GamerEscape

Perhaps you remember, gentle reader, the façade that was the Moonfire Faire? This festival was fabricated for the purpose of drafting gullible adventurers into the ranks of an emergency Bombard-banishing squad. The explosive intruders appeared the very same night that meteors fell to earth across Eorzea, and it was only the intervention of said adventurers that protected our cities from indiscriminate incineration. Such a positive outcome is also the only reason the festival was not more widely condemned for its underhanded recruitment practices.

And now it appears that the Moonfire Faire will soon be upon us once more. I have heard an increasing number of tales that speak of Bombards rising in all their smoldering horror from nothing but ashes—ashes that escaped the bleary gaze of faire workers during the aftermath of the previous invasion. According to reputed scholars, an extraordinary surge in the strength of elemental fire is again responsible for the disruption to the aether’s natural balance. In the end, however, the cause matters little. What concerns us now are the massive incendiary invaders poised just beyond our walls.

But now that the innocent mask of the Moonfire Faire has been stripped away, who in full possession of their mental faculties would willingly volunteer for Bombard battle duty? I would fault none for such despairing thoughts, but the Adventurers’ Guild was ever an organization with a card or three hidden up its collective sleeve. It appears the resourceful members of the guild have obtained a shipment of rare garments from the mystic East, and intend to hand them out to any soul brave enough to stand on the front lines of our defenses. Thus do they appeal to an adventurer’s unquenchable lust for the exotic, as well as the inherent good nature of our would-be saviors.

This year, I urge you to embrace the faire. Everywhere I turn, I see fear and uncertainty etched on the faces of ordinary folk as the Garlean Empire marshals its forces to overwhelm Eorzea. A dose of Moonfire frivolity mixed with a dash of monster-mashing madness may be just the elixir we need to uplift our floundering spirits.

Yumah Molkot

Monday, July 30, 2012, at 1:00 a.m. – Monday, August 13, 2012, at 7:59 a.m. (PDT)

Speak to any of the Moonfire Faire chaperones, who will appear in each of the three city-states.