I still remember the first time I logged on. I was half(all the way) drunk. I tried my favorite Final Fantasy characters to no avail. I then in my poor attempt to spell dismal( I blame the Tequila) I came up with Dizzmal. I joined the server of Hades. Back then there was no videos to teach you the basics. I pretty much ran outside and died to the first Orc that I ran into. Later after talking to some people, I found out how to equip gear and use a weapon. Went outside and died to another Orc... Then a Paladin raised me after killing the Orc. I'll never forget the full white glow of the Paladin artifact armor that he carried. His name was Screamingeagle. He gave me a quick rundown of where to level and how to make a little gil along the way. Soon enough I was leveling and on my way to a life of adventure.
I met many adventures along the way, but few were like the first Linkshell I ever joined. I ran into this Dark Knight name TheShadow. He bought me into this den of lions, in my eyes at least. Very shortly after a bunch of people up and left and I was the only person still in there. Not wanting to abandon the Link Pearl, I stayed until someone came and gave me a pearl to the new Linkshell ACROSS. That person was Godofdeath. Probably the most cynical person I have ever met. I'm fairly sure his entire goal in life was to give me hell. Did a damn good job of it as well. In ACROSS I met the people that gave me the biggest impact of my gaming life. Theshadow was the leader with Ladymidnight (his wife) at his side. Of course there was Godofdeath giving everyone hell. We also had Nega, our tech junky, Nyiiyu, the one everyone hit on. Exodus, My brother, Yokorye, one of the respected leaders, and many others that I'm sure I have forgotten over the years.
It was in ACROSS I met one of my best friends that I have ever met. Toprob, my brother from another land. Still to this day I have never met someone that I shared so much in common with. We did everything together. Many hours of sleep were lost trying to keep up, but I always knew that Top would be with me every step of the way. This game was never the same for me after he left.
After joining many Linkshells throughout my travels(OnWingsofDragons, Aristocrats to name a few) I decided to start my own end game Linkshell. ShieldsofValor was born. My leaders were Toprob, Tetsuiga, Swordman, Nega, and myself. With the recruitment of Dannik, Allyrose,Yudaman, Sylnome, Miae, Gooky, Neojuggernaut, Tidus, Fahzewn, Fayrra, Orangecrush,Twist, Alfster, Lind, Jacinda, Dierdren and many others, we accomplished great things over the many years that we ran. The only thing that could stop us was the dreaded zones of Abyssea. Abyssea effectively killed ShieldsofValor as well as many other Linkshells. I don't know if people just didn't want to relearn the game or the fact that it made everything so easy that everyone was just in a mad rush to get all their items and didn't care about getting items for the team anymore. But in anyway, a few months after Abyssea came out, ShieldsofValor ended its reign.
My FFXI career carried on for a few more years. I finally finished the Aegis with help of Allyrose, Neojuggernaut, and countless other people. I'm sure that I will fail to mention tons of people just from the pure amount of people that have touched my life over the past 10 years, for that I apologize.
I will always hold fond memories of my adventures though Vana'diel. There were bad times, but there were a lot more good times. Every time I hear the songs of FFXI I still get chills. Dizzmal will now go to someone I hold in the utmost respect. Someone that when I first met he was a massive blurple Paladin, but grew into one of the most talented and skilled players I have ever know. He surpassed my own skill at Paladin and many other jobs over the years and I have never told him how proud I am of him. He knows who he is.
From the bottom of my heart I thank every one of you for our times together.
Sincerely,
Dizzmal the Paladin.
