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. However, in the graphic novel, his wings were ripped off instead. 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] His paralyzed tail made him unable to fly. He had a voice creaky with age but loud enough to be audible. Peril also mentioned that Osprey was going blind. In The Dragonet Prophecy Graphic Novel, his wings were blasted off from the war, but this is not canon in the mainstream chapter book series.
Personality
Osprey was most likely a kind dragon, as he chose to argue for the defense in Queen Scarlet's trials and was Peril's friend, teaching her how to write, as well as many things about the history of the SkyWings.
Biography
Pre-Series
During The Scorching, Osprey had 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, and came along with Scarlet to chase down Kestrel and her dragonets.
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 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 released once she realized that her firescales were causing him pain. Once he hit the ground, he broke many of his bones and soon died of his wounds. Although he still has his wings he is unable to properly fly because his tail causes him to be weighed down and unbalanced, as seen by Clay when he thinks about how much dragons need their tail for balance while flying.
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.
Quotes
- "Your Majesty, [...] I do have one or two words to say in this prisoner's defense." -To Queen Scarlet during Kestrel's trial.
- "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?" -To Queen Scarlet during Kestrel's trial.
- "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."
- "The dragonets were defective, [...] One had too much fire. The other did not have enough. As per SkyWing custom, you ordered Kestrel to kill them both and stay out of the breeding program for the rest of her life."
- "But Kestrel tried to escape, [...] She took her two dragonets from the hatching cave and tried to flee with them down the mountain."
- "You caught her at the Diamond Spray River, [...] And there you issued a new order. You told her you would forgive her disobedience on one condition. She must choose one of the dragonets to die, and then you would spare the other's life, and Kestrel's own."
- "Then she did obey you, didn't she? [...] She killed the dragonet with too little fire, right there at the river. With her own claws."
- "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."
- "Your Majesty. I do have a few words to say in this prisoner's defense." -In The Dragonet Prophecy Graphic Novel.
- "You ordered Kestrel to destroy her egg. It was a single egg, but inside there were two dragonets. One had no fire at all, but the other-- had too much." -In The Dragonet Prophecy Graphic Novel.
- "You ordered her to destroy the defective egg. However, she fled with it--" -In The Dragonet Prophecy Graphic Novel.
- "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." -In The Dragonet Prophecy Graphic Novel.
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.
- When Ex-Queen Scarlet said she was going to have Osprey to be executed for boring her, it is unknown if she was just joking or not. Either way, Osprey ended up dead.
- Both he and Queen Sequoia are mentioned to drag their tails. This could mean that Sequoia's tail was paralyzed as well, possibly from the Tree Wars.
- Excluding immortal dragons, he is the oldest dragon in the series.
- He is the only dragon known to have been around before The Scorching.
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
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Osprey teaching a young Peril (By CaimanFlight)
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Osprey (g-pa out for shoulder jabbing) by Chamops
References
- ↑ The Dragonet Prophecy, page 176
