'Vulture' is an elderly male SandWing who
was introduced in Darkness of Dragons. Although he was once known as a
powerful crime lord and the king of the underworld within the Scorpion
Den, his current whereabouts are unknown. He is the founder of the Talons of Power.

## Description

Vulture has pale yellow scales that are covered in hundreds of black
Dragons|dragon skull tattoos, appearing similar to a leopard from a
distance. He wears a black cape lined with gold, and gold chains are
draped along his wings. His claws and tail barb are dipped in gold leaf,
and enormous black-and-gold earrings shaped like spiders gleam in his
ears. His obsidian, glittering, hypnotic, dark, haunting eyes are
similar to the Eye of Onyx: not solid black, but black in loops all the
way down, like looking into the longest, deepest hole in the world. He
is quite tall, with a hooked snout and a long neck. He has a slithering,
nightmarish shape, a hypnotic voice, and wears a heavy perfumed oil that
permeates the air.

## Personality

Vulture is sinister, determined, clever, horrifying, calm, observant,
deceptive, confident, smooth, condescending, commanding, smug,
malevolent, cold, and calculating. His presence is large and terrifying,
and he is menacing, with punishment for stealing from him being certain
death. He was once deeply entwined with the SandWing monarchy and has a
fierce hostility towards other tribes. He does not like to be ordered
around and has very high standards. He is desperate for the SandWing
throne and Cobra once commented that Vulture would burn down the Kingdom
of Sand before he ever gave up. He often grinds down anyone who tries to
disagree with him and if his opponent argued for too long, he is
perfectly happy with winning the argument through "casual violence". His
eyes avidly scan his surroundings, cataloging the surrounding wealth in
his head. Darkstalker described him as a dragon made of paper, with thin
scales, loves treasure, lies about everything, and has never been happy.
Darkstalker's Animus enchantments#Treasure|soul reader depicted him as
almost entirely evil.

## Biography

### The Jade Mountain Prophecy

left Moon Rising
Qibli
mentioned that his family hated him, and that it was not a big deal
since they hated everyone. However, Moonwatcher saw in his mind that it
was a big deal to him, and right after that Moon had a vision of Qibli
backed against a wall glaring up at three larger dragons, who were later
confirmed to be Vulture, Sirocco, and Rattlesnake. Into their sneering
faces, Qibli curled up his tail and shouted, "Where is she?", referring
to Cobra. After Moon's vision, ironically, Qibli said, "… The best news
of my life is that I'll never have to see any of my family ever again."'

left Winter Turning

Qibli said that his family would never do anything good to him when he
was discussing families with Winter.

left
Darkness of Dragons
When Onyx kidnapped Ostrich and took her back to the Scorpion Den,
Qibli, along with Winter, came to rescue her. They were taken back to
Vulture's compound by Sirocco and Rattlesnake, where Vulture took Qibli
to see his mother's prison. He explained that if Cobra was to be free,
then Qibli was to write down all of Thorn's secrets on a blank scroll
and give it to Vulture. After Qibli, along with Winter, Ostrich, and
Cobra, escaped Vulture's compound, Qibli had his mother arrested for
treason — the plan all along had been to bring Cobra into Thorn's
stronghold only to kill her via poison.

Later, Vulture bombed Thorn's stronghold, holding the "Eye of Onyx" in
his talons — however, Thorn appeared and explained that Vulture was
holding a fake version, created both to trick thieves and spare their
lives. After Onyx attempted to kill her, Thorn suggested a royal
challenge instead, since all the past challengers have come this way.
Onyx accepted, and both she and Vulture believed she was worthy due to
her royal blood. Afraid Onyx would be chosen, Qibli summoned a sandstorm
with Anemone's weather bracelets, and in the chaos of the storm, Vulture
disappeared from the stronghold completely with no warning or sign.

Throughout the book, Qibli always had a suspicion that Vulture would end
up working for Darkstalker and become a juggernaut, taking over the
world. That suspicion proved to be true later when Vulture is seen in
the lost city of night, bargaining with Darkstalker about their
alliance.

Near the end of the book, when Darkstalker tried to convince Qibli to
become an animus and work with him, he used his power to teleport
Vulture in front of him. Darkstalker then enchanted Vulture many times,
including to make him act like a hatchling, make him feel guilty for
everything bad he had done, and make him be the best grandfather for
Qibli. Darkstalker then made Vulture disappear. It is unknown what
happened to him after that.

## Relationships

### Qibli

Despite being Qibli's grandfather, Vulture hates and haunts him.
Vulture's punishment for stealing from him would be certain death, and
Qibli felt enraged when Vulture spoke badly of Thorn. Vulture considers
Qibli to be the smartest of Cobra's dragonets, and while they are both
equally observant, Vulture was deceptive towards him. He hurt Qibli and
made him doubt that everything was real.

## Quotes

It's perfectly normal to feel like your pet must think the way
you do. It's happened to many dragons. The Camels' Rights Movement.
Iguanas Are Dragons, Too. Save the Scavengers. World Walrus Fund. All
very sweet, and very misguided. Save your energy for dragons, who can
appreciate it.
to Winter, about scavengers
Darkness
of Dragons
81

-----

Her erstwhile popularity, such as it was, is plummeting.
Everyone agrees that she's been quite useless so far. Has the kingdom
improved in any way? No one's life is any better, except of course for
her own Outclaws, who are now rolling in treasure up there in the
palace. She pours wealth into the talons of those who bow and scrape to
her, and she doesn't care a fig for anyone else.
to Qibli,
about Thorn
Darkness of Dragons
82-83

-----

And these tragic bombings, tsk. Dragons are dying and she
hasn't done one thing about it. She has no idea who's responsible. If
she even cares. But I do. I have found the culprits! I am the only one
who can protect our tribe.
to Qibli, about Thorn

Darkness of Dragons
83

-----

You think you are. Because she stole you away and brainwashed
you. You haven't thought for yourself in years. You do exactly what she
tells you to and think whatever she tells you to think. You're not your
own dragon, Grandson. Everyone knows her group is basically a cult. It's
true; ask anyone. The whole kingdom has figured out that her Outclaws
are blind followers. You don't want to be a blind follower, do you,
Qibli? Don't you want to think for yourself?
to Qibli, about
Thorn
Darkness of Dragons
90

-----

Friends! SandWings! Talons of Power! Listen to me! Have we
really come to this? SandWings fighting SandWings? So soon after the war
that tore our tribe apart? Look how divided we are! Do you know why we
fight each other? Because we are ruled by a false queen. One who does
not deserve this palace! She doesn't care about anyone but herself!
She stole this throne to make herself rich! She's been letting
SandWings die all over her kingdom without lifting a talon to save them.
A good ruler would find the dragons responsible and protect you all! We
need someone who will see the danger clearly! Our tribe is under
attack, fellow SandWings!
to several SandWing citizens
Darkness of Dragons
158

## Trivia

  - Each of Vulture's skull tattoos represents a dragon he has killed.
  - Vulture has always been interested in a business alliance with the
    IceWings.
  - Vulture loves smelly cheese.
  - Vulture has a Vulture's compound|compound within the Scorpion
    Den|Scorpion Scorpion Den|Den.
  - Tui might make a Winglet for Cobra and/or Vulture, though this is
    not certain.