Refugee City [IC, open, sign ups only]

[Serretes]

Harald looked up when one his men came in.
"Sir, there is a messenger for you from the Athronians. Some boy carried it over. Nearly dropped a deuce when he saw us. He keeps saying your name."
"Alright." Harald walked out of the building to the gate where he saw a boy, looking terrified, standing there.
"I am Harald. I was told you had a message for me." The boy nodded and handed him the letter. Harald took it and opened and quickly read it.
"Bring me a pen." He smiled at the boy. He quickly wrote back: We would be pleased to host you anytime. Just show up and you will be welcomed. And sorry, your messenger still seems terrified by us. Hope this is not a huge problem. - Harald Helginson. He finished handed the letter to the boy with three small coins for his trouble. When he was gone he laughed. If he could inspire so much fear, why did people still try to harm him? He thought back to his fallen friends and stopped laughing.

[Athron]

when the boy arived back at the athronian camp,whitaker was waiting for him outside the gate.when he saw the boy's face he asked"what did they do to you?"the boy shook his head"nothing sir,i'm just a little shocked"whitaker heard this and said"well then stop your whining and get inside the camp i want to ask you some more questions"

back inside the same small room:
whitaker looked at the boy and said"so tell me what did their camp look like"the boy closed his eyes tring to remember what he had seen"well,they looked like they were prepareing for some kind of attack"whitaker was really surprised at this"what,i hope they are not planing on attacking that new militia we have been hearing reports about,they could start a huge war between the locals and us refugees,now this will give me a perfect reason to visit their camp"whitaker stood and began to exit the building.When he reached the gate he pointed at two guards motioning for them to follow he then procedded to exit the athronian camp

[Lolloh]

Maroon's cigarette fell from his mouth. He couldn't believe his own eyes. "Papers?" he said weakly. It took him a little while to realize what the dragon was saying. Then it all clicked. "Yes. Papers. You're refugees. That's why you're here. That makes sense. Yes. I'll take that." He was still shaken up, although he was functioning after the shock of seeing a real life dragon. He looked through the papers and the passports. "Yes. This is... This is good. I'll have this processed in the office. We'll... contact you." He took the papers and passports inside.

Harrim nodded corteously. "You're most welcome. Also, we bring you a gift of our gratitude." With that, Harrim pulled out 6 gold ingots from his bag, and put them calmly on the balcony. 7 centuries of collecting (and never spending) tribute from Lolloh meant that the dragons had brought with them almost 200.000kg of gold in the form of ingots. Most dragons liked them because it was shiny, and dragons operated much like magpies in that sense. They also found that humans went absolutely ballistic if you showed them barely any. Bowing once again, Harrim said, "You are welcome." At that point, giving off a large red flare in farewell, he took off, heading back home.

Back at camp
Harrim sighed as Jannak, one of his chief advisors, told him about the problem. "All these spoiled human behavior teachers want 5.000 meats a week." 'Meats' meant any animal caught hunting. The average dragon ate just 500 meats a week. Harrim sighed, but then lit up as he decided something. "I've got it! We don't have to waste our meats! We'll just hire a good teacher for a few gold bars! It should keep us going for at least a century!" Jannak nodded. "It seems good. Should I send out a wailer?" A wailer was a dragon who went around announcing general news, almost like a news bulletin. They were used to spread the word about something, like yet another human war in which they were dicing each other up with some new, deadlier weapon. "Of course," replied Harrim. "I want you to go to all these refugee settlements, as well as the locals, to hire a teacher for 5kg of gold a week. If no one wants the job for that little gold, keep doubling it until someone takes the job." With that settled, a total of a dozen wailers were assembled and dispatched to all the separate refugee camps in the area.

[Orthella]

"So they won't starve?" Admiral Lea Reegar was growing annoyed with the conversation.
"No, but...."
"Then what's the problem?"
"They'll still be malnourished."
"If they're not going to die, it doesn't take priority."
"With all due respect, Admiral, I don't think it would be good for your image as a leader if we don't have enough food to feed all of our people."
"As long as our enemies don't know about that, my image will be fine. That native militia is more important, do we have any intel?" The recent murder had kept her up at night, plotting revenge.
"We still don't know where they're base of operations is, but there are rumours that there was another victim."
"Was that victim publicly hung?" Reegar wasn't overly concerned with losing one of her people, but to have it displayed for the whole city was a blow to her ego.
"No. Allegedly the victim back to the Serreten camp where he came from before he died. We speculate that he was meant to tell the tale. Harald is furious."
Reegar smiled, although it couldn't be seen because of her helmet. "We may have ourselves an ally. Send a message to the Serretens and request an audience with their leader. Are we done here?"
"There is one more thing. The dragons want to hire a teacher. We have some available."
"What are they offering in return?"
"Gold, Admiral."
"Gold? Do I look like a Vorcha to you? I'm not interested in trinkets."
"Of course there's no good use for gold, but humans put a great deal of value in it. We could trade it for supplies. Food, for example."
"All right, I'll allow it. Send a teacher to the dragons. Let's hope they don't eat her."

[Lolloh]

Plains outside Kirak
"Harrim, we've got a teacher!"
"Really?"
"Yes! Word from the feds today! They'll send one for our offers, though they seemed reluctant."
"Hm..., good point. Throw in a few dozen sheep as a 'bonus.'"
"Of course, Harrim."

Harrim was now busy making sure that a food stock was being constructed. Most of the food that was being caught was small and meager; a bunch of sheep in herds guarded by grizzled men who just panicked and ran around while you took all their sheep. The situation was fairly stable, though the food reserve was still quite small, and a large chunk of dragons were still busily hunting around the clock to make sure they had at least enough supplies for another month if they didn't receive food.

[Athron]

But before whitaker could leave he was alerted that an emergency council meeting had been called,and he was quickly escorted to one of the largest buildings in the camp.That was where he now sat,in a large dank room,surrounded by some of his most trusted advisors.They were discussing some of the new things that have been occuring lately
"DRAGONS!,i saw them with my own eyes...there was this big one near the mayors building!"yelled council member yanster.this announcement sent the whole room into an uproar,some yelled that he was a lier,while others said that they too had seen the beast.
"SILENCE....now are you sure you saw this dragon,could it have been some large bird?"asked whitaker wondering ifthe old man had finaly cracked.
"no i swear...it was a dragon,and i won't rest easy until you can prove it wasn't"screamed the council member.
whitaker thought this over in his head,if there wasn't a dragon all this drama would be for nothing,but if there was a dragon it could mean death of the few live stock they had"fine we'll try to send out a scouting party as soon as we can,now can we get back to the real issues,like what to do about this militia,we can't have them threatening us,i think we should try to bulod up are defences,now all in favor?" all around the room were sound of agreements,for once the council had found something they could all agree on.

[Lolloh]

"Harrim?"
"Yes?"
"We've encountered some human of some kind approaching our camp."
"Sorry?"
"Some human approaching our position. We found him and tried to bring him here, but he freaked and ran faster than we can dive."
"I see, is this of worry?"
"No, not really. And good news, as well!"
"What is it now?" replied Harrim, sharpening his claw on an old sheep bone.
"After today's heavy hunting session, we have the reserves you wanted! 8 months!"
Harrim stared as Jannak wide-eyed. "Are you serious?"
"Yes! We found a colossal flock a dozen or so miles north. Took it all. We've got 8 months of supply! We can share!"
Harrim looked at Jannak oddly. "Are you sure, it's only 8 months, not a thousand years."
"I know, but what one dragon eats in a single meal the littler creatures eat in a month!"
"Good point," conceded Harrim. "Did you follow that scout?"
"Yes, we did, for safety. Some shanty town with a few pikes being built around it."
"All right, it's settled, then: Send our best diplomat over. In return for us helping build some defenses for their town (don't bother with what conflict it is) and giving them plenty of food to last them a year, they'll repay us in the future."
"It is done, Harrim."

[Serretes]

Harald seemed to have meetings coming from all directions. The Quarians had requested a meeting as had the Athronians. Rumors were going around that dragons lived in the plains neighboring. But overall no problems. Since his meeting at the Athron camp, the food had helped. The militia had tried to raid them, but were run off when they saw 300 armed men staring down at them. Then he had ordered the torching of a neighboring garden. His defense was being built up into levels. With scrap walls spanning gaps in between the houses. Ditches had been dug for added protection and wire was strung on the walls.

These times were getting better. He had lost 25 men in the past month and a half. But the=at was behind him. Yesterday his men killed 30 militia when they made an attempted raid and had strung there bodies up at the bridge near the suburb border. He had harmed the militia and expected retribution. They were rebuilding the camp on the outskirts. Doing so at night to prevent notice. This camp would be invincible.

[Athron]

whitaker stood,watching the creation of one of the new things that would serve as protection from this new militia.he had just finished speaking with the council,when the scout he had sent off to find this so called dragon returned.he looked as if he had seen a ghost.
"Council member whitaker...he was right....it's a whole group.i barelymade it back,they kept swooping down at me..."he stoped speaking.whitaker watched as all the color seemed to drain from his face.whitaker turned just in time to see the dragon land,he looked towards the guards,but sadly they had all ready ran in fear of the fire breathing beast.but for some reason whitaker could tell it was not here to attack. Hello what is your name,I am council member Whitaker,the leader of this camp.and who are you?"whitaker could feel the eyes on him as he spoke to the dragon,he even thought he was cracked,talking to a beast,what was he thinking.

[Lolloh]

Jurrali was the most skilled diplomat for humans that could be found. He spoke in a nice, pleasant voice with a heavy British accent (thanks to the BBC), and he was generally polite and kind. His landing was almost without incident, unless you counted a few men with pointy sticks running in fear as an incident. Apparently, one of the humans had the good sense to begin a conversation; Jurrali remained motionless, staring with his amber eyes. Finally, in his cultured voice, he spoke.
"Hello, Mr. Whitaker. I am here to give you a deal so that we may remain in peace with each other. I will be to the point: We will offer to help you in building defenses and fending off attackers, as well as provide you with enough stores to feed your people for a year. In return, we ask nothing but your trust and your pledge to support us in troubled times, as we will to you." For added emphasis, Jurrali bowed, his neck curving in a pristine arch, with his head landing just inches away from that of the councilman. Blowing a small spurt of white flame in respect, Jurrali rebrought his head up to normal level, and then stared down at the assembled group with a serene, relaxed stare.

[Athron]

Whitaker stared at the dragon,he couldn't believe his eyes,had this beast just spoken in english.he knew he needed to respond.But part of him,the part that feared the beast wanted to turn and run.he was brought back to his senses when he heard one of his guards yell."i refuse to let some monster beast into my home,please forgive me council member,but if you won't.....then i must!"he then raised his gun and pointed it towards the dragons head.Whitaker knew that if this man fired his gun he would risk the chance of making a horrible enemy.he looked towards the dragon,he seemed very calm,even with a gun pointed at his face

[Lolloh]

Jurrali looked at the stick pointed at his face. Instinctively, he lowered his his second eyelid, designed to protect from such hazards. However, he remained calm. He was now virtually impregnable against that miserable little point of lead that humans called a bullet. Calmly, as if having guns pointed at his head was an everyday business, he replied to the soldier. "Do you wish that I move myself to a different place, possibly outside of this compound? Please keep in mind that I can break your neck in a second if I wish to, and that I can destroy your village in a day. Now, I don't want this to be a hostile relation, but I will have to report it as an attack. Now, please put that stick away and point me to the nearest acceptable talking space, or I'll pluck that thing from your hands, bend it in half, and do likewise to your body." Turning to Whitaker, Jurrali apologetically said, "Sorry, but you must understand that it's quite annoying having people threaten to kill you, no matter how empty that threat is. Now, are we leaving, or do you want to stay here, Councilman?" Then, in a surprise move, Jurrali extended the claw of his wing, slamming the guard's gun out of his hands, then roaring at full blast, hoping to achieve a shock-and-awe paralyzation among the assembled people. After all, he couldn't be killed by those pitiful weapons, could he?

[Athron]

seeing their comrade attacked by the dragon,many of the other guards began to raise there weapons towards the dragon,seeing that this would not end well,whitaker turned towards his people. "wait,my fellow athronians....can't you see that they are trying to prevent this,if you fire on this dragon,you will cuase more bad then good?" seeing that he had got through to his people he turned to the dragon and said. "i feel it might be best if we leave the compound,as you can see many of my people are rather agressive towards new...."before he could finish one of his advisors ran over to him and began to whisper. "sir stay here,where we can protect you from that....beast,i mean we have all heard the legends,what if their true?" Whitaker thought this over then said,you might be right,but i trust him,so i shall return soon hopefully i can fix this problem we have made"he then looked at the dragon and gestured for him to lead the way

[Lolloh]

Jurrali calmly accepted Whitaker's offer, and obediently fell into step behind him. He could have cared less about guns, since the only that could pierce a dragon's scale was diamond. Frankly, he was almost hoping that they'd shoot him, so he could show them how mighty and dangerous he was. However, Jurrali decided to fake that he didn't care if they shot him or not. "Very well, Whitaker, you may come with us. We have some gifts for you. Give me a second, please..." with that, he flew out a flurry of rapidly changing fire, a quick and easy way to transmit messages.

Back at the camp, a guard on duty read the message and gave it to Hammin. "S 2W, 700G, 1Y F," repeated the guard to Hammin. Hammin then translated the message. "Send two warriors, 700 bars of gold, and one human year of food." Hammin then nodded to the various people assembled in the camp. "Well, you heard me! Jurrali wants 700 bars, two warriors, and a year of food! Get it and be on your way!" With that, the camp became a bustle of activity. 700 gold bars were assembled on a large white cloth, to be dragged by a dozen dragons, along with the large year supply of salted and preserved sheep jerky, dragged by four dozen dragon. Finally, there were the two warriors, meant to guard the advancing troop and make sure nothing bad happened that wasn't in the dragons' favor. In all, about 65 dragons took off, loaded with gifts, and began headed towards the Athronian camp.

[Athron]

After Whitaker and Jurrali left the camp,council member Yanston went into action.he climbed atop a large crate,gathered everyones attention "my fellow Athronians i am surely not the only one who saw what just happened....Whitaker has betrayed us,and he must pay the price" Yanston puased,he could see that he was wilding up the crowd."he sides with beast,rather then his fellow man,i say we rise up,i mean...who put him in charge anyway!"Yanston didn't know it but he had put in motion,a long list of events that could possible lead to the destruction of the athronian camp and it's people."now we should ask our allies from the other camps for asistance."he then pointed at towards an armed guard. "you there,head to the Serretesian camp,tell them what is happening here,and that we may need their help,go now"

meanwhile:
whitaker walked in front of the dragon,he appeared clam on the outside,but inside he was torn.with what he had seen,whitaker still couldn't tell if the legends were true,oh god the stories he had heard has a child.they made him pray they weren't true.but he still tried to remain clam while making conversation with the dragon behind him."so what caused you to leave your country and migrate here,despite the obivous?" whitaker new that it wasn't really a great question,but it was a start.

[Serretes]

Haralds new camp progressed nicely. He had inquired when both leaders had wanted to meet him. He had not received answers. The militia had taken 15 of his men and he was no where near going to pardon them. He was nearing the completion of the new fort. It would be far less comfortable but far more easy to maintain. 3 sides were up. He had killed more militia but they still kept coming. How many must he kill before they leave his lonely people. His people had no families. When they left, all of them had chosen to follow him as opposed to stay. Most of the families had refused to leave with them. A total of 2 of his mens wives had come. 3 children. And 3 young unmarried women,one of them promised to him. The others also had been promised in marriage. He had heard about the dragons from his information sector, and was wondering when his visit from them would come. Harald turned and saw a man come running up to him, waving for a cease fire.

[Lolloh]

"Well, it was a nuclear holocaust. Some idiot dropped two dozen or so atom bombs on our little peninsula, turned into a wasteland. We really didn't have any option but to flee. And we came here. And... oh dear." Jurrali, with his good hearing, had managed to hear that other councilmember say he would betray Whitaker. "It appears your people are betraying you. Don't ask, I know. A pity. We were truly hoping for an alliance." He then turned to look directly at Whitaker. "You now have a choice: Come to our camp and stay protected, or go back and try and rouse your people. I'll hover above, to make sure nothing bad happens, and I've got some help coming on the way."

The 65 dragons bearing gifts and the 2 warriors arrived. After a quick discussion, a plan was made. One warrior would hover above Whitaker when he went in. If anything bad happened, all 66 dragons would swoop in and occupy the little village. It would all be over in just a few seconds, at most a minute. It wasn't David vs. Goliath. It was Bamby vs. Godzilla.

Jurrali then told Whitaker the plan. "Well, what do you think?"

[Athron]

"I believe i shall go and try to reason with them,they surely can't expect to win some kind of war."said whitaker as he looked up at the dragon.he knew he had to put stop to this at once,but he needed to know more.he began to walk back towards the camp only to see a huge mob gathered in the camp center,he could see that council member yanston had started this riot.Whitaker would make him pay for this.he began to run towards the crowd."people...please clam down..this is uncivilized.we are better then this."seeing that he had no effect over the crowd,whitaker went with plan B."I am warning you calm yourselfs or this will get messy,if you don't....our new friends will come down on this camp with the force of an atomic bomb,now do you really want this?".Yanston,seeing that he was losing his control over the crowd,began to freak out.He reached for his pistol and aimed it towards Whitakers skull."I will not let you ruin this camp,by siding...with dragons,i will enjoy killing"he yelled from high atop the crates

meanwhile:
when the private reached the camp he began to wave for a cease fire."hello,i am looking for a.....Mr.Harald,i have a message from the new leader of the athronian camp,he requests that you meet with him,he wants to speak about our new...dragon problem"he knew it sounded crazy,hell he wouldn't have believed it either if he had seen it for himself.that was when he got the call.the call commanded him to return to camp and to tell harald that the meeting was off."i am sorry but i must return to the camp...oh and i am being told that the meeting is off,sorry for your time."he then began to run back to camp

[Lolloh]

Realizing that right now was probably a good time to do so, Jarruli motioned to one of the female warriors, Hapaka. She immediately jumped over the crowd in one mighty leap, and then grabbed Yanston from his post atop the crates. There was a yelp, and a shot went off. Hapaka dove behind the crates, adjusted her grip on Yanston, then spread her wings to take off. That was when all hell broke loose.

OOC I'm not exactly sure what Yanston would've done, so feel free to RP popping off a few rounds before getting captured. However, he IS getting captured. The warrior's have catlike reflexes and whatnot. However, she's trying to be light, so he's still alive, so RP him as still conscious.

Meanwhile, back at the main body of dragons, Harrim was receiving news by fire. Things were apparently not going well, and some messenger or sort was sent to a camp of refugees (another one!). Harrim wisely ordered another one of his chief diplomats, Wakkim, to head to that other camp and hope to sway those people over to the dragon side.

OOC I meant by Serretes camp, but they don't know that at the moment.

[Athron]

before being torn from his place atop the crates,Yanston managed to get off a few shots form his pistol.one hit Whitaker in the chest,the wound was not fatal,the other two bullets were aimed at the dragon that had picked him up in it's claws.meanwhile seeing the dragon come down on Yanston,the whole camp was panicing. they still feared the dragons no matter what.Some of the guards had seen the Whitaker get shot,so they dragged him to safety.when Yanston was picked up he had somehow kept hold of the gun.after he realized what was happening to him,he began to panic.he started to raise the gun to his head.he thought of what had led to this,the realiztion that dragons were real,the betrayal of his friend and the riot in the camp center.and that was when he pulled the trigger

ooc:feel free to make it where he misses,he really doesn't deserve the easy way out

[Lolloh]

The gun was moving about so wildly that it didn't kill Yanston. Instead, Hapaka simply knocked the little thing out of his hands with a light flick, which also broke Yanston's wrist. He continued to cry out in pain. Hapaka then oh-so-lightly tapped him on the head, knocking Yanston out. Hapaka quickly signaled that she had the rebel leader, then flew off. Hapaka then headed where she figured would be the logical place for a criminal like Yanston: The County Courthouse of Kirak.

Jarruli knew he had to do something. He remembered a few words from "A Dragon's Guide to Human Behavior 101": "While human behavior is extremely diverse and chaotic, it can, eventually, be boiled down to certain instinctive reactions that can be thwarted if one knows how."

Jarruli motioned to a dozen or so dragons (not warriors) to follow him. After about 30 seconds of rapid planning, the dragons fanned themselves out. They blocked all (visible) exits, landed at random places among the crowd, and began roaring like hell in the hopes of shocking the people into silence so that Jarruli could speak in the absence of Whitaker.

[Athron]

As soon as the dragons began to roar,the majority of the camp immediately stopped running,as the fear became so great,that it caused them to freeze where they stood.but once the dragons stopped roaring,some of the Athronians began to snap out of their trance like state.the first human to speak was a tall skinny boy."Oh for the love of all that is great,just get it over with...go on...do it already!" he yelled towards Jarruli,challenging him

[Lolloh]

Jarruli cocked his head oddly at the boy. Confused, he decided to interpret it as a request for food. He quickly sent a fire signal to outside of the camp. Immediately, another group of about 40 dragons began dropping dried sheep jerky among the crowd. Jarruli still maintained his cocked-head position. However, everyone seemed to be quieting down. As the sheep jerky was being distributed, he made a speech.

"Athronians, lend me your ears! Do you not see what a benefit we are? We have offered you defense and food to you for nothing. Do you truly believe that we would do otherwise? I ask you now: Would you kill one just because he looks odd? Smiles strangely? Of course not! So wake up to your rational senses, and please, just remain calm!

Meanwhile, Hapaka had gotten a new signal: Bring the rebel guy back to the Athronian camp. He would have his trial held there.

[Athron]

after the crowd had begun to clam down and accept the idea of being allies with dragons,they started to spread out and get on with their lives.that was when Whitaker walked out of the tent,he was assisted by one of his guards.he slowly approached Jarruli."thank you for your help,i am now in your debt...but i would finally like to meet your leader,i only hope he is as kind as you."he thanked the guard for his help then motioned for him to leave.he was glad to have the dragons as allies,he wanted to have all the support he could get,for when that militia got here,all hell would break loose

[Lolloh]

Jarruli nodded, keeping his mask of calm; though internally he was sighing from relief. He'd managed to create an ally, people were OK with it, and Jarruli could now report a stunning success to get him written into the history books (dragons were very vain in this sense). Jarruli nodded, a deep bow of his head. "Of course, I'll bring him here at once. Do you want us to start building fortifications around your town? I was thinking 3 meters thick and 10 meters high should be good enough. That is, made out of stone. Very hard to melt. Do you want a dome as well?" Before Whitaker could answer, Jarruli sent out a signal to bring in Hammak.

Back at camp, Hammak received the message, and quickly came in by flight, escorted by 3 warriors for security. Upon landing, Hammak looked at Jarruli, speaking to him in Dragonish. "Is this the leader?" "Yes, Hammak, he's the leader. He's asking about our help with the fortifications." Hammak nodded, then said, "You wish us to start building fortifications? Mr..." he waited for the leader to introduce himself.