Dragon Abilities

* Divine Wind
* Fire Breather

## Acid spitter

One of the particular abilities possessed by some dragon breeds is the ability to spit a strong corrosive acid, known as vitriol. The acid is projected (at least in Longwings) through bony spurs on the lower jaw and is capable of eroding wood, stone, and flesh at highly rapid speeds in a sort of mist spray. Longwings are also capable of spraying a directed stream to make a channel in rock, for example. As Britain has no native fire-breathers, one of the most prized dragons in the Corps was the acid-spitting Longwings. Other vitriolic dragons are the Venom Spitters.

The Longwing dragons were originally breed with less acidic, venom dragons. Their poison isn't dangerous for other dragons or humans because they were unable to spit this acid (they could, but not in vast amounts). Dangerous dragon breeds include the Longwing's ancestors Sharpspitter, Ironwing, Honneur-d'Or, and Garde-de-Lyon, of which the Sharpspitter seems to have the most dangerous poison. Sharpspitter can spit small amounts of poison, but this attack is not very useful in combat.

Acid spitting has its drawbacks. Longwings were physically unable to eject acid in any direction save downwards, to prevent them from spraying themselves. The muscle reflexes involved in sneezing and coughing are the same as ejecting acid, so sick Longwings tend to spray corrosive acid over their surroundings unintentionally. They had to be quarantined in sandpits to prevent damage to the coverts and humans attending them.

The Longwing Conterrenis was killed when he suffered a hemorrhage in his lungs, causing him to cough intensely and continuously. The acid kept coming as a result and began to build upon his bone spurs, eventually melting his skin and laying his jaw bare to the bone before his Captain Gardenley could muster the will to shoot him.

### Dragon Breeds

* Longwing of Britain.
* Ka-Riu of Japan.
* Copacati the Incan Empire.

\* The scholar Edward Howe refers to this breed as one of the only three vitriolic dragon breeds in the world. Although John Granby referred to it as a venom spitter, the properties of this breed's spit appeared to be more potent than venom, thus making it more similar to acid.

## Divine Fire

Divine Fire below ability is the result of a Celestial and Kazilik mix in Ning. **Divine Fire** is not named in the series, but probably is what the Chinese will end up by calling it.

This ability manifested in Ning immediately after birth. The mechanisms seems to be the same as the Divine Wind, but instead of a wave of air or sound, it is a wave of white fire.

## Divine Wind

The Divine Wind is the most mysterious of dragon abilities-- a sort of 'sonic roar' capable of doing great destruction, especially to objects made of wood. It only presents itself in one breed, the Celestial. There are few Celestials in the world, and few of them ever venture outside of China, so very little is known of this ability in the western world. Sir Edward Howe suggests in his book *Observations on the Order Draconia in Europe, with Notes on the Oriental Breeds* (excerpted in HMD) that since the divine wind is known only by "hearsay" and that some experts dismiss it as "fantasy."
Howe is naturally delighted to come into contact with Temeraire and confirm the divine wind's existence to other draconic scholars.

The *Divine Wind* is able to destroy wood, stone and bones (human, dragons), to cause a tsunami and to send a ship to the bottom, the greater the distance, the less destructive it is. With closed jaws it can be used to model stone/wood etc. Even when a Celestial roars a nuance of the *Divine Wind* is in it to intimidate others. The *Divine Wind* uses the same muscles as speaking, roaring and breathing but it is more exhausting and strains the throat what prevents the dragon from using it too often or too much. It doesn't develops until the Celestial reaches full maturity. Other dragons don't recognize it as quickly as they recognize acid-spitters or fire-breathers but it is very very impressive for the surviving dragons and aviators of a divine wind attack.
The noise starts by being reflected in the Celestial's body (lungs, belly, air sacks) and boosts with every reflection. The skin stretches, the dragon's whole body is under tension and he trembles.

When Kublai Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan, invaded Japan in 1274, his and the Korean fleet were defeated by a typhoon which destroyed most of the ships. Later the Japanese called this storm the "divine wind" because they thought it had been send by a deity to save Japan. During his second invasion 7 years later, the Khan burned the Hakozaki shrine but this invasion didn't succeed either. What if it wasn't a storm that destroyed the ships but a dragon? A Japanese Celestial. Raiden, one of Temeraire's favorite heroes, fought against the Khan's armada so he could possibly have been a Celestial. The destructive force of the *Divine Wind* in the Battle of Shoeburyness was used by Lien. Of course it could have been a Sui-Riu too but a Celestial is more likely.

In Naomi Novik's universe the Khan stole the last Celestial eggs from the shrine and destroyed the rest of this breed. Jinai says that he has seen Japanese Celestials but he was born around 1400, 100 years after Kublai Khan's invasion. This indicates that some individuals survived but obviously they weren't enough to reproduce. And this whole story shows that both countries, China and Japan, had the same breeding success in the same time (the "Yellow Emperor" was a Chinese Celestial, maybe derived from a gift from Japan or a mutation) and that the Japanese Celestials were much more individuals than the Chinese ones and not too close related to each other to not breed among themselves.

## Fire Breather

Of all the special dragon abilities, none is more valued at wartime than fire breathing. No native British dragon had the ability to breathe fire, so the Aerial Corps made procuring one a priority. In 1794, the British Aerial Corps tried to buy one of the fire-breathers from the Incan Empire, but the Incas refused the offer. They finally succeeded in getting a fire breather when they purchased a Kazilik egg from Turkey and Iskierka was successfully harnessed by John Granby. Laurence had previously recounting seeing an allied Turkish Kazilik breathe fire during the Battle of the Nile.

Fire breathing is very deadly to ships, as uncontrolled fire will spread on a ship's deck, light her sails and ignite her ammunition, causing the ship to blow to flinders by it's own magazines.

Fire breathers all have a very difficult character, due to the breeding process and their ability but they all have good flying abilities. Fire breathing has nothing to do with normal breathing. Dragons can breath and breath fire at the same time. Nor has it to do with sneezing or coughing.

### Dragon Breeds

* Flamme-de-Gloire of France.
* Flecha-del-Fuego of Spain.
* Kazilik from Turkey.
* An unnamed breed (presumably Italian) with dark green scales. An iconic specimen was the first harnessed dragon in the Roman Republic.
* In the Tswana Kingdom there are some fire breather dragon breeds, but their flames are too weak to be useful in combat.
* The Incan Empire have some fire breather dragon breeds, but since they're not strong enough for combat, they heat the smith's fires instead.

## Night vision

This ability allows some dragon breeds to see in very low-light conditions. Usually the breeds that show this trait have dark-colored scales, which in military makes them very useful for stealth missions at night; however, night vision usually implies very sensitive eyes, and this dragons can be blinded by sudden flashes of light. However, it is possible for this breeds to produce less light-sensitive offspring without sacrificing their night vision.

### Dragon Breeds

* Fleur-de-Nuit of France.
* Tumi of the Incan Empire.
* An unnamed Chinese breed with pearlescent eyes that reflect light like a cat's.
* An unnamed Japanese breed with glowing cat-like green, sensitive to light.
* Although they don't have proper night vision, the British Sharpspitters have very good sight, that was inherited by their related breed, the Longwing.

## Special Flying Capacity

Certain dragon breeds are able to stay in the air or maneuver better than others.

### Dragon Breeds

* The Chinese Celestials and Imperials are able to beat their wings forward and backward so they can hover in a specific point.
* A specific variant of the Chinese Shen-Lungs has very long wings, so they are able to fly for days, staying in the air even while they eat or sleep.
* A small Incan breed with bright eyes and a wingspan twice its length that allows them to fly backwards.

## Venom Spitter

A venom spitter is different than the much more powerful Acid-spitters, as they spit smaller amounts of a poison instead of acid. Many of the European venom spitters were used in the breeding program to create the Longwings.

### Dragon Breeds

* Ironwing of Russia.
* Sharpspitter of Britain.
* The Bengal dragons seem to produce a greenish ichor from their fangs, but it is unclear if they are able to spit this substance or if they must inject it through bites.

## Water Spitter

The ability to consume large amounts of water and then spit them with great pressure.

## Water Breathing

The ability to breathe underwater. Only the Japanese Sui-Riu breed seems to have this capacity, although it is unknown how it works exactly.

## References

1. ↑ Novik, Naomi. His Majesty's Dragon: A Novel of Temeraire (p. 330). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
2. ↑ *Throne of Jade* page 285
3. ↑ *Blood of Tyrants* page 35
4. ↑ *League of Dragons* page 171