Scavengers are Pyrrhia's humans, appearing as a single race. They are regarded as a somewhat more dangerous prey than average, being that they have weapons and intelligence, although most dragons don't seem to acknowledge the latter. They are seen as a nuisance and/or prey to most dragons, although some, such as Clay, Tsunami, Glory, Sunny, Winter, Moonwatcher, Vermilion, Listener, Clearsight, and Smolder have shown sympathy for them. Smolder, in fact, has been known to keep a scavenger that he named Flower as a pet who could draw, which is proof that scavengers are almost or just as smart as dragons. Winter also had one as his "exotic" pet, by the name of Bandit. Tui has also hinted in a letter at the end of Winter Turning that Vermilion might be getting a scavenger of his own.
A Scavenger
Society
Scavengers were once the dominant life form of Pyrrhia, easily killing off the dragons. According to Webs, some of the things scavengers supposedly did before The Scorching are too absurd to be true. Eventually, the dragons came together as one and arranged separate tribes, and overthrew the scavengers, almost wiping them out completely. This was known, by the dragons, as the Scorching. The Scavengers have dens, or villages all over the continent, which are frequently destroyed by dragons. They are obsessed with treasure, doing anything they can to steal it from dragons.
They have been shown to live and hunt in groups, proving that they are very social creatures.
History
Listener and Clearsight tried to rescue the captive scavengers in their school, but one of them got eaten by an IceWing upon release at the North Beach in the old Night Kingdom.
Three scavengers in particular robbed Queen Oasis, and one impaled her in the eye with a sword. Two of the scavengers took the treasure, along with the queen‘s cut off tail barb, and left, leaving the other behind. Since none of her daughters had defeated Oasis, they argued over who should be queen, thus starting the War of The SandWing Succession.
In The Dragonet Prophecy, after Clay and Tsunami escaped the cave, they encountered a scavenger and marveled at it, Tsunami saying that she had thought they would be more ferocious. It had stolen Queen Scarlet's treasure, carrying it on a bag over its shoulder. Queen Scarlet then flew down and bit off its head.
During their captivity in the Sky Kingdom, four scavengers were released to interrupt the fight between Starflight and Tsunami. They apparently had a battle strategy and surrounded them quickly. However, both male scavengers were eventually killed, and the two remaining females were wheeled away in a cage. As the dragonets were escaping the SkyWing palace, Clay rescued a small scavenger that was climbing a cliff, trying to escape.
Nightwings were keeping track of scavenger dens for an unknown reason,Icewings were also keeping track to see if they could find the Sandwings treasure.
In The Lost Heir Tsunami saved two scavengers drifting in a boat in a storm.
In The Hidden Kingdom, Glory saved two scavengers with Jambu when they went into Blaze's fortress.
In The Brightest Night, Sunny met two scavengers (possibly the pair Glory and Jambu saved) in the ruins of an old scavenger den, who she named Fluffy and Holler. She also met one that Smolder, Burn's brother, was keeping as a pet (Flower).
In Moon Rising, Winter kept a scavenger named Bandit. However, in Winter Turning, he released him in the rainforest. It is currently unknown what happened to Bandit.
In Escaping Peril, Peril was hunting when she found a few scavengers. She considered killing them, but she decided not to.
In Talons of Power, when the hundreds of various NightWings, Prince Turtle, and Kinkajou flew over what seemed to be an abandoned scavenger den, Turtle idly thought about what he would think if he were a scavenger and saw hundreds of dragons flying overhead.
In Assassin, Deathbringer and Quickstrike flew over a scavenger den. Deathbringer seemed vaguely interested in them at the time, although later in The Hidden Kingdom he was terrified of them.
Defenses
Throughout the series, scavengers have been known to use weapons in defense against dragons. They do not have any natural defenses. Weapons they are known to use are: spears, swords, knifes, and a version of a ballista to launch flaming spikes.
List of Known Scavenger Names
Trivia
- Some scavengers appeared to have battle training, as they were able to outwit Tsunami.
- Scavengers have been known to keep animals as pets or livestock. Flower kept a desert mouse as a pet once.
- Scavengers are quite small compared to full grown dragons, as Tsunami was able to pick up one of their boats while flying and Clay was also able to scoop one up in his talon. Anemone is described as being no taller than a scavenger, so it can be presumed that dragons are large, even as one-year-old dragonets. When Kinkajou fed Bandit a blueberry, it was said to dwarf his face because dragon food is larger than food on Earth, being proportional to dragons.
- Scavengers seem to be different sizes compared to dragons each time they are mentioned. This may be because few dragons have ever seen them or because of dragons' varying heights. However, those that have seen them say they are about the size of a large dragon's head. It is not known if this is standing or lying down.
- Some dragons, like Smolder and Winter, have been shown to keep scavengers as pets.
- Some scavengers are more advanced than others. In Book 7, there was a scavenger den that was surrounded by a wall. They also shot spears at surrounding dragons. This shows that some scavengers may live in cities with an organized government.
- Scavengers are actually humans. This was confirmed by Tui T. Sutherland.
- In the prologue of The Brightest Night, Blister described scavengers as being too "bulky and squishy" for her taste. Additionally, when Clay and Tsunami escaped the cave and met Queen Scarlet, the queen described the scavenger she had just eaten to be "stringy and tasting like fish", making it clear that she dislikes the taste.
- Scavengers may possibly be named after plants and flowers, as the only true names of scavengers we know of are Rose, and Ivy, both plants. Names like Holler, Fluffy, and Bandit are merely nicknames given to them by the dragons, and are not their real names. Smolder named Rose Flower because she pointed to a flower, probably a rose, in reference to her name.
