Roleplay

"Never lose hope, my child. And one day, you will soar up in the skies, free to roar your joy."

An entire generation of dragons can remember those words, told by an attentive mother each time they watched the sky, dreaming of freedom. The last ray of hope in a life that turned completely dark for the dragons.
Now enslaved by the humans for three generations, this hope is the only thing that keeps most of the remaining dragons alive. Exhausted from the forced work, starving from the lack of food, unable to fly because not having been learned how to, scales perpetually covered by sweat, dust and other dirt, and bodies covered by the scars of their numerous punishments or battles, the once noble specie now only was the shadow of what it used to be. When they weren't spending every inch of their energy in an exhausting work, they were sent to their death fighting against knights for the only pleasure of the public at the town's Coliseum.
But little by little, generation after generation, their hope was fading. The first generation of enslaved dragons tried to resist. So did the second, even if some started to get pessimist about their chance to escape. The third generation resisted even less. Born in captivity, none of them having known what freedom was, they had less and less reasons trying to resist. Slowly loosing their only reason to live, the dragons only could dream of the past to endure the present.

How did all this happen ? That's a not so surprising story. Humans and dragons never really made it along, there always had been some frictions between the two species - stolen animals, destroyed forests, conflicts over some coins of gold... These frictions became more and more serious, as some dragons burned human villages and the humans slaughtered some dragons. The cycle of vengence that resulted eventually led to a war, a war that nearly decimated both species before the humans managed to win.
To avoid the dragons from being a threat again, the humans captured the remaining dragons, and decided to enslave them to get some benefits for it. You would say this sounds an evil thing ? Not for all humans. Since the dragons stopped threatening the humankind, there had been a considerable development in the towns and on the fields. A lot of people moved to the fields now that the life there stopped being so risky, resulting in a huge increase of available food and a severe decrease of starvation. In the towns, humans could stop working on defense and armament at the profit of tool and medecines. And in the main city of the country, they even managed to design machines actioned by the dragons that would provide a new form of energy.

Strangely, though, as time went by more and more humans started to question the morality of all this. Some people began to openly criticize this enslavement, but none of them had another viable solution to prevent the dragons from being a threat. In a nutshel, a minority of intelectuals that wouldn't make a move to actually do something. Nothing that would change the dragons' lifes of labor. But who knows ? Maybe one day, some humans would try to set up a plan to free some dragons. Maybe one day, a guard would forget to lock a cage, or wouldn't be attentive enough. One thing is sure : if this happens, the dragons won't hesitate a second to seize what might be their only oportunity to regain their freedom... and their hope.


This thread is dedicated to the RP only. If you wish to have more informations on the RP or want to join, please look at the preparation topic that is here.
So now let's have the RP started !
(Pinging the members : @Stanzascale, @Tortallan, @GiftOfArtemis)



Hyruu groaned as he finally got the mechanism to move. The huge wheel started to rotate on its vertical axis, not without emitting a loud cracking noise that was highly suggesting the heavy machinery could use some oil. There wasn't any way to know what it was actually for - the vertical axis was going through the roof, letting all the questions the young dragon could have without any answer. Not that he had the time or the energy to wonder, anyway. Getting the wheel to rotate maybe was the hardest part, but that wasn't meaning he was done with his job. On the contrary, the wheel still was opposing some resistance, as if the mechanism was lifting a weight in the air.
Every morning was almost the same thing. A quick and almost non-existant breakfast after having been awoken, and then on this machinery for about fifteen minutes. After this, the dragon was sent working on various machines, until finally having a small pause to eat and rest a bit. Hopefully some machines only required him to breath fire in it, allowing some rest for his tired muscles.
The dragon let out another groan as the wheel started to resist. His grey and mat scales were already covered by sweat at some places, making them shine in the faint light generated by some lamps and the machines using fire. He hopefully hadn't been too severely punished these last weeks, so that forcing on the wheel wasn't hurting his flanks. But if that damn wheel wasn't turning, that wouldn't last any longer ! And indeed, Hyruu soon felt the well known feeling of the whipe lashing his scales as the foremaster noticed the wheel wasn't turning anymore. It only was a warning, of course, so that it didn't really hurt - in fact the young dragon had received so many hits like this one he didn't really care about it.
"It's not the moment to get lazy, dragon !" the foremaster warned him.
Hyruu tried to put all his forces on the wheel, to no avail. Something definitively was blocking the mechanism. For some seconds, he feared to get lashed again by the whip, but this didn't happen. Hopefully that foremaster would call another dragon to help rather than punishing him...
"You, over there ! Go help this one at the wheel." he heard the foremaster saying.
The grey dragon couldn't see who he called, but it didn't exactly matter. Some help definitively wouldn't be too much.


Milo was a bit anxious as he was making his way through the town. Who wouldn't feel nervous when making up such a plan anyway ? Even if it was only pure paranoia, no one could suspect anything like this. It never happened before, and it wasn't like they were a big group. Not to mention he hadn't done anything for the moment. All he had done was going to an herborist to buy some powder.
The actual thing was that this powder was a powerful soporific, and that he was planning not less than freeing dragons. And for the moment, everything was going strangely and somewhat scaringly smoothly. Well, of course it wouldn't have gone that smoothly without all the support he got - and the young human never expected to find it that easily.
With the small pouch hidden withing a pocket in his clothes, and totally anonymous among the crowd crossing the city, Milo slightly started to calm down. He was worrying too much, but again who wouldn't in such a situation ? Anyway, he was soon to reach the abandonned house in which they were meeting to plan the operation. No big deal there, there anyway were a bunch of them and at the first view, it was almost impossible to guess they were abandonned. And even then, it wasn't like there was anybody going in this part of the town...
Milo indeed soon escaped from the crowd, making his way through the now desert streets. Some minutes later, and he was pushing the door of their "headquarters". The quotes actually were apropriate to describe the house. Poorly furnishured, with only a large wooden table and a fireplace both covered by an impressive amount of dust. Anyway, he was the first there at their last meeting. The others probably would be there soon.

The metal rang as Rakanix lashed the knight about the head with his tail, while the human struggled to pull his sword out of the ground after a misaimed attempt at a heavy strike. The Mirror took a step back before leaping forward and sweeping his parted jaws upwards, knocking the knight backwards, allowing him to regain his weapon in the process. The crowd roared.

Rakanix feignted one way before whipping around in the other direction to send the claws of one forefoot to the knight's armoured throat.

The human gasped, but then, to the crowd's raucous approval, the dragon gave an outraged howl and sprang off him.

Rakanix gave his side a brief lick and took in the knight getting to his feet, sword falling away abandoned, as he held a dagger in one hand and swung a flail in circles in the other.

The dragon had misjudged this one. Swordsmen seemed common to the point of predictable, but this one was adaptable, and certainly not as green as he'd seemed.

"You think to beat me, beast?"

Rakanix beared his bloodied fangs and made a noise that was as a halting or hiccuping snarl, but he knew how it sounded to the human.
The knight faltered at the inhuman chuckle and Rakanix took the moment to his cause. The knight was knocked down again, this time Rakanix had each foreleg on a shoulder of his target, putting as much of his weight as he could onto the human while restricting movement of the limbs the weapons were wielded with.

The dragon fastened his jaws to the knight's helm and started jerking his head in a wrenching motion. Over the fight, the piece of armour had taken a fair beating, and no longer sat as firmly (or comfortably) as it had before the knight had walked into the coliseum. If the helm came off, the fight was over.

~~~

Khepnir was being directed into a different chamber of machines from the prior one, when a shout came directing her to assist one of the dragons who was putting his weight into a machine that was more than hesitant to comply.

She knew that there was no shortage of armed guards at this time, so there was no reason to let her sentiments show overtly. The dragon took in where she was directed to without looking at the human and made her way over. Not exactly hurrying as much as she could, the whip missed her tail by a whisker.

Moving alongside the grey dragon, she put her strength into helping push. The wheel faltered, shuddering a little, until it started moving at a snail's pace, an extra shove of force necessary at times to get it over the sporadic cessations of movement.
"You'd think they'd try keep their precious machines working." She muttered to no-one in particular.
The dragon had her head lowered and, if not for the stench of the place, not to mention the strains the day's labour put on her muscles, which stung in reawakoned pain from the week, she might have smiled at sighting a single blue scale on her leg that was free of any filth.

((@Tortallan *remembers you saying about wanting to be pinged* :) ))

Edens shoulder bag was heavy, full of a small beige dragon. "We there yet, Boss?" Notos asked, peeking his small head out of a corner of the bag. Eden shoved her hand into the bag, giving the little guy a harsh push. "Notos, for petes sake, stay in the bag, or next time, I'm not going to bring you to the meeting." Eden always left Notos at home, never daring to bring him out. This was his first excursion since sneaking out about a week after he was born. He sure was a dumb hatchling. Eden shook her head, a smirk on her face at the memory. "Stop daydreamin, boss, were here." Notos intervened into her thoughts. "How do you even know that? Like you've ever been out of the house." Eden answered "No, but I can smell the type of nervousness that only comes from scheming up a dangerous plan" Notos said, looking up at Eden out of the bag, and wrinkling his nose. "And its coming from there!" Notos leaned almost completely out of the bag to point at a nearby abandoned building. Good thing they were in a ghostly empty part of town. Sure enough, he was right. They were at headquarters. Eden opened the door and stepped in. As soon as the door closed behind her, Notos was out of the bag and on her shoulder. "Get. Back. In. There!" She grunted through her teeth. -------------------- ((Is it a terribly big deal if I use this dragon instead of Aquilo? Same back story, same breed just different colors and name? [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=391261] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/3913/391261_350.png[/img] [/url])) Oniros sat in the cell, frantically trying to adjust her eyes to the dim light. She could hear someone approaching, and she needed to be ready. She backed up into the farthest corner of the room, fearing the worst. It was time for the battle. Most likely, her last. A man opened the door to her cell, a man built like a beast himself, armed with a whip and more weight than the skinny mirror had. He jumped on her, and caught the sick sluggish dragon by surprise. He shackled her front to feet into short handcuffs, and her pulled her along. Oniros objected with all her might, but not walking resulted in a vicious lash to her back. She began walking, for fear he might hit her wing, and completely disable her for the fight.

OoC: @Stanzascale Thanks for the ping. ^^

And sorry for the late post, everyone. xO

BiC: Noelani checked to make sure the workshop door had locked behind her. Though small, it contained a great deal of valuable equipment and her entire livelihood, and to lose that to carelessness simply because she was in a hurry would be patently foolish. Even if she had to flee the city after the execution of tonight's plan, the contents of the workshop should go to her apprentice or one of her workers, not some hoodlum.

Walking briskly, reading the shifts in the crowd and adjusting herself accordingly in the way of those who had learned to move quickly in the narrow streets, she breathed in the smells of the city. Her home, as it had been for her entire life. Noelani had been born here, this was the city where she had taken her first breath of workshop air filled with the sharp tang of metal and oil, and heavy with heat. She had attended university here, built her business up from scratch by the toil of her hands and the sweat of her brow here. She loved this city, but always there was the reminder of the creatures slaving away beneath her feet, beaten into submission where once they had been a proud and mighty people. Surely there was a better way.

Perhaps they would find that way tonight.

Noelani was running a little late, but she was careful not to speed up above her usual brisk pace as she navigated the streets. To draw attention at this point would be stupid. Pretty soon she left the crowds behind, and picked out the meeting-place. Entering, she saw Milo, looking hapless as usual, and Eden, who was wrestling with a smallish dragon. Huh. "Hello," she greeted the others, glancing behind her to make sure the street remained clear as she closed the door. "Any problems thus far?"

--

Cairngorm blearily blinked open his eyes as he heard the harsh call to signal the start of his shift. He clambered heavily to his feet, sighing. His greying brown-striped scales were pale with dust and ash, so that asleep he looked more like a pile of earth than a dragon. Cairngorm yawned hugely, showing a curling pink tongue and a line of fangs somewhat dulled from nearly two centuries of use. He shook his wings to free them of debris, then resettled them. Before the guard could bellow at him again, he slipped through the now-open cage door and limped to his workstation, favoring his back left leg. It was particularly stiff today, and he attempted to stretch it out a bit as he walked.

The elderly dragon's muscles, weakened with age, trembled with effort as he hauled himself onto the platform upon which he would lie, sending jets of flame into the bowels of the machine, for the next eight hours. He attempted to make himself comfortable on the warm metal, grit crunching beneath him as he settled down. He saw two dragons a few machines to his right struggling with a poorly-kept machine that was one of the harder to work with, particularly when the machines were generating as much heat as they did today. The un-oiled metal parts of the device would expand, causing it to stick terribly. It was an old machine, he had worked on it before the accident that injured his leg. "Try shifting the wheel just a little to the left," he called, his thin voice wavering above the clamor of the machines, dragons and overseers. "That usually helps."

"Get to work!" a human snapped, and a whip opened a shallow cut on his flank. Hissing in a breath and letting it out slowly, he turned around and looked at the overseer.

"I'm older than your grandfather's grandfather, youngling, I move slowly. I am doing my best." In response, the whip flicked at his face, narrowly missing his eye and leaving a weal on his cheek. Turning back to the machine without further comment, Cairngorm coughed, releasing a trickle of fire into the channel, then caught his wind and began a steady, if thin, stream of flame, which the human deemed enough to stop the whip from descending again.

--

Being a dangerous dragon destined for the coliseum, Shukriyya left her cage only to train, so she watched dragons passing by on their way to work the machines with a heartsore gaze. Some of them were so young, and scarcely any eye, young or old, held a glint of hope. She kept herself between Uli and the passing dragons. The dragons in the cages around her, mostly other coliseum fighters, knew he was there- how could they not? But she would rather keep him out of the gaze of the general populace, most of whom were not friendly to even this small scrap of humanity.

The lean black-and-red dragon in the cage to her right was fighting today, and she was dragged out in shackles. "Good luck!" Shukriyya called out, praying that the dragon- Oniros, she believed her name was, one of the only dragons with a real spark of life left in her- would come back alive. Her and the others whose cages were empty as they battled for their lives on the surface above.

The guilt of watching dragons come and go, occasionally coming back bloodied and broken, often not coming back at all, ate away at the bulky, muscular cream-and-gold dragon. Shukriyya had not asked to be singled out by her wealthy human "patron," who used bribes and connections to keep her out of the ring for some time, to have her be given training, to get her better food than the malnourished masses. It would be a lie to say that she was not glad for the reprieve (although the day was coming soon now when that reprieve would end), but she felt no gratitude towards the human who used his money to play with her life, and the lives of others. That he wished her to be as successful as possible before she was slaughtered like a dumb beast did not endear him to her at all… She did not even know what he looked like, although she assumed he monitored her progress.

Seeing her absorbed in her whirling thoughts, and knowing the inner struggle she faced daily, her little human companion stroked her leg soothingly. She looked down, and his bright eyes peered up out of his dark face, made darker by the pool of shadows he sat in cross-legged. He grinned, and his face was split by a line of white teeth and black holes. "Jus wait 'til tonight, Iyya," the six-year-old whispered, conspiratorially. "Tonight, everything'll be different."

Oniros was shoved in the coliseum. People cheering, slowly stopped upon seeing her terrible state. Then they began laughing. Some faces even showed mock pity. No one here was a friend to any dragons. They were the enemy, not the dragon she was facing.

Oniros swayed on her four feet, a weak state for a battle. There was no way she could beat any opponent.

At the other end of the ring, a gate began to open, and another shackled dragon emerged. Her opponent. A large, orange and grey guardian, covered in scars from vicious lashings. He roared, and the crowd went wild. The unshackled Oniros, and backed away, doing likewise to the other dragon. He reared up, and beat his wings. Oniros got a glance at his eyes, they were a pale green.

Oh, the gods were in her favor today! He was a wind dragon, and she was shadow. Oniros was smaller, but faster, and she had the element advantage.

Orange dragon rushed her. As he charged, Oniros prepared her muscles. She stretched slightly, before gathering strength in her legs. When the enemy was about five yards away, she jumped.

She folded her wings down tight, as she ascended rapidly into the air. As the simple minded guardian passed below her, she shot out her wings, filling with air and catching her from falling back down. The guardian slammed into the wall with all the speed he had built up to pummel Oniros.

Oniros almost laughed, but it wasn't the time. The crowd was silent, waiting for the dragon they had more than likely bet on, to get to his feet. Oniros wasn't too keen on that idea. Her maw started to ooze a dark mist, as she prepared her magic attack.

She spun to face the collapsed dragon, and fired a dark bolt.

---

Eden gave up on Notos when Noelani entered to room. "Hey!" She smiled. "None that I've encountered, if you don't count a rowdy lightening dragon." She said, giving Notos a pointed look.

"I take offense to that." Notos said ignoring her gaze as he left his owner to take up one of the chairs by the table.

((@GiftOfArtemis : Sure, no problem. Just also edit the pic in your character sheet as well
@Tortallan since you want to be pinged - wouldn't it be easier to simply subscribe to the thread though ?))

Hyruu slightly sighed and paused a second as another dragon got sent to the wheel to assist him. The grey dragon simply nodded at her as a thanking, knowing anything more than a simple nod only would earn him another hit from the whip.
But even at two dragons, the wheel didn't seem to want to move an inch. Hyruu barely raised his head as he heard an older dragon advising him to shift the wheel to the left, slightly smirking when he heard the whip striking. The younger dragon forced a bit, trying to shift the wheel at the same time than he was pushing. The mechanism emitted another loud cracking sound as it protested against the forcing, but it seemed like the move unlocked the wheel as it slowly began to turn again.
He already was tired, and the day barely began. The grey dragon wished it already could be the evening... not to mention what Milo told him.


Milo smiled at Eden as she entered the old house, a bit surprised to see the small dragon on her shoulders.
"Hey, Eden. So that's the little guy you were speaking about ?" he asked, observing the tiny Fae.
His attention got drawn as Noelani arrived right after.
"Hello Noelani. I've got the powder, without any problems at all. Everything goes so smoothly... Sometimes it scares me. The fact it's so easy to plan such an operation." he answered.

((@Ryat, you mean subscribing actually works for you? 0.0 In my experience it's inconsistent at best.))

Khepnir wasn't certain about accepting the help of the elder, but simply followed the lead of the dragon she was beside. She couldn't say whether she felt anything besides apathy in response to the knowledge of the elder's whipping.
The Imperial growled mentally at the rumbling from the machine and the racket of the day in general. Even though she knew nothing of what function the contraptions they worked served far above, the dragon felt nothing but animosity for the machines of slavery.

A few flecks of filth flew as the machine increased in noise before it started moving again, and Khepnir blinked it from her eyes irritably. The current task required little focus as far as she could tell, just force, so she attempted to glance to the walls, to try see the devices which the guards used to organise times of the day, such as when that rest with what was even less qualifiable as a meal than the scraps left to them at the other parts of the day.

~~~

With a shriek of metal that jarred tooth and ear, the helm came off, but the knight, taking advantage of Rakanix's preoccupation with the task, which involved the dragon raising himself up as the armour-piece was flung away, he managed to give the dragon's underside a nick as he forced himself out from beneath the dragon and nigh on slithered away.

Rakanix barely noticed the nick and immediately charged at the human once his footing was balanced once more, bringing up the reserves of what some might regard as a state of battle-frenzy, saved especially for finishing battle. The frequency of his strikes increased dramatically, and the chinks and weaknesses in the knight's armour became painfully obvious.

The human's face was creased up in pain, Rakanix hissed, revelling in the imminent victory. With a cry, the knight charged at the dragon, who bounded forth also. The knight brought his weapons down to strike just as Rakanix thrust his head upwards for the human's head and throat.

-

Rakanix awoke from dreaming of the memory to the wounds on the left-side of his face stinging, and the cacophany of another fight taking place. He curled his tail around himself, not unlike the position many would sleep in. The rest of his wounds had stopped bleeding some hours before and looked to heal just as those before them had done. Rakanix raised his head and turned it about, as though examining the cell he lay in, but lay it down again, a headache coming about. He knew that that itself would pass within the day, they'd have him fighting in the coliseum the next day, just the same. He was no cripple, and the humans had enough sense to know that at least.

Rakanix snorted a breath and closed his optical eyes. As the headache settled he could already feel the itch returning. That itch. Only sated by battle. Sometimes it gave him restless sleep if a day was spent with little engagement, be it from a fleeting fight or excessive idleness in the day's remainder. For now, it lingered on the sidelines, allowing him to settle and recuperate.

((Hello again @Tortallan :) ))

@stanzascale it didnt dawn on me that it would be awkward and plot hole-ish if Oniros and Rakanix were fighting at the same time. Sorry! :3))

The dark bolt hit the wind guardian hard. "I really dont want to kill you, brother-" Oniros said, interrupted by the dragon getting to his feet and producing a mighty roar. "but if its between you and me-" the opponent desperately began to create a tornado. A typical wind attack. "I CHOOSE ME!" she shouted, letting loose all her power at him, while he was wide open preparing an attack.

Purple fire trailed along the ground in a line heading straight for the orange dragon. Oniros' eyes went wide. She didn't even mean to do that! That was dark shroud! The strongest shadow move a dragon could learn.

The line circled around the dragon. He gave one confused look before it converged on him. He roared, but this time it was fear, not fearsome. The crowd shouted as he went down. Oniros had won.

She turned to face the crowd. She growled at them. This wasn't victory! She was forced to kill a brother in cold blood!

The crowd produced a collective gasp, and too late Oniros realized they weren't gasping at her, but something behind her.

Sharp black claws raked across Oniros, slicing open her chest and all the way through her right wing.

She screamed as she turned to see her attacker, a black dragon that was beginning to fall towards her with the exertion of the attack. This dragon was near death! It was that moment when Oniros realized that the dragon was the same one she had attacked only moments ago, charred beyond recognition, his wings bent at awkward angles from ramming into the wall.

Everything ran in slow motion as she tried to move away from the dragon about to fall on her. Her eyes went wide in horror. She would never use that attack again. Her enemy landed on his side, but Oniros hadn't made it away in time. His giant shoulder had her tail pinned to the ground.

---

"Yeah!" Eden answered "Hes about as strong as he is annoying, which is saying something." Eden winked. "We're working on learning Shock, aren't we Notos?"

The fae nodded, blue electricity sparking on his wings.

((@Stanzascale, actually yeah subscribing works really fine to me. Weird...
@Tortallan, like usual))

With the combined efforts of the two dragons, the well turned faster than it would normally have. After some long minutes of forcing, Hyruu heard the satisfying clinging sound that indicated that his job on this machine was done - it was about time ! Pushing that wheel at a sufficient speed (sufficient meaning for the guards not to whip him) was tiresome enough for his muscles to start burning.
With a nod to thank the dragoness who helped him, the grey dragon put back his two front paws on the ground, not without feeling them a bit weak. He barely had the time to make some steps away from the wheel before the foreman came for their next assignment.
"You, come back where you were before." he ordered the dragoness. "And you, help with these machines." he told Hyruu, pointing at the machines the old dragon that helped them was working on.
The grey dragon obeyed, feeling lucky not to have been assigned on another machine requiring strength. He stepped toward his new assignment, choosing the machine that was right next to the one the elder dragon was working on.
"Thanks." he whispered at him, low enough and short enough for the guards not to hear it, before starting to blow some fire in his machine.


Milo slightly cocked his head as he saw the young dragon showing his magic. He knew dragons could practice some, but the dragons he was seeing in their cells were too tired to use it for anything.
"I just hope we'll never have to use that." he just commented.
The young human looked at the two girls before putting his two hands on the table - if that could have been impressive in another context, it clearly wasn't with Milo doing it on an old dusty table.
"Even if I know you know the plan, I'll repeat it a last time before we actually do it. Any objections ?" he asked.

"None here. I'm more than okay with hearing it one more time." Bravado flickered in Eden's eyes. She was so ready to do this. She sat down in a dusty chair and crossed her legs. Notos flew over to sit in her lap. The both looked at Milo with bright eyes, ready to get started.

---

Onions couldn't pull her tail out from under the giant beast. Sweat beaded on her face from the stress of trying to pull it out, and the amount of pain she was in. The mirror cried out. She was so weak. Was it from using all that power? It must have been, because she was more than physically drained.

Bleeding out her side, and with one ripped wing, Oniros slowly faded into unconsciousness.