Temeraire

Temeraire, otherwise known as Lung Tien Xiang, is a Chinese dragon by origin who served in the Aerial Corps of Britain and as the companion of Captain William Laurence.

## Biography

### **In His Majesty's Service**

Temeraire's egg was born of the union between the Celestial Lung Tien Qian and the Imperial Lung Qin Gao and was the younger twin of Lung Tien Chuan. His egg was sent as a gift from the Imperial Throne of China to Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte as a way for the Chinese to avoid the political awkwardness of Temeraire becoming the potential companion to a prince other than the crown prince Mianning.

His egg was sent abaord the *Amitie* as a gift to the French emperor but was intercepted by the HMS *Reliant,* then under the command of Captain William Laurence, who took the egg as a prize of war.

Realizing that the egg was close to hatching, Laurence had all the officers draw straws to see who would have the duty of harnessing it, a choice that fell to Midshipman Jonathan Carver.

When Temeraire hatched; however, he didn't take to Carver, instead inspecting the ship and finally settling on Laurence himself as his companion, whereupon he proceeded to spend his next few weeks aboard the *Reliant* eating, sleeping and growing. Halfway through his second week ab

oard the ship, the *Reliant* was struck by a viscous storm. Gordon, one of the ship's hands who had helped fish meals for Temeraire, was thrown overboard, though Temeraire was able to rescue him, this being his and Laurence's first flight. From then on Temeraire spent every day of the remaining voyage flying.

The *Reliant* eventually came into port at Funchal, the capital of Madeira. Being forced to remain on the island until they could get formal orders from the Aerial Corps, Laurence and Temeraire explored much of the island, eventually making the acquaintance of Sir Edward Howe, a dragon expert, who incorrectly identified Temeraire as an Imperial. Shortly after this, Temeraire, for the first time, met another dragon: Volatilus and his captain: Langford James. Less than a day later, Captain Portland, his dragon Laetificat and Lieutenant Dayes arrived in Madeira, intending to supplement Laurence with Dayes, a plan that did not go over well with Temeraire, who insisted on keeping Laurence. Captain Portland then led them to Aerial Command, where they were ordered by Admiral Powys to proceed to Loch Laggan for their formal training, stopping en route at Nottinghamshire, where Temeraire was able to make the acquaintance of Laurence's mother: Lady Allendale.

Temeraire and Laurence then proceeded to Loch Laggan, where they met their training instructor: Celeritas, who began their training with formation flying, learning aerial maneuvers and signals and acquainting Temeraire with a crew. During the first few weeks at Loch Laggan, Temeraire proved himself different from most other dragons through his love of reading, swimming and having his harness off whenever possible. He also made met Lily, a Longwing, and Maximus, a Regal Copper, who would go on to be his formation partners and close friends. He and Laurence also met Levitas, a small and poorly neglected courier dragon.

Temeraire continued to train alongside Maximus, until it was time for his first mission: the rescue of a Parnassian dragon called Victoriatus, who was injured in a battle near Aberdeen. His first mission a success, Temeraire was assigned to Lily and Captain Harcourt's formation, alongside Maximus, the Yellow Reapers Messoria and Immortalis, the Grey Copper Dulcia and the Pascal's Blue Nitidus as well as being formally assigned a crew: Hollin, a ground crew master, Morgan, Dyer and Emily Roland as runners, Lieutenant Riggs along with midwingmans Collins, Dunne and Donnell, Ensign Allen, Signal Ensign Turner, Pratt, his armorer, Bell, a leatherworker, Fellowes, his harness master, Calloway, a gunner, Willoughby, a harness man, Evans, his second lieutenant, Lieutenant Johns, Lieutenant Johns, Midwingmen Challoner, Martin and Wright and his first Lieutenant: John Granby.

Some short time later, Temeraire came into heat, though could not be spared by Celeritas, who none the less expressed great satisfaction that he was now able to breed. Around the same time, also, Temeraire met the French dragon Praecursoris, captained by the French royalist Jean-Paul Choiseul and Temeraire and his new crew began experimenting with and designing their own aerial maneuvers, which became of great interest to Celeritas. Demonstrating these maneuvers; however, had to wait as Lily's formation was deployed to the Channel, replacing Mortiferus's formation, who had gone to fight the French fleet.

Some time later, Temeraire and Laurence had their first encounter with French dragons: a battle near the Channel against a Fleur-de-Nuit, Pecheur Couronne and a Grand Chevalier. During the battle Temeraire was able to successfully defend Lily from the attacks of the Grand Chevalier, though she was still badly injured. The battle was won upon the arrival of Excidium, another Longwing. Afterwards Temeraire would lament on the pointlessness of the battle, though Laurence assured him he had fought well and honorably while he and the rest of the dragons rested at their new and temporary covert at

Dover. During this time Temeraire expressed some confusion over the practice of whoring, a subject which Laurence was able to successfully skirt by explaining the other, more cultural attractions of the nearby city.

Only a few days later Temeraire, along with Nitidus and Dulcia were ordered to trail Excidium's formation on the first led of their Channel patrol, whereupon Temeraire taught the other two dragons how to fish. The next couple of weeks were quiet for Laurence and Temeraire, allowing them both to rest and read. Eventually; however, all the dragons in the covert were interrupted, and indeed greatly distressed, by the betrayal of Jean-Paul Choiseul. It was later found out that Choiseul had been offered a pardon by Napoleon himself for the capture, or failing that murder, of Temeraire. When Choiseul saw that this was not possible, he contented himself with attempting to kidnap Captain Harcourt and Lily, a plan ultimately thwarted by Laurence. Choiseul was ultimately executed, an action that his dragon Praecursoris was forced to watch, something that distressed all the dragons, including Temeraire, greatly. Following the execution, Praecursoris was shipped to a breeding colony and Temeraire entered into an agreement with Maximus and Lily: that if any of their captains were ever scheduled for execution, they would all band together to prevent it.

Some time later an engagement over the Channel took place, during which Levitas was mortally wounded and his abusive captain, Jeremy Rankin, was able to gather crucial intelligence of Napoleon's plans to bring his troops over the England. Upon Levitas's death, Temeraire's ground crew master: Hollin was reassigned to a newly hatching Winchester.

Almost immediately after Levitas's death was the Battle of Dover; which Temeraire's formation participated in, under the overall leadership of Admiral Lenton and his dragon: Obversaria. The battle primarily consisted of the British dragons trying to destroy Napoleon's dragon troop carriers, most of which were carried by middle weight Pecheur-Raye's. The battle was decidedly won by the British when, for the first time, Temeraire used his unique Celestial ability: The Divine Wind, to great effect, shattering several of the French dragon transports and causing the French Marshal to retreat. Several of Temeraire's crew: Lieutenant Johns, Midwingman Challoner, Midwingman Wright and Midwingman Collins were killed during the battle.

Some time after the battle, Temeraire and other members of his formation attended a musical performance organized specifically for them, wherein he was visited by Sir Edward Howe, who informed him and Laurence that he was a Celestial, the rarest breed of dragon in the world.

### **Tongues of Serpents**

###

###