Chapter 1: the onset
A/N: This started as a little something that just sorta popped into my head while relaxing in a hotel room in Brussels. Said idea + free notepad = this, somehow.
Disclaimer: i have to do this, so i'll let you know that i own nothing.
Even as she stood before the city she had searched for so long, it did not seem that impressive. It made sense, she thought. Etria was quite a ways out there in the country, so why would it be a big place? Nevertheless, Skye hoisted her shield up, and passed through the gate onto Verda Plaza. Looking around, she saw what one might expect from a town in the province: A tavern, that seemed like it was well used, a bar that was full of patrons even at this hour, and… an apothecary? She had not expected an apothecary in a place like this. Shaking off the shock, her eyes were drawn to a small building nestled between a large, official looking building, probably where the government resided, and the bar. It did not seem out of place, it was just… unique.
"Explorer's guild, huh? Guess i came to the right place then."
She mused, stepping into the darkness of the front room. The first thing she noticed was the grizzled man sitting at a desk in the middle of the room. He was busily filling out papers, most likely forms for registering new adventurers. Even though the mysteries of the labyrinth had all been solved a few years ago by a guild known as Thelos, the explorers did not stop coming. All around the room were benches and tables, around which many people were busily talking among themselves. Skye walked up to the desk, but the man behind it seemed to not care. she cleared her throat, still not eliciting any response.
"Excuse me, i'm here to make a guild." She said aloud, at which the man looked up from his papers.
"There, that's better. You want something, you say it."
Skye recoiled slightly at the man's attitude, but figured that this was probably a common occurrence. He withdrew a large box from underneath the table, and took out a scroll of parchment, which he handed to her. The protector took the scroll and unwrapped it, giving it a quick look over. The guildmaster spoke up again.
"Fill that out, and you're just about ready. After that, go have a chat with some of the folks in here, they're all searching for a guild."
Skye grabbed a quill, and sat on a nearby chair. She quickly chose the name "Skyvalor". She had pondered a name for a while, as she traveled, but never arrived at a conclusion. Now, she couldn't think of anything better, so she decided to just go with it. The scroll also contained a lot of questions that seemed rather pointless, but probably had hidden points to them. Filling everything out as best she could, she rolled up the scroll again, and gave it back to the guildmaster. He gave it a quick scan, and nodded. Skye was confused. Was that it? Could she hire adventurers now? Deciding to simply try it out, she walked up to a table that had two people standing at it. One was a man, probably no more than twenty-five, with jet black hair and a sword, the other, a blonde woman, hardly more than 20, bearing glasses and a staff . The pair looked the protector over, before the man spoke
"What do you want? Got a guild or something?"
The woman quickly stopped him with a kick on the shin, making him jump slightly.
"Excuse my brother, he's a bit of a hothead. Can i help you with something?"
Skye gave the man a slight look of concern before replying
"Yes, I was wondering if you'd be interested in joining a guild? General exploration, no real rhyme or reason to it."
The woman adjusted her glasses slightly, giving Skye a suspicious look.
"I-Is there a catch to it?" She seemed nervous, and was fidgeting slightly.
"No, not at all! I just need some adventurers who are willing to go all the way down. Eventually, of course."
The protector really hoped that hadn't been the wrong thing to say, and her heart was eased when the woman smiled at her.
"Well, you don't seem like a bad kind of person, I guess we can join you. What do you think, Logan?"
The young man, apparently named Logan, thought for a moment before responding.
"Yeah, this is definitely the simplest offer we've had in a while. We'll help."
The pair walked up to the front desk, and spoke with the master for a while. Eventually, he pulled out two papers, and wrote something, before rolling them, and applying a wax seal. He gave the adventurers one scroll each, before waving them away. A moment later, they came back to the table, both smiling.
"So, let's get introduced" the young woman said. "I'm Angel, a medic. I'm not that strong, but if you're planning to go delving for any extended period of time, you'll want to have my healing skills. That's Logan, he's a landsknecht. All he does is hit things."
The young man gave a startled cry, clearly offended at his sister's statement. "Hey! there's real technique behind being a swordsman!"
He pouted. Skye chuckled at the siblings, before introducing herself. The group spoke for a while, before agreeing to split up. Angel and Logan would go get a room at the inn, while Skye searched for two more members to make a full team.
After going from table to table for a while without finding any decent-seeming adventurers, she gave up and left the Explorer's Guild. As she was walking out the door, she walked straight into a Young man, with wild blonde hair and a giant metal gauntlet.
"Hey, watch where you're going!" He shouted.
"Oh, i'm sorry, i hadn't seen you." The man was very short, so she could have easily missed him.
"Whatever, but please let me through, i have to find a guild." Skye looked the strange man over, before questioning him.
"Well, i have a guild, if you're interested. General exploration." The blonde thought for a second, before replying.
"If you're willing to go all the way down, sure, i'll join." The protector giggled at his enthusiasm.
"That's kinda the point. But first, tell me a bit about yourself." The young man brushed her aside, going up to the guildmaster, getting a scroll for himself. He came back a moment later, stuffing the scroll in his pack.
"Name's Edward, Ed for short, i'm an alchemist. I deal in elemental damage, but not much else." Skye looked him over. He seemed the sort for an alchemist, too short and too skinny for anything physical.
"Well, come along then, i have a couple of friends waiting at the inn." She walked off, the little Alchemist running behind her. It sure had been an eventful day so far, but she still had not assembled a full team. Still, full team or not, exploration would start tomorrow...
And that's it for now! Don't expect any sense of regularity in uploading the future chapters, they will come as i write them out. If you think my writing needs a helping hand, please leave a review for me, i'm here to improve myself.
