Nan Er or known formally as the Dragon Emperor of the Dragon Nebula and Environs was a male Pai and the Emperor of the Dragon Empire in the 24th century. To end the civil war on his planet, he agreed to allow his son the Dragon-Heir to marry his rival's daughter. (TNG novel: Dragon's Honor)
History[]
In the year 2370, Nan Er agreed to join thw United Federation of Planets on the condition that the marriage between the daughter of his arch rival Lord Lu Tung and son Chuan-chi coincided with the signing of the treaty. Another condition was that the marriage be presided by a military captain. In response to his request, the Federation sent the USS Enterprise-D under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard.
Nan Er welcomed the Starfleet crew to his world. Seeing that Picard had seemingly 'enjoyed' a rare delicacy of his world, the Dragon offered to show the dear captain all the culinary delights Pai had to offer. He was saved from an attempted assassination from a mobile dart by Lieutenant Commander Data. He was unconcerned by the incident, believing it to be a joke and was more intrigued at Data as an artificial being.
Later, after Data left to conduct a more thorough investigation from the Enterprise, Nan Er busied himself with entertaining Picard and Counselor Deanna Troi, who he was smitten with. Despite many attempts by Picard to warn him of the danger of the G'kkau Nan Er was more concerned with savoring the many pleasures of his kitchen. He was saved from another assassination attempt by Picard who refused to consume the Dragon's Ma erh tsai mao tan ch'ing which later turned out to be poisoned. He disregarded the attempt, stating that the dish was merely prepared improperly.
He only lost his cherubic attitude when Lord Lu Tung's daughter and the wedding gifts were seemingly stolen. He accused Tung of treachery, however Troi managed to calm him down diverting his priorities in locating the missing bride.