Roleplay

"Good night guys!" Hermes said as he waved to his friends before their door shut and he turned and began making his way down the hallway towards his room, not really minding the stares that the other dragons gave him.

At this point he had become quite use to it, and as long as no one bothered him he would pay them no mind. Though he could not forget why he was really there, and so the blue tundra took it upon himself to for go sleep this night to pour over the tome he had taken from the library. Books held information, if one was patient enough to comb through it and be aware what they were looking for.
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Sirius watched as Eira laid her head down and finally slipped into sleep and he let out a soft sigh before pale blue eyes turned their attention to their wounded friend. He watched her for a moment as the peace and silence fell over the tavern and he felt like he was beginning to become tired when the glow of the runes snapped his eyes opened and he slowly stood up and made his way towards her and gently looked over the Wildclaw with concern in his face. This was something that was getting worse and worse as time was passing, and that was unnerving.

"What do these runes mean?" He found himself wondering out loud as he reached out to gently touch one of the runes on her shoulders.

Sirius wasn't really adept at magic, there was so much he didn't know that his brother would understand better, but Hermes wasn't here to bounce off theories or offer possible solutions, it was just him guarding these two. He looked up towards the entrance where the Gaoler's were and then looked to Eira, moving to shake her awake first. "Eira...Eira!" He called to the other Wildclaw, trying to keep his voice low and even so not to alarm her. That would be in vain though, as she would become alarmed upon waking up and seeing her friend covered in those strange runes again, who wouldn't be? Especially since no one, not even an ancient breed, knew the answer to what they were.

When Eira was awake, Sirius made his way towards the Gaoler's that were standing guard at the entrance. He stopped before a stoic looking dragon, clearing his throat to get their attention. "The runes are back!" He said once the other dragon finally acknowledged his presence. Sirius turned and hurried back inside to go and stand personal guard over his friends til it past.

The sound of dragons passing through the halls faded away into silence along with the last click of the doors. There was nothing but silence as far as Hermes could tell, save for the barely muffled voices of his neighbors. But even then that would fade into silence as they went to sleep. The book looked as it always had. [quote=The History of Cryosta][b]Table of Contents[/b] [i]Author's Note I: Building of Gelnan Port II: Refugee's War III: Establishing Cryosta IV: Ancients Rising[/i][/quote] ------------- Eira shuffled awake with a groan, but her alarm quickly sobered her up when she saw the light flashing on the wildclaw. She hovered for a moment, unsure of what her friend would do now that the scars began to glow until she saw her begin to stand up as if in a trance and begin to move. She surged forward, easily restraining the wildclaw whose limbs flailed about uselessly. It was then that the gaolers barged in, alerted by the events unfolding and saw what was happening. "Are you able to wake her?" One of them would inquire. Eira looked around as if searching for anything before settling on reaching over and trying to flick her friend on the forehead to wake her up. It did not work, rather, Calendula continued to flail uselessly with her eyes closed as the runes flashed. It was then that Eira resorted to shaking her while calling out her name, a move that seemed to work. The light died out like an extinguished flame and the wildclaw's eyes shot open. "Ah! Wh..." She looked around, slowly registering the dragons surrounding her. "What... happened?"

Hermes moved a claw over the page thoughtfully before turning to the fourth chapter, considering they had to seek an ancient breeds help, and there were ancient dragons attempting to aide this monster what better chapter was there to begin searching for information. With a quiet muttering, the lamps that were hooked to his side began to glow and float, giving him light to read.

Hermes was unaware of what was happening with his friends, and he hadn't talked to Ermine in some time, but they were still depending on him to come up with some information.

It was true that he had gotten slightly side tracked, and he did feel some guilt for that. When it came for the chance to learn more medicine and to pursue his name he had let his eagerness for knowledge best his sense of morals, but he was going to make up for it now, no matter what it would take the young healer was going to find an answer, and if he could he would put himself in danger to try and get to the center of this, Calendula was counting on him...they all were. He let out a low hum when he finally turned to the beginning of the chapter, setting the book on the ground before laying down to settle in for a long night of reading, pulling out his quill and journal to take notes.
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Sirius let out a relieved sigh when Eira was able to shake awake Calendula, for a moment he worried that perhaps she had been under some kind of spell and wouldn't be able to wake up.

"You gave us a scare," Sirius replied as he approached the Wildclaw from the opposite side of where Eira was sitting, gently reaching out and grasping her shoulder in his claw, being mindful of the injuries that still littered her body. With these runes constantly appearing, would they be slowing down her healing? Especially if they had to keep restraining her from walking off.

He turned and looked at the Gaoler that had spoken, his pale blue eyes narrowing slightly. "What do you think is plaguing her? No one has been able to give us answers, but aren't you the race that was charged with guarding that monster? So tell me, cousin, what information are you holding back from us? Because if I had to wager my fur you guys know more than you're telling us and I think it's time you let us in on the secret!"

Scanning the passages, Hermes could glean tidbits of information such as the first day of exposure to these ancients... Well, more like [i]ancient[/i] per say. [quote=Ancients Rising Passage] ...It was then that a scout brought back an odd looking fellow. Had it not been for the prior news of these ancients, I would have thought this fellow to be a very odd tundra. Yes, the dragon had the thick wool coat and could eat plants like their descendants... But they were much more larger than any average tundra, had no issues eating meat, had more bigger and gnarled horns than a moose's, longer claws, and "wings" that seemed more fit to be called extra arms. This dragon also regarded everything rather coldly, almost like an inspector of some kind. This ancient that was brought in was a gaoler, one of Icewarden's first children in a time long gone. Her name was Pago and her visit was rather short. Hours after being introduced to the clan and allowed to look around, she left. It would only be at the crack at dawn the next day she would return, but not alone. There were more gaolers, and this time they were all lined up as if prepared for a war. They hurled accusations against our clan and demanded that we "show them to this horrorbeast this instant." Though the news was frightening to hear, there was something to be accounted for. In accordance to other encounters with gaolers, similar accusations had been used, only for it to turn out that the dragon was spot clean of any interactions with the shade, despite constant detection of it's presence all over Sornieth. Even if this fact was brought up, it enraged the ancients that they surged forward and attacked. The... [/quote] Afterwards, the passage would devolve into recorded details of the battles and the war that came after. It seemed that the war went on for a few months before something new happened. [quote=Ancients Rising Passage] ...After months of fighting with these gaolers, the news of another ancient breed returning from the past brought about a wave of unease. Hearing that these ancients were hatchlings only eased our worries slightly though... [/quote] And the details went back to the war for another month or two before the banescales were brought up again. [quote=Ancients Rising Passage] ...Our attention was brought to the sky upon seeing shadows cover the camp. There were many of them, so many that we ought to think of it a large fleet of clouds covering the sky... Had it not been for the audible sound of flapping wings and the wind on our back. How alarmed we were that the guards began flinging spears and projectiles at the strangers, but they managed to avoid them and land. We thought ourselves doomed. After all, we had been relentlessly assaulted for months against these gaolers who were barely held off by our largest soldiers. But the most fiercest looking banescale of them all bowed his head as if... Yielding. All of them were yielding. We were all dumbfounded, however very relieved. Their leader asked to speak with ours and so we fetched them. They met up and discussed among themselves. The banescales as it turned out, have come to aid in our war against these gaolers. After the attempted mass extinction of banescales at the gaoler's claws, they have grown to resent them and are now seeking vengeance. An agreement was then formed. We would house and feed these banescales as if they were our own and help them raise their children. In turn, they'd aid us in the gaoler problem... [/quote] And just like that, the gaolers were driven out of their land. The time has passed in relative silence, but it didn't seem like the very next day had come to pass yet. As Hermes would ponder to himself, he would then begin to realize the sound around him. It was like a gentle thrum, a low pitched sound of a wind instrument. It was then that he'd feel himself began to lull to sleep, though it wasn't like nodding off after a long night of staying up. The feeling of sleep pulled at him like a sleep spell, settling like a very heavy blanket. There would be no memory of this sound the next day. ---------- Both wildclaws turned their attention to the ancients on standby. The gaoler stared down at the bristling tundra, expression almost unwavering from the neutral look of regard. "The only thing we are holding back are those creatures. Though we are tasked with securing them from the rest of the world, that did not mean we had any room to study what powers they are capable of asides from the ones they manage to use before we contained them. At most, we can offer speculations which are [i]not[/i] solid answers." Calendula looked between the fluffy dragons and not wanting for an argument to rise, she'd ask, "Well what are your speculations then? It could be better than not telling us." The gaoler barely moved at that, but spoke nonetheless, "The runes are connected to that horrorbeast. It could be causing the sleep walking and dreams."

Hermes eyes slowly scanned over the page, with quill and parchment in claw he began writing down points of interest, concerned his memory would fail him.

In his life Hermes had only seen one Gaoler, the one they had come across before he had gone on his mission and he would have to admit the description was spot on. To the point that the young Tundra wondered how he could even be related to one of the massive creatures, even if it was from a long line. The only thing they really had in common was the long, thick fur that was meant to keep the cold at bay, and possibly the shapes of their head, if he thought about it from a medical perspective. Though it was easier to spot the differences, Gaoler's were built to fight. Was the ancient world nothing but fighting? Hermes found himself wondering as he thought of the Banescales that now inhabited the camp on occasion. That was clearly a dragon breed bred to fight, and thrived in the bloodshed as well. The very thought of that sent a shiver down the dragons spine and he shook his head.

Though the Gaoler's could use a lesson on diplomacy and interacting with the newer races, the Banescales too but he had a feeling that they liked being intimidating, or at least the ones he had seen in camp seemed to enjoy it. Yes, Hermes was making a generalized assumption of the race and normally he would scold himself for such narrow way of thinking, but he only had a small pool of information to garner about the races and from his brief interactions he could certainly say that they were not much into socializing with anyone outside their own species. Which was not the way of the world anymore, dragons mixed and mingled so much that half-breeds were a thing nowadays.

From the writer's perspective it was terrifying to face down mighty, large creatures that were declaring that they were harboring a monster. Maybe the Gaoler's had been right, but such a direct approach would get them nowhere, and clearly it didn't or they wouldn't be in this mess right now.

"You won't find anything just by attacking everyone..." Hermes muttered to himself, shaking his head.

Hermes stopped reading for a moment to rub his eyes carefully. He tapped his tail thoughtfully on the ground as he took a moment to write down some more notes and try and sort through his own thoughts. The Gaoler's had been certain that this clan was hiding a Horrorbeast, enough that they had been willing to go to war over it. He wished that he could speak to the ancients of that day, but he was unsure how long a Gaoler's life span was. The larger the dragon the shorter the life span, for eventually the heart could no longer keep such a large creature moving.

Hermes was surprised to learn that, at the time, the Banescales were nothing more but hatchlings, which probably didn't mean too much considering that, has hatchlings, they were probably the size of an adult Tundra to begin with. Though it did bring to question why the Banescales were only hatchlings? What had happened the day the ancient races vanished, and what was happening that was bringing them back? These were questions that did not lend themselves to comforting answers because it may lead to the Shade making a resurgence and that was the last thing anyone needed.

Hermes stopped writing for a moment, twisting his ears as he listened, though technically he wasn't doing anything wrong. Or he would argue that, as he was in his den and his magic lights were not glowing any brighter than what he needed to see, yet he was worried someone would come barging in.

When he was greeted with only silence he turned back to his reading and his notes, a low hum escaping him as his eyes continued to scan over the pages of text that laid before him.

Though with this information, he could see why the Banescales would be seen as heroes, dragons to respect and revere. They had been fighting with the Gaoler's nonstop, had lost good dragons in the war and were at the brink of exhaustion and then, quite suddenly, descending from the sky was their one hope of being able to fight back and even win against the massive, surging army. The Banescales had seemed genuinely concerned in wanting to help the smaller dragons, and after being battle worn, who wouldn't jump at the offer of aide?

Hermes eyes widened a little at the new information: After the attempted mass extinction. That would explain why the Banescales had only been hatchlings, and he could never see a good reason to wipe out a race of dragons, yes some may have been corrupt but you could not expect that of every single one! The news was jarring to Hermes, who tried to argue that the Banescales were hiding a Horrorbeast and feeding it other dragons.

Though it still clashed with his morals, even now he could not condone wiping out an entire race for the actions of those in charge. This information put a sour taste in Hermes mouth. Both ancient breeds were guilty of doing horrible things, and he had left his brother and friends in the claws of one!

Sirius is smart, he thought to himself. He would know not to blindly trust the Gaolers, he'll keep an eye on them...but if they chose to attack... Hermes quickly stopped that train of thought with a shake of his head.

He could not think of worse case scenarios when nothing had happened. He went to turn the page to continue reading, he did have to finish gathering some more information before morning came, when his left ear twitched. Hermes realized the comfortable silence he had been in before was suddenly filled with the sound of a gentle thrum. It had been jarring at first, as he hadn't even realized the sound until it was already grown loud enough to it filled his head. Before he could even stand up to begin searching for the noise he began to feel the throngs of sleep wrapping around him, much like a comfortable blanket a hatchling might wrap themselves in to sleep, or his mother's wing. For a brief moment he remembered her, the way she would envelope him under a wing when he had trouble sleeping, her purring that he could feel reverberating around him.

The thought of his mother filled him but he shook his head, there was nothing natural about these feeling of sleep and he tried to flatten his ears against his head, as if covering his ears could stop the sound from getting in, the problem was how late it had been for him to realize the gentle sound that had been drifting around him and filling the burrow with it's music.

Hermes slowly began to lay down, unable to fight it any longer. His eyes closed and he fell asleep right there, unable to even make it towards his nest. He had the foresight however, to lay his large body over the book and paper, if someone was coming to take his things, then they would need to work for it because dead weight was hard to move, but it was the only thing he could do before slipping away into a dreamless sleep.

The sound of the wake up call filled Hermes ears, a low groan escaped him as his body felt stiff. Slowly he began to open his eyes, blinking away the weariness before slowly standing up. He figured he must have fallen asleep while reading last night, and reminded himself not to sleep on the floor next time.
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Sirius's nostrils flared in his frustration and he felt like just leaping at the Gaoler and shaking him. They weren't telling them anything that they hadn't already figured out themselves, and although his brother would have told him that it was probably because they themselves didn't know, why didn't they take the time to study it, maybe it would have helped keep it contained?!

Before he could shout that question at the unwavering guard, he shook his head and turned around as he walked back over to Calendula and Eira and sat down, but he made sure to keep that Gaoler's in his line of sight. "We know about as much as we would if we were just guessing in the dark," he growled out before looking back at the Gaoler. "Some guardian's you've turned out to be...you're put in charge of keeping something at bay and you don't even understand it! Did you not think that understanding your enemy would be the key in helping you keeping it sealed?!"

He let out a breath of unnatural coldness. Sirius was blessed with ice magic that was far stronger than a normal tundra's, ice always clung to him and there seemed to be an unnatural coldness that became more noticeable when his emotions began to become agitated. He closed his eyes, trying to calm himself as the ice seemed to spread from him and slowly creep outward.

The last thing he wanted to do was catch Calendula and Eira in it accidentally. After some deep breaths he could feel the cold inside him once more, and he let out just a normal, for him, icy breath. "We can just hope that Hermes and Ermine are having better luck."

(screams

okay i finished the last of these projects so i should be able to respond more frequently now)

The voice of the hall monitor pierced through the air, then, followed by a series of ringing bells that sounded like it got louder. Then the volume would decrease as the dragon passed through the hall. The sound of doors creaking or flying open would follow much long after as dragons rushed to leave their rooms.

Today is Trient.

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Visibly the insult irked them as seen by how they bristled or shifted to stand more defensively. Ear flicked in irritation, the one speaking let out a huff, "Even if we were to try and understand our prisoners, has it occurred to you there are risks? We keep them sealed in ice for a very good reason, because it is better we never find out what they can do if they are frozen forever. There are some horrorbeasts that are better off never being thawed out than inspected."

Calendula let out a nervous "eheh...." as she looked around the room and quickly spoke up to maybe cut out any more further arguments, "Look... M-maybe your boss would know what to do, right? Plus I didn't do anything besides sleepwalk... It might not be as bad as we'd make it out to be... Right?"

((OK! I'm very happy for you!))

"Alright," Hermes muttered softly as he stands up, shaking out his fur as he looked down at the book and notes he had been writing last night.

He placed the notes into the book, closing it and gently putting it into a bookshelf and then made his way towards the door, opening the door and waiting for the majority of the throng to move past before Hermes steps out and he shuts the door and he follows the path.
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Sirius narrows his eyes as he stares up at the Gaoler, preparing to pull back his upper lip to reveal his fangs but stops when he hears Calendula talking and he closed his eyes, shaking his head and reaches out and gently touches the other dragon's shoulder.

"Well, I honestly don't know," Sirius said softly. "I guess we have to wait and see if the leader has anything to say...if they return soon." He said softly as he wanted to keep Calendula calm.

Hermes would be met with the familiar scenery of dragons shifting around camp and a moving line formed into the kitchens. As he'd move around, he could notice almost everyone in their usual places, most importantly, Ermine among his fellow generals, Moraine stopping by to exchange a few brief words with the head medics before vanishing into the clinic, and Celandine gathering the hatchlings she would watch for the day shift. It was a bit odd that he didn't see his newfound friends among the crowds... However...

"Boo!" And just like that, Springer popped up right behind him. Notably, there was no imperial towering over the spiral this time. "Morning Hermes!"

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The gaoler let out a huff then turned to return to his post. It seemed like nothing else could be done for the moment, so they all returned to their post. Eira watched them all file out of the room with a sigh and turned to her friends. "Are you still feeling tired?" Calendula in turn shook her head, "After all of that, I don't think I could go back to sleep..."

Eira would frown and glanced out the opening that lead into the maze of cave halls. "How many hours do you reckon has passed, Sirius? It has to be at least really late at night..."

Hermes looked at the group of dragons thoughtfully, making note of his new acquaintances that he had met throughout his time. Though he realized that he couldn't see his friends and a sad frown crossed his face and there was a hint of worry crossing his face as he was worried that something had happened to his friends and that was not a comfortable thought that perhaps they had become prey to the two of them because they had gotten close to him and that made him feel sick if he was ever the reason for his friends getting hurt.

Though he had been so lost in thought that he did not sense or smell the Spiral approaching until he yelled 'boo' and Hermes jumped and spun around, spreading his wings wide and preparing to fight before seeing his friend and his heart was leaping up into chest until he saw who it was and he let's out a deep sigh. "You certainly did scare me," he admitted as he felt his heart slowly beginning to return to a normal breath. "You are quite the sneaky little dragon," he chuckled with amusement.
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Sirius snorted, nostrils flaring as he watched the Gaoler's leave before turning around to look at his friends and his eyes softening and he walked over and sat down as he thought about how much time that had passed since they had stopped telling the story.

"I would say maybe six hours or so? Guessing from the arrangement of the stars when I had stepped out to see the Gaoler's."

Springer would respond with a respective laugh of his own, "It's not usually the case given my luck... I'm surprised I didn't trip on a rock on my way over." He would slink on over to the line, occasionally glancing back to make sure Hermes was folowing. "Oh yeah, Cygnet had to get up earlier for the Bombyx thing. She's very particular about her training. I'm lucky my mentor's not that eager about catching me up so soon, but that means my lessons are going to drag out for some time thanks to my trip."

Once they got their food, Springer began to guide Hermes towards an empty spot to eat. "Man... Speaking of the trip, I was beginning to miss the food from home. It was sort of fun and all, but the stuff that skydancer was giving us just wasn't it. Dude's cut out for preparing medicines and all of that, but not so much in cooking. At some point I ended up just catching and eating the mosquitoes to get away from eating that guy's soup."

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"...That's a lot of time that's passed," Eira would say, but slumped with a yawn. "Still not enough hours for me though..." Calendula then spoke with an encouraging tone, "You should go back to sleep then. The danger has passed you know." Eira would give a nod as she laid back down. "Thanks for keeping watch, Sirius," the exhausted wildclaw would say before she dozed off.

Once she was asleep, the cavern descended into silence as Calendula sat there in thought. An hour or two would tick by before something would happen.

They would hear their guards shift before Skadi strode in, looking around the cavern. "Good morning, I heard of the turbulence from earlier this morning so I will make this brief. Calendula, could you recall anything?"

At that Calendula's face shifted into a thinking one as she tried her best to recall if anything had happened. However, no matter how hard she thought of it, nothing happened. She slumped. "No... I can't... Remember anything," was her answer that came in a defeated tone. Skadi let out a tsk as she went about the corners of the room where the safeguards were put up, prodding and turning them over. It would not until she reached the last corner that she said something.

"Ah. No wonder why."