Difference between revisions of "Category:Timeline"

Revision as of 14:45, 10 April 2017

A brief outline of relevant events. Spoiler Warning: Major plot events will be noted here.

1791

Lord Macartney's embassy to China. His ship, the Lion, becomes the first Western vessel to chart the Bay of Zhitao. Macartney refuses to perform the ritual obesiance, the kow tow, to the Emperor of China and the British expedition is forced to leave.

William Laurence is promoted to lieutenant in the Royal Navy. He serves under Capt. Barstowe on HMS Shorewise.

1798

August 1-2: British victory under Nelson at the Battle of the Nile ends French ambitions of conquering Egypt. William Laurence and Jane Roland present.

1805

January: The French frigate Amitie and a dragon egg are captured by William Laurence and HMS Reliant. One week later, Temeraire hatches and is harnessed and named by Laurence. Laurence appoints Lt. Tom Riley as Reliant's captain.

February: Three weeks after Temeraire's hatching, Reliant arrives at Funchal, Madeira. After spending two weeks on a transport from the vicinity of Madeira to Britain, Laurence reports to Aerial Command in London. After spending a night at his family's home in Nottinghamshire, he reports to the Loch Laggan covert, where he and Temeraire begin training with Berkley and Maximus under Celeritas's supervision.

Late August: Lily's formation moves to the Dover covert and is attacked by French dragons en route (approximate).

September 29-30: Excidium leaves Dover for Cadiz. He arrives two weeks later, and the British begin their attack on the Spanish.

October 14: Jean-Paul Choiseul attempts to kidnap Catherine Harcourt and Lily (approximate).

October 21: The British defeat the French and Spanish at the Battle of Trafalgar. Excidium, Mortiferus, Laetificat, and Volly all present. Admiral Nelson is wounded during the Battle.

October 27: Jeremy Rankin spies Bonaparte's plans for Dover. Levitas dies.

October 28: An attempted French invasion of Britain is prevented by British victory at The Battle of Dover. Temeraire discovers the Divine Wind.

November 20: A Dakota is transferred from Greenland to Britain, introducing the Dragon Plague to the Aerial Corps.

December 2: Napoleon defeats Russia and Austria at the Battle of Austerlitz.

December 25: Christmas. Sun Kai recites poetry by Lung Li Po, initiating Temeraire's Chinese education.

1806

January 31: The Allegiance crosses the equator en route to China.

February 18: Chinese New Year. Feng Li attempts to murder William Laurence.

June 17: The Allegiance arrives in Macao.

October 14: Prussia defeated at the Battle of Jena-Auerstadt. These battles are notable for the innovative uses that the French put their arieal corps to. Many of these innovation can be attributed to Lung Tien Lien's influence over the French at this time.

November 4: In a series of surprise attacks on the road, Napoleon defeats the Russian army before it reaches Warsaw. Laurence leaves the Prussian army and heads for home.

November 6 - 20: The Siege of Danzig. In comparison to the other towns sieged during the winter of 1806 by the French, Danzig is exceptional in that a large proportion of the garrison were able to escape the city and were not forced to give their parole to the French. Temeraire, and a group of around 20 feral dragons ferried approximately 15,000 men to a British Fleet stationed in the Baltic Sea.

December 18: Temeraire, Iskierka and a group of twenty feral dragons are attacked by a French patrol off the coast of Scotland as they arrive in Britain.

December 1806 / January 1807: By this time every British dragon has contracted the Dragon Plague. The British air defence against Napoleon's attacks is now little more than a show screen. The defenses are bolstered by the return of Temeraire and the fit dragons accompanying him. Admiral Jane Roland and Laurence attempt to get the Admiralty to cough up the funds necessary to provide for the sick dragons. Plans for the construction of the first British Dragon Pavilion are made; it is to be erected on the quarantine grounds to ease the sick. Temeraire and William Wilberforce hold a dinner party to raise funds for the sick dragons while advancing the Abolitionist cause.

1807

January: The French begin to suspect the British weakness. The courier dragon Sauvignon is brought down by Temeraire while attempting to spy on the British coverts. The two dragons land accidentally in the quarantine grounds, exposing them to the plague. Both are expected to die. Temeraire is bred with Felicita in an attempt to retain some Celestial genes within the British dragon population. However, after Temeraire does not fall ill within five days, the dragon surgeon Keynes grudgingly admits that Temeraire may have contracted the plague during his voyage to China and may have recovered due to something he ate while in Cape Town.

Late January / early February: Lily's formation leaves for Cape Town aboard the Allegiance to search for the cure. Due to Captain Tom Riley's discomfort with female officers, Laurence initially agrees to serve as go-between between him and formation-leader Captain Catherine Harcourt. However, a quarrel between Laurence and Riley makes this arrangement unworkable. Laurence and Temeraire leave the ship early to fly ahead to Cape Town and begin research on the cure.

Mid-April: The Allegiance arrives in Cape Town. After some experimentation, the British discover the mushroom which cures the Dragon Plague and begin sending out parties to harvest as much of it as possible, not realizing that they are in fact raiding Tswana mushroom cultivations.

Early May: Harcourt, Laurence, Chenery and their crews are captured by the Tswana dragon Kefentse and a band of warriors while harvesting (raiding) mushrooms. They are taken to Mosi-oa-Tunya, the capital of the Tswana Kingdom ruled by Mokhachane I (d).

Early June: Mokhachane I (d) begins his crusade to expel slave traders from Africa. His forces including large numbers of dragons attack European settlements across Africa. These strikes are entirely successful and every target is destroyed with massive loss of life and territory. Coinciding with these attacks, Lily and Dulcia free Temeraire and the human captives from Mosi-oa-Tunya. They return to Cape Town in time to cover the departure of the Allegiance for Britain, crowded with refugees. Captains Riley and Harcourt are married during the voyage.

Late August: The Allegiance reaches Britain, where Iskierka and Arkady's ferals have been doing well at capturing French prize ships and where Iskierka has had her own pavilion built.

Early September: The British Admiralty releases Sauvignon in an effort to spread the Dragon Plague to the continent. Temeraire and Laurence steal samples of the mushroom from the Loch Laggan covert and bring them to France. Laurence insists on returning to Britain, where he is subsequently convicted of treason and condemned to execution. This sentence is immediately stayed on the condition of Temeraire's good behaviour. Temeraire is sent to the Pen Y Fan Breeding Grounds.

Early November: Harcourt's and Riley's child born. The birth is difficult, and to Harcourt's and Lily's disappointment, the child is a boy.

Early December: Napoleon's troops successfully invade Britain. Laurence reaches Dover after the sinking of HMS Goliath, on which he was being transported as a prisoner. Temeraire receives word through Moncey that the Goliath has been lost with all hands. Believing Laurence to be dead, he organizes a regiment of unharnessed dragons and leads them from the breeding grounds to fight the French.

Late December: Harcourt returns to active duty, leaving the child with Riley and a wet nurse. By this time Napoleon's troops have occupied London. The British government and the King have fled to Scotland, as have the land and air forces, including Laurence, Temeraire and the unharnessed regiment.

1808

January-February: On General Wellesley's orders, Laurence leads a party of harnessed and unharnessed dragons in guerrilla raids against the French. Knowing that there are likely to be official inquiries later on as to the legitimacy of this style of warfare, Laurence agrees to cooperate with Wellesley on the condition that the other Aerial Corps officers under his command will be given written orders absolving them of any responsibility, while he himself is under verbal orders only.

March (sometime between 3rd and 13th): Napoleon and his troops are expelled from Britain at the Battle of Shoeburyness. Admiral Nelson is killed and almost all of his fleet destroyed in a tidal wave raised by Lien to cover the French retreat.

April: Nelson's funeral. HMS Allegiance sails for Australia as a prison ship, carrying Temeraire and Laurence along with other prisoners. Laurence's death sentence has been commuted to transportation and labour in return for his cooperation in getting Temeraire - and Temeraire's political organizing - out of Britain.

December: The Allegiance reaches Australia, where it finds the ousted Governor William Bligh exiled to Van Dieman's Land. They take back him to Sydney, now controlled by the New South Wales Corps, but do not attempt to reinstate him.

May 2: Napoleon betrays his Spanish ally, forcing the Spanish Bourbons to abdicate whilst placing his brother, Joseph on the throne. During the forced expulsion of the rest of the Spanish Bourbon's from the Palacio Real, the Spanish people, moved by the frightened Infante Francisco de Paula, rise up against the French garrison under the command of Joachim Murat, sparking off the Peninsular War.

August: The British intervene in the Peninsular War, sending Wellington to lead the British forces sent to fight in Portugal and Spain.

1809

January: HMS Beatrice reaches Sydney, bringing a group of aviator candidates headed by Jeremy Rankin. Caesar hatches and chooses Rankin as his captain.

January - Summer 1810: Laurence and Temeraire, along with Granby, Iskierka, Rankin, Caesar and their crews, along with a group of convicts, undertake an expedition of the lands beyond the Blue Mountains in order to find suitable settlement for a covert. During the expedition a Yellow Reaper Egg, sent along with another smaller egg to establish an aerial presence in New South Wales, is stolen by the Wiradjuri, prompting the group to engage in pursuit with the thieves.

April 9: Major-General Lachlan Macquarie is appointed by the British Government as Governor of New South Wales, who hope that by appointing an army officer, instead of the traditional naval officer, as governor, would placate the New South Wales corps.

April 10 - October 14: The War of the Fifth Coalition, Napoleon and his allies, fight against the Austrians and the Tyroleans (who are in revolt against the Kingdom of Bavaria, who obtained Tyrol from Napoleon as a reward for loyalty during the War of the Third Coalition) and concludes with Napoleon victorious. During the peace negotiations at Schonbrunn, German nationalist Friedrich Staps attempts to assassinate Napoleon, but is captured before he can get close, he is executed by firing squad on the 17th October.

Summer: The smaller egg hatches and as Rankin regards the dragonets survival as unlikely, opts to end its life to the opposition of Laurence and Temeraire. The dragonet's life is saved when he is harnessed by Demane, who subsequently names the dragonet Kulingile.

Autumn: A Royal Naval squadron under the command of Captain Nesbit Willoughby, arrives at the Chinese-Larrakia trading port and attempts to conquer it. The Chinese defeat the Naval squadron using unorthodox tactics involving sea-serpents and the crews of the ships, including Captain Willoughby himself, are only saved from certain death by Laurence, Temeraire and the rest of their group. The crews are then taken to Sydney, aided by Laurence and Temeraire's group.

December 28: Lachlan Macquarie and his family arrive in New South Wales.

Unknown: The Chinese establish a trading post in Larrakia lands, somewhere on the North Australian coast, east of the border of New South Wales.

Unknown: The Tswana mount 'revanchist' attacks against the European ports of the Mediterranean, coming into contact and diplomatic relations with Napoleon as a result, Tswana forces also attempt to attack Gibraltar but are repulsed. As a result of entering negotiations with Napoleon, the Tswana are provided with French transports to take them across the Atlantic, to South America. The Tswana land in the Portuguese colony of Brazil, and in the ensuing chaos, Rio de Janerio is burned by the Portuguese in an attempt to destroy slave records.

1810

January 1: Lachlan Macquarie begins his governorship of New South Wales.

Late Winter/Early Spring: Laurence and Temeraire's group return to Sydney, along with the crews of Willoughby's squadron and Captain Willoughby himself.

Late Winter/Early Spring: Governor Lachlan Macquarie is deposed by John Macarthur and the New South Wales corps, due to Macquarie's support towards Willoughby's demand for war with the Chinese, instead of Macarthur's advice of diplomacy. John Macarthur subsequently takes power, granting himself the title of 'First Minister' which he later abandons.

Late Autumn/Early Winter: British diplomat Hammond, arrives in Australia with orders to find and deliver Laurence and Temeraire their official pardons, along with Macarthur's appointment as Governor of New South Wales. Laurence almost rejects the pardon, fearing that he would be ordered to to be the 'Governments butcher' again, but accepts after considering Temeraire's future.

Unknown: Wellington, perhaps now realising the full strategic importance of Celestials, convinces the Percival Ministry to grant Laurence and Temeraire pardons. To kill two birds with one stone, the Percival ministry also decides to grant the governorship of New South Wales to John Macarthur.

Unknown: The French dragon transport Triomphe sails for the Inca Empire on a diplomatic mission to the Inca Empire. The mission is lead by French diplomat De Guignes and his newly acquired companion-dragon Genevieve, who are accompanied by three other dragons, a number of French noblewomen and items of tribute for the Inca.

1811

Late Winter: Laurence and Temeraire, along with Granby, Iskierka, Demane, Kulingile, Hammond and the rediscovered Ferris, depart Sydney on the Allegiance on a mission to Brazil. During the voyage the Allegiance runs into a five-day storm, following which a fire breaks out due to the actions of inebriated sailors. Despite attempts to stem the blaze, the ship's gunpowder magazine is ignited and in the ensuing explosion most of the ship's officers are killed, including Captain Riley. With the destruction of the Allegiance, the ship is abandoned, with the ship's crew entering the ships launches in the hopes of navigating their way back to Sydney whilst the dragons and their crews opt to try to fly the remainder of the journey. The dragons also carry the drunken sailors, who had been forced aboard the dragons to keep out of the way.

Early Spring: The surviving dragons of the Allegiance, exhausted after weeks of non stop flying, land on the Triomphe, whereupon the dragon's Captains surrender at once. Here, Temeraire and Hammond learn of the French diplomatic mission to the Inca Empire, and Temeraire learns the Quechua language from Genevieve.

Mid Spring: De Guignes maroons the Laurence, Temeraire and the rest of the British party on an island, partly because the Triomphe is overloaded but mostly with the purpose of picking them up again on the voyage home, as they are more likely to be weaker and complacent then. However, despite an attempted mutiny from the pressed sailors, the party discovers a wrecked privateer after reconnoitering the island, and salvage enough resources to make a flight to the South-American mainland.

Late Spring/Early Summer: The French party arrives in the Inca capital of Cusco, followed by the British party a few days later. In the coming days, both parties state their cases to the Incan Empress Anhuarque, the French hope to marry her to Napoleon (now divorced) while the British hope to marry her to Granby (very much against it) in order to secure an alliance with their respective nations, and at first she leans towards the British but turns towards the French after the arrival of Napoleon and Lien. The Laurence and Temeraire's party are chased out of the Inca Empire and subsequently journey towards the Brazilian Empire. During the British journey to Cusco, Hammond attracts the attention of the Incan dragon Churki, who then joins the party in hopes of setting up an ayllu with Hammond (to his dismay).

Mid Summer: Laurence and Temeraire's party arrive at the ruins of Rio de Janiero and bring the Portuguese into diplomatic negotiations with the Tswana, in order to end the conflict and unify their forces in the face of a prospective Incan invasion. At around the same time, Lily and Maximus and the rest of the formation arrive in Brazil and rejoin Laurence and Temeraire. With their numbers bolstered Laurence undertakes a raid to capture the French dragon transport fleet in Rio harbour, which is successful.

Mid Summer: The Tswana-Portuguese negotiations conclude, the Portuguese agree to free their slaves, provided that they stay in Brazil (Laurence suspects that they will re-enslave them later), while the Tswana dragons with no family members or their descendants found return to Africa. The newly captured dragon transport fleet serves to ferry those Twsana dragons that choose to return. Following negotiations, Gong Su reveals himself to be an agent of the Chinese court and with summons to bring Laurence and Temeraire back to China and promises to Hammond of a possible alliance. The British party boards the Potentate, where Hammond convinces the Captain to reroute the Ship towards China.

Unknown: Napoleon and Lien learn of Laurence's recommissioning, and embark on a voyage to the Inca Empire, anticipating that he or Temeraire would interfere with their plans.

Unknown: Lily's formation is deployed to Brazil on the dragon transport HMS Potentate, with the purpose of aiding Laurence and Temeraire.

1812

January: The Potentate is caught in a typhoon on the last leg of its journey to China, with Laurence being lost overboard. Laurence later washes up on a beach in Kyushu, Japan, suffering amnesia as a result of head trauma.

June 24: Napoleon invades the Russian Empire, with the Grande Armee numbering at 685,000 soldiers and at least 100 dragons. The Grande Armee consists of soldiers and dragons from the French Empire, the Inca Empire, Austria, Prussia, Duchy of Warsaw, Italy and other nations under French domination.

Unknown: Napoleon and Anhuarqe's first child, Napoleon Joseph Pachacuti Yupanqui is born.

1813

February: The Dragon Rights bill is passed through the British Parliament and is made into law.

February: Laurence is appointed an Admiral of the Royal Aerial corps, at the behest of Tsar Alexander, despite the protestations of the Percival ministry.

March: The War of the Sixth Coalition formally begins, with Prussia officially declaring war against France.

Summer: Napoleon attacks Dresden, in the hopes of capturing the leaders of the Coalition, although he captures the city, during the ensuing battle the leaders of the Coalition escape, as Laurence and Temeraire fighting a valiant rearguard.

Autumn: Napoleon and his allies engage in battle with the Coalition forces of Russia, Prussia, Britain, Austria and China at the town of Reichenbach. After two days of fighting, Napoleon is defeated and captured, along with Lien, personally by Laurence and Temeraire. Following the battle, Napoleon is forced to abdicate the throne in favour of his eldest son, abandon all french conquests east of the Rhine, in Italy and cedes Flanders to the newly created Kingdom of the Netherlands.