Osprey

"And that's Osprey. He argues for the defense. Not very well, or he'd lose his head. He's really old and almost blind. He's nice to me, though, because I'll listen to his stories of the old days. He told me he used to have tons of treasure, but a scavenger came to steal it and managed to paralyze his tail before Osprey ate him. So now he can't fly, and he gave all his treasure to Her Majesty so she'd let him live here."

— Peril to Clay about Osprey, The Dragonet Prophecy

Osprey was an elderly male SkyWing introduced in The Dragonet Prophecy. He worked as the defense attorney for SkyWing trials and died of his wounds after being dropped by Scarlet.

Appearance

Osprey has washed-out red scales, a paralyzed tail, and is almost blind. His voice is creaky with age, but still loud enough to carry to the SkyWing arena's prisoners.

Personality

Osprey is a kind dragon, mellow compared to other SkyWings. He chooses to befriend Peril, teaching her how to read and write as well as the history of the SkyWings. He is also shown to be a fair and righteous dragon, not hesitating to defend Kestrel and point out Scarlet's unfair decisions.

Along with his kindness, Osprey appears to be intelligent and a good teacher, as he taught Peril literacy and SkyWing politics

Biography

Pre-Series

Before moving to the Sky Kingdom, Osprey was very wealthy. However, during a scavenger's attempted theft, Osprey's tail was paralyzed before he managed to eat the scavenger, preventing him from flying. There is a variation in the storyline in The Dragonet Prophecy Graphic Novel, saying that instead of being paralyzed in the tail by a scavenger, his wings were blasted off during the war by other dragons. In both stories, he gave his treasure to Scarlet to live in the Sky Kingdom. Osprey served as the defendant in Scarlet's trials but usually made poor arguments to avoid being punished or killed by Scarlet. During Kestrel's trial, he also mentioned that he had once been a member of the SkyWing guard. He became a friend and mentor to Peril. He taught her how to read and write, and also told her many stories of his youth. It can also be inferred that he informed Peril on SkyWing politics, as she knew about the Champion's Shield when she could not read scrolls herself and had no other friends.

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The Dragonet Prophecy

The Dragonet Prophecy

Osprey's Death Osprey served for the defense during Kestrel's trial. He explained the circumstances of how Queen Scarlet ordered Kestrel to kill one of her twin dragonets before changing her mind, forcing Kestrel to leave her surviving child behind. Scarlet decided to kill Kestrel, but Peril intervened and called upon the tradition of the Champion's Shield for her mother. After Scarlet processed that Osprey had told her about the SkyWing traditions, she grabbed him in her talons and dropped him out of the sky from high above the arena. Because of his paralyzed tail, he was completely unable to fly. Peril attempted to grab him but was forced to let go, as she was burning him. Once he hit the ground, he broke many of his bones and soon died of his wounds. Despite still having his wings, he is unable to properly fly. His paralyzed tail throws his balance, as noted by Clay when he thinks about how much dragons need their tail while flying.

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The Jade Mountain Prophecy

Escaping Peril
Osprey is mentioned several times by Peril as a friend. She also mentions he once tried to teach her how to read and write. It is also possible that he is "Kidney Breath" from the Escaping Peril prologue.

Relationships

Peril

He was mentioned to be Peril's only friend before meeting Clay. Osprey taught her how to read and write, even if she couldn't touch a scroll without burning it, as well as the history of the SkyWings. Their friendship was strong, shown when Peril wanted to save him from falling to his death.

Scarlet

Osprey follows Scarlet as his queen, but he clearly was afraid of her. She only let him live because he gave her all his treasure, and ultimately ended up killing him for teaching Peril too much.

Quotes

"Your Majesty, […] I do have one or two words to say in this prisoner's defense."

― to Queen Scarlet, during Kestrel's trial

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"Consider first the charge of disobedience. Kestrel did not do as you ordered— but then, didn't you reverse the order after she was gone?"

― during Kestrel's trial

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"Forgive me, Your Majesty, […] I must speak. Kestrel was one of your most loyal soldiers. She was sent through the breeding program, on your orders, and brought forth one egg. Upon hatching, it turned out to hold twin dragonets."

― during Kestrel's trial

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"You told your guards— I know, for I was one of them— to kill the other dragonet and take Kestrel back for trial. She tried to grab her daughter and fly away, but the heat of the dragonet's scales burned her talons before she was a wingbeat into the sky, and she had to drop her. She fled, leaving her only living dragonet at your mercy."

― during Kestrel's trial

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"When you caught her, the dragonets had hatched. I know. Because I was one of the guards who was with you. You told her you'd forgive her and let her live— if she killed one of her dragonets. So she killed that dragonet with too little fire, right there at the river, with her own claws. But even though she did what you said, you told us to kill her other dragonet anyway! She grabbed her daughter. She tried to fly away— But she was too badly burned and was forced to drop her. So she fled, leaving her only dragonet at your mercy."

― during Kestrel's trial

Trivia

• He is currently the only known dragon in the series to become paralyzed unnaturally.
• Despite canonically losing his ability to fly by a tail injury, the graphic novel changes his injury to missing wings.
  • Osprey is the second dragon in the series that is not able to fly.
• He, Avalanche, and Scarlet are the only known dragons that went after Kestrel when Peril and Sky had hatched. It is unknown if there was anyone else, but in the graphic novel, there is another guard accompanying them.
• Osprey could be Kidney Breath, the old dragon that Ruby gave a nickname to

Gallery

• Reference by Platypus the SeaWing
  Reference by Platypus the SeaWing
• By Mike Holmes
  By Mike Holmes
• By Mike Holmes
  By Mike Holmes
• 
  By Mike Holmes

References

de:Osprey fr:Balbuzard pl:Rybołów