. I've also dealt with a visit from the plumber to fix the hot tap - I'd hate to have his job in this weather.

Computer-wise bateleur and I have finally had a break-through on The Watchmaker. Sadly it is another game with the "tiny hotspot" problem. However it is proving very enjoyable and there is plenty of game left (based on the game clock, anyway). My solo game is currently Diablo (I) as it's about the only game I have disc space for whilst requiring a small enough amount of concentration to make it playable when my brain is being baked. It's too hot to write story.



Phew. Back to water drinking and wilting.

Comments

[bateleur.livejournal.com]

A quick correction: It was Klondike and Cid who were standing after the fight with the Beast. My theory is that this is because Klondike's defining characteristic is that despite being rubbish he gets more experience than anyone else !