Arkady
Character Profile
| Name: | Arkady |
| Date of Birth: | |
| Breed: | Unknown (Feral) |
| Captain: | None |
| National Loyalty: | None |
| Appearance: | Pale grey with brown markings and red patch on face; smaller than a Yellow Reaper |
| Special Abilities: | |
| Status: | Active (Britain) |
Biography
Arkady was the leader of the feral dragon tribe Temeraire, Laurence and their crew encountered in the Pamir Mountains between China and Persia, while they were on their way to Turkey. Arkady had apparently become leader due to his cleverness and force of personality, since he was not the largest or strongest of the group. He was also an excellent story-teller, employing a style that was half story-telling, half interpretive dance. For example, he entertained his troop and Temeraire one evening with a long tale that was sort of a draconic soap opera, all about treasure and mating. The performance even included audience participation, with the other dragons (including Temeraire) chiming in with their own contributions and arguing about what ought to happen next. (It may be that dragons particularly enjoy this sort of exercise in shared creativity, since similar group involvement was evident during the geometry discussions that occurred about the HMS Allegiance while she was on her way to Cape Town in May and June of 1807.)
Impressed with Temeraire's own stories of his travels, Arkady declared that he would lead his troop to accompany Temeraire to Istanbul and meet the Sultan. The meeting with the Sultan never occurred, because the first thing Arkady and his ferals did when they arrived in Istanbul was to help themselves to a herd of Turkish cattle. The Turkish dragons and their officers who were guarding the cattle took exception to this, resulting in a dispute between Laurence and the chief guard, Ertegun. The ferals took advantage of the confusion to grab all the cattle they could carry and head back to the Pamirs.
After Temeraire, Laurence and their crew reached Prussia and were pressed into service there, their guide Tharkay left them to journey back to the Pamirs. As Tharkay spoke the draconic language Durzagh - the ferals themselves did not speak any human languages and were too old to learn - he was able to talk Arkady into bringing twenty dragons to Europe to help "rescue" Temeraire, promising him that the British would give each feral a cow per day in return. Arkady and his band arrived just in time to help Temeraire evacuate the Prussian troops from Danzig, which was under siege by the French and likely to fall any day. Arkady was nervous about allowing the humans to put a carrying harness on him - being feral, he had never worn a harness before - but quickly hid his nervousness when Temeraire made a point of nonchalantly adjusting his own harness, and then proceeded to show off his new accoutrement for his troop.
Arkady and his band arrived in Britain in December 1806 with Temeraire and Laurence to discover that the Dragon Plague was destroying the Aerial Corps. Besides Temeraire and Iskierka, who had been hatched in Prussia and returned to Britain with them, the ferals were the only healthy dragons in Britain. Admiral Roland was therefore quite happy to negotiate with them over the promised cows, suggesting only that sheep or goats might be substituted from time to time - at a suitable rate of exchange, of course - in order to provide variety.
Despite their lack of discipline and formal training, the ferals were assigned to patrol the Channel, at first under Temeraire's supervision and later on their own. When they achieved their first solitary victory - turning back a Pou-de-Ciel who was trying to get a look at the quarantine grounds to assess how many British dragons were ill - Roland presented Arkady with a brass chain and a large dinner plate inscribed with his name for a medal. For once - and for only a moment - Arkady was speechless with amazement.
Temeraire and Laurence were sent to Cape Town with the rest of Lily's formation to find a cure for plague. While they were gone, Iskierka and the ferals developed a strategy for capturing French ships as prizes. The ferals would fly out at night looking for suitable ships and convey the news to Iskierka, who the next day would pretend to her captain, John Granby, that she was only going in such-and-such direction on a whim. With Iskierka shooting flames, the ships would quickly surrender and allow themselves to be herded back to Britain by the ferals. However, Arkady retained his status as leader of the feral band. He regarded Iskierka as a "force of nature" rather than as a rival leader.
When Napoleon invaded Britain in late 1807, Iskierka, Arkady and the ferals joined Temeraire's regiment. Temeraire's runner Demane had been assigned to ride Arkady, as Demane had picked up both English and Durzagh in addition to his native Xhosa. He would tell Arkady what the signal flags meant, and then he and Arkady together would decide whether or not they were going to obey, neither Arkady nor Demane having much use for unquestioned authority.
After Napoleon was expelled from Britain at the Battle of Shoeburyness in March 1808, the HMS Allegiance was sent to Australia, partly as a prison ship (carrying Temeraire and Laurence as well as other convicts) but also to convey three dragon eggs. One of these eggs had been sired by Arkady on his lieutenant, Wringe. He was quite honoured to see the egg go to wide-open and unclaimed territory, but made Temeraire promise to look after it and ensure that only someone very rich would be allowed to become captain.
Known members of the twenty feral dragons who accompanied Arkady to Prussia and Britain:
