SandWing stronghold

Template:Infobox Location The SandWing stronghold, also known as the desert dragon palace by humans, was used as a military base during the war by Burn after the death of Oasis. As the SandWing queen is now Thorn, the stronghold is also known as Queen Thorn's Stronghold. It was damaged in Darkness of Dragons when Qibli used Anemone's weather bracelets to protect Thorn during her royal challenge against Onyx. However, he accidentally summoned an incredibly strong sandstorm. A volunteer party was then set up by Thorn and Six-Claws to clear away the sand, which had buried nearly the entire stronghold.

Description

The stronghold was a giant palace that loomed out of the sand like a dark mountain. It was bigger than all of Valor and has many winding hallways, tapestries, ballrooms, and feasting halls. There is a small slit of a window near the treasure room that is too small for dragons to go through, which Rose used to get inside and steal treasure from Oasis.

When Burn seized the palace, she added thick walls for extra defense and stationed SandWing soldiers as guards.^{[citation needed]} There were also several dragon heads placed on spikes over the wall. The foul stench from the decapitated dragon heads mounted on the outer walls discouraged enemies from attacking; it was also shown that Burn liked the decaying smell. The stronghold also contains a courtyard and a great hall decorated with statues from when it was the palace of the SandWings.^{[citation needed]} A monument to Oasis was built where she died, and Burn had the walls of the stronghold extended to surround it.^{[citation needed]} There are oases in the stronghold.

At the end of The Brightest Night, the heads were removed by the observing dragons.

When Thorn became queen, she added a white tent over the largest oasis to remind her of the Outclaws' old base. There is also an observatory in the stronghold. Another part of the stronghold is an arena where Thorn hosts Full Moon Festivals, though it is also used for royal challenges, and there is a place for the Eye of Onyx to sit until it chooses the next queen.^{[citation needed]}

Notable Features

Weirdling Tower

The Weirdling Tower was a tower that was part of the stronghold when Burn ruled over it during the War of SandWing Succession. It contained her collection of "weirdlings," such as stuffed scavengers, three-legged lizards, and dead hybrids. It was mentioned that Burn would be interested in Six-Claws' talons. The tower was also the former prison for Scarlet after she was attacked by Glory and lost her throne. When the war ended and Thorn took over, she destroyed the tower, saying that "it belonged to a darker time."

Known Items, Dragons, and Creatures of the Weirdling Tower

Stuffed scavengers Webbed SeaWing talons Seven-toed dragon talons Two-headed lizards A MudWing, hatched with no claws or teeth, that egg was said to be animus-cursed An eerily sleek and snakelike white dragon, with stubs where wings should have grown and a horrifying look on its face. The seller claimed this dragon was an IceWing-SandWing hybrid. A fish tank with 'snails that ooze purple ichor, seahorses with fangs, fish with extra flippers, and a weird octopus with twenty arms' A stuffed NightWing thought to be Farsight or Quickstrike (destroyed) A tank with strange insects: "bulging caterpillars," "nine-legged spiders," "a bright blue dragonfly with bristles on its back," etc. (destroyed) Half of a purple and gray speckled SilkWing wing Sky (escaped) Sunny (escaped) Scarlet (escaped)

Whispering Tower

The Whispering Tower is a tall, thin tower that is used for SandWing queens to give speeches. It is designed for perfect acoustics, so that even dragons outside the palace could hear the queen. Burn did not use it, as she did not see the point of giving speeches and did not have a tribe unified to listen to her.

Palace Stadium

The Palace Stadium is located on the back corner of the palace grounds and has been used by the SandWing tribe as the area where royal challenges happen. The queen and her challenger would fight in the stadium and whoever won was queen. There is a circular slot on one of the walls where the Eye of Onyx would be placed during these fights. The design of the stadium resembles Scarlet's arena, making it possible that SandWings also once had arena battles. Now, however, it is mostly used for festivals such as the Full Moon Festival.

Dungeon

The SandWing Dungeon is where the tribe keeps its prisoners. It is the primary setting for the short e-book story Prisoners, where Fierceteeth tries to convince a SandWing guard, Saguaro to help her escape. After the war, Thorn let almost all the prisoners of war in the dungeon free, except for Prickle, who became mentally unstable and too dangerous to release. Prickle is likely the dragon to be imprisoned in the dungeon the longest since she was captured before the war and is still in the dungeon to this day. The dungeon has a hallway that leads into the palace stadium, confirming more of the theory that SandWings had arena fights with their prisoners.

The Wingery

Most dragonets in the palace played in the shelter of its walls until they were two years old, under the watchful eye of a pair of ancient SandWings who taught Oasis to fly. The wingery was open to anyone who lived in the palace, so the dragonets of servants and nobles all grew up together. The courtyard for the dragonets featured a sunken pool in the middle, where they could splash and cool off in the midday heat. This was overlooked by a shaded pavilion with long white curtains on the three open sides. The rest of the courtyard was set up to help the dragonets learn to fly: ledges at different heights, soft piles of sand to land in, claw holds, and perches everywhere. In one corner, there is a first aid station stocked with lots of brightsting cactus, which is the only antidote to the venom in a SandWing's tail. The venom didn't come in until a dragonet was closer to three years old, but at this age, they had a tendency to crash into everything or leap onto their parents without looking first, so there was a lot of bandaging and antidote-administering required. The young dragons also spend a lot of time practicing how to be aware of their tails and everyone else's, so they could eventually be safely released into the rest of the palace.

Oasis's Grave

Oasis's Grave is a tall, black obelisk surrounded by a circle of sand wider than a large dragon's wingspan, with an epitaph written by Burn on the surface. It is located in the center of the main courtyard of Burn's Stronghold, or the former SandWing palace. On the surface of the monument, the words are painted and carved in gold:

HERE LIES
QUEEN OASIS
MOTHER OF QUEEN BURN
HER BONES NOW BELONG TO THE SANDS OF TIME

History

The Dragonet Prophecy

The Brightest Night

Sunny is imprisoned in the stronghold as Burn's gift from Addax. She is guarded by Smolder, Burn's brother, until the contending princess returns. Sunny eventually escapes from the stronghold. The climax of the book takes place at the stronghold, where the dragonets of destiny crown Thorn as the new SandWing queen.

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The Jade Mountain Prophecy

Darkness of Dragons

Onyx challenges Thorn for the throne, to which the event takes place at the stronghold's stadium. Qibli used Anemone's weather bracelets to sabotage the challenge and create a sandstorm. The dragons flee inside, and the stronghold is damaged. Six-Claws and Thorn then set up a group of volunteers to clear away the sand.

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Legends

Dragonslayer

With the help of Deathbringer, Wren arrives at the stronghold in order to rescue Sky, who was gifted to Burn by Sandstorm. She meets Rose, who lives alongside the dragons there. Using resources from the stronghold, Wren poisons and kills Sandstorm with mouse poison and manages to rescue her dragon friend.

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Winglets

Deserter

More information flying in soon…

Trivia

• The stronghold was based on Tui's impressions of Amber Fort in Jaipur, India.
• The walls that Burn erected wouldn't stop any dragon from flying over them, and that they were instead meant to keep out scavengers like the ones that killed her mother.
• Burn's weirdling tower was based on a Ripley's Believe It or Not Odditorium in Hollywood.
• Even in Darkstalker's time, the palace was considered a stronghold without the walls.^{[citation needed]}

References

fr:Bastion d'Épine pl:Forteca Pożogi ru:Крепость Тёрн