I PUT ON MY ROBE AND RECRUITMENT HAT

[canhazcookie]

Though it's a special hat.

A future character idea of mine is Temeraire, from the…well, Temeraire series by Naomi Novik. He’s a dragon! …though not a very powerful one yet, since he’s at most five years old. (and probably younger since I’ll most likely set his canon point within the earlier books).

The main thing is that Novik’s dragons generally don’t have a single rider, but an entire crew, much like a ship. There is still a captain and they tend to be closely bonded to the dragon—but it’s an emotional attachment only; no imprinting/telepathy business. In Temeraire’s case, his captain Laurence was the main reason for his personality coming out the way it did; Laurence read books to him frequently--all kinds of them--encouraged Temeraire's curiosity and more inadvertently caused him to become a vocal independent thinker.

Would anyone be interested in being Substitute Laurence? Temeraire will most likely end up in the Imperial Guard and events don't have to happen exactly in the way they do in the books--just the basic gist would be fine.

Positions in his crew roster are also perfectly feasible if you’d rather go for those (first lieutenant, midwingmen, topmen, bellmen and all the harness ground crew and etc HE'S A BIG BOY), but while I can NPC most of those, I can’t do that with his captain.

Anyone interested?

ETA: It looks like Temeraire is going to be with Kushana's forces for now, but he still needs crewmembers!

Comments

[in_a_nest_of_vipers]

Your words intrigue me and I wish to know more. Specifically, how does a dragon get a crew?

[canhazcookie]

In Europe, dragons are part of a larger branch of the armed forces (British Aerial Corps, Armée de l'Air etc). After hatching they are harnessed (sometimes) and from there the captain selects crewmen based on personal observation or recommendation by other aviators.

Sometimes the dragon butts their head in on the process (like avoiding a particular crewman they didn't like) but mostly they don't involve themselves with the assignments. European dragons needed crews because of the threat of boarding from enemy dragons--capturing the captain would take a dragon out of a fight instantly because they generally have that close of a bond with their captain, so they cram in as many men and muskets and whatnot as they feasibly can. The bellmen are also employed in bombing runs.

In the books Temeraire had around 30-40 flight crew members and an additional ground crew (numbers were unspecified other than "a lot") besides that (the number fluctuates because they keep dying).

Since it looks like he's currently the only dragon directly in the Empire's service, Temeraire's crew might end up more falling in around him rather than being hand-picked since there doesn't seem to be any IC precedent for this. But I'm open to suggestion!

[in_a_nest_of_vipers]

So it's kind of like being crew for an airship that happens to be made of dragon? Do they just build crew quarters and such on the back?

[canhazcookie]

Kind of like that, yes. A talking and very bendy airship with a sonic breath weapon |D

For reference, Temeraire is about twenty tons and 90 feet long, a bit serpentine like a Chinese dragon with wings. They do put tents up on the larger dragons' backs, but that's generally for light service rigs or transporting Important People; they're not intended for battle (or have at least never been depicted in a battle scene, though that could change). Temeraire has been outfitted with one several times; once to carry the queen of Prussia, so I imagine they're fairly stable (though they did mention opening a wine bottle aloft might be tricky). Without the tent, people can easily scramble all over Temeraire's harness via carabiner clips and stand upright on his back to fight.

[in_a_nest_of_vipers]

This sounds super cool. Would you be interested in doing it the other way and having Temeraire and company joining another faction?

Say, Kushana's army?

THIS IS RAISA-MUN IN AN UNFITTING ACCOUNT HAT

[then_there_were_none]

That seems feasible to me! I have it currently AU'd that Temeraire's egg was meant as a gift for the Emperor and thus could be sent wherever the Emperor wanted. I put him in the Imperial Guard at first because it was the first faction that came to mind.

It's also a bit unpredictable what kind of person a dragon will take a liking to after they hatch--even if they're completely not what everyone else was expecting, once a dragonet latches onto someone they generally become the next captain automatically.

[in_a_nest_of_vipers]

Kushana canonically has a number of airships, it might be cool to change some of them to these giant snake dragons.

I admit part of the reason I'm suggesting this is that I want Kushana to make an oath to the halls of Valhalla while standing atop the head of a dragon because how fucking metal would that be?

[canhazcookie]

To my knowledge Temeraire is the Only One so far--until more dragons from the series are attracted to this game. But that works fine! I think Temeraire would end up being sent wherever his military skills could be best used or where he could gain more experience in the field (or to whoever squawked the loudest). So I can easily see him in a formation of airships, provided their cruising speeds aren't too high.


Haha yes it would be! Though Temeraire would at least occasionally ask her questions like what this "property" thing is or "duty".

[in_a_nest_of_vipers]

Oh, so you're apping the dragon himself, not the captain or something. I see.

I can see Kushana using Temeraire for night missions where the sounds of engines on a normal airship might give you away.

[canhazcookie]

I am; apologies for not making that as clear as it should have been.

Temeraire's primary coloration is black, too |D Though he doesn't have as good of night vision as a more nocturnal breed would have (the Fleur-de-Nuit), he does tolerably well in the dark.

He might also be of use in regions where an airship would be difficult to deploy; mountainous regions or areas that didn't have a mooring mast or whatnot.

Or, if the airships are big enough, Temeraire could utilize one of those as a transport (like the USS Akron but on a bigger scale, maybe); they do have dragon transports in his canon, but they're Very Large Sailing Ships in that case.

[in_a_nest_of_vipers]

Kushana's airships are less blimps and more big planes, so they need a lot of space to take off or land, so having something that can land more easily would definitely be useful.

[canhazcookie]

THIS SOUNDS LIKE GOOD PLAN

Is there a separate write-up for Kushana's forces? I think I missed it or was...looking in the wrong place.

[in_a_nest_of_vipers]

Naw. Right now it's just in her app, but if I can get some adjutants and such, I can make it into an official faction.

[canhazcookie]

Reading through Kushana's app again, I think she and Temeraire would be a good match for each other. Temeraire needs someone to explain how the world works and he might be able to coax Kushana's nicer side out. Maybe. The bond between captain and dragon is generally a strong one, after all. But that's still a maybe; I don't want to step on your toes there.

And she can be all like LOOK AT MY HORSE IT'S TWENTY TIMES BIGGER THAN YOURS.

[xiao_lan_long]

Dragon fan here. Probably not what you're looking for in terms of a "captain", but they can hang out!

[canhazcookie]

HE LOVES CONVERSATION BUDDIES

A dragon scholar named Sir Edward Howe visited him frequently in the first book; Temeraire rather liked him and was thrilled when he recommended several books on dragons to him.

[canhazcookie]

...that is an unfitting icon, self