NightWings

Art by Joy Ang

NightWings, are a tribe of dragons that historically lived in the Night Kingdom (a location to the south of the Kingdom of Sand, on the Talon Peninsula on Pyrrhia), before leaving to flee to the secret volcanic island off the northern coast of the Sky Kingdom because of Darkstalker, and then finally, to the Rainforest Kingdom under the rule of Queen Glory of the RainWings because of the volcanic eruption that destroyed the island they had inhabited.

Many NightWings didn't like the fact that they were being ordered around by RainWings, and most decided to be ruled over by King Darkstalker, the first known full-power dragon king before Kinkajou changed him into Peacemaker using pieces of his talisman that she took from Chameleon. After this, the NightWings were more content with Glory as their queen.

The queen of the NightWings before Queen Glory was Queen Battlewinner, whose identity had been a secret to the world and to some NightWings (an IceWing had breathed frostbreath into her throat and the only way to remain alive was to submerge herself in lava to keep the ice in her throat from spreading and eventually freezing her organs together). The NightWings kept this fact a secret, so as to prevent being seen as weak in front of the other tribes, as well as vulnerable with a dying queen. To hide this, they used Queen Battlewinner's daughter, Princess Greatness, to carry out the orders her mother gave to her.

The volcanic island on which the NightWings lived was not shown on any known map of Pyrrhia because of the NightWings' secrecy and its distance from the mainland. They had created magic tunnels leading to the Rainforest Kingdom, made by an animus dragon named Stonemover (Princess Sunny's father who lives in Jade Mountain and has a curse given to him by himself to turn his scales to stone instead of corrupting his soul), and the one in the Rainforest Kingdom lead to one that lead to the Kingdom of Sand. In addition, they were secretly allied with Blister, although this alliance was broken when they surrendered to the RainWings.

Most NightWings and IceWings despise each other due to a previous war between these two tribes (caused by Foeslayer of the NightWings and Prince Arctic of the IceWings, the parents of Darkstalker. IceWings believed that Foeslayer had stolen Prince Arctic because of his animus power, but in reality they had eloped). An example of this hatred is of Morrowseer's expedition to rescue Starflight from Ex-Queen Scarlet's Arena, in which he chose to unnecessarily kill all the IceWing prisoners. (In Winter Turning, Hailstorm, an IceWing prisoner in Queen Scarlet's was found to be alive in Queen Scarlet's clutches after she got attacked with Glory’s venom and her daughter, Princess Ruby, claimed the throne.)

Darkstalker told Moonwatcher in Moon Rising that any NightWing hatched under one full moon could either gain the ability to read minds or to see the future, while a NightWing that hatched under two full moons will be granted both. He also said that it was once believed that if an egg hatches under three full moons, the dragonet would be animus, but animus powers were proven to be genetic (confirmed by Winter), and not moon-given. Instead, Darkstalker says that the dragonet would still have both powers, but they would be stronger. Moonwatcher believed that since the NightWing eggs hatched in dark caves on the volcanic island, hidden from the moons, they no longer had powers, which Darkstalker had confirmed. This was the case for Starflight, who would've gained great powers if he had been hatched under the full three moons of the brightest night instead of inside the cave.

The NightWing eggs were thought to be hidden from the moons because of Darkstalker, which was mentioned by Moonwatcher in Moon Rising and in the Darkstalker (Legends).

NightWing hybrids can have powers, as shown with Darkstalker and Whiteout. Since the NightWings live in the Rainforest Kingdom now, it is possible there will be more moonborns and NightWing/RainWing hybrids.          

Description

NightWings have forked, black tongues (like SandWings) and usually have black or purplish-black scales with silver, purple, dark green, or dark blue underscales like the night (mind readers have silver teardrop scales by the corners of their eyes like Moonwatcher). In The Dragonet Prophecy, when Morrowseer dropped off Starflight, it said that the sun picked up glints of purple and deep blue on his body. They have been described with black, blue, purple, or green eyes. The undersides of their wings are always black and speckled with silver scales that give them the appearance of a night sky filled with twinkling stars, allowing them to fly at night without detection. NightWings were once most active at night and tended to sleep during the day, but their nocturnal sleep schedule had been changed due to two thousand years of living on the volcano, so they now sleep at night, like the other dragon tribes.

Starflight's father, Mastermind, has done studies about genetic wing patterns. Both Starflight and Mastermind have similar patterns, whereas Morrowseer's were different. Mastermind's theory appeared to be that the star spiral patterns are genetic.  

NightWings are also known to be able to hang "from crags and rocks and ceilings like bats," as described by Starflight in The Dark Secret.

NightWing names are commonly made up of two words (for example, Mind-reader or Fate-speaker), although others are just made of one word (like Wisdom, Listener, or Greatness). Some of the names are about what that NightWing does (such as Queen Battlewinner or the assassin Deathbringer), and some are about how they look (such as Strongwings, who is bulky with large wings). Other names are lies, as Winter says in Moon Rising (such as Mindreader).

Abilities

NightWings are described to look like "the night sky coming down on you" when attacking. They move unseen through the shadows and blend into the night, which gives them a fearful reputation and makes them more deadly and excellent assassins.

In scrolls, NightWings are said to possess legendary abilities. They are claimed to have the ability of mind-reading, as well as being able to tell prophecies by foreseeing the future; this was proven false by Stonemover, who said that no NightWing had either of these abilities in the last few centuries, which, unknown to the NightWings, was because the NightWing eggs had stopped being exposed to moonlight. However, a young dragon named Moonwatcher obtained the power to read minds and see the future because she hatched in the rainforest, proving these powers do still exist. Later in "Moon Rising", Moon says that other NightWings are having eggs in the rainforest, therefore under the moonlight, proving that these powers will come to thrive in the NightWing tribe and make the NightWings "all powerful" again. In addition, these dragons are also able to breathe fire at any time, like SkyWings and SandWings. NightWings also appear to be slightly fireproof, as shown with Vengeance and Starflight.

The NightWings who lived at the volcano seem to have a type of bacteria living in their saliva that does not affect them. They use it to incapacitate their prey, ensuring it can't go anywhere, then return later for it when its wound has become infected or it has died. However, other NightWings such as Starflight, Fatespeaker or Deathbringer, who lived away from the volcano a long time, ate freshly killed prey, making their saliva unlike those of the NightWings who lived by the volcano on the island. 

NightWings have been shown to be more active at night, with Deathbringer and Fatespeaker as examples. They seem to have a very strong sense of smell. Sunny's strong sense of smell and hearing came from her NightWing side and the SandWing side, respectively.

Darkstalker told Moonwatcher in Moon Rising that a NightWing hatched under one full moon can either read minds or see the future, while a NightWing that hatched under two full moons has both. He also said that if an egg hatches under three full moons the dragonet still has both powers but strengthened. He did not know if there would be any stronger ones, though there have been some arguments that there might be. It is unknown why Clearsight had a stronger version of foresight.

NightWings were shown to be very good at making up prophecies, and they attended special classes to learn how to make them sound real. They were also skilled at making it seem like they could read minds, due to the classes they took about lying mentioned in The Dark Secret.

History

Over 2,000 years after the Scorching, the Night Kingdom was located on a peninsula that is currently a part of the Sand Kingdom, which was described to have been riddled with valleys and mountains. After Darkstalker's abilities were shown, and he was believed to be a danger to the Tribe, the entire Kingdom fled the continent and migrated to a volcanic island a day's flight from the Sky Kingdom. More than a thousand years later, the long-dormant volcano erupted, destroying their home.

The Dragonet Prophecy was written by Queen Battlewinner and Morrowseer during the war, and they delivered Starflight's and Fatespeaker's eggs to the Talons of Peace after a volcanic eruption on their island. The prophecy was their plan to invade and take over the Rainforest Kingdom, which was and still is inhabited by the RainWings.

IceWings and NightWings have hated each other going all the way back to a war they once fought against each other. It was revealed in Darkstalker: Legends that this war was started because Prince Arctic fell in love and ran away with Foeslayer. Morrowseer ordered the death of all of the eight IceWing prisoners in the rescue of Starflight in Scarlet's arena, possibly because of the tribes' long-held grudge. This is also shown in the prophecy, which does not include an IceWing dragonet. Another possible effect of this hatred was Queen Battlewinner being blasted by an IceWing's breath in the mouth, forcing her to live submerged in lava.

The NightWings gradually captured seventeen RainWings for their experimentations on RainWing venom, what Mastermind called "science". Their goal was to make venom-proof armor for an attack on the RainWings to take over their rainforest. However, all data was lost when the NightWings fled their home.

Additionally, they seem to have animus dragons, however, Stonemover and Darkstalker are the only known animus NightWings, but it's also shown that Ex-Queen Scarlet had an animus that had no actual powers, only limited and taken from Darkstalker's talisman. This animus was revealed to be Chameleon who used the scroll's power to turn into a NightWing.

In The Dark Secret, it is shown that the NightWings were being threatened by the volcanic island they inhabited, which  slowly built up to an eruption and diminishing the main source of food. Although Princess Greatness claimed that scientific estimates had placed the eruption at least twenty years into the future, at the end of the book, the volcano had erupted. Shortly before this, the NightWings surrendered to the RainWings in exchange for a safe place to live and food to eat. Most of the NightWings escaped through the Rainforest Kingdom portal unharmed. However, Morrowseer was (most likely) killed by the eruption, with what is believed to be possbily his remains found in the NightWing tunnel in Winter Turning, and Starflight was blinded. The event where the NightWings traveled from their kingdom to the Rainforest Kingdom is called the NightWing Exodus.

Society

NightWings form lifelong partnerships, similar to SeaWings. Their dragonets live in dormitories located in caves on the sides of the volcano. They are not allowed to go to the mainland until they are at least ten years old because they "can't keep NightWing secrets safe."

NightWing names are very literal, although sometimes ironic. These dragonets are usually named according to their talents; for example, Morrowseer got his name for "seeing" the "morrow." Morrow is short for tomorrow, meaning the future. Deathbringer's name refers to his occupation as an assassin. Queen Battlewinner presumably got hers for military strategy, or perhaps a future battle which was predicted to be won by her. Moonwatcher was named for as she hatched, her eyes reflected the moons. NightWings are occasionally named for physical traits, like Fierceteeth, Mightyclaws, Bigtail, and Strongwings, or after character virtues, like Greatness or Vengeance. Exactly how they know what a dragon's talent will be when it hatches is unknown. It is plausible that they might wait and see for it to appear, or have another NightWing predict it, although this is unlikely because it was revealed NightWings have not had powers in several centuries. Glory mentions in The Hidden Kingdom that in scrolls, NightWings always had "mouthful names". This is probably because most of them have two-part names. Also, in Moon Rising, Winter says to Moonwatcher, "We know all your names are lies", stating that NightWing names may be what the parents hope their dragonets will be, rather than what they may actually be.

Complete loyalty seems to be an emphasized NightWing trait, as many of their actions (abducting RainWings, false dragonet prophecy, murders,) point towards a "blind loyalty" to their tribe, the willingness to do anything for their tribe, even wiping out another tribe of dragons.

Before the NightWings fled to the volcanic island, they were, as Clearsight told Darkstalker, a tribe with a social culture, gaining from trades with the other tribes. Clearsight told Listener that every NightWing dragonet needs education, which shows that NightWings valued intelligence.

Names

NightWing names can be compound words that describe NightWing powers, such as Fatespeaker and Mindreader. The names can also describe the dragon's personality or ability, such as Mastermind and Quickdeath. Descriptive words, such as Thoughtful, Vengeance and Listener, are used as well, as are night-themed compound words such as Starflight and Moonwatcher.

Known NightWings

• Allknowing
• Queen Battlewinner
• Bigtail
• Commodore (also half SilkWing)
• Clearsight
• Clearsight’s Father
• Darkstalker (also half IceWing)
• Deadlyclaws
• Deathbringer
• Discretion
• Eclipse
• Eclipse (Darkstalker)
• Farsight
• Fatespeaker
• Fearless
• Fierceteeth
• Firefly (also half RainWing)
• Foeslayer (Hope)
• Foreseer
• Ex-Princess Greatness
• Jewel (also half SilkWing)
• Jewel-eyes
• Listener
• Mastermind
• Mightyclaws
• Mindreader
• Moonwatcher
• Morrowseer
• Morrowwatcher
• Obsidian
• Orange (also half SilkWing)
• Peacemaker (also half RainWing)
• Preyhunter
• Prudence
• Quickdeath
• Quickstrike
• Secretkeeper
• Shapeshifter (Chameleon's NightWing form)
• Slaughter
• Smokeseer
• Starclaws
• Starflight
• Stonemover
• Strongwings
• Sunny (also half SandWing)
• Swiftwings
• Thoughtful
• Tortoiseshell (also half SilkWing)
• Truthfinder
• Tunesmith
• Vengeance
• Queen Vigilance
• Vision
• Whiteout (also half IceWing)
• Wisdom 

Trivia

• Including Legends and Winglets, there are five books with NightWing PoVs, making them the tribe with the most PoVs.
• NightWings developed a kind of bacteria in their mouths, which helped kill prey. They would bite the said prey, then leave it to die of infection and come back to take it later.
• The majority of all NightWing names have three syllables, (Moonwatcher, Darkstalker, Deathbringer, Mightyclaws, Stonemover, Mindreader, Preyhunter, Mastermind, Fatespeaker, etc). One has one syllable (Hope). A few have two syllables, (Farsight, Clearsight). Even less have four syllables, (Secretkeeper).
• NightWings appear to have excellent night vision, but still can't see in total darkness like SeaWings can.
• NightWings often have literal names that describe their profession or traits, such as Deathbringer, Mindreader, etc.
• NightWing names are based on things in the night (Moonwatcher), their powers (Fatespeaker), their traits (Mastermind), or general descriptions of actions (Deathbringer) or appearances (Strongwings).
  • Most NightWing names are compound words (made up of two real words). Examples: Mightyclaws (Mighty + Claws) and Moonwatcher (Moon + Watcher).
• NightWings in Darkstalker (Legends) are portrayed as nocturnal before moving to the NightWing island.
• According to Foeslayer in Darkstalker (Legends), NightWing mothers are the ones that name their dragonets.
• NightWings are shown to have decent resistance to lava, as shown when Vengeance, who gets shoved in lava, tries to force his way out. This trait likely evolved on the volcano, so if they fall in lava, they might have been able to quickly pull themselves out.
• There are currently at least 400 NightWings.
• NightWings are shown to be very loyal to their tribe and have an arrogance similar to the IceWings. Morrowseer once explained to Starflight, "We assumed NightWing superiority was something all NightWings hatched with."

Gallery

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