Lung Tien Lien

Biography
Lien was believed to be cursed because she was born in "mourning colors" (albino). Her name may be based on 蓮 ("lotus"; Pinyin lián, Wade-Giles lien2). Prince Yongxing took her as his companion even though it removed him from the Imperial succession. However, many other people and dragons in China continued to regard her with superstitious fear.

China, 1775-1806
Lien was a dedicated scholar and took the rigorous Imperial Examinations, although her status as a Celestial would have exempted her from that requirement. She earned the title of zhuang-yuan in taking the first place among the ten thousand scholars who took the exams in that year, but it is not known whether she received the bureaucratic appointment and responsibilities that would have been awarded to other such scholars.

Lien did not accompany Yongxing to England in 1805, but they reunited with great affection when he returned to China with the British delegation. She tried to protect him from Temeraire, who suspected him of repeated attacks against Laurence, but the ensuing duel accidentally killed Yongxing with flying debris.

[edit]

Exile, 1806+
Blaming Temeraire for Yongxing's death, Lien agreed to leave China with the French ambassador De Guignes and help Napoleon Bonaparte against the British Empire and its European allies.

Underneath the great wall marking the Chinese border, Temeraire saw a recently-inscribed poem which may have been written by Lien, in memory of Yongxing:
 * Ten thousand li between me and your grave,
 * Ten thousand li more I have yet to travel.
 * I shake out my wings and steps into the merciless sun.

(As an albino, Lien found bright sunlight difficult to bear.)

En route to France, they stopped in Istanbul and persuaded Sultan Selim III to break his agreement to sell Turkish dragon eggs to the British. She may also have been involved in the deaths of the British embassy staff in Istanbul.

In Paris, De Guignes introduced her to Bonaparte. At first, she was unimpressed by him and appalled by the status and treatment of dragons in France (which were still similar to the equivalent British conditions). She did not like the three dragons-- Fraternité, a male Grand Chevalier; Sûreté, a male Chanson-de-Guerre; and Lumière, a male Flamme-de-Gloire-- who were sent to her as "companions", and she was mortally offended on realizing they were intended as prospective mates. However, Bonaparte won her respect by seriously addressing her suggestions and complaints, even dismissing generals who were unwilling to take her advice.

Lien's influence on Bonaparte resulted in better treatment of dragons, huge changes in the architecture of Paris, and revolutionary improvements in French military strategy and logistics. She introduced more effective flight formations to the French dragons, utilized them for the efficient transport of troops and equiipment, and integrated them into infantry and cavalry tactics.

Several years older and more experienced than Temeraire, she knew how to use the Divine Wind in more varied ways. For example, at the siege of Danzig she used it to break up the frozen ground so it would be easier for the soldiers to dig trenches. During the Battle of Shoeburyness she created a huge wave which sank Nelson's fleet and gave Napoleon the chance to escape.

Although Temeraire disliked her, he learned from her example, not only in ways of applying the Divine Wind but also in political maneuvering.

Her Breed
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 above.

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. Indeed, the two breeds may 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, though perhaps someone more familiar with both breeds could readily distinguish a Celestial hatchling or its egg from their Imperial counterparts. If not, this might shed light on the Chinese custom of delaying a young dragon's choice of companion for more than a year after hatching, although Temeraire's ruff and tendrils sprouted when he was no more than six months of age.

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.

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. It is not known whether Temeraire's tail carriage is typical of Celestials in general.

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 retain these facilities throughout their lives. Imperials do so as well; Lung Qin Mei passed her first examinations in China with honour three years after she was hatched, and a certain Korean Imperial managed to learn French in a month, as le Comte de la Pérousereported in his journal.

In Blood of Tyrants, Matsudaira informs William Laurence that Celestials may not be a Chinese breed at all, but Japanese. According to Matsudaira, "Such a dragon [a Celestial] has not been seen across the sea for five centuries, since the servants of the Yuan emperor stole the last egg of the Divine Wind line from Hakozaki Shrine as he withdrew in ignominy from his attempt at conquest, his murderous beasts having slain the rest of that noble line."

= =