The following is what the old leader of CrimsonGuards, Sweetpee, dreamed of what our Linkshell could be about and do, and I still think that we can still accomplish this if we try:

The Crimson Guards began in February 2004 as an orange Linkshell known as FantasyQuesters. This linkshell was ran by Subbie (my other character) and when I started I didn’t expect it to grow as fast as it did. Within a month there were over 100 members. I knew immediately I would have to keep a tight rope on this group if I wanted it to be successful. 1 by 1 we weeded out the trouble makers and kept the people interested in helping others and working together. We still had quite a large group. Unfortunately, I didn’t really want Subbie to be my main character considering Sweetpee was already a level 36 White Mage. So somehow I needed to get this group reorganized into a linkshell controlled by Sweetpee.

Surprisingly enough the transition went beautifully. In May, The Fantasy Questers turned in their orange shells to receive red ones... The Crimson Guards.

We have learned over time that it's not the quantity of players in our shell that is important but the quality. And even though I may be partial, I feel I have some of the best damn players on Alexander in my linkshell.

We stand for chivalry, aid, peace, love, hope, and encouragement.

We are not warmongers although quite a few have (Kamunt's Note: now had) vowed to take down the Crimson Guards. And when such situations arises, we will not stand for it. We will fight for our honor and prevail.

As I continue to mold the Crimson Guards, I envision things such as the CG raising someone killed in battle without asking for repayment. I envision things such as healing a wounded knight in battle who is fighting on his last leg. I envision things such as a full alliance of red shells taking out the mightiest of Notorious Monsters.... together. I see a place where people who have cycled through linkshells and still can not find a good one.. can come and find solace. We have never turned away anyone from the linkshell. Although once you are in the linkshell, if you are disrespectful, crude and obnoxious may find yourself looking for another one.

I have been blamed for taking the game too seriously. And maybe that is so. But in doing so I have made quite a few really good friends that have even trickled into becoming real life friends. But what they don’t see are the many laughs we have had, the tears we've shed together, the battles we've won. The struggles we have overcome. And if their only complaint is that I take the game too seriously... then so be it.

Many times I am asked about why I allow so many people into my linkshell. This is why. I know as you get up into the harder levels it is near impossible to find a party. But the way I see it. If we have enough people in our linkshell we have to look no further than our own linkshell to find the party or alliance that we need. Of course this isn’t a hurried process because we want only people who work well together. So by trial and error we weed through the Knights and Mages of Vana’diel to find the best.

This concludes my vision for the Crimson Guards. Hopefully if you read this and this sounds like something you wish to be apart of, you will come join us.

And now, the rest of the CG story.

In mid-October 2004, people started complaining about how they couldn’t find a lot of help on the LS anymore.  This was most likely because of the fact that our leader, Sweetpee, had gone back to college in September, and thus had an extremely limited amount of time for FFXI.  People were asking for help, and no one was listening to them.  From October through early January, our numbers slowly decreased (most of them weren’t just leaving CG, they were quitting FFXI altogether) because people were basically only willing to listen to Sweetpee.  They relied too much on her leadership and not enough on each other.

So in mid-January, one Saturday night, some of the higher-up people in the LS decided that they should move to a new LS so that they could see where they were going to go “without Sweetpee”.  Needless to say, when Sweetpee found out about the meeting the following Sunday where about 80% of our best members left CG to go to a new LS owned by Wulfgar called OdinsWrath, she was furious, crying, confused, enraged, and shocked, among other emotions.  The following Monday she held a mandatory LS meeting for all members of CG that were still loyal to her.  About 30 members showed up, including me.  Sweetpee declared that we needed to be stronger than ever to keep this LS together, and we all knew it.

About three weeks after the meeting, we decided that we needed to recruit new members to our LS to keep it alive.  We were going to start in Bastok and go to San d’Oria, but  when we got to the Valkurm Dunes, we found at least ten new members there alone.  Plus it was getting late, so people had to go, so we decided to just stay in the Dunes for the rest of the time.  It was there that we recruited most of TCG’s current leaders.

And about a month after this event, sometime in the middle of February 2005, Sweetpee set up an urgent, mandatory meeting for CG.  She said that this event would decide the future of CG...boy, was she ever right.  When we all got there (about 20-25 of us made it), everything seemed normal...until Sweetpee started the meeting.  She was quitting Final Fantasy XI and moving over to World of Warcraft, another MMORPG, where most of her real life family already were.  We were destroyed.  Some of the newer members had absolutely no idea what was going on, and the older members were all hit the hardest.

However, just because our leader was leaving FFXI didn’t mean that CrimsonGuards’ legacy had to end.  After putting much time and thought into the idea, she had decided who she wanted to lead the New CrimsonGuards—me.  I was now more shocked than ever, but filled with excitement at the same time.  I wanted an opportunity to be of  some use to the LS:  I got it, and boy, am I getting a lot of use.  It’s a lot more difficult to run an LS than it seems.  You have to lay down ground rules, recruitment policies, plan events, and be on often enough to make a difference.

I still believe that we can make Sweetpee’s dream come true.  However, if we are going to make this happen, we need the help of everyone that’s a part of TheCrimson-Guards to do their best.  That includes turning down long-awaited party invites if someone needs help with unlocking an advanced job, crafting an item for someone who needs it, helping farm a coffer key, etc.  There was a Static Party that had been set up entirely by members within the LS without my help.  If this doesn’t show how good our LS works together, then I don’t know what does.

There have been many great events that have been planned that have not been successful because of a lack of membership.  If we had even just 10 more solid members, it would be worth it because we could get so much more done.  Think about it—you join the LS, you help us grow, we help you do stuff.  It’s a win-win situation here.  Plus, as Sweetpee said, we still have great people on our LS who aren’t obsessed with getting to the top in a month.  Getting to the top takes a lot of time, and we will be here to help you, should you need it (which you most likely will  ).

So, if after reading this rather long “essay”, you would still be interested in joining the ranks of TCG, check the contact list on the homepage to get it on the action.  And just for the record, it’s perfectly OK if you have other LSs.  TCG doesn’t have to be your main LS for you to be a part of us.

Happy adventuring from all of us in TheCrimsonGuards linkshell on Alexander!

--Kamunt, Leader of TheCrimsonGuards Linkshell