SandWings

SandWings are a desert-dwelling tribe of Pyrrhia dragons whose scale pigmentation ranges from pale gold, light yellow, off-white, and pale brown. They can breathe fire much like some other Pyrrhrian dragon tribes. SandWings can also survive for long periods of time without water, and poison their victims with the tips of their venom-barbed tails, which are quite similar to a scorpion's. All SandWings have heat-radiating scales.

They live primarily in the Kingdom of Sand, but most members of this tribe live in either Queen Thorn's Stronghold or the Scorpion Den, although some do live in Sanctuary or Possibility as well. Eighteen years previous to the events of the Dragonets of Destiny's hatching, the SandWings were ruled by Queen Oasis until she was murdered by three scavengers who had stolen a few famous items from the SandWing Treasury, including the Lazulite Dragon and the Eye of Onyx. Oasis' three daughters, Blister, Burn, and Blaze, started a continent-wide war for the SandWing throne. Burn, the eldest sister, was allied with the MudWings and the SkyWings; Blister, the middle sister, was allied with the SeaWings, NightWings, and the Talons of Peace; and Blaze, the youngest, was allied with the IceWings and most of the SandWings.

The War of SandWing Succession reached its end when Sunny gave the Eye of Onyx to Thorn, her mother, declaring her as the rightful SandWing queen. Although Burn and Blister died on the false Brightest Night, Blaze accepted Queen Thorn as her Queen and currently lives in her stronghold.

There is currently one known animus dragon in the SandWing tribe; Jerboa II is immortal, and currently lives in a small hut near the ocean bordering the Ice and Sand Kingdoms. She is the daughter of the only other known SandWing animus, Jerboa. She had tended to Luna, a SilkWing who had been blown into Pyrrhia from Pantala by a storm.

Description
SandWings have long necks and are anatomically and biologically built to survive in the desert. Their fire is said to have a golden tinge to it. They have pale yellow, pale gold, light sandy-colored, white-gold, light yellow-brown, or off-white scales that blend in with the desert sand. Some SandWings, like Queen Thorn and Qibli, have been described with brown speckles on their wings and snouts, similar to human freckles. Their snouts tend to be short and compact, with a nose-spike, and a smaller horn under their ear. Some can also have black diamond patterns on their scales, like Blister, Cobra, and Smolder, the latter having black diamond patterns on his wings as well. Some have also been noted to have triangle patterns on their wings, such as Jerboa and her daughter, Jerboa II. They have a ridge going from their head and about 3/4 of their tails, forked black tongues, glittering black eyes, and are armed with venomous, scorpion-like barbs on the end of their tails. SandWings seem to walk on their toes (digitigrade). Some SandWings have been shown to have tattoos.

The two main SandWing defenses are their ability to breathe fire and poison other dragons with their venomous barbed tails, which they use by stabbing their enemies' hearts, spines, and skulls.

The venom in a SandWing's barb acts like scorpion venom. This venom may possibly target blood cells to let bacteria set in. Web's wound, inflicted by Blister, turned black and became infected, with the darkness spreading gradually. The venom sac, which carries the venom, is most likely located right under the barb. The venom's lethality depends on the dosage. A full dose can kill almost instantly, while a smaller dose kills slowly. If it is not a full dose, it can be countered by the juice from a brightsting cactus, which grows commonly outside Thorn's stronghold, and is shown to be sold in the Scorpion Den.

They are also able to survive extended periods of time without water and can bury themselves in the desert sand to camouflage themselves, usually against enemies and for protection. SandWings can also eat very little, as was shown when "a lizard a day was good enough for [Sunny]." and when Dune said that SandWings normally ate very little.

They can also radiate moderate heat from their scales, no matter what the temperature outside. SandWings have the best hearing out of all the tribes, as shown in the fifth book when the dialogue stated, "with [Sunny's] exceptionally sharp SandWing hearing..." SandWings also have a good sense of smell, as shown when Qibli reassured Tamarin that he wasn't smelling smoke, "And SandWings normally have a good sense of smell."

SandWing dragonets are taught how to hold their tails in a certain way, as to not accidentally harm another dragon. They are also known to hold their tail in a more threatening manner, mimicking that of a scorpion's threatening stance.

Queens
Queen Scorpion was the ruler of the SandWings during the time of Darkstalker. She allowed the NightWings and the IceWings to fight on the outskirts of her land only if each side paid treasure to her. She also stole the treasure from the NightWings when they abandoned the old Night Kingdom, the treasures becoming the SandWing treasury that would be raided by Scavengers during Queen Oasis's reign (almost 2,000 years later).

Queen Oasis once oversaw the Kingdom of Sand, yet none of her heirs challenged her to death for the throne. She was especially careful, and made sure there were no other dragons to challenge her to the throne apart from her three daughters, Blister, Burn and Blaze. Queen Oasis also had three sons. One of them, Prince Smolder, had a dragonet who he didn't know, having run off with Palm.

The queen was murdered by one scavenger in a group of three total, who then took part of the SandWing Treasure. It turned out that Blister had taken the rest, and the rest of Pyrrhia erupted in the war along with alliances of the three successors. The Eye of Onyx, an animus-touched item that made whoever holding it the SandWing queen (although additional enchantments are placed on it as well), was hidden in Queen Oasis' jaws, buried with her in her grave. Flower the scavenger, who would later become Smolder's pet, placed it in her mouth before running to hide.

Blister killed Burn with a package containing two Dragonbite Vipers and challenged Blaze, but she exploded into a pile of black ashes when she snatched the enchanted Eye of Onyx away from Thorn, who Sunny declared as queen. Blaze survived, but not as a queen, and as The Prophecy says: "Of three queens who blister and blaze and burn, two shall die and one shall learn - If she bows to a fate that is stronger and higher, she'll have the power of the wings of fire." Blaze now needs to accept her new queen, Queen Thorn. However, unknown to the SandWings as well as most of the dragon population, the prophecy is false.

The Prophecy also stated that the dragon who bows will have "the power of wings of fire", which happened to refer to the Eye of Onyx, however it is probably not what Morrowseer, the maker of the prophecy, originally intended.

Before the War of the SandWing Succession, Blister promised that she would send Burn out to help kill the scavengers, but she didn't, leaving Queen Oasis to face them alone. Her death was Blister's plan, and when Blister, Blaze, and Burn couldn't decide who was going to ascend the throne, the War started.

Queen Thorn rules the SandWings peacefully with her heir being Princess Sunny. Though Sunny does not want to be queen. Qibli had once said he thought Thorn deserved to live forever.

Thorn was challenged by a member of the royal family, Onyx, who was the granddaughter of Queen Oasis and daughter of Prince Smolder and Palm. Qibli panicked and summoned a huge sandstorm (via Anemone's weather bracelets) while Onyx is fighting Queen Thorn. During the storm, Onyx is left crippled and cannot challenge Queen Thorn.

Names
SandWings are the dragons of the desert habitat, hence their names. The flora, fauna, and landscape of both deserts and savannas are used as dragon names in the tribe. They may also have names relating to fire or heat. SandWings have been known to name themselves after black colored gemstones as well.

Known SandWings

 * Arid
 * Ex-Princess Blaze
 * Princess Blister
 * Princess Burn
 * Capybara
 * Cobra
 * Coyote
 * Eclipse (also half NightWing)
 * Egypt
 * Eucalyptus
 * Princess Gazelle
 * Gila
 * Prince Hyena
 * Jerboa
 * Jerboa II
 * Lava (also half SkyWing)
 * Lurker (also has NightWing and SkyWing blood)
 * Queen Oasis
 * Ex-Princess Onyx
 * Ostrich
 * Palm
 * Parch
 * Prickle
 * Qibli
 * Quicksand
 * Rattlesnake (The Guardians)
 * Rattlesnake (Talons of Power)
 * Sandstorm
 * General Scorpion
 * Sirocco
 * Six-Claws
 * King Smolder
 * Princess Sunny (also half NightWing)
 * Sunset
 * Tawny
 * Queen Thorn
 * Tortoise
 * Viper
 * Vulture

Known Animus Dragons edit

 * Jerboa
 * Jerboa II
 * Lurker

Trivia

 * Brightsting cactus juice is the only known cure for SandWing tail barb venom.
 * SandWings are a musical tribe. They weren't able to show their talent in the last 20 years because of the War. Qibli, Sunset, and Egypt have shown their musical talent by playing instruments.
 * SandWings do not develop their tail-barb venom until they're older. When they're younger, they have a smaller barb, that has not developed, which is not as effective.
 * SandWing dragonets learn at a young age how to avoid stabbing other dragons with their poisonous barb by accident by curling it up into a spiral.
 * It has been confirmed that SandWings have had animus dragons. (Jerboa and her daughter, also known as Jerboa II, are the only known SandWing animus dragons by name.
 * It is likely that the SandWings obtained most of their treasure from the NightWing and IceWing's payments to them. It is also possible that the SandWings got some of their treasure by robbing the NightWing palace after they left due to the events in the aforementioned book.
 * They have a celebration called the " Full Moon Festival."
 * Qibli had stated that SandWings have claustrophobia (a supposed effect from living in the wide-open desert.)
 * SandWing venom takes longer to kill when stabbed anywhere besides lethal areas.
 * It is shown that SandWings prepare feasts when important figures return from a journey or visit the palace.
 * SandWings have excellent hearing.