Tu Shanshu

[The feed opens on Temeraire's apartment, which looks a great deal gaudier now thanks to the recent yard sale and the salvage found in Sinbrilee. Rich tapestries hang from the railings surrounding the central open space, and piles of interesting metal are neatly arranged within sight. Temeraire, for his part, seems oblivious to his growing hoard; he looks determined, if not a little worried.]

I am not going to ask you if you have found any turtle eggs; it is better, I think, if that is kept a secret. If--our enemy does not know who has one, it would be stupid to tell him; if he already knows, there is no point in telling him again, and refreshing his memory. Nor do I need to tell you how important they are; that, I think, is obvious enough.

[He shifts a little, looking down for a moment and collecting his thoughts before he begins again.] Turtle eggs are not the same as dragon eggs, of course, but I should think there are enough similarities to offer some advice, and if you have never taken care of eggs before, there can certainly be no harm in what I am about to tell you.

It is best to keep your egg warm at all times. At Loch Laggan, we used old Roman bath-houses, such as you might have seen in Sinbrilee, but covering your egg with blankets may suffice. Care must be taken so that the egg does not grow too hot, and the temperature should be constant throughout. Pray do not jostle your egg, or move it overmuch; it is very uncomfortable, and you run the risk of cracking the egg.

Dragon eggs harden, just before they hatch, and I cannot say the same will be true for these eggs, but it may be something to look out for, all the same. I do not think it will be very long before they do hatch, if they are already beginning to communicate from within the shell: half a year at the most. But since they can hear us, it is therefore very important that you speak to your egg, or play music to it, or read to it: anything which you yourself might like to hear, if you were cooped up in a small room with nothing to do, and could not come out for a very long time.

And of course you will feel very protective of the egg, and you ought to, but it is also very important to remember that it is not your pet, nor some unthinking beast; if your turtle does hatch, pray give it an opportunity to choose its own name before offering your own suggestions, and do not take advantage of it. If you do, I shall find you, and I shall sit on you, and it shall be very unpleasant for everyone involved.

[Pause as he realises, perhaps a little belatedly, that he might have crossed a line there. Hurriedly he adds:] And if you have any further questions, you may of course ask me--or any of the other dragons here--at any time, [and cuts the feed.]

[Live from the Fire Sector, it's a large black dragon with a very nice necklace! He is seated in his three-story suite, the intervening floors of which have mostly been removed thanks to the expertise and efficiency of Javert's construction team. What parts of it are visible onscreen give the suite a far more spacious appearance than it did previously, which serves to make Temeraire look a little smaller and (hopefully) a little less intimidating.]

It has come to my attention that my appearance has caused some of you distress in the past few days. I should not like to alarm anyone further, so I suppose I had better introduce myself now and clear away any more misconceptions before they have had a chance to start.

I suppose I cannot blame you for your reactions, since I am given to understand many of you are unfamiliar with dragons, save from various legends, most of which sound farfetched at best and highly offensive at worst. But I do not breathe fire, and I am not feral, and I would certainly never do anything as rude as try to kidnap and eat any of you, regardless of whether or not you are a young lady; I cannot imagine it would make much difference in taste, besides. Of course I would not object to having a great pile of gold to sleep on, but as I do not have one at present I am certainly not going to steal yours, unless you are such a booby as to leave it lying around for anyone to take.

[He huffs slightly, then settles back on his haunches, somewhat mollified.] So there we have it: you know that I am here, and that I am not going to accidentally squash you, or eat you, and with that out of the way, I have have noticed a few things which I suppose everyone should be aware of.

Firstly, there seem to be a great number of you from the twenty-first century at least, which I thought was very exciting at first; but now I realize I must have missed a great many things over the course of the last two hundred years, particularly in the realm of the sciences, and I should like to catch up on whatever I have missed. If you are not averse to discussing any of it with me, I should very much like to listen to all you have to say.

Secondly, whatever miasma has afflicted the other sectors is present here in the Fire sector as well; it has grown cold these past few days, and our suites are poorly lit besides. I am certain the damage must have spread elsewhere, and I would like to propose a small expedition of perhaps two or three others, to the outer reaches of the shell. I am curious to see if the disease has also affected what local wildlife remains, and if there is some aspect of its process that we may have overlooked. It will be no great inconvenience to take you on my back; I expect we will be able to get around faster and more comfortably than most, if we fly directly. Of course anyone may come, if they like, but I think it would help very much if you are a scientist, and not afraid of heights.

Pray inform me if you have any questions. [He pauses, then switches off the feed.]