Egg Hunt Egg-stravaganza 2015

The Bastok Eggsperiment (03/31/2015)

Greetings and serendipitous salutations, noble adventurers of Vana'diel. As the cold of winter withers away, new life springs forth. Yes, noble adventurers of Vana'diel, that time has finally, fruitfully come upon us. It's The Egg Hunt Egg-stravaganza, kupo!.

Once again, we moogles are cracking away at our desks, thinking up new rewards and keywords as we plan the and most anticipated, egg-straordinary, egg-related festival in all of Vana'diel.

Get ready as ovi-philes and normal people alike brace themselves for the dash to gather their initial eggs, kupo!

To shake things up this year we decided to scatter the combination hints throughout town, kupo.

We are all anticipating your most egg-cellent participation, kupo!

--

It was all that warm spring air that got him started.

Or at least that's what Reigrad later wrote in his diary.

"Meat... I could really go for some meat right now." And with that, Reigrad arranged that night to meet up with Haktor, his Galkan linkshell mate, at that inimitable Bastokan institution, the Steaming Sheep.

It was just past the gate that separates the residential district from the port businesses. As Reigrad hurried passed, trying hard to keep all of his saliva in his mouth, a figure suddenly materialized in front of him, sending Reigrad rolling sideways in surprise.

The figure stood there in the lamplight, dressed in the sort of aketon that seasoned adventurers often sport when in town. Reigrad's temper was never very long when hungry, and he growled and sent a kick into the figure's legs. "Oi, why don't ya look where yer going, ya fo-"

Reigrad's toes went numb as he curled up in pain. The figure did not react and made no sound. This, however, is not at all unusual for the mannequin, which stared back blankly at an astonished Reigrad.

"Well, you really showed him." chirped a smirking Haktor as he stuffed down another smoked sausage to keep himself from laughing. Reigrad sat there, still stunned. "It doesn't figure, Hak. Who sets up something like that late at night in the middle of the street? There's something smelly going on." "Forget it, Reigrad. I betcha it's just a prank." grunted Haktor between mouthfuls. "Ya don't reckon a corporeal disapparition experiment's gone awry at the Metalworks again?" Reigrad mused to himself, lost in thought as Haktor began blissfully working on his third sausage. There's no way old man Cid could be involved in this, could he? "Reigrad, I told you don't worry about it. Look, food." Haktor pushed a heaping plate under Reigrad's nose.

The meaty aromas must have finally had an effect as Reigrad straightened up, stomach growling. "Hak, I like the way ya think!" All the mog house moogles been serving nothing but omelettes that week. Reigrad buried his face in the plate.

"Hah! See? Eating makes you forget the bad things." chuckled Haktor. He then cocked his head slightly, still beaming. "Huh? Now who could that be at this hour?" Haktor reached for something in his dogi and pulled out a gleaming link pearl. "Hah, guess who?" It was Varaya, a white mage who often accompanied the pair on their adventures. "Says she's coming here."

Before the two friends had finished their plates, Varaya was sitting at the table, visibly restless. The three of them left the restaurant and began scouting the sleepy port district. Strangely enough, Reigrad wasn't the only one to kick a mannequin that night. Varaya had bumped into one a few moments earlier and was determined to get to the bottom of the "mannequin mystery", and then...

"I could have sworn when I bumped into it last night it wasn't wearing all of those clothes." It was the following evening. The three adventurers -- Reigrad, Haktor, and a dumbfounded Varaya pointing at the mannequin she had collided with earlier -- stood in front of the mog houses. "Why does only this one not have a... Look!" A hat, she meant to say before being distracted. All the other mannequins they had found were wearing hats.

"Quick, hide!" The three ducked behind some cover. From further down the street, white, fluttering shapes hovered into the dim light of the street. "Blimey, it was the moogles!" "Shhh! learn to whisper." Caught off guard by Varaya's scolding, Reigrad swallowed his retort and kept mum.

The moogles fanned down the street cautiously, sensing the air around them. One of them, carrying a large bag, came up to the mannequin and examining it, chuckled "With this egg-speriment complete, our work here is most definitely done, kupo." The moogle plunged into the bag and quickly re-emerged, clasping a hat in both hands. A moogle on lookout murmured impatiently "Hurry and put that on its head and let's get out of here, kupo!" The same moogle unfurled the large scroll it had been clutching like a standard. "Let me just check one last... what!? Who authorized such an obvious hint, kupo? Those brainless Gift-monger buffoons, kupo!"

"Gift-mongers!?" Reigrad blurted out reflexively. "Wh- who's there, kupo?" Their cover blown, the three adventurers emerged from their hiding place. "Are you moogles... from the M.H.M.U.?" Usually when strange new things appear in town, some plot by the Mog House Management Union is to blame. This time was no exception.

"So, what's a gift-monger?" What must have been the leader of the operation hovered forward into the light.

The moogle cleared its throat. "Young man, members of our M.H.M.U. Subcommittee invariably fall into two feuding factions: the Gift-mongers and the Puzzlers, kupo. The Gift-mongers just want to hand out freebies with as few complications as possible, kupo. We Puzzlers, on the other hand, appreciate the value of a well-crafted riddle. Unfortunately, all M.H.M.U. events are typically the ruinous result of heated, hectic debate between our two fumbling factions, kupo."

"Ah hah, Tomorrow is the Egg Hunt Egg-stravaganza, right?" Varaya beamed. "That's why all the mog houses have been serving eggs all week!"

Haktor broke his silence. "Well that makes sense. So what's this 'egg-speriment' got to do with these mannequins?" The head moogle looked up at Haktor and furrowed its brow. "As a Puzzler, I can say no more... Mog team, retreat, kupo!" And with that, the moogle threw some fireworks down at the adventurers feet, which were quickly enveloped in a swirl of bright sparkles that scurried around their legs like fiery mice. Before anyone could react the moogles were already darting away into the gloom. "Hey, wait!" "No self-respecting moogle waits on command, kupo..." The moogles' voices trailed off into the night.

"What was that about?" Varaya sighed, "It looks like we'll just have to wait till tomorrow's egg hunt to solve this mystery." "At any rate, I think we'd better get away from here right away." "Why do ya say that?" Haktor answered Reigrad with one finger pointed towards the still hatless mannequin. "Ran off without finishing their job, eh? Give me a break." A spring breeze carried a whiff of sea air over the residential district. It was nearly dawn. The three friends quickly left the scene to leave the moogles to their work, hoping to catch enough sleep for the egg hunt the next day.

Dear Reader, should you come across any event mannequins that are missing articles of clothing around town, it was probably the fault of some no-good adventurers who didn't know how to keep their noses out of others' affairs. Please don't blame the moogles.



Story: Miyabi Hasegawa Illustration: Mitsuhiro Arita

Event Schedule
The Egg Hunt event is set to begg-in on Thursday, April 2 at 1:00 p.m. (PDT), and egg-spire on Thursday, April 16 at the same hour.

Moogle Locations
For the duration of the festivities, event moogles will appear at the locations listed below. Talk to them for a briefing on how to go about getting the absolute most out of your egg-hunting endeavors.

Southern San d'Oria (J-9) / Northern San d'Oria (D-8)

Bastok Mines (H-9) / Bastok Markets (G-8)

Windurst Waters (north side) (F-5) / Windurst Woods (K-10)

New Combinations
This year's Egg Hunt will feature all new combinations and egg-ceptional prizes!



How to Play
1. Collect Initial Eggs! "Initial eggs" are eggs of avian persuasion that have been inscribed with a single letter of the alphabet. During the Egg Hunt, adventurers can receive a random initial egg from the festival moogles once every Vana'dielian day. Collecting and forming certain combinations of initial eggs will garner you event egg-sclusive prizes. Please note, however, that the letter inscribed on a particular egg will not be revealed to you until you receive it. Trading often with your fellow adventurers is the key to completing that elusive combination!

2. Make a "First 3" Combination! First of all, try collecting the initial eggs required to make a "First 3" combination. Once you have the eggs you need, trade them to a moogle to receive your prize!

First 3: Collect the first three letters of your character's name. For egg-xample, a character with the name of "Moogle" would need to collect one [M], and two [O] initial eggs.

3. Take it to the Next Level! Initial Straight 8: An egg inscribed with the first letter of your character's name followed by the next seven letters in the alphabet. For egg-sample, a character with the name of "Moogle" would need an [M], as well as an [N], [O], [P], [Q], [R], [S], and [T].

7 of a Kind: Seven initial eggs with the same letter. For egg-sample, you could choose to collect seven [A] initial eggs.

Hints
- If you are in a party when speaking with a moogle, it is possible to choose an initial egg inscribed with the first letter of a party member's name. And if that party member happens to be wearing an egg helm... - Try trading any type of "egg" to a moogle. Once every Vana'dielian day, you might find that the moogles will gift you with an initial egg in exchange for a "normal" egg. - Newly created characters must wait at least one Vana'dielian day before they can receive an initial egg. Furthermore, you'll have to trade in a "First 3" before you can trade in any other combos. Think of it as a sort of preliminary test! - The moogles are usually egg-stremely reluctant to give out any of their classified information, but maybe if you are persistent enough, one will let you in on a secret or two! Make it a point to talk to them as often as possible!

For those of you who are looking for a real challenge, try egg-sperimenting with different, more egg-citing combinations.

For the duration of the event, moogles have placed mannequins throughout the three nations. These provide important hints towards finding new combinations, so be sure to keep an eye out for them!



Unleashing Your "Egg Buffet"
Trade an egg locker, egg table, egg stool, and egg lamp to your resident moogle to have it assembled into an egg buffet. Similarly, trading an egg buffet will cause it to revert to the four aforementioned furnishings.

Seasonal Stall Locations Visit one of the festival stalls at a location below to purchase items related to the Egg Hunt.

Northern San d'Oria (D-8) Bastok Mines (H-9) Windurst Waters (north side) (G-10)