Never Lose Hope

While this plot is opened to all, due to its setting a few particularities are to be noted. So don't jump in before having read this topic : http://www.rpgdragons.org/t2963-plot-idea-never-lose-hope
So let the plot begin !

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Rhune grunted as he pushed the bar in front of him, turning around a pillar as he was powering some sort of mechanism. What kind of mechanism, that he didn't know. Nor he cared. He didn't have the strength to even wonder what was the meaning of what he was doing. He was doing it. If he didn't, he was assured to get whipped, or worse. At least by doing his job he was assured not to get whipped... too much. That was his daily life : pushing a bar, motioning some mechanism or breathe some fire under the supervision of the guards to earn a pitiful meal and a few hours of sleep. He was just going on and surviving. The rest... he was always too tired to think.
Suddenly the bar he was pushing stopped, the mechanism being blocked. By what, he didn't know. But this time he cared for a simple reason : if it wasn't starting to turn again in a few seconds, he was good for a whipping. The green dragon put as much weight as he could on the bar, hoping it would be enough to make it turn again. But between his weakness and his body being light from the constant starvation, he couldn't put enough pressure to make it start again. A jolt of pain on his flank informed him it already was too late.
"Push harder you useless beast !" the guard yelled as he whipped Rhune once more.
The dragon could only yelp in pain as he tried the hardest he could to make the mechanism move. After a few hits from the whip, the guard seemed to understand the mechanism was blocked. Rhune's flank was painful, the whip having left some clean cuts through the scales. Scales that were almost useless as they were so thin.
"Hey you ! Help him with this." the guard ordered to another dragon.

Hearing the guard call him. Max grunts as struggles to move and stands next to Rhune trying his best to push the bar but it wouldn't budge.''Push!!!''yelled the guard he whips Max and Rhune.

Atarijor's arms shook violently with effort as his toes came into contact with the ground. His paw pads were raw and bleeding, cut on small sharp rocks littering the path he walked on. Today, the Wyvern had been made to pull heavy loads of quarried stone. The chains of the harness he wore rattled as he stopped to look up at his destination, still so far away at the top of a very steep ramp. At least he had this harness, weak and rusted as it was. And at least he wasn't on the machines like he usually was. But as he saw the arduous task before him, even the machines seemed like paradise. Of course, this was still better than being a gladiator; Atarijor was always grateful he had not been selected for that. And then a sharp pain to the back of his head reminded that he always could be. The Wyvern started forward again as a guard yelled and snapped his whip. The chains rattled and grew taunt as the stone atop the sled they were attached to failed to move. And as long as it remained stationary, the crack of a whip filled Atarijor's ears, its end carved new lines into his hide. By the time he finally got the sled moving, slowly but surely, his sides were numb. Ahead of him, more guards on either side of the ramp whipped others Dragons, urging them to keep moving.

Groaning as the guards keep whipping him to keep pushing. Max's legs shook of exhaustion and pain.Roaring he pushes the bar finally making it move, his arms sore and his chest riddled with scars and his eyes starting to twitch from the pain just kill me now!!screaming inside his head.The last trail of hope inside him telling him to keep going.

Much smaller than the other dragons, the humans had found the little StarWing useless in pulling things. In fact, her only uses were fire stoking, and whatever odd jobs were thought up for her. She didn't have it quite as bad as the others, but she was still whipped often, and her muzzle was often kept wrapped shut, to keep her explosive fire inside of her, unless they needed her to use it. Right now, she was tending to the fire, however, so it was off. She flew beside a gigantic fire, her body ignorant to the heat it was giving off. She simply flew endlessly, her shoulders burning from hours of doing the same thing, hovering in front of the flames. Every once in a while, she was whipped, and forced to shoot fire into the pit, watching the flames soar, further powering the machine it was attatched to. Her wings, as well as the wings of a few other dragons, were used as a sort of air current, keeping constant oxygen flowing at the fire. It may seem like freedom to these dragons for her jobs, but despite this, there was a harness around her, looped on her neck, and on the base of her tail before going down on a leash to a pipe she was currently attatched to. The metal of the harness chafed her softer scales, but all Neru could do was keep flying, ignoring the red that mixed into the nebulaeic blue and black of her scales.

As the bar suddenly started to move again, Rhune lost his balance and fell on the ground. It took him a few seconds before managing to get up again, which was apparently already too much for the guards. His wing twitched as the whip lashed the leathery part. The green dragon got back to the job, pushing the bar once again. He had almost lost any notion of time, but the day should end in some time. He already felt like he would collapse on the ground. But he had to keep going and push the bar. At least now he had some help.

The fifteenth son of Atarijor I longed for help. But that was a luxury and such a thing did not exist in this place. Not for this job, not for Dragons or Wyverns. He was about a quarter of the way up the ramp and it would only get harder. Gravity and exhausted muscles began to work against him. And he would slow, the whips would sound again, add fresh wounds to his hide and open old ones. It was clockwork, a vicious cycle that ended only with last light. But even then his work could not end til he reached the very top of the ramp. There was no place to anchor his load for the night and to spend a whole day working with no progress at all to show for it would mean a beating. A beating which make him beg for death. And so, even though his legs and arms quaked to the point of immobility, Atarijor pressed on. He knew by the time he reached its summit, the ramp would be stained with his blood--so frequently was he whipped. He only hoped Rhune and Maxeylius were faring better than him today.

(Sorry im late, little use of computer yesterday)

Harmony sighed as she tugged on a chain. She felt a whip lash against her side, yelping. She looked at the guard who whipped her. "Stop. Your terrible at this. Go help the Wyvern." He said, slashing her once again. Harmony sighed again, running to Atar. She gave a calm 'Roar' to him, letting him know she was helping him. She gave it a nudge from behind, trying to let him know she was gonna push it from behind. Another guard went to whip Harmony, but as he threw it, the whip wrapped around Harmony's tail.

(Short posts are short when the mind is not creative)

Max groaning, his throat dry.''I don't think we have met before''talking in a raspy voice to Rhune.The guards ignored him''I'm max''

Atarijor barely heard the female dragon and he barely felt the nudge to his sled. Yet he was aware of the aid he now received and was grateful for it. His progress increased only a little, but it was progression nonetheless. His limbs still trembled and the further along he got, the more difficult his breathing became. Gravity demanded the sled and its contents return to level ground. His harness pressed against his chest, making his breath come with much effort.

Harmony sighed as she watched the Wyvern struggle. She began pushing the sled harder, and it was just barely enough, since her build was a bit bigger than Atar's.

((Sorry for being late, don't have much time to post))
Oργή woke up in his cage. The humans were yellin at him to wake up. Grumbling, Oργή stood up and let out a quiet roar. He was ready for working today. They opened the cage and they put the chain on him. He was lead to a opening that lead to a hallway, that lead to a armorsmith. He began moving metals and other materials to a small marked off area. All the humans thought he was a stupid and simple minded. He was not, nor ever will be. He grudgingly picked up the first job and began the task that would take weeks to finish. He would not be allowed to rest until it was finished. Until now. Oργή had not noticed the whips slashing at his side and face. His whole body had been numb for as long as Oργή could remember. "I'm ready, I guess..." Oργή thought and almost messed up on his work. Luckily, he did not and continue his work.

Rhune just glanced at his side when the other dragon introduced himself. It was right that he actually never saw this one before... or did he ? It wasn't easy to bond with others when everyone was maintained so tired.
"I'm Rhune." the green dragon only replied, saving his strength for his job.
His muscles tensed a bit as he got whipped, the whip missing his flank to hurt one of his paws.
"Stop chatting you two ! You'd better save your strength for your work !" the guard snapped.


Milo walked through the crowd, feeling a bit nervous. Not only he wasn't used to such a crowd, but he also felt like a criminal. Which was pretty stupid, since he hadn't done anything. Well, he hadn't done anything yet, and that would change the next evening.
The city of Gravenhage was in a constant agitation as the Summer Festival was getting prepared. Everyone was shopping for the event, may it be the food to be served or the decorations to be set. Milo, on the other hand, was shopping for something less conventional. He entered an old shop that wasn't really standing out among the houses, taking care to close the door behind him.
"Oh, Milo, that's you." a voice called from the other hand of the room.
The old man was behind his counter, counting the benefits of the day. The shop itself was an apothecary, boasting an impressive collection of herbs and other remedies.
"I have what you need. Just wait a second... Ah, there." the old man said, grabbing a small pouch and putting it on the counter.
Milo took the pouch and opened it, revealing some powder.
"Sleeping drugs. A pinch of it in a glass will be enough to guarantee a few hours of sleep. There's enough of it inside to knock down a good dozen of men for a whole night." the old man explained.
Milo slightly bowed his head.
"Thank you again for you help. How much do I owe you ?" he asked.
But the old man just rejected the question with a wave of his hand.
"Consider it my contribution to that project of yours. Were I younger, I would have been able to help more than this... Good luck to you." he simply replied.
Milo once again bowed his head as a thanking, leaving the shop. As he entered the crowd once again, he started to feel even more nervous. Now everything was ready to execute the plan. All he could hope was that everything would work as intended.

The Wyvern could barely breathe by the time reached the final quarter of ramp. His harness would surely leave an impression for a day or two. The chains behind him were pulled to their limit and threatened to snap. It was something that happened on occasion, given the amount of stress placed on the each day. Apparently it didn't occur to Atarijor's masters to make a less steep ramp. But, of course, that would make work easy for him... And why would they want that? Even with the aid he received from the--Smells like a Dragoness...--Dragoness behind him, Atar had to rely on his legs and arms. Neither moved of their own will; the Wyvern had to force them. The claws of his fingers--which were nearly nonexistent already--were worn away even more as he had to claw his way up the ramp. His breath came in short puffs from his nostrils, the pressure on his chest from the harness being too great. Not surprisingly, this made him slower and the lashes began again.

A flick sheared on Neru's flank, giving her the cue to blow another breath of flame. On command, she opened her maw, letting loose a ball of flames, watching it move to the rest of the fire and explode upon impact, letting the fire stretch to farther heights. She then continued fanning, her feather-like tail fibers blowing slightly with the wind created by all the dragons fanning the flame. She glanced at the other dragons. She longed to go invisible, to run, and escape here, but at the same time, she'd never be able to live down leaving behind all these dragons if she did. There was no telling how to get out of this place, either.

Oργή looked up from the job he was doing. He was glad he was taking a break from fighting in the arena. As he looked back down, he knew he had looked up for too long. The guard whipped him in the leg, face, and as Oργή let out a groan, the whip his the inside of his mouth. That had never happened to him before so he jumped and landed on his work. ”Oh crap" He thought just before the guard took out a club. The beating began.

At last the moment all the dragons were eagerly waiting for arrived : the signal indicating the end of the working day. As soon as the signal was heard, Rhune stopped pushing the bar, almost falling on the ground as his forelegs were shaking. The guards began to gather all the dragons, guiding them among the corridors with a few whip slashes to make them walk faster. The least one could say about the underground dungeon was that it was vast. The area was made of concentric circles, the central one being the working zone and the rest the cages for the dragons. Each dragon had its own cage, as the structure was actually big enough to host many more dragons than they currently were. At least the captive dragons were fortunate enough to have a rather spacious cell for themselves during the night. For most dragons, it was big enough to be able to lay completely straight.
Rhune entered his own cage, the guard behind him quickly closing the door behind him. The green dragon just lied on the hard rock, watching as the other dragons entered their own cages. Shortly after everyone got in, the guards began to distribute the food. It was only some dried meat and a bucket of water, but considering the conditions it was more than welcome. At least they were generous with the water. Rhune drank eagerly, enjoying the feel of the water running through his dried throat. The dried meat followed right after in a pretty impressive time. That was definitely the best moment of the day for the captive dragons, and maybe the only one when they could exchange a few words - even if they always were too tired for a conversation.

Atarijor had just reached the edge of the ramp's summit when the work's end period was announced. He collapsed almost instantly and the lashes were equally so, though they were meant only to raise him. But he couldn't join the others in rest yet; his sled was just a few feet from level ground. To step out of his harness with his sled in so precarious a place would spell the death of the Dragoness behind him and severe punishment for himself. And so he continued on, clawing desperately at the ramp and dragging himself up the last few feet. With the aid he was receiving, the sled would finally be secured at the top. He removed his harness, quickly thanked the Dragoness for her help, and hurried down the ramp--a far easier task than going up it. Just a little more, he pleaded with his overworked limbs as they struggled to carry him to his cage. Atarijor was fortunate enough to have a cage in the circle closest to the work zone. The Wyvern barely felt the few lashes that urged him on. Finally reaching his sleeping quarters, he laid down with aa this, the guard behind him quick to shut the door. And soon he received his reward for his long, hard day's work: dried meat and a bucket of water. Atarijor forced himself to take only half a mouthful of water. He found that if he gave in to his immense thirst first, there would be nothing to quench that which the dried meat would cause. So he was sparing then gobbled down the dried meat. There would be no savouring tonight; all he wanted was to sleep. After the meat was gone and his bucket dry as the meat had been, Atarijor XVI stretched out on his right side and closed his eyes, quickly falling asleep.

Harmony was so outta breath it sounded like she was wheezing after they were all done. She didnt care if she got whipped for running, but she bolted for her cage. As she laid, she stretched out her hind legs, them popping 3 times. She sighed with relief, her tail flicking when she saw the food and water. She ate the food first, at a slower pace, and drank the water faster. She smiled as the guards walked away, and looked at the cell across from her that happened to be Rhune. She knew he was tired, but waved anyway. She wanted to have a conversation with everyone, but she knew they were all exhausted.

Walking back to his cage, Max greedily eats the piece of dried meat and takes couple sips of the water before lying down into the bare ground and closing his eyes dreaming of freedom.

(Is it too late to join?)

The smaller of the group, a purple dragon was being forced by his human captors to do an embarrising job to a dragon. Ploughing. A HORSES JOB!

ShadowCast had no idea how long he'd been doing this for now. Days? Weeks? no...possibly months. His Horns were blunt, no way to cut the chains with his trimmed claws either.

He remembered a time when he acturally managed to bite one of the humans. Made it bleed well as well. He got a walloping though.

"PUSH YOU STUPID DRAGON!" the human whipped Shadowcast and he jerked forwards growling... One day...one day...


He heard the signal for everyone to stop. Finally, maybe a chance to bite the human again. He lashed out as one of them tried to un-latch him but being so tired to do so he was only muzzled and led to his cage by the humans.


For a small dragon he showed no signs of wanting to be tamed. When he was first put to work he was lashing left and right trying to sink his teeth into the humans skulls and ribs. He had since grown tired but still showed the same amount of resistence as he did when put on the plough.

Shadowcast as being led to the cage began to shake his head and try to lift himself to the oppersite direction. The amount of humans that it took to get him into the cage was around 3 or 5.


CLANG. CLUNK. The cage door shut and locked on him. Shadowcast let himself just fall onto his side and huff. Lately he wasn't eating. He took a few sips of water here and there but that was about it. You could see his ribcage and the humans had to literally force-feed him most the time.

He moved his head slightly on the cold, metal floor and looked at the other dragons with his lavender eyes. Determination and starvation...thats what could be seen in his eyes. Many dragons that did speak during this time urged him to eat.

In Shadowcasts case? He would rather starve.

What felt like three weeks of a beating finally stopped when the call to stop work sounded. The human prodded him and smack his face. Oργή barely was able to stand up.”Well since I was beating you, your going to get no food until this job is done! NOW FINISH IT CORRECTLY!" the human shouted at him. With a start Oργή, began his work again. It took until 3 hours after midnight for him to finish. When he did, Oργή
looked at the guard and waited. The guard opened the door and let Oργή through. He lumbered to his cage and the guard slammed the cage door on his tail. Oργή yelped and with the rest of his energy pulled his tail though. That was all he could do and he fell asleep without dinner.

(Hyruu, im sorry if im changing the map up to much, or if im breaking any rules in any way.)
(Btw, Long posts are long )

Harmony sighed. She couldnt fall asleep, and had spent over 3 hours trying to. Her eyes shot open when she heard a cage door open, her ear twitched. Her lower eyelid twitched as she watched the guard shut the door on Oργή's tail. She then realized how many bruises he had, and her heart sunk. Harmony saw that she hadnt eaten all of her food, took a bite out of it, and began bashing the door of her cage.
2 guards ran over and opened the cage one of the times she was ramming herself into it, making Harmony run into the cage across from her, which happened to be Rhune's. Harmony shook her head and snarled, looking at the guards. Since over-hearing them talk when they were being distracted, Harmony knew a bit of the human language. "I'm.... Done... Being... Prisoner!!!" She said slowly, trying really hard not to use the wrong words. Harmony ran over to them, batting one of the guards with her paw. While she was distracted with that guard, the other one threw a rope around Harmony's neck. Once it was there, he tugged on it, the rope tightening, almost choking Harmony too hard. She looked at him, her eyes narrowed.

(Im calling the guard who got beat up Red, the new guard Ben, and the guard who caught Harmony can be Mark. IDK, im just tired of defining each guard.)

Red got up after taking cover, beating Harmony's side with a bat multiple times. By then another guard had ran over, and Mark handed Ben the rope, walking away. Ben tugged Harmony into her cage, climbing her back and slowly un-tieing the rope on Harmony's neck, giving Mark enough time to come back. When Mark did, he came back with metal cuffs and chains. Mark cuffed Harmony's legs, and chained them all together. Ben finished un-tieing the rope, and leaped down. The three guards stood outside her cage, teasing her. Harmony hot-headedly attempted to leap out to them, tripping after doing so. They laughed, shutting the door in her face.

As soon as the bell sounded, Neru felt herself yanked down by the harness. Falling out of the air, she spread her wings, attempting to slow the inevitable smack of the ground. She hit hard, however, just as they intended, sitting stunned as they moved the muzzle back over her mouth. She was then allowed to stand, and was led after the other dragons.

Her cage was less so than more of an alcove. It was much smaller than the others', mostly because she was smaller as well. Still, the little nook in the ceiling was her home, and so she settled down right away, flopping her wings out as much as she could, and attacking the meat they gave her as soon as the harness was removed long enough for her to eat. Then she set her head down, aqua eyes drooping.

Shadowcast grunted as he watched the humans try and 'Calm' one of the dragons down and soon after just start to tease her. It was his turn now.

Shadowcast jumped up and swiped his paw at the three humans snarling and roaring at them. They only started to tease him too and laugh but soon after he himself began to smash his wings and body into the cage as well before falling over due to his hunger. He tossed the dried meat into another dragons cage (Opyn) which he must say was a lucky shot.

After a few growls and huffs Shadowcast sliped into an unconsious state.

(Im gonna do the same but with a few different humans One's called Jhon and the other charls)

A few moments later two humans came to ShadowCasts cage, observing him in his unconsious sate "Charls we need to get him eating again. Should i call the boss?" Jhon only sneered at Charls "No..if he wants to starve let him. Besides. His purple hide would make great luxery furniture...get the boss...tell him this dragon needs to be put down" Charls wanted to protest but did as he was told and walked off, Jhon following behind.