Here is my contribution to the Etrian Odyssey Mega-Contest. Hope you enjoy the read. Etrian Odyssey is a great game, but I have to say that I found the beginning to be the most engaging. I mean, you're naming your guild, you're making your party members, and then, you go down into the labyrinth for the first time. It's just the feeling that you don't know what to expect, that you're starting a new adventure, you know? So, I took the liberty of writing up a short story about this. Character descriptions below to hopefully avoid confusion.

Jerick
The Landsknecht, this red-headed leader was born and raised in the town of Lagaard. (This is intentional! Since I'm planning on picking up EO2, I'll probably have some character who's related to Jerick or something. Maybe a sibling, or a nephew/niece...someone related) One day, he got into a fight and his mom got scared, and said "You're moving with your aunt and uncle to Etria'. So he did. A brash, loud, egotistic, and outspoken kid, he always runs headfirst at FOEs with complete disregard for the safety of himself and his comrades, much to the annoyance of the Protector.

Lilia
The young, orange-haired Medic of the group is usually cheerful, kind, and a tad bit clumsy. She secretly does some weight lifting in her spare time so she's usually right on the front line of battle.

Damien
The brooding, red-eyed Alchemist. He refuses to speak of his past, but he is quite a good cook and the party often enjoy eating the things that he makes. When he was younger, he wanted to be a Troubadour but that didn't quite work out due to his lack of poetic talent, so he settled for being an Alchemist instead.

Ash
The white-haired, self conscious Dark Hunter. Well aware of the assumptions that people make about Dark Hunters, he spends much time trying to convince his fellow party members that he's not into bondage.

Nicole
The blonde Protector. She's quite calm and has a strong sense of justice. In her spare time, she does papercraft and has a huge collection of the stuff she made.

---

Jerick strode into the Guild Hall confidently, ready to take on the challenge of actually making a guild. Shivers of excitement went up and down his spine. This was what he dreamt about for years. Making a guild. His OWN guild. He had prepared for this momentous task, this huge occasion, the cornerstone of his life, ever since he was born. He hardly listened to whatever the guildmaster said. He was too busy thinking about his undoubtedly adventurous future.

"So, what's the name of your guild?" The guildmaster asked. Jerick froze. Name? What name? He had to name his own guild? Why didn't anybody tell him this? Jerick quickly ran through several names in his head and discarded them all after a second. None of them worked. "Jerick's Motley Crew of Adventurers" was too wordy. "Lumines" was a bit too cliche...plus, it sounded like an alchemist guild or something. Minutes passed as he stood there, staring blankly at the guildmaster. Finally, as if someone hit his head with an idea mallet, Jerick finally thought up an acceptable name.

"Um. Dainslef. Yeah. Dainslef!" Jerick said. He quickly looked down and scratched his head to disguise his embarrassment. 'Dainslef'. The name was just something he blurted out. In fact, he didn't even really know what it meant. Something told him that he was going to regret his choice of guild name later, but it was good for now. The guildmaster duly noted it down.

"Right, now that you've got the name...why don't you choose some party members to join your guild?"

"Party members..." Jerick opened a reference book that contained descriptions of the different classes that most people fell into. Survivalist. Landsknecht. Medic. Alchemist. Troubadour. Dark Hunter. Protector. There were two other entries, Hexer and Ronin, on the list, but the guildmaster informed him that, regretfully, there were no Hexers and Ronins available as of now. No matter. Jerick signed himself up as a landsknecht, since he loved being in the thick of battle, and took all of 2 minutes to decide upon his companions. Medic for healing, obviously, that's a must. Alchemist for dealing the magic. Dark Hunter because, personally, he thought that they were cool, with their whips and all. And Protector, because Jerick was not an idiot. He was well-aware of his tendency to rush into things. A Protector could provide some comfort to the other members of his party. Finally, he picked out a few random people from the roster of available adventurers, and smacked his quill down on the table.

"I'm done!" Jerick yelled, a huge smile of pure triumph plastered on his face. He did it, he made his own guild, he's going to make his mark upon the world, he's going to be rich and famous and cool and everybody's going to look up to him and-

"Not yet. You still have to arrange your party members." The smile on Jerick's face dropped. Sighing, Jerick picked up the quill pen once again...

A few hours later, after getting his...no, the guild's first mission from Radha Hall, Jerick met up with the members of his guild in the Rooster Inn. They were all milling about, not doing anything in particular. The Medic was tapping on the table, the Alchemist was drinking some water, the Dark Hunter was nervously coiling up and then uncoiling his whip, and the Protector was just sitting there, staring into thin air. Jerick frowned. He'll have to whip them into good shape for the dungeon exploration. He got up on a table and stomped his foot to get his guild's attention. The Inn's owner winced noticeably.

"ALRIGHT! We're going into the Labyrinth! I got our mission and everything!" Jerick took out a scroll from his knapsack, waving it. "We'll be mapping the first floor of the dungeon! We're ready, right? Ready? Ready?" He waited for someone to say something. "Let's go, then!"

"Wait, first, I have to tell you something!" The Dark Hunter said, holding his whip in a rather nervous manner. "Um...well...uh...I'm not into bondage!"

Silence.

"No one cares," The Alchemist said. His eyes, previously closed, were now open. "Let's go already."

The party descended to the first floor without incident. Jerick was hopping up and down, eagerly examining everything. The trees, the ground, the rocks, nothing escaped his watchful gaze. After all, finally, they were there. In the labyrinth. In the infamous Yggdrasil Labyrinth. Everything starts now. This is merely their momentous first step. A grinning Jerick turned around and faced his party.

"This," He proclaimed, "Is the beginning of our future!" He waited for applause. There was none. The Medic merely looked quizzical, the Alchemist rolled his eyes, and the Dark Hunter gave Jerick a weak smile.

The Protector closed her eyes and sighed, feeling despair at the present condition of the party. "We didn't even introduce ourselves to each other yet..."

And so, the adventures of the guild Dainslef began.