Roleplay

The large dragon strolled down the long line of bars, listening to the faint sound of shivering dragons as their scales scraped the cold stone beneath. He didn’t appreciate their conditions, but there wasn’t much he could do without the risk of one of the Gaolers trying to freeze him solid.

The still air eventually picked up into a bit of a breeze, carrying a new scent on them as the door opened briefly and shut. New dragons. New Gaolers. Probably receiving w ‘warm’ welcome from Shadowshifter. Blackmamba didn’t react much, only sticking to his business as he passed more Banescales and the occasional Gaoler. His mysterious aura didn’t let them get any ideas about trying to bite him, even if they were hungry as it is.

Finishing this round of prisoners, the Ridgeback looped around and headed for the beginning once again, keeping his slow and observant pace. He didn’t focus much on the prisoners now, and wanted to meet these two newbies.

After Shadowshifter faded into oblivion, the sisters turned to one another.

"Something tells me that Styx is definitely not the 'sweetest thing' in this prison." Solare said, rolling her eyes.

"Well I'm not going to refuse an order from Shadowshifter," Necrotica responded. "That female is terrifying. 'I'm always watching'. As creepy as that sounds, I have a feeling it's actually true. Or at least something is definitely watching us from these shadows..."

Necrotica shuddered, her eyes darting nervously around the room. Noticing her sister's discomfort, Solare took the lead.

"We have our first assignment at least," she said, looking around them for some sort of convenient map or sign, or someone they could ask for directions. "Now we just have to find out where Styx is being kept..."

Blackbird

Slowly, the noise from her cell stopped. After a while Blackbird swung her head from side to side, listening for the sound of Gaoler paws hurtling down the hall coming to silence her. There were none. Then, the Ridgeback passed her, and she too caught the scent of something new on the breeze. A new, no TWO new Gaolers. She strained to see the newbies, but they were a long way away. She wanted to rip them to pieces.
"Why are you here? Do you know the suffering we've endured? If if you do, why won't you help us? We did nothing wrong!" she whispered.
She turned on the green Gaoler, and for thee first time, tried to get to know her. She decided, that she could persuade her mind, and maybe, just maybe, this Gaoler would help her escape.

Eucalyptus
The banecale that had so many tantrums, and hurt her so much, was finally talking to her.
Eucalyptus learned that the Banescale had been taken away from her parents when she was young. The dragon that had tried to save her was here to, but her best friend was free, and that was all that mattered. For the first time, she thought about actually being happy here. Blackbird was taking a nap, and then Eucalyptus scented new Gaolers. Eucalyptus pressed her face against the bars, and was eager to see these new dragons, ad what they thought when they saw her imprisonment.

Cloris

Cloris sighed happily as Blackbird stopped yelling. He continued reading his scroll and was deep in his scroll, learning about the war, and the reason of this madness.

Aria
'I'll help. Come on.' Aria runs down the hallway, waiting for Solare and Necrotica. When they finally come, she continues on, spotting Blackmamba ahead. 'Blackmamba! We have new Gaolers.' she calls.

"Oh, I'm absolutely famished, Nostus. You almost had me convinced you were finally going to let me starve to death," Styx teased playfully with the Gaoler, her tone of voice not at all matching with the severity of her words. "But I'm so delighted that you haven't forgotten me. Ah, but of course, you bring me nothing that I want," she glanced with disdain at the half-rotten hunk of food Nostus brought with him, her nose wrinkling in disgust.

"You know as well as I, that filth will never satisfy my hunger," Styx purred at the Gaoler. "Surely you have something better for me, old friend, surely there must be a prisoner you tire of guarding-- some ungrateful wretch who causes you trouble, some thankless brute whose mere presence mars your noble name. I am here to help, Nostus. Bring the worthless scum to me, and make both of our miserable lives a little easier to live." The Banescale crooned to her captor, a sly grin revealing rows of razor-sharp fangs glinting through a haze of black smoke.

Styx was no fool. She knew Nostus was far too noble, too loyal to his cause that he would ever deign to fulfill her request. But oh, how she enjoyed tormenting him. She watched his face carefully, searching for signs of annoyance, disdain. She loved provoking him, trying to calculate just the right combination of words that would give him pause, even for a moment. It was a difficult challenge, as Nostus was a master of emotion, his stone-cold face betraying nothing of his thoughts within. But Styx knew him well, knew him inside and outside of the prison, and most importantly, she knew about his past. She knew about the one thing, the one dragon Nostus never spoke of, the one memory he had tried decades to suppress. While the memory was torture for the Goaler, it was one of Styx's fondest... It was a precious memory, one she dared not to speak of every time they spoke, lest he grow accustomed to it. But she always held it carefully in her arsenal of words, waiting for just the right moment to bring it up...

Aria
Aria waited for Blackmamba's response, watching the newcomers. The prisoners noticed their insecurity and rattled the bars, leering at them. She stiffles laughter.

I'm going to get rid of Saria because she isn't being used. Just Aria now.)

The sisters follow Aria further into the prison, Necrotica offering a "thanks" in gratitude as they hurried to keep up with her.

They passed row after row of prison cells, and Necrotica felt her pace slowing as she took in the horrors within. Not the dragons themselves, but the conditions in which they were being kept. Tiny cells with barely enough room for a dragon to stand up, let alone stretch their wings. Two or three dragons to a cell, some with wounds so severe it looked as if they were barely clinging to life.

Solare continued at a brisk pace, trying not to look too long at any of the prisoners. Those that dared to jeer at her she looked fiercely in the eyes, refusing to submit to their heckling. "C'mon Necrotica, keep up!" she called back to her sister. The Skydancer leading them called out to a vague shape farther down the row of cells, but it was too dark to make out the dragon that lurked beyond.

Tearing her worried gaze away from the suffering dragons around them, Necrotica ran to catch up to her sister. In that moment, she made a silent vow in her mind. Whatever she did here in the prison, her goal with each action would be to ease the suffering of the dragons here. While her job description meant she couldn't just set them free (as she presumed most of them probably deserved), she was sure there must be something she could do to make their sentences a little more endurable.

Aria
Aria looks at Solare and Necrotica. Maybe they had more in common than she thought. Necrotica had a look of determination, the same look she sometimes had. 'I'll see you around.' Aria said to Blackmamba before walking back to them. 'Come on. We're not going to Styx, she'd sooner try eat you than be 'sweet'.' She walked closer to Necrotica and hissed quietly 'Whatever you do, keep me with you. Shadowshifter trusts me, ad I respect her, but I want out. Besides, the Gaolers here actually listen to me. As do some prisoners.' she ran ahead, leading them to a small room with schedules in it. 'Find your shifts. I'll help on the first day.'