Tien-Lung (Celestial)

by Kalia24 on DeviantArt

### Aditional Descriptions:

a ruff around the head and whiskers gained at maturity. Five fingers in the paws and six in the wings

### Abilities:

Divine Wind, they can hover in the air by beating their wings backward and forward

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## Overview

Celestials are an extremely rare Chinese breed of dragon, exclusively able to employ the "Divine Wind." Only members of the Emperor's family are permitted to be companions to Celestials. According to Lung Tien Qian, there are only eight Celestials in the world, listed below.

All Celestials are so closely related that they do not mate with one another; instead, they mate with Imperials to produce Celestial eggs. In fact, it was believed that Celestials could only mate successfully with Imperials, until Temeraire produced an egg with the Kazilik Iskierka. Occasionally, the mating of two Imperials also results in a Celestial. It is not known whether Celestial/Imperial matings may produce Imperials.

Because of this interbreeding, Celestials are very similar in appearance to Imperials and share many common traits. The two breeds appear identical until a young Celestial matures and grows a head ruff and facial tendrils. Sir Edward Howe initially misidentified the young Temeraire as an Imperial.

Like Imperials, Celestials are usually darkly colored (with the exception of Lung Tien Lien) with blue markings. Their dark coloration fades with age, to the point of becoming translucent and colorless. They have five talons on each foot and their wings have six spines, as opposed to most dragons' five. They are able to beat their wings forward and backward, which gives them the ability to "hover" in midair. They also have slit-pupiled eyes.

By British standards, Celestials are somewhat "overlong" for their weight. While nearly as tall as Regal Coppers, Celestials weigh about half as much, which still puts them among heavy-weight dragons.

Sir Edward Howe also noted that the way in which Temeraire carried his tail was "very odd, not characteristic at all" of the British dragons that Sir Edward was familiar with. Temeraire carried his tail off the ground, lashing the air gently as he walked, whereas Regal Coppers such as Maximus drag their tails behind them.

Another distinguishing feature of Celestials is that where most dragons lose their early facility with language acquisition and memorization after about their fifth or sixth week (according to Joulson), Celestials and Imperials retain these facilities throughout their lives.

In *Blood of Tyrants*, Matsudaira informs William Laurence that Celestials may not be a Chinese breed at all, but Japanese. According to Matsudaira, -

## Origin of Name

The "Lung Tien" in the Chinese Names of Celestials means "Dragon Celestial".

## History

Hakozaki Shrine, a Shintō shrine in the Japanese city of Fukuoka mentioned by Matsudaira as the place where the last Celestial egg was stolen, was invaded by the Mongols on November 19, 1274. Japanese defenders were pushed back from the several landing sites. In the ensuring skirmishes, the shrine was burned to the ground.

The shrine is highly ranked among the many shrines in Japan. In 11th century or 12th century, the shrine was ranked as Ichinomiya (一宮; first shrine) of Chikuzen Province. At the end of the 13th century, Chikuzen was the landing point for a Mongol invasion force, but the main force was destroyed by a typhoon (later called *kamikaze*: "divine wind").

In Shinto belief, Hakozaki Shrine is dedicated to the veneration of the *kami* (god) Hachiman. In Japanese mythology, Hachiman (八幡神 Hachiman-jin/Yahata no kami?) is the Japanese god of archery and war. He is also divine protector of Japan, and the Japanese people. Therefore, Imperial house, Genji (Minamoto clan) and most samurai worship him. The name means "God of Eight Banners", referring to the eight heavenly banners that signaled the birth of the divine Emperor Ōjin. Since ancient times Hachiman was worshiped by peasants as the god of agriculture and by fishermen who hoped he would fill their nets with much fish. The crest of Hachiman is in the design of a *mitsudomoe*, a round whirlpool or vortex with three heads swirling right or left.

At the time of the Mongol invasion, Emperor Shengde Shengong Wenwu, or "Kublai Khan", grandson of Genghis Khan, was emperor. He also founded the Yuan Dynasty and Great Yuan Empire in China, sometimes regarded as an extension of the Mongol Empire.

Kublai Khan invaded Japan with his armada but was defeated by the dragon Raiden. He stole the last Celestial eggs and murdered the last living Japanese Celestials so that he would be the only emperor to have Celestial dragons.
## Dragons

Dragons that are mentioned in the books that are of this breed.

In the past:

* Yellow Emperor, allegedly the first Celestial, who helped in the foundation of the Han Dynasty between 206 and 202 BC
* Unnamed Celestial hatched from an egg stolen from the Japanese by Kublai Khan and taken to China to start the Chinese Celestials line.

At some point in history two Imperials (presumably descendants of the first Chinese Celestial) mated and produced a Celestial egg, from which Fai hatched. Fai is the living ancestor of all other living Celestials.

**Note:** The information in this family tree is taken mostly from *Golden Age and Other Stories:Succession* by Naomi Novik and some from *Throne of Jade*.

**Note 2:** Lung Tien Xiang (aka Temeraire) was the eldest twin, but their mother purposely switched them.

## Gallery

art by Kyle Bice, *From Golden age and other Stories*Celestial, by SeaSudsCelestial, by Drummergirl375Albino Celestial, by Drummergirl375Celestial, by MooirCelestial Temeraire, by S. Arcand
## References

1. ↑ Novik, Naomi. Blood of Tyrants: A Novel of Temeraire (pp. 49-50). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.