WoF Tribe Concept: Deepwings

(PLEASE LOOK) REDESIGN: spookapi.deviantart.com/art/WO…

Okay, so recently I just got back into Tui Sutherland's Wings of Fire series! And I've been really interested in the idea of my own 'fan tribe', so I've come up with a couple ideas but so far this is my favorite.

Keep in mind this is a rough sketch, so it's quite messy. (trying to match the book's style was hard for me)

Description:
Deepwings are a tribe that live exclusively in water, much like Seawings, but Deepwings can survive at deeper and darker depths than the Seawings can and that is where they have settled. Living primarily in a dark, cold, empty darkness, Deepwings can go long periods without any food, thick scales and some blubber keep them relatively warm, gills to breathe water (of course), webbed feet to swim faster and they have specialized eyes to see in the dark. Deepwing wings are actually incapable of flight, and are instead designed to help Deepwings swim faster, using them as large fins. Because of this, Deepwing wings are noticeably heavier (if that makes sense) and smaller. With their specialization in water comes a price, Deepwings are unable to stay out of water to long or else their scales will dry up, and fall off. (Not the most painless of deaths)

Like their Seawing cousins, Deepwings also have specialized scales that glow to communicate (in fact their eyes even glow). But Deepwings have less of these scales than Seawings, meaning that the Deepwing's language is more simple and 'to the point'. In fact sometimes it is necessary to use a bit of sign language if the scales aren't enough.

Deepwings generally have dark scales, gray and bluish gray being the most common colors, though a few Deepwings have grayish greens or reds. Their glowing scales ALWAYS glow a light blue color. Their eyes are same color as their glowing scales.

Culture/Traditions/Fun Facts:
It's law that whenever a Deepwing is looking at their superior (i.e. teachers, parents, nobles, guards and especially the Queen) they must illuminate their eyes. This is so your superior can see you clearly in the almost pitch blackness of the deep ocean. Deepwings may have night vision, but at some point even Deepwings have a bit of trouble seeing clearly. This is taught at a very young age for Deepwings, with strict punishments if they do not obey, so this reaction is ingrained in every Deepwing's mind.

It seems natural for every Deepwing to have a disdain for Seawings, even though these two are closely related, a war long ago tore apart any mercy they had for eachother. Deepwings were beaten badly and were forced to swim off in search of a new home far away from the Seawings, off the West coast instead of the East. And despite that war happening a long time ago it hasn't stopped the hatred. Deepwings will joke that if they ever saw Sesawing that they would rip them apart. That feeling is mutual.

If you really want to insult a Deepwing, call them a Deep'Sea'wing. That really ticks them off.

The Deepwing palace is kept in an especially deep dip in the ocean, making it especially dark and impossible for Seawings to get to.

In populated areas, such as the Royal Palace, Deepwings use stones that glow to light up the area a bit more. It's said that all glowing stones were created by a Deepwing Animus, but no one knows if this is true, since Deepwing history isn't the most well kept.

It's expected for every Deepwing in the kingdom to eat as little as they need to survive, so that there may be leftovers for others. Even the Queens follow this rule. This tradition doesn't bother Deepwings, they're used to eating very little.

On special events, such as a new Queen or royal egg hatchings, whales are brought for a feast. Though Deepwings only eat slightly more than the bare minimum at these parties. That's what a feast is for Deepwings.

When a Princess battles for the throne, all glowing stones are hidden and the Princess and Queen fight in complete blackness. This is to test their night vision and the princesses ability to suppress the urge to illuminate her eyes in face of her superior (the Queen). Either the princess will succeed and kill the Queen or she will show weakness and the Queen will kill her instead.

Due to Deepwings being underwater for most of their lives, they have some pretty terrible social skills. If a Deepwing even knows how to speak, they will often speak in blunt and very simple ways. It's quite laughable really.

Deepwings closest allies are the Icewings. But even then there's little interaction between them, making their partnership quite odd and unstable.

Sometimes a Deepwing is born with the ability to illuminate all their scales. This is called 'Glowscales' and it's a very rare occurrence. Deepwings with Glowscales are treated respectfully and generally admired, sometimes becoming nobles just because of it.

As of the moment their are no known Animus Deepwings, most suspect the trait just died off at some point.



That was a lot more than I was initially planning to write. But I like to make the societies as interesting as I can.

If you happen to have any questions feel free to ask.