Etrian Odyssey: A low-Fafnir snack!

In the far north, deep in the mountains, the Grand Duchy of High Lagaard rests in the shade of a colossal, sacred tree. This holy tree, revered by the people, is called Yggdrasil. Legend tells that the tree is connected to an unseen castle in the sky. Then, one day, the people of High Lagaard discovered a mysterious labyrinth within the legendary tree, filled with monsters! The ruling Duke issued a formal decree to investigate the labyrinth, and to discover the truth behind the fabled floating castle. The legend of the castle and the news of the mysterious Labyrinth drew many explorers from all over the continent. ...But though countless hopefuls tried, none could conquer the Labyrinth, and its depths remained shrouded in mystery. ...You are yet another among the legions of explorers arriving at the Grand Duchy of High Lagaard, after hearing the legends. Your quest is to reach the floating castle and find your fame and fortune within the vast Labyrinth. The city of Lagaard awaits!

The first step our yet-unnamed heroes must take is to register at the Explorers Guild. There, they meet Guildmaster Marion, a heavily-armored woman with a sweet sword.

"Hm...? I've never seen you before. You've come to explore the Labyrinth, I assume? If you wish to become an explorer, you must first establish a guild. A guild exists as a group of comrades that aid each other through the perilous Labyrinth. So how about it, explorers...? Well, it's the first day of the new year. Shall we commemorate it with a new guild?"

The leader nods. "Of course."
After a short period of deliberation, the soon-to-be guild agrees on a name: "True Butt." Marion brushes it off as foreign tongue, and the newbie explorers register themselves one by one: the Ronin Erza, the Protector Victoria and her Gunner sister Amelia, James, prince of an unspecified kingdom far, far away, and their leader, the Highlander Hyacinthe. The Guildmaster instructs them to visit the Duke's Palace before they head into the Labyrinth. They decide to familiarize themselves with the city, starting with the Flaus Inn. The Innkeeper is an older woman with a big smile who introduces herself as Hanna.

She talks for a bit, and then Charles, the guy secretly controlling everyone decides to save there. Phew.

(I skipped through Hanna's dialogue btw. sorry, force of habit)
At the Inn, the party can save their progress and sleep till either morning or evening.  

Next up is Sitoth Trading, where they're greeted by a young girl.  

"Welcome!  Oh, pardon me... I don't think we've met.  My name is Abigail.  It's nice to meet you.  This is my father's shop.  He makes the equipment in the back, and I sell them up front.  I'm just an assistant here, but I'm always on the job.  Don't forget about me!"  
Sitoth Trading is where weapons, equipment and items can be bought.  Materials found in the Labyrinth can be sold here, which increases the selection of goods that can be purchased.  True Butt buys some weapons and armor with the measly 500 ental to their names, despite having a friggin' prince among their number.  Guess his country is pretty poor, huh?

Afterwards, they check out the Stickleback Bar and leader-of-the-bunch Hyacinthe is met by a large man.  

"Haven't seen yeh before... S'pose yeh're an explorer, come to see the Labyrinth.  The name's Cass.  I'm the owner of this place, the Stickleback Bar.  So yeh're a newbie, right...?  Then yeh're in the wrong place!  Go talk to the bigwigs at the Duke's Palace first.  That's the rules for yer type!  Whaddaya doing, just standing there?  Hurry up and get to the Duke's Palace!"

They comply and head straight for the Palace and meet with Mister Bones a bearded old man.

"I bid you welcome to the Grand Duchy of High Lagaard.  Within this palace, the Duke himself presides over our fair nation.  I am Minister Dubois, vassal to esteemed Duke.  I am charged with the governance of High Lagaard.  My duties range from managing civic affairs to overseeing the explorers that investigate the Labyrinth.  You are, I see, another band of hopeful explorers come to make your mark in the forest... However, only official citizens of Lagaard are allowed past the Labyrinth's 1st floor."  He tells them that they need to pass a test in order to gain citizenship.  After officially becoming citizens, should they find the floating castle, they'll be heavily rewarded, and should they so choose, ennobled.  

The test is to map out a portion of the 1st floor and bring back a token from within a treasure box and report back.  He hands them the map...
"Take this parchment.  It is blank now... but someday you will fill it with the Labyrinth's secrets."  
They at last depart for the Labyrinth within Yggdrasil.  Inside, they are met with a lush, sunlit forest filled with stone pillars.  

A Duchy guardsman approaches the party, having been informed of their arrival.  He points to a path east of where they stand, telling them that their trial begins there.  He marks the location of the treasure box on their map and tells them to map the area to the east thoroughly.  He hands them five medicas and sees them off.  True Butt's adventure has begun!

After someone levels up, they'll receive a skill point, which can be used to learn or power up skills and passive abilities.  Everyone starts out with three, all of which Charles the Controller has invested into each character's Mastery, which most of their skills are tied to.  

The first monsters they encounter are a snail and hedgehog, which they dispatch quickly.  Ezra notices a whip tangled in a tree branch.  Fearless leader Hyacinthe climbs up the tree to retrieve it.  She has little luck with untangling it and decides to cut the branch off instead.  The noise the branch makes as it hits the ground alerts a pair of snails, which ambush the party!  After slaying them, everyone decides to be more careful in the Labyrinth and takes the whip with them, branch and all.  

Their next discovery is a patch of vibrant flowers, with something shining in the middle.  The party attempts to investigate only to receive a face full of pollen!  Victoria accidentally inhales it and enters a sneezing fit.  After she stops sneezing, they realize the object was a phial of medicine, which they take with them.  

True Butt eventually stumble upon a stream full of nice, clear water and take a sip, which helps replenish their stamina.  They note it down on the map for future reference.  

They also find a taking point, where they can gather materials once a day.  

After several skirmishes with snails, hedgehogs and moles, they eventually find the treasure box they're looking for.  Within is a wooden plate with the High Lagaardian seal on it.  They've found the token!  Now they just gotta finish the map...

Suddenly, an eerie cry breaks up their little celebration!  Swerving around, they see a huge deer nearby!  

Spoiler:

It radiates an aura of power.  Surely picking a fight with it at this point would be suicide!  Thankfully, it doesn't seem interested in our heroes right now.

This is an FOE, a powerful enemy that appears in the overworld rather than just in-battle.  It's recommended that they be avoided when first encountered.  

Slipping past the deer, they head back for the entrance, completed map in hand.  Along the way are two more deer like it, which they likewise avoid.  They stop at the clearing near the exit and meet back up with the guard.  Hyacinthe shows him the token and their map.  He walks back to town and instructs them to report to Minister Dubois.  

At the palace, Dubois names them both explorers and citizens of High Lagaard.
"I expect great things from you from here on out, members of True Butt."  He issues them their citizenship card and gives them a monetary reward for completing their mission, 500 en.  

Back at Sitoth Trading, Abigail informs them that now that they're citizens, they're now allowed to purchase Escape Ropes Ariadne Threads.  
After buying new weapons, they decide to check out the Stickleback Bar, now that they're official explorers.  Cass welcomes them back and shows them the request board, where people all over town post quests for adventurers to take.
"Usually, it's stuff like, 'Go get this thing,' or 'Defeat that monster.'  Pretty damn lazy bunch, if yeh ask me... But the reward is usually worth the trouble."
They accept a trio of easy-peasy quests.
A restaurant owner needs more mineral water, hint-hint.  
A leatherworker needs three hedgehog needles to sew with.
Sitoth Trading needs materials for armor they're developing, specifically from Forest Snails and Crawlers.  
They spend the night at the Flaus Inn before entering the Labyrinth to complete the quests, now able to take a path to the west of the initial clearing.  And the adventure continues...

Charles wrote:

Spoiler:

jokool wrote:

Charles wrote:

Spoiler:

Yeah, Arianna's pretty cute. Too bad for you she's not in this mode, though. >:D

jokool wrote:We haven't even seen any pics of the party members yet, so it's not like it's a big deal or anything.

Story party or our party?

Yeah to be honest I expected more pictures, but if this is how you want to do it, then I ain't going to complain. It is good descriptive writing.

Charles wrote:

jokool wrote:We haven't even seen any pics of the party members yet, so it's not like it's a big deal or anything.

Story party or our party?  

Any party. But:

Truthseeker4449 wrote:Yeah to be honest I expected more pictures, but if this is how you want to do it, then I ain't going to complain. It is good descriptive writing.

to this. Excellent writing so far!

I was also wondering if we could maybe get a picture of an unfinished map. I'm very curious as to how one goes about making their map.

But otherwise, this is hilarious! XD True Butts best team.

I'll be sure to include more pictures from now on, and maybe some music.  Starting with...

Spoiler:

Feedback is appreciated.  I've been considering including short-ish segments where the party reacts to their surroundings and talk with each other.  Yea or nay?  

Map of 1F.  The party had to map columns 5 and 6, minus that area at the bottom  I have the auto-map on (maps tiles I step on and adjacent walls) but I'm using my map data from another file to expedite things.

Coolio. And I vote yea. All the yeas!

Charles wrote:Feedback is appreciated.  I've been considering including short-ish segments where the party reacts to their surroundings and talk with each other.  Yea or nay? 

Yea.

I vote yea as well. Sounds interesting! Love to see it.

Also, loving the soundtrack!

"How are we ever gonna find a way to that castle in this big-ass tree?" Amelia grumbled, a few yards behind the rest.  She'd been pressured by her sister Victoria to become an explorer alongside her, with no personal desire to explore the Labyrinth.  She spotted a hedgehog hiding out in the thicket and blew it to kingdom come with Fire Rounds.  
"Rat Needles, huh?" she inspected the creature's corpse and plucked a needle off its back.  Stowing it away, she turned to catch up with the others.  

---

At a dead end, the party spots another hedgehog with its quills stuck in some tree roots.  Against her better judgement, Hyacinthe bends down to pull it out.  It frantically thrashes and scratches her face, but she remains undeterred and manages to free it.  The hedgehog scurries away and the party resumes their exploration.  

They soon find a door with a strange seal on it, near an area choked with deer.  

---

Erza kicked the door yet again.  "Nothing."  They had been trying for a solid 15 minutes to get the door open, but with little success.  
"Perhaps it's sealed shut by some mystical force?" James suggested.
"Pfft, like magic?!  You ever heard of a magic door?  'Cause I haven't.  This thing's probably bolted shut from the other side."
The prince rolled his eyes.  "Look around us.  We're in a forest inside a tree.  It's somehow as bright and sunny in here as it is outside.  Explain that!"  
Before Erza could respond, Hyacinthe spoke up.  "Alright, everyone, we'll mark this door down on the map, and if we figure out how to open it, we'll come back."

---

Narrowly avoiding the deer, they discover a shortcut back to the entrance near a set of stairs upwards.  Realizing they have all the necessary materials for the quests, they visit the stream they found before to retrieve some water before returning to town.  

They sell the Carapace Pieces and Small Nails at Sitoth Trading, and Abigail shows them their new product: a shield called a Targe.  

At the Stickleback, they turn in their quests, receiving Analysis Scopes (adds an enemy to the Codex), Nectar (revives a fallen party member), and a Targe.  Victoria immediately equips it.  
There, they notice a Dark Hunter in the bar who's sulking 'cause he's lost his whip and can't find another that feels right.  Hyacinthe shows him the whip they found, still tangled in the branch.  At first he's confused as to why she'd show him a branch, but then he realizes that it's the one he lost!  Grateful for them returning his whip, he gives them a fancier one that he'd bought.

They stay the night at the Inn before heading back out to explore the next floor. What new experiences await them? Hopefully not some FUCKING DINOSAURS.