Well, the holidays are upon us, and a new event has been added to Final Fantasy XI: The Starlight Celebration. But how do you do it, and what prizes can you get? Well, read on to find out...



The Starlight Celebration introduces us to the "Smilebringers" (think Santa Claus) who bring the children of Vana Diel gifts. You can help these Smilebringers by handing out gifts yourself. As you hand out gifts, the level of joy you have brought to Vana Diel raises.



Each of the 3 main nations has a Smilebringer.

• BASTOK: Christina - Bastok Mines near the Chocobo Stables
• WINDY: Atagei-Portagei - Windurst Waters (Upper) F-5 near zone to West Sarutabaruta
• SANDY: Charmalaut - North San d'Oria D-8 near zone to West Ronfaure

In addition to the Smilebringers, there are Moogles in each nation that 1) Watch the Smilebringers to be sure they don't "hurt the children" (whatever) 2) Tell you your "Joy" level 3) Warp you to other kingdoms once your Joy level is high enough. The Sandy Moogle is located near the Southern Sandy AH. The Bastok Moogle is located near the fountain in Bastok Markets. The Windy Moogle is located near the exit to East Sarutabaruta.



Finally, there are 3 merchants who are responsible for the decorations you see in each of the nations.

• BASTOK : Tree Talker - Port Bastok near zone to North Gustaberg
• WINDY : Rhi Perejha - Port Windurst near zone to West Sarutabaruta
• SANDY : Farmaoquaix - Port San d'Oria near the Airship entrance

Part 1: The Dream Hat

The first thing you need to get to start the whole proceedings is your Dream Hat. Talk to the Moogle in your area to learn about the Smilebringers. The Moogle will tell you that there are 3 children in town who have letters for the Smilebringers. The Moogle will also tell you which parts of town the children are located in.



Go to each part of town that the Moogle mentionned and talk to ALL of the children until you have obtained 3 letters. Pay special attention to which letter came from which child.



When you have all 3 letters, take them to your region's Smilebringer and trade them all at once. The Smilebringer will quiz you on which child gave which letter, so be sure to remember!



After you are done, the Smilebringer will give you a "Dream Hat". The Dream Hat is necessary later on.



One bit of advice: You only need to do this quest once, and you can do it in your nation of choice. Personally, I would recommend any nation other than Windhurst. The reason for this is because many Windhurst children are Tarus. And figuring out which Taru is a child and which is an adult can become maddenning.

Part 2: The Trees!

The next thing to do is to collect the Trees from the merchants in the area. This one is really easy: Just talk to the local merchant (listed above) and fetch them items they need. The one catch is you have a time limit!



When you talk to the merchant, they will say something about how busy they are and ask you to help them. They tell you to run to the Market Moogle at a nearby Residential Area, get some sort of supply, and run back. Generally speaking, you do not have much time to do this. That means that you shouldn't dilly-dally. Run there as fast as you can, and run back. If you go over in time the merchant will send you even farther away the next time.



When you are done, you will be given a tree specific to your region. This tree is a furniture item.



You can also warp to the other kingdoms using the Moogle and obtain a tree from each nation.



One note about the trees: When placed in your Mog House by themselves they give a Gardenning Moghancement. In case you didn't already know, very few things give this Moghancement. Thus, if you've ever wanted to try gardenning, there's no better time than the present.



These trees can also be sold in bazaars. Because they provide Gardenning Moghancement, expect their prices to skyrocket after this whole Starlight Celebration is over.

Part 3: Dream Hat +1

The final thing to get is the Dream Hat +1. This is a special enhanced version of the normal dream hat that dispenses Ginger Cookies (mage food, gives +10 MP). Before you begin, place at least one tree in your mog house.



While wearing the Dream Hat, talk to the Smilebringer in your area. They will give you a gift. Take that gift, and give it to a child NPC in the area. The Smilebringer will give you a new free gift every hour, or you could also buy gifts from them to give to children.



As you give gifts to the children, your "Joy" level raises. You can check your "Joy" level by talking to the Moogles in town.



When you have reached the "caravans of joy" level, the next morning your Moogle will find a present under your tree in your mog house. When you open the present, you will be given a Dream Hat +1.



Note: When you open the present a really neat firework display will occur. I suggest doing it in a group of people (I did mine near the Moogle in town just to show off ;-)

After the Dream Hat +1

There is some talk that there is something after the +1 Dream Hat. Some people have suggested some sort of tapestry for your home (though they may be getting that mixed up with the new post-patch tapestry quest), others have suggested a Dream Hat +2 (usually where there is a +1, there is a +2).



However, the only thing I have found is that you can do increasingly difficult races for the Tree merchant. The prizes you get from these seem to be various fireworks.



Has anyone else seen or done anything beyond that?