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 in The Dragonet Prophecy.
Template:Charbox Osprey was an elderly male SkyWing who was first introduced in The Dragonet Prophecy. He worked as the defendant for Queen Scarlet's trials before she killed him for informing Peril about the Champion's Shield. Before moving to the Sky Kingdom, Osprey's tail was paralyzed by a scavenger, and from that point onward he was unable to fly, as well as getting his wings ripped off in the war. Previous to the events of The Dragonet Prophecy, Osprey was also mentioned to be Peril's only friend.
Appearance
Osprey had washed-out red scales and was mentioned to move slowly, dragging his paralyzed tail behind him like a carcass.[1] It was also stated that he had a voice creaky with age but loud enough to be audible.
Personality
Osprey was most likely a kind dragon, as he chose to argue for the defense in Queen Scarlet's trials, and he was Peril's friend, teaching her how to write, as well as many things about the history of the SkyWings.
Biography
Pre-Series
Before moving to the Sky Kingdom, Osprey lived in an unknown location and was very wealthy. However, during a scavenger's attempted theft, Osprey's tail was paralyzed before he managed to eat the scavenger. Having lost the ability to fly, he gave his remaining treasure to Queen Scarlet in order to live in the Sky Kingdom. Osprey served as the defendant in Scarlet's trials, but usually made poor arguments in order 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 later 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 dragons besides him and Scarlet that had befriended.
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 discovered that Osprey 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. Once he hit the ground, he broke many of his bones and soon died of his wounds.
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.
Trivia
- An osprey is a diurnal, fish-eating bird that dwells near the ocean. It is a bird of prey, and related to both eagles and hawks.
- He is suspected to be "Kidney Breath", a character shown in the Escaping Peril prologue who always told Ruby that the secret to a long life was eating a goat kidney every day, and commenting on her long neck.
- He is currently the only known dragon in the series to become paralyzed unnaturally.
- Osprey is one of the only dragons who willingly talked to Peril, the others being Kestrel, Chameleon (Soar), and Ex-Queen Scarlet, as Peril herself explains in Escaping Peril. He taught her how to read and write despite the fact that her firescales got in the way of doing so, and he also taught her traditional SkyWing customs.
- Despite canonically losing his ability to fly by a tail injury, the graphic novel changes his injury to missing wings.
- He, Avalanche, and Scarlet are the only known dragons that went after Kestrel when Peril and her brother had hatched. It is unknown if there was anyone else, but in the graphic novel there is another guard accompanying them.
Gallery
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A typical SkyWing (lineart), by Joy Ang -
A typical SkyWing from the German publication, by Max Meinzold
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Reference by Platypus the SeaWing
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SkyWing Sigil by Platypus the SeaWing -
Osprey by Destinyfollower2233
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Osprey by Snowflake
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Osprey's Death by QueenClam -
An actual osprey
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Osprey by Journeying-Warrior
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Osprey by Ta-ak
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Osprey by QueenClam
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Osprey by xTheDragonRebornx
References
- ↑ The Dragonet Prophecy, page 176
