Meeps writes: Etrian Odyssey Redux

[MeltingPenguins]

As I threatened you already with writing a version of EO1/U that works without the highlander and without plotholes (okay, I hope I don't manage to put new ones in) here you go with the prologue: (be warned, this is entirely unbetaed, so contents might change. apologies)

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Prologue: Meeting, Greeting, No eating

“If that sentence’s gonna end with ‘too innocent’ I’ll make you choke on your words.”
With a huff the young, white-haired man, a Dark Hunter named Elva, sat back and pulled his cloak tighter around him as he watched the other patrons in the bar come and go, he himself side-eyeing the people sitting at the table in the corner with him.
He knew only one of them, actually. The blonde woman with constantly downcast eyes and a shy, but warm smile. She was a Medic, her name was Zoya, and they had known each for several years now. Good enough to decide to follow the call to the remote town of Etria together, to uncover the secrets of the underground labyrinth just outside the city. It was the most curious thing, they had thought, and decided to give it a try.
When they had come to their senses, realising what they were doing and that it would all too easily cost them their lives, they were already too far away from home to turn around and come back empty handed.
So here they were. They had looked around the town a little, talked to a few people, and then, in a struck of luck, or bad luck, depending how you look at it, ran into some others who regretted coming here as much as they did.
One of them was a bulky Protector named Julmuri, a mountain of a man, twice as high as wide, probably all of it muscles. He was unsettling, seeing he also rarely spoke. Elva had mused that the air just takes too long from his lungs the his throat to use it regularly for more than grumbling and murmuring.
The other man of the three they’ve found was a lithe, dark haired Landsknecht named Eoh, who seemed to make up for his comrades grumpiness.
The last member of the group was a dark-skinned Troubadour named Naia, about the same size as Zoya, but much livelier and intriguing than the quiet medic.
In total, that made their group add up to five. Enough to form a guild (which they had called Baliza, which, according to Naia meant beacon in an old language) to tackle the labyrinth. Though they now had a guild, there still wasn’t much they could do yet. Not before they’d finish an initiation mission given out by the town’s council, the Radha.
They hadn’t gotten said mission yet, so they had to wait. Oh, they had been at Radha Hall, but had been sent away for some reason, getting told to come back later. So they decided to spent the time at the biggest local tavern, The Golden Deer, drinking, and getting to actually know each other a little.
Right now they were bickering, with Eoh commenting on how Elva does not come across as one of the infamous Dark Hunters.
“Sorry”, the Landsknecht cackled, after Elva had cut him off and huffed. “It’s just...”
“I know,” Elva glowered and clutched his keg, before downing the liquid.
“What d’you think’s keeping them?” said Naia, looking at the door again.
“Who?” asked Eoh, his eyes following the troubadour’s gaze.
“All of them,” said Naia, and tilted her head a little, flicking her long ponytail back. “The Radha, our food.”
At least one part of the question was answered when a guard suddenly came in, had a brief exchange the Valerie, the barmaid, who pointed over at the group. Instantly all five of them lowered their drinks, and craned their heads, silently. As did some other patrons, because while it wasn’t uncommon that the city’s guards brought in requests from the Radha, them actively looking for a specific person or group was rather new.
“You are the Baliza guild?”, the guard asked, the very moment he stood near their table in the corner.
They nodded.
“Come with me”, his tone made clear that there wouldn’t be much of a choice. Not that the guild would have denied, anyway. “The Radha wishes to speak with you.”

Several minutes of paying the drinks and walked across the town’s plaza, some mumbling about wasted food, and more walking, the guild stood within the sacred halls of the town’s council, having been asked to wait here and not to touch anything.
“My apologies for keeping you waiting,” greeted a ginger-haired man the group already knew as Quinn. He was something like the link between the council and the adventurers coming to the Hall in order to fulfill missions for the town in the depths of the Labyrinth.
The guild nodded. There was no one else here, except for some of the people working here buzzing back and forth in the corridors.
“I have summoned you here as I wish to hand a slightly odd request to you”, Quinn continued, and nodded at one of the guards, who left.
“If I recall it correctly, you have just recently formed your guild and have not yet done the traditional initiation mission. Now, due to certain circumstances, we have a situation that, albeit it’s not the traditional task, should prove your skills and worth equally.”
As the subaltern had finished, the guard returned with a young red haired woman in armor, who nodded a friendly greeting at the group.
“This is Lady Raquna Sheldon,” Quinn introduced the female Protector, “She’s a member of the Midgard Library Research Institute and had recently visited our city. Lady Raquna, if you’d like to explain the matter at hand.”
The woman nodded, and grinned at the group.
“We came here to see about some odds and ends ‘bout the labyrinth. Didn’t find much interesting, but now one of our group went back there alone and hasn’t come back yet. Can be a bit of a scatterbrain at time, so, he probably managed to get lost on the first floor. Don’t think he got himself into trouble. Now, thing is our ship is leaving en route home later the day, so… The subaltern,” she pointed her thumb at Quinn, “told me you’re wanting to do the initiation mission, and, we thought, eh, why not send them and drag Simon back?”
“Would you accept this request?”, Quinn asked, once the woman had finished.
The guild looked at each other, no one saying anything, not counting a wide range of facial expressions, before Eoh answered.
“We gladly accept,” he said, bowing.
“No need to bow like that,” laughed the woman, and leaned closer to the Landsknecht. “Just one thing. Do me a favour and kick his butt for not telling us why he went into the maze all by himself, eh?”
Eoh blinked, and then nodded, a little awkwardly.
“As you wish.”

[Dangerus]

Ha! What I really want to see now is more hints on Quinn's insidious side.

So far, your characters are more diverse than in EOU. Even EOU2.

Though, it would be nice if there was a rival guild. Possibly like Ren and Tchlatga, except not as threatening?

[MeltingPenguins]

[Dangerus]

[MeltingPenguins]

Chapter One: There and back again with more people than you started out with

[Dangerus]

I read all of Simon's lines with Simon's voice.

[MeltingPenguins]

[Dangerus]

[MeltingPenguins]

[Dangerus]

[MeltingPenguins]

There's no spot for him.

[Dangerus]

[MeltingPenguins]

Okay, direct question:
Shall i actually continue writing this, people?

[Dangerus]

[MeltingPenguins]

I want, but it'd be pointless if no one wants to read it.