Dulcia
Character Profile
| Name: | Dulcia |
| Date of Birth: | Older and more experienced than Temeraire |
| Breed: | Grey Copper |
| Captain: | Chenery |
| National Loyalty: | Britain |
| Appearance: | Light combat-weight; greenish-grey |
| Special Abilities: | |
| Status: | Active |
Biography
Dulcia (a name derived from the Latin 'sweet') is a more experienced dragon who was assigned to Lily's formation along with Messoria, Nitidus and Immortalis to balance out the inexperienced Lily, Temeraire and Maximus.
Like all the British dragons, Dulcia contracted the Dragon Plague in 1806. Along with the rest of Lily's formation, she was sent to Cape Town aboard the HMS Allegiance to find a cure. William Laurence, spending the evenings reading to Temeraire from his books, was surprised to find that all the dragons quickly comprehended geometric theory. At one point, Nitidus and Dulcia disagreed with Euclid's postulate on parallel lines. (Though Dulcia was more tactful in her disagreement than Nitidus.) Indeed, all the members of the formation soon began having in-depth discussions on geometry, giving credence to Temeraire's assertions that all dragons are very intelligent.
Dulcia was one of the first dragons cured of the plague in Cape Town after experiments by Keynes and Dorset revealed that a certain mushroom was effective for this purpose. She received her first dose after Maximus received his, but the Regal Coppers were hit particularly hard by the disease, so Dulcia recovered more quickly. Although the mushroom made Temeraire and Maximus - both heavyweight dragons - rather drowsy, on Dulcia it had the effect of making her rather manic for a while. Because of Dulcia's rapid recovery, she and Chenery were able to assist in the efforts to locate greater supplies of the mushroom.
After Harcourt, Chenery, Laurence and their crews were captured and taken to Mosi-oa-Tunya, Lily, Dulcia and Temeraire flew in search of them and found them. Temeraire first attempted to rescue the humans by himself. After he was captured, Lily and Dulcia rescued both him and the humans. Because of her size and colouring, Dulcia was able to slip in unnoticed among the African dragons to send Laurence notice to be ready for the rescue.
Dulcia's crew included:
- 1st Lieutenant Libbley
- Midwingman Hyatt - killed in action in Africa in the summer of 1807
- Bailes, harness-man - killed during the escape from Mosi-oa-Tunya in the summer of 1807
Positioning in Lily's Formation
Lily Messoria Immortalis Dulcia Maximus Temeraire Nitidus
