The Furball

Yesterday I was informed by the linkshell pearlsack committee on our bulletin board that I had been selected to tank for our Kirin run tonight. This came as a shock and as a surprise. I am a Paladin, sure, but I have never come as a tank for something this big. Neither have I been a damage dealer and have never really paid that much attention to those details, including when to run for my life when a certain lesser god gets angry.

I expressed my concern to the leaders, but they said they had faith in me. I’m honored that they put such trust in me, and flattered that they see me as a viable option for such events. Of course, this event was set up to see how we would do against Kirin with a minimum amount of people, and without key players on the battle field.

I knew I had Raevon and Miles, one of our main tanks there, so I knew I wouldn’t be the one taking the beating, so I came prepared: gear to help me heal others without taking too much hate. Some of this gear I could take from my White Mage, but other items was things I never considered using for my Paladin and therefor never got. So, I spent almost all my money preparing for this fight.

The fight itself started out pretty slow. The kiting party made Kirin run a few rounds before he started summoning. Byakko was the first one out, and Raevon tanked him pretty well. Suzaku was next up and Raevon got knocked out and Miles had to take over. I was confident in Miles ability to tank and knew our alliance was in good hands. I helped out curing and tossing random flashes. Sadly, I know I screwed up a few times during this first two summons. But oh well, now I know the ropes.

Seiryu came next, and at the end I heard people yell Invincible, so I used the ability, but it was sadly too late. He was at the brink of dying so the ability was wasted. Miles got knocked out himself at the end of Seiryu, and I knew it was my time to step up.

Genbu was summoned by Kirin and I ran over and provoked him and brought him back to our alliance. I was overwhelmed by how hard he hit, but I didn’t panic since a Paladin and a White Mage are the last people who should panic in a party. The big turtle slapped me quite a few times and I was near-death several times. At this point Raevon was starting to recover from his wounds, but I didn’t give up and I did everything I could to keep Genbus attention on myself. I took some very hard hits, but I managed to live and was pretty content with that. Of course, this is all thanks to the wonderful people I had around me who did their very best to keep me alive while I kept on taking Genbu’s enraged beatings.

Genbu fell, and I received a few encouraging words from my linkshell friends. This meant so much to me since I had didn’t have all that confidence in me before we started, but I had vowed to do my very best. It’s one of the few times people have sent me encouraging words (other than words congratulation during Dynamis), so I was overwhelmed with joy.

Of course, we weren’t done yet. Our alliance rested up and prepared to kill Kirin. The kiters had done a really well job while we took out the summoned monsters. I put on my healing gear and assisted people as much as possible, trying not to get hate. At two points were I struck by Kirin’s wrath, but I was never asked to tank. I stayed outside the alliance the whole time, just running around healing people up with the limited mana I have as a Paladin. Kirin’s Deadly Hold wasn’t quite as deadly as I remember it to be as a White Mage, which was kind of fun. All in all I had a blast!

But, the loot wasn’t quite as good.. just a measly N. Body and a Damascus Ingot, but at least we won and can be proud to have done it with an original setup for once.

I really wish I could’ve gotten a Wyrmal Abjuration: Legs piece though, since the Crimson Cuisses would be so useful to me.