Longwing

Dragon Breed Data

Breed Name:	Longwing
National Loyalty:	Britain
Physical Characteristics:	Blue with very long wings; yellow-orange eyes
Special Abilities:	Acid spitter
Known Members:	Lily, Excidium, Mortiferus

Species Notes

According to Sir Edward Howe, the Longwings breed was the result of a sustain cross breeding effort to find an answer to the lack of pyrogenic species in the British Isles. The British Sharpspitter, a small, low-flying English breed, was initally crossed with Sharpspitter crossed seperately with the French Honneur-d'Or for size and the Ironwing, a venemous Russian breed. Interbreeding amongst these with frequent infusions from the three parent breeds lead to the first Dragon that could properly be termed a Longwing during the reign of Henry VIII.

Longwings were traditionally very picky about their captains. During reign of Queen Elizabeth I, who decided to put one of her female servants on one, it was discovered that they took to female captains more readily, so by the early 1800s, women were trained in the Aerial Corps specifically for Longwing service, but this fact is kept a secret by the Corps.

Unlike the French Flamme-de-Gloire, Longwings are nearly impossible to decoy. This is because of their exceptionally long wings (hence the name) which are typically around 120 feet long, while their bodies are about 60 feet long. As a result, British aviators must learn strict formation flying designed to support the Longwing in battle.