Sandwings

**SandWings**, also known as **sand dragons** or **desert dragons** to humans, are a Pyrrhian dragon tribe who dwell in the Kingdom of Sand, a vast desert along the west coast and near the center of Pyrrhia. They are currently ruled by Queen Thorn.

Stone, Rose, and Heath were the main cause of the War of SandWing Succession, as the three warring princesses were vying for control of their tribe. Each princess had different allies — Blister was allied with the SeaWings and NightWings, and formerly the MudWings. Burn was allied with the SkyWings and later the MudWings, and Blaze was allied with the IceWings and most of the SandWings. After the eighteen year long succession war ended, these alliances disintegrated.

## Description

SandWings are partly based on scorpions. They have pale yellow, pale gold, light sandy-colored, white-gold, light yellow-brown, yellow-gray, or off-white and sometimes greyish-green and blue-like scales that blend in with the desert sand or dawn sky. Most SandWings have obsidian-black eyes as some have deep brown or dark blueish-black, a spike on the top of their nose and below their ear, and a black forked tongue. They have short, curved horns and a sail or ridge going from the top of their snout to about three fourths down their tails, which have a scorpion-like stinger at the end. Their tail barb is typically black or a dark brown but may be paler on some dragons.

SandWings may have different patterns on their scales and wings, including black diamond patterns, brown speckled markings, freckles, and triangle patterns on a dragon's wings.

## Diet

SandWings are light eaters. They eat animals from the desert, such as camels and lizards, and may cook or prepare much of their food. Date cookies, dried figs, biscuits, dried dates and fruit, bread, and roasted lizards are prepared in the SandWing palace's kitchen. They also consume coffee, camel and cinnamon milk. SandWings are willing to eat fruit and vegetables, though they are scarce in the desert. SandWings in Vulture's compound also eat scavengers, smelly cheese, cinnamon, coconut, smoked ham, lemons, dried fish, and ducks. SandWings of Six-Claws' time baked date soufflé and made camel shish kebab. They also drank cactus cider and agave nectar in flagons. General Sandstorm would drink a type of cinnamon beverage. They were also mentioned to eat antelope.

## Abilities

SandWings have scales that radiate warmth and are capable of breathing fire. They can camouflage with sand, can sustain themselves on very little food and water, and have good hearing and smell. They are naturally adapted to desert conditions, better at handling heat and a lack of water than any other dragon tribe, but can still be affected by desert conditions. They are built for long flights across the desert without stopping, and they are able to go for days with very little food.

SandWings have venomous barbed tails, similar to scorpion tails. Their venom can kill a full-grown dragon, with how long the death takes depending on how close to the heart the wound is. SandWings do not develop their tail-barb venom until they are around three years old, and as young dragonets, they have a smaller barb that has not fully developed. The cure for SandWing venom is brightsting cactus.

#### Animus magic

The SandWing tribe has animus magic, though little is known about their animus dragons or spells they have cast. One notable animus-touched object is the Eye of Onyx, enchanted to reduce any SandWing who tries for the throne into dust, if she is not worthy to be queen. Jerboa and Jerboa III are the only known animus SandWings.

## Society

The SandWings' kingdom is vast and empty, as many choose to live in towns by oases. Occasionally, some would live and roam around on their own. Living alone helped them avoid conflicts. Many SandWings work as merchants or assassins, especially in the Scorpion Den. They celebrate full moon festivals, and are a surprisingly musical tribe. Duties between civilians can range between garden keeping, kitchen work, patrols, teaching, and army duties. According to Fierceteeth, Thorn becoming the new SandWing queen is quite controversial within the Kingdom of Sand. Most citizens are, however, quite loyal towards their queen.

SandWing dragonets are taught to hold their tails in a certain way to prevent accidents. Young dragons spend a lot of time practicing how to be aware of their tails and everyone else's, and much bandaging and antidote-administering is required for various accidents. Dragonets who live in the palace learn basic things in the wingery until the age of two.

Even in times of general peace, SandWings still had minor skirmishes with IceWings and SkyWings.

They also have a reputation among other tribes as sneaky outlaws. Winter once described them to be "nearly as untrustworthy as NightWings, but half as smart and twice as likely to betray you for gold and treasure."

## Names

SandWings are often named after the desert — both features of the land (such as Oasis and Horizon) and local flora and fauna (such as Meerkat and Agave). Fire and heat-related names are also common (such as Burn, Smolder, Kindle, and Char), and SandWings may be named after physical attributes (such as Six-Claws) and colors (such as Tawny).

Click here for a list of known SandWings.

#### Animus dragons

* Jerboa
* Jerboa III

#### Students at Jade Mountain

* Arid
* Onyx (formerly)
* Ostrich
* Pronghorn
* Qibli

## Trivia

* Though poor in the time of *Darkstalker*, SandWings may have looted the lost city of night after the NightWings fled.
* SandWings had earplugs.
* Most SandWings are claustrophobic.
* SandWings have caravans.
* SandWings play games with tiny bones.