Dragon
(Page in Progress) This page, when it is finished, will provide a brief summary of Dragons (the entire species) in the Temeraire series, as well as listing how they have made a difference to history. It will also link to all Dragon related pages that currently have no links.
On the other hand, it might make sense to simply collate the information from the other pages, most of which are rather small, onto this page.
Dragons, gold & property Travel speed and range Dragon Relationships with Captains
Dragon Characteristics
Dragon-Human Relationships
In most circumstances, a dragon's captain was the human who harnessed the dragonet at birth. The dragonet permitted the human to do so, and to give the dragonet a name.
In the Aerial Corps, dragons had enormously close relationships with their captains, generally ones of mutual affection and respect. However, this was not always the case. Capt. Jeremy Rankin was neglectful of Levitas to the point of abuse, but could not be removed from his post because Levitas continued to obey his orders and to crave Rankin's love and approval. Other dragons were less tolerant. Majestatis purposefully "mislaid" his captain and chose to live in the breeding grounds instead.
The partnership between dragon and captain could also be ended by the captain. Perscitia's captain gave her up after she made it clear she would not fight.
In most cases, however, the relationship with the dragon generally became the most important one in the captain's life, making it very difficult to live a "normal life" during the captain's off-duty time. This led to aviators' development of a culture largely apart from society, and not well-respected by it, despite the extraordinary sacrifices they made for their service.
Dragons tended to be both protective towards and possessive of their captains. A dragon could be removed from battle by the capture of their captain, as the dragon would surrender to prevent the captain being killed. The possessive attitude of dragons towards their captains in some ways bordered on their attitude towards property. For example, when Minnow snatched the captain off the back of a Defendeur-Brave during the Battle of Shoeburyness, Temeraire interpreted this as "stealing" and made a mental note to keep her away from Laurence, even though Temeraire had already knew that Minnow had no interest in being put in harness.
Inherited dragons
Many larger dragon breeds had long lifespans, and the dangers of battle aside, they were likely to outlive their captain. Dragons found this fact painful and difficult to accept.
Aviators often had children with the intent the child would enter the Corps and provide a new captain for their dragon upon their own death or retirement. It was thought that having a new captain who had some connection with the former one would make the transition easier for the dragon. Emily Roland, for example, was intended to become Excidium's captain upon Jane Roland's retirement.
The inheritance system did not always work out, however. Rankin was an example of the downside of the familial tradition of service. Rankin's grandfather and father had been captains to Celeritas, but he refused to accept Rankin, who was clearly ill-suited for the Corps. Since Celeritas did not have the heart to ban Rankin from the Corps entirely, Rankin harnessed the unfortunate Levitas instead.
Catherine Harcourt's situation illustrated another pitfall of breeding oneself for one's dragon's sake. When Harcourt became pregnant by Tom Riley, she hoped the child would be a daughter she could train up for Lily. However, the child proved to be son and therefore unacceptable to a Longwing as a captain.
Dragons' companions in China
In China, it was the dragon who chose their companion and not until 15 months after hatching. In the meantime, both the young dragons and the potential companions attended school together.
Since not all dragons in China were employed in warfare, not all companions were necessarily "captains" in same sense as in the Aerial Corps. Indeed, warfare was considered a rather low occupation, which is why all dragons employed for military use had female captains.
Dragons, Gold & Property
Humans often believe that many dragons have an "inborn fascination with jewels or precious metals." It might be closer to the mark to say that dragons have an inborn fascination for anything shiny or flashy. Temeraire as a dragonet mistook pyrite for gold until Laurence explained the difference to him. Arkady, who as a feral dragon did not have the background to make such distinctions, was quite overwhelmed when Admiral Jane Roland presented him with a brass chain and a medal (a dinner platter) inscribed with his name. Even Temeraire, who knew brass was worth less than gold, bristled a bit over the size of Arkady's medal. Temeraire was also drawn to the bright, spangly jewellery he saw dragons wearing in bazaars along the Old Silk Road, even after Laurence explained that it was only tin and glass.
Thus, dragons appear to be attracted to jewellery not because of its monetary value - a human concept in any case - but because it can be used to boost their status in draconian society. A dragon displaying flash and glitter - what might be called, in 21st century terms, "bling" - is making a statement that they are ready, willing and able to defend their hoard against challenges from other dragons. Behind the psychological importance of social status lie some bluntly practical reasons a high status is preferable. When food and warm, dry sleeping spots are in short supply, it's the high status dragons who get what they need and the low status dragons who must do without unless a high status dragon chooses to share. A dragon who no longer cared about maintaining their status would be in fact a dragon who no longer cared about staying alive.
Under normal circumstances, it would be almost impossible for a dragon to willingly give up status items to which they had formed an attachment. Among other consequences, this makes it impossible for humans to ask dragons to transport large amounts of gold and jewels for long distances on the humans' behalf. By the time the journey is over, the dragons will have become attached to their cargo and simply won't give it back.
The concept that gold and jewels also have monetary value and can be used as "capital" is not natural to dragons but one that they acquire quickly from humans. A handsome pavillion does just as well for displaying one's social status as a lump of gold - perhaps even better, because it's larger - and dragons readily grasp the principle of using one to purchase the other.
With purchasing power comes the human concept of "property". As Temeraire pointed out, if he bought a cow he could eat it, if Laurence bought an estate they could live upon it and if Laurence bought him a jewel, he could wear it. This does not shed a good light upon the human practice of using money to purchase other humans as slaves or to purchase dragon eggs.
A dragon's natural understanding of property is somewhat differently founded - a dragon displays their jewellery for the sake of making a statement that they are able to defend it. To leave property lying about undefended is, in a dragon's view, an open invitation to help oneself. To leaving property lying about and then argue about its disappearance after the fact is plain nonsense. Thus when Temeraire and the ferals were attacked by Turkish dragons after helping themselves to Turkish cattle, Temeraire sniffed that "those dragons had no business lying out of sight like that and leaving the cows for anyone to take, if they did not like it."
Obviously, the difference between human and draconic concepts of property has the potetntial to create conflict. Humans rely on their property rights under the law to keep their property safe even in their absence, an idea that is nonsensical in draconic terms. Sir Edward Howe noted that this was true even in China, where dragons routinely used marks to purchase goods against accounts held in their own names and disdained to use false marks. "They will without hesitation or any consciousness of shame seize any opportunity which offers of taking a beast from an unattended herd or stall and never consider leaving payment behind; this is not viewed by them as any form of theft." From a dragon's point of view, the herdsman or stall-keeper had no business leaving the beast unattended for anyone to take, if they did not like it.
Dragon Breeds
Currently, some fifty dragon breeds have been named. More breeds are known to exist, but the name for these breeds are currently unknown, and as such are not listed.
For a complete list of the known breeds, see Dragon Breeds. More detailed information on the various breeds can be found on their respective pages, as well as on the pages for Dragon Weight Classification & Dragon Breed Physical Characteristics.
Travel Speed & Range
Unfortunately, a conclusive list of the dragon breeds in regard of their different speeds of travel, as well as the distance they might be able to overcome in a day has not been published yet. The use of such would surely be immense, but undoubtedly a list of that kind would have to be a project of many scholars, as one alone would not be able to know the details of all the different breeds.
As a note, the Jade dragons of China are listed as being able to travel 120 miles in two hours, making the average speed 60 miles per hour (about 52 knots) for this journey. This is the fastest sustained flight speed yet mentioned, but short bursts of speed (especially if while diving) would likely be much faster than this.
Dragon Special Abilities
Several dragons are known to have special abilities not shared amongst the other breeds. These include;
- The ability to spit acid - Shared by the Longwing, Ka-Riu and Copacati breeds. Two other breeds, the Sharpspitter & the Ironwing, are known to have similar abilities, though with significantly reduced results.
- The Divine Wind - Unique to the Celestial breed.
- The ability to breathe fire - Shared by the Flamme-de-Gloire, Flecha-del-Fuego, Kazilik, and at least two other unnamed breeds.
- The ability to spit water - Unique to the Sui Riu breed.
Dragons in Battle
Aerial Corps is one such
(The French equivalent being the Armée de l’Air)
Dragon rigging
In the British Aerial Corps, and possibly in other parts of Europe, combat dragons are fitted with several types of harnesses, including a light duty harness, travelling harness, and heavy combat harness. The harnesses consists of thick leather straps held together with large metal rings. On the belly of the dragon, the harness consists of a net (referred to, unsurprisingly, as the 'belly-netting') in which bombs, gunpowder, and some of the crew are kept. A depiction of a Yellow Reaper's rigging appears in the back of the US edition of His Majesty's Dragon, and can also be found here: [1]
The Crew travels from place to place upon the back of the dragon by means of a series of carabiner hooks and rings: the crew member would unclip the hook (attached to their belt) from the ring, move foreward (or backwards, sideways, etc...), and re-clip the carabiner the carabiner when they have reached their location. If moving a relativlely long distance across the dragon, you would unclip and re-clip several times. While this method is rather slow and tedious, you remain attached to the dragon's harness most all of the time, which is extremely important should the dragon perform a manuever such as a roll. Such a manuever would result in many of the crew falling off the back of the dragon if they were not held on by their carabiners.
Harness fitting and rigging is the responsibility of the dragon's ground crew, with the main responsibility falling upon the harness-tender.
Dragon Coverts
A dragon
Britain
- Dover covert
- Edinburgh covert
- Falmouth Covert
- Loch Laggan Covert
- London covert
- Middlesbrough Covert
- Portsmouth Covert
- Weymouth covert
- Pen Y Fan Breeding Grounds
- Breeding Grounds in Ireland, Halifax & Gibraltar
France
China
In China, Dragon coverts do not exist in the traditional sense. This is because Dragons are treated as citizens in China. Instead, large buildings called "Pavilions" exist for dragons to live in. These can be both privately owned by a single dragon, or shared amongst many.
![[1]](http://www.naominovik.com/gallery/v/artwork/yellow_reaper.jpg.html){kind=link}