he had indeed some experience to brag of , having been fted lavishly at the imperial court of china after a journey halfway around the world , not to mention several notable actions to his credit ; besides these adventures , his jeweled breastplate and talon-sheaths had already drawn envy from the unadorned ferals , and laurence even discovered himself the subject of a gallery of appraising slit-pupiled stares after temeraire had finished telling them he knew not what .