Memoirs of Adventure Creative Writing Contest (NA) - Official Entry Thread

[Sicycre]

Please post your submissions for the Memoirs of Adventure Creative Writing Contest in this thread!

You can read over the full details here.

This thread is for submissions only.

We ask that you use the Discussion/Practice Thread to practice submitting or to talk about the event.

All non-submission posts in this thread will be removed.

[MasaoAniko]

I still remember that day...
The day i met the woman of my dreams. It was still in 2.0, when i started fresh. I was not always too invested in MMORPG games. But i was a huge fan of Final Fantasy. My best friend pulled me into this game, and i invested time into it.
Then my best friend introduced me to a FC. And there i met her. A girl who i became close with, and did not knew until now that she would one day become my one true love.
Now we are planning on moving in together, and our plan is to play FFXIV together, side by side, and looking back on how we met, and how this game is a true connection for us both. That is what FFXIV means to me.

(Thank you for reading my story! If i do get selected, i wish for the Noble Barding.)

[zeopower6]

September 02, 2019

It was a little over five or six years ago to this day that I began my journey in this game and so many things have happened... I've seen and done so much after countless instances as Garu with as many new connections as I have farewells over these years and yet to this day I still recall this memory from back then so vividly as if it had only happened yesterday. I have always been one to try to help groups out and while leveling, it was no different. I had been completely new and a beginner to things like tanking since I was/am a healer main and decided that I would try to level via the FATE system instead of dungeons. In the time that has passed since then I am rather comfortable as a tank but back then, it was a lot of FATEs and things like Main Scenario Roulette since those were very laid back and not quite so heavy as far as responsibility went. It was during a winter of that time period that I was helping lead a FATE train back then via Shout chat and as per usual, there was another group trying to also guide the area to FATEs and got into a bit of a tiff with the leader who had been with his friends along with some people he had also picked up along the way. We yelled at each other a bit since we had differing views on what we should do with the FATEs but little did I know he'd end up being someone that I would come to get to know much better as the years went by after I invited him to a linkshell along with some friends of his. I am so glad to have met him and many others through things like FATEs or other systems of grouping that this game has introduced.

To all the people who have met one another or have yet to meet via this game, there are great times ahead. There will be trying times and perhaps you may drift from one another as time goes by but the people who you care about and feel the same way towards you will always return someday. I will always be grateful for the connections that I have found and have yet to find from this game and I hope that others can find them as well if they have not already.

Here's to more memories and the bright future of Final Fantasy XIV!



(Noble Barding)

[Taross]

Hello friend,

I am writing this to you, a friend I have never met but hope I will be able to meet some day.
The currents of the sea brought this message in its bottle to you. The currents of fate may one day do the same for us.

…

It is hard for me to put my thoughts to paper. I have always been one to choose action over words, which is amusing considering my role in this world. But that is not what I wanted to write about.

I do not know if you have only just arrived to Eorzea or, like me, you have been wandering under her skies for many years now.

If you have only just arrived, please give these people a chance. There are many diamonds in the rough to be found and the bonds you forge with your fellow travelers might prove to be even more enjoyable than you can imagine right now.

If you are another old adventurer, I hope that you have found yourself those companions. If you have, hold on to them closely.

I have, and they have been of immeasurable importance in my life. There was a time when I was battling a most dangerous foe destroying my body from the inside-out and without their support, even past the Source and her reflections, I would have been lost.
Enduring the Apothecaries foul chemicals became more bearable when I would think about them and the promises made to return.

I am running out of paper...

I was asked to write down my personal fondest and favorite memory of my time here, but I can not choose a single one. Every memory I have made with my friends here is dear to me and to single out one would diminish the others.
So I will simply state that my adventures on this world and the one beyond the Rift together are my fondest memory; a memory that grows larger and fonder with every day spent.

To you, unmet friend, I wish you will feel the same when the day comes to write your own message.

Yours truly,
A wandering Monk.

P.S. If we have met, I hope that I have left a good impression. I may sometimes be a little more 'rough' than 'diamond'.

( Chosen prize: Noble Barding )

[SebastienLupercalia]

Ah, my fondest memory... after so many years? Perhaps it would be time. Shall I regale you?

The light filtered through the trees outside the chapel, the leaves casting shadows on the stone below. It was mid afternoon, and the ragtag group of misfits that made up my Free Company were gathering. Laughter, joking and teasing one another. They trickled in in ones and twos, only a dozen all together... but the noise they made was enough for double that number.

I peeked over at my fiance. She was wearing the satiny gown given to her by the attendants and looked lovelier than I could possibly had dreamed. Her red hair done specially for the occasion, makeup arranged just so against mahogany skin. She still surprises me even to this day with her beauty and strength... but I digress.

Where was I? Ah yes. With her in place and all done, we proceeded to the ceremony itself. I had intended it to be a bit more reserved and formal, yet we somehow wound up with a moogle officiating... Oh well. It wasn't quite as silly as I had feared in any case. And then the vows came, and it was time. I told her how I felt about her.

I told her how breathless she made me feel. How her touch made my heart beat harder, my knees weaken, my face flushed. Her laugh was warm honey, her eyes the sparkling sand of the night desert. That my dearest wish, after all was said and done, was to purchase a house, that we might live our days in comfort. That we might finally know a modicum of peace. That she may lay down her axe and that there be no more need of the warrior, only the woman.

I like to think she understood... Despite my unneeded wordiness. A bad habit, you see.

The house was bought, in the end. And while we may not have the peace we hoped for just yet, most every day we retreat to our hideaway and steal a few seconds of blissful solitude. Perhaps one day the dust might settle and the dark might recede. But until then, our solace in each other and our love remains our anchor before we must sally forth once more.

For those we have lost. For those we can yet save.

(Choice: Noble Barding)

[MellyasKitsune]

Final Fantasy XIV has given me the chance to get closer to a friend and now fiancé that I never thought I would have a chance to. I have been able to spend my time gathering, leveling, and progressing through the rich story with this man thanks to this game. My fondest memory is the time when we were both sat in Coerthas, he was attempting to level up his alchemist and I was trying to level up my fisher. We both sat there together on an edge of a snowy cliff, talking to each other, and genuinely enjoying each other's company. Today we'll be renewing our bonds, with our friends that we've met along the way to celebrate with us that weren't there for the first time! Thank you Smilax Kitsune for staying with me and to the team across the world that continues to keep this game up and running for us to continue enjoy each other's company and what the game has to provide!
(Gaelicap)

[SeeressLumi]

It's been so many years since that day.. May I have your attention for but a moment, as I remember my fond memories of a time long gone?

I met them so long ago, the friends I knew I would share my fondest times with on FFXIV, a home away from home. They weren't anything big as I had soon thought, just a few people with extra time on their hands, close enough to reach but far enough away that I couldn't make out if this was a long term stay, or a short term memory.

Over the years, I've had many laughs, many tears shared with them, be it fooling around outside the FC house, joining together for dailies, even doing events.. Slowly but surely, I found that my heart ached at the thought of leaving them. I couldn't bare the thought of them disappearing right before my eyes, my breath catching in my throat whenever I imagined the house I once danced in with them, empty.

I still dance there today, a fond warmth in the back of my heart as I remember every person I've spoken to, played with, laughed with, cried with.. I continue to hope that all the friends I've made, atleast know that deep down, I care more for them than they'll ever know.

But don't be too sad, for now, they're still with me.

A happy atmosphere amidst the busy lives they now lead, I'll miss them all dearly one day, when they tire and we lose contact, however I'm just happy to have known other brave Warriors of Light that walked with me. I can't thank them enough, truly. I hope to never forget them and that they'll remember atleast my name when they carry on ahead and outrun me. Everytime I can, I make sure to tell them to be safe when they're about to leave, flashes of the laughs we've all shared and the want for those memories never to fade, to be forevermore. You'll always be special to me, I sincerely thank you for helping me experience the warmth of a family.

I love you, my idiots.
-Your Airhead
(Choice: Gaelicap)

[Silentfall]

When I started playing FFxiv, I was at a very dark time in my life. Thoughts about myself and thoughts about others. And then I stepped through the infinite doors of Eorsea and I saw a light finally at the end of my dark tunnel. I got to know the characters you so carefully crafted and realized that they are only human too. The stuggles we went through together and the victories. That is why I keep coming back for more. The story is what I am here for. It gets me through my day. But if its a specific part: I would have to pick the time I met Urianger in Waking Sands for the first time. He has been my favorite character from the beginning. So mysterious and cunning. He continues to see darkness and not subcome to it. He is my role model. Each day that I come to Eorsea is another day I can laugh and cry along side your characters. Thank-you

[GladiusKalkatorra]

Gladius' axe dug into the trembling earth as he was forced back, his teeth grit from the force of the blow as he was knocked backwards towards the edge of the ever-shrinking arena. Despite strength of arm and combat prowess, he felt himself flying back towards the edge unto an dizzying fall. Just before he lost his balance, a pull of aetheric energy coiled out to him. He seized onto it desperately, trying to regain himself as Arioche's light pulled him back from the brink.

"I've got you!" she yelled, rescuing him from certain death. Her gown fluttered wildly with each stomp of the gigantic monster that stood before them.

Gladius shook the bells from his head, swinging his axe over his head before nodding to her and charging back towards the monstrous primal Titan glowering down at him.
"The kobold's certainly didn't hold back this time..." He thought. They had triumphed easily twice before over the makeshift primal god of the ratlike species, but this time their desperation truly showed in the strength of this manifestation.

He raced past his friend Tatl, who looked to him worryingly as she continued to cast spell after spell with her reflection of the primal Garuda following form at her side. Despite their best efforts, the thrice-damned "god" would not fall. Gladius leapt forward, bringing his axe down across the chest of the stone monster.

There! A crack!

It seemed that his allies' efforts had not been in vain. They had managed to weaken the monster enough to bring forth it's stone heart. Gladius' axe ripped into the chest of the beast, wresting the heart free where all three heroes of light managed to concentrate their efforts into a single blast, shattering the beast's heart. The creature tottered, as aetheric energy bled from it, then finally fell.

A cheer rang out among the adventurers. They had bested their toughest opponent yet.

(Thank you for reading my story, if I do qualify, my chocobo Alfred Von Chicklesby would love the Noble Barding. Special thanks to my fellow Warriors of Light Arioche Aristotle and Tatl Tael for bringing me into this world I love so much. Even if we're apart now, I'll always treasure our time then.)

[Silanja]

I remember the first time that I saw you.

To be honest, I would not have ever guessed that you would go on to impact my journey the way that you have. Our first meeting - if you can even call it that - was more a technicality than an actual encounter, and I dismissed you as forgettable.

How wrong I was.

Our every interaction that followed left me curious, enthralled, engrossed: you captivated me in a way that was completely unexpected. My story and your story intertwined time and again; unpleasantries became intrigue and eventually empathy. I never gave you permission to break my heart but in the end, you did. Walking this journey knowing the path you walked will color every decision from now on. I don’t know if I should thank you or be angry. At the very least, I learned something.

Sincerely,
An Impatient Traveler



[ If selected, I would like the bluebird earrings. Thank you for your time. ]