Today was a good day, but...

It started off like any normal day. I wake up in Windurst, look around the area, and think of what I want to do. I usually never have an actual plan when I first sign on, but it doesn't take long when I look at my laundry list of things that I can do. It's just a matter of motivation.

I felt like hitting the sandbox for some stress free fun, and since I was currently a Ranger, it was in my best interest to bring Karyn along with me. Not that she's a healer, but probably one of my reliable skillchain partners. Besides, NPCs run out of MP too quickly.

As soon as I arrive, I run into Keyoku, who has been gone for well over a month. Every time we would run into each other there, we'd team up and have a bit of fun. He was actually one of the people who taught me a lot about being a Dancer. So the three of us beat the daylights out of some rabbits and then he had to head out. While I was there, I got a message from Sisen (Epic). This was surprising, mainly because I don't normally recieve "Hello" tells out of the blue from most of my friends.

As it turns out, she had a little proposition for me. Their Salvage static was in a need of one other, and she sought my assistance. First off, I was flattered. I've seen some of the people she hangs with, and they are definitely in top form. I really enjoyed Salvage the few times I went with Dominik. For whatever reason, he stopped going for a bit, but then restarted and took a friend of mine instead. Eh, such is life. Still, this was a chance to possibly get back into Salvage and do something with the mismatch armor I kept thinking about trashing. There was one catch to my joining the group: they wanted a Black Mage.

Yeah...not happening. Well, I didn't personally want to. However, it's Salvage, so I said if they needed a BLM, then I could do it. Of course, I mentioned that it's a personal preference to go as a Scholar instead, if at all possible. I headed to Whitegate and waited for their answer. They said SCH was fine and that made me quite happy. After a short while, we all went inside and got started. The last time I did Bhaflau Remnants (I believe this was zone), we ended up wiping with the Chariot at a rather low percentage. Not so for this run. We went in and kicked ass. I was seriously surprised at how smoothly the run went. The Usu 25's dropped that I needed, but went to another person who had been there longer. Fine by me, because I see the potential of the group and know I'll get mine in time.

We did an assault to get some points for Epic, then we went to Silver Sea Remnants. This one seemed a lot simpler than Bhaflau. We went 1/1 on this fight as well. Unfortunately, nothing notable dropped. Meh, I'm just glad I seem to have found a solid Salvage group. Who knows, maybe I'll be able to get some gear just as it becomes obsolete with the stuff in the new updates. We shall see.

Next stop was Dynamis - San D'Oria. This is taking some getting used to for me with the way my Dyna LS does things. They do a lot of city runs. With me being new, I tend not to voice my opinion about things much. I get inside, a few minutes late due to Salvage, and get to work. Still in a very pleased mood from the Salvage run, I find myself extremely giddy and joking with everyone. I was actually tempted to use my mic in Vent, but decided against it. We had tons of fun during the run. We had a good 20 minutes or so left in the zone after doing what we needed to do, but then went after the Mega Boss for giggles and more coins. The mood for everyone was just really pleasant. I couldn't believe that I involved myself in some conversations that had a sexual tone with the LS. Get your minds out of the gutter, I don't mean cybering. People were talking about lesbians, orgies, and parses. How parses find their way into sexual conversations is beyond me, but this is Final Fantasy after all. Shit doesn't always make sense.

We had payday and everyone got in the welfare line to get our monies. This was my first full month of being with Aristocrats, and I have to say that I was exceptionally pleased. I now understand the reason for the city runs. Man it feels good to be able to buy something at the auction house and not cringe each time I spend more than 5k.

That was going to be the end of the day for me, and like I said, it was a good day. Since I was still wide awake, you now what I had to do next. If you don't know, I had to bother Tidis. About what, you wonder? None other than our favorite Abyssean turtle, Chukwa. Here's where the good day started to become a not-so-good day. Although, not for the reason you may think.

I grab 100 minutes worth of time and get buffed up. Tidis finds a group fighting Chukwa and have it to 54%. Eh, it sucks, but at least we'd have a ToD and could plan accordingly. I catch up to him and watch the group. A few minutes pass, and Chukwa's health bar barely moves. We watch their strategy, and wonder why the hell they are casting for so little damage. Seriously, it was bad even by my standards. Time passes, and they just can't kill this turtle. Tidis and I agreed that we would not attempt to steal it, no matter what. Even if it went unclaimed, we'd only take it if the entire group wiped. We had our dealings with the jackasses of Armada and don't want to follow in their example. So we watch.

A BLM dies...

An RDM falls...

They're raised.

The THF gets stomped on.

Raised.

BLM dies.

This goes on for quite some time, and Chukwa's losing only slivers of health as we watch. I get a 60 minute warning and am puzzled by what's going on. When it was just Tidis, Caldar, and myself, it didn't nearly as long to drop Chukwa to much lower, so why is a group of 2 RDMs, a BLM, and a THF taking so long? Fifty-three minutes later, we realized exactly why. Chukwa was raged, and this group was doing everything they could to keep it claimed and whittle away.

Unlike other NMs, Chukwas rage does not equate to "instant bitch slap of death" to whomever's fighting it. Instead, it just gains a huge resistance but can still be put down if you follow the same tactic as normal. In the hour that we watched, we had many chances to claim and kill it ourselves. We both held true to the agreement. No stealing, no matter what. Granted, I was getting frustrated. I just wanted them to kill the damn thing or completely wipe. That was the problem. With 3/4 of the group being able to raise, someone could always get up and keep the fight going. That's exactly what they did. Around 20%, we noticed some BSTs in the area. Great, now if the group did actually wipe, we'd have to compete with the BSTs as well.

This group ended up fighting the normal turtles in the area. We kept an eye on them, but watched the main group more closely. If opportunity did present itself, we needed to be ready even faster now. One of the BSTs was brought into the main group to help kill. Deep down, I was disappointed because it looked like we wouldn't get a chance to fight, but at least now they'd actually win. Or so I thought.

Around 5%, most of the party wiped except for one RDM. Remember when I said I was a carebear? You would've seen proof of it here. One of the fallen members asked Tidis for a raise. When he told me, I let out a sigh. Yes, we were there to take Chukwa if they failed. They had one person left and there was no way he'd be able to win on his own. If we ignored their request, we'd surely have taken claim, but we'd also be pretty damn rude. It's one thing to watch when they don't ask you to help, but when you see a group that needs help and they flat out ask you for a raise...what can you do? From Dark Arts to Light Arts I go, and I raised them. Will they remember that? I doubt it. Should Tidis and I find ourselves in a similar situation, will they help us the way we helped them? My gut reaction says no, but the optimist within hopes that perhaps they will remember.

With most of them weakened, I volunteer to help them. They couldn't win. They had to know this by now. Chukwa was at 1, maybe 2%. Raged, and 75% of their group was weakened. They didn't respond, and even Tidis offered to help. Just then, we saw another group show up. Fancy a guess?

That's right folks. Armada showed up.

Knowing the other groups situation, I asked them again to invite us. I knew Armada would snatch the fight away the second they had the chance, and I didn't want to give them that moment. We just raised the group that we were hoping would wipe. We watched for over 60 minutes while Chukwa turned yellow time and time again, with us not so much as turning in its direction to steal claim. If you can't see two genuinely honest people in front of you after that, then I don't know what to say. I came flat out and told them, "We will help you. We're not going to steal anything. "

Based on the actions of Armada last time, I knew they wouldn't be as cordial. Sure enough, Chukwa started killing them again, and went unclaimed. I wanted to cast on it so badly and take it. In no time at all, Armada snatched Chukwa and killed it shortly thereafter.

I don't know what burned me up most. The group ignoring my offer to help after we were kind and respectful to them, or the fact that Armada got Chukwa and killed it 1%. More than likely the latter. In truth, they did exactly what I wanted to do. The difference is that I consulted my conscience first and decided against it.

Despite the Abyssea mess of watching a group fight a 20-30 minute lowman NM for over an hour, today was still quite a fun day. I wish I could have more days like this in Vana'diel.