Scorpion Den

Template:Infobox Location The Scorpion Den is a city in the Kingdom of Sand. On the map of Pyrrhia, it is marked with an image of a scorpion. The den is the home of the Outclaws, an organization of SandWings that runs the city. The Outclaws are the dragons who are responsible for feeding the starving dragonets and maintaining order of the city, as well as distributing water. Queen Thorn was their leader before she left with Sunny to become queen of the SandWings in the fifth book in the Wings of Fire series, The Brightest Night. It is a place full of dragon criminals who wish to hide from Burn and her troops.

Appearance

The Scorpion Den is a walled city with winding alleyways and run-down stone buildings. The streets are filled with rickety stalls and tents, most of which sell different types of merchandise, and almost every other stall sells water or Brightsting Cactus, the only known antidote to SandWing venom. The streets are also crowded and tight, which was discovered by Sunny when she tried walking though them with Six-Claws on her way to Thorn's tent. In the center of the town is an oasis that is guarded by the Outclaws, in which young dragonets are allowed to visit every morning for free meals. It is mainly inhabited by SandWings; however, Sunny saw a pair of SkyWings and an IceWing, whom she notes must have been miserable in the heat. Winter described it as "The opposite of Queen Glacier's castle."

Community

The residents of the Scorpion Den are mainly SandWings who were trying to avoid the bloodbath of the SandWing Succession. However, they are not pacifists either, seeing as assassins are a dime a dozen. The city is run by the Outclaws leader, Thorn, however she may no longer do so, with the already heavy burden of being queen. The Outclaws are fiercely loyal to Thorn though others have doubts, an example being a mother who refused to let her son get free meals from them in fear of him being abducted.

History

Pre-Series

Dune stole Sunny's egg from the Scorpion Den in order to complete the prophecy.

The Dragonet Prophecy

As thanks for rescuing her, Kestrel told the dragonets where their eggs came from and mentions it to Sunny.

The Brightest Night

Sunny followed Fierceteeth, Strongwings, and Preyhunter into the Kingdom of Sand. They wanted to trade Burn the locations of the dragonets, but decided to get someone from the Scorpion Den to relay the message for them. Before entering, Sunny hid the Obsidian Mirror in the sand dunes outside the city.

Deserter

Six-Claws, Dune, and Kindle went to the Scorpion Den after Burn mutilated Dune with Six-Claws believing that he could escape Burn and follow a new leader. 

Trivia

• It was the first of two named cities mentioned in the series, the only other city being Possibility.
• The Scorpion Den is known for crime, though it's noted to be less chaotic under Thorn's management.
• Several hybrids live in the Scorpion Den because Blister wouldn't tolerate "cross-contamination" in her army and Burn hated them. The ice kingdom was likely too cold for a hyrbid.