Difference between revisions of "Talk:Longwing"

Revision as of 21:14, 23 August 2010

Cross Breeding Info

There needs to be some sort of clean up of the information on the cross breeding that resulted in the Longwing. The enteries for Sharpspitter, Ironwing and Honneur-d'Or don't seem to fit together with the Longwing entry. In fact I've just realised there isn't an entry for Ironwing, though the breed is referenced in a couple of places. --Andrew 04:19, 8 February 2007 (PST)

Code Discrepancies

At the top, where the dragon breed information should be, is instead a series of coding in what appears to be German or some similar language. This is also present on the Imperial and Regal Copper pages. I'd fix it myself, but I don't know how. Wyldefyre 15:02, 3 May 2010 (PDT)

Number

In "Empire of Ivory," when Temeraire crashes into the sandpit that is the Longwing quarantine, Laurence says there are "half-a-dozen" Longwings there. I think that this must be all the Longwings in England (though perhaps not in Gibraltar or further away coverts), and it is after Conterrenis is said to have died, so that means we know of four (Excidium and Lily for certain, and probably Mortiferus and Gentius since he could still spray in Victory of Eagles) but there are two more unaccounted for. Perhaps other breeding ground dragons? Or simply formation leaders we haven't heard of? All in all, it doesn't seem that the Longwing population is much more than the Celestials. -- Strangerface 12:37, 22 August 2010 (PDT)

Dunno. I got the impression that Gentius had been in the Breeding Grounds for a while, but I'm probably wrong. However, if we consider that Gentius had three children, including Excidium, they could also be included (if they have survived this long). Plus, there are also the unknown dragons who are parents to Lily, but these could be one of the aforementioned dragons. Almaron 14:46, 22 August 2010 (PDT)

There could be an unknown number of Longwing eggs waiting to hatch-- Harcourt mentioned that Lily had not been expected to hatch "for another five years at the earliest", suggesting a truly prodigious incubation period. But on a related note, I'd been wondering why we see so few British female crew members as possible candidates for future Longwing dragonets; in fact, I can't recall any besides Emily Roland. --Wombat1138 14:53, 22 August 2010 (PDT)

Gentius does seem to have been at the breeding grounds forever, but Jane only mentioned there being one sand pit? (Though I suppose Lloyd or someone may have had a small sand tub for him, as Lily did on the Allegiance.) As for the female cadets besides Emily, I don't think there are that many, if indeed there are so few Longwings. Laurence mentions seeing "a few" females in the officers club at Loch Laggan once he learned the secret, and when Lady Allendale is introduced to Jane in Victory of Eagles it says, "Laurence saw her marking out, quickly, the handful of other female officers: another on Jane's crew, a lieutenant on Berkley's, and a few midshipmen and ensigns, scattered about." It makes sense to me that the other future captains would be put on larger dragons like Excidium and Maximus as well as Emily on Temeraire, because there doesn't seem to be a point to them learning how to do courier service or whatnot. It'd be heavy combat all the way. -- Strangerface 16:39, 22 August 2010 (PDT)

But remember, there's also the Xenica breed which only takes female captains, and it would make sense to have plenty of female officers prepared, in case an unexpected hatching occurs. Almaron 17:07, 22 August 2010 (PDT)

Argh. I'd forgotten about that passage in VoE, since I don't have a hardcopy at the mo. However, I was also thinking that although the Longwings and a few other breeds will only accept female captains, that doesn't nec'ly rule out other breeds deciding to choose a female candidate instead of a male anyway. It probably wouldn't be encouraged (due to wanting to save the female candidates for female-only captaincies), but I don't see how it could be absolutely avoided. --Wombat1138 14:14, 23 August 2010 (PDT)