Dragons

It's a very good conductor of heat.

Dragons like heat.

Laying on a bed of gold is like laying on a self-heating mattress, super comfy.

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>>51184203
It's gorgeous.

'Cause they are whores

>>51184214
how much heat are we talking of ?

>>51184203
In (partly) my setting, Dragons were once a creation of one of the old Gods, but were far too intelligent and cunning to reliably control with conventional methods, so she bound their essence and bent their minds to an unnatural obsession with a specific kind of gold as a crutch. Millennia of magic and biological degradation eventually turned into a fixation with all things gold.

>>51184217
One time, I image searched "gold"

I teared up a bit.

Depends on the setting.

Some dragons like it off instinct, some like it because greed, Some settings gold is magical and they use it for magic.Some eat it.

I personally liked the dragons that get the properties of the things they ate, which lead lots of dragons to eat gold. Some eat other precious metals. And one mad Dragon who ate swords until he had razor scales

>>51184233

It'd cook a human alive if you were buried in it.

>>51184203
They're physical embodiements of human negative emotions. Greed, pride, gluttony, wrath. A dragon has all of them in spades. They hoard money because they are compelled to be extremely wealthy, but also find the fruits of human labour worthless so they don't bother to buy/have things built.

>>51184246
So 100-300 °C ?

>>51184203
Because dragons are ancient intelligent beings who desire power, and ostentatious wealth is often accompanied by power? That might be a neat explanation?

>>51184203
Because Fafnir.

>>51184259
Is that a golden dildo?

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There are two ways you can take it:

1. Dragons have an incredible sense of taste and smell. They can tell the difference between metals easily. For them a hoard of gold fills their lair like incense. It soothes them and attracts mates from across the land.


2.Its not about the metal itself but the power and wealth it shows. It's not enough for a dragon to be rich, it needs to be richer than everyone around them. Everything needs to be in awe of its majesty and power. All creatures should be envious of its hoard and left grovelling before its might.

>>51184267
What about good dragons?

>>51184306
https://www.lelo.com/inez

>>51184203
Treasure attracts things, which means food. The dragon can lay in their cave, and victims will willingly come to them. Free food without effort.

>>51184203
The gold attracts creatures who want gold to come to the dragon's lair to steal some, the dragon then eats these creatures. Thus the dragon gets a bunch of free food due to living in a massive pile of treasure. It still has to hunt obviously but free food is free food.

>>51184319
Don't exist. Dragons are literally personifications of evil. Like demons, but more specific and worldly.

In folklore and real world legends at least.

>>51184343
European folk lore and legends that is.

>>51184341
>>51184329
damn, 27 seconds

>>51184203
Dragons live a long time, and gold doesn't decay. It only depreciates in value if it's not scarce - and the more they have of it, the scarcer it is on the market.

Dragons can take pretty much anything they want. But one day, they may want to buy something from someone. And they will be able to afford it.

People here haven't considered that it might just be a cultural thing. Dragons have begun doing it for some random reason in the past and now it's tradition and a status symbol.

Nesting and to attract a mate. Gold conducts geat well and a large hoard would be a great place to hatch eggs or just bask.

>>51184321
>$15,000
>some people actually bought them

>>51184203
so that you can't have it

>>51184203
Dunno. MayB there Jewish?

humans sleeping
>prefer warm, cozy, soft.
dragons sleeping
>prefer cold, uncomfy, hard.

>>51184203
Unforshunate shmelting acshident

>>51184203
They need it to ascend.

Dragons become lazier the older they get, this way they get food home delivered in the form of adventurers.

>>51184214
Gold is also relatively soft for a metal so between a dragon's weight and scales gold would be kinda soft but also firm.

Why wouldn't you?!
The shininess, the feel of it, the soft whispers of good times to be had, the smell, it's enough to make a man weep!

>>51184314
The best part in that book was when the Dragon became the tyrant in the city and no one really gave a shit and just went with it.

You basically learn everything you need to know about Ankh-morpork from that reaction.

>>51184203
Why do people love gold?

Mythical creatures are anthropomorphic personifications of emotions.

The dragon didn't collect the treasure, the treasure incited greed in the hearts of many and created the dragon.

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Well Smaug the Golden hasn't always been this glam
I was a drab little wyrm once
Now I know I can be happy as a clam
Because I'm beautiful, baby

Did your wizard say, "listen to your heart
"Be who you are on the inside"?
I know two words to tear his argument apart

Your wizard LIED.

I'd rather be shiny
Like a treasure from a sunken pirate wreck
Scrub the deck and make it look shiny
I will sparkle like a wealthy woman's neck
Just a sec, don't you know?
Dwarves are dumb, dumb, dumb
They chase anything that glitters, beginners
Oh, and here they come, come, come
To the brightest thing that glitters
Mmm, dwarf dinners

I just love free food
And you look like free food

I'm too shiny
Watch me dazzle like a diamond in the rough
Strut my stuff, my stuff is so shiny
Send your five armies but they'll never be enough
My scales're too tough, hobbit man
You could try, try, try
But you can't expect a wizard
To kill this lizard
You will die, die, die
Now it's time for me to take apart
Your aching heart

Far from the ones who abandoned you
Chasing the love of these dwarflings
Who made you feel wanted
You try to be tough
But your armour's just not hard enough

Shiny!
Soak it in cause it's the last you'll ever see
C'est la vie mon ami, I'm so shiny
Now I'll eat you so prepare your final plea
Just for me

You'll never be quite as shiny
You wish you were nice and shiny

>>51184203

Like cats, dragons passively absorb magical energy from their surroundings constantly. Sucks for them, because magic is like radiation and will give you cancer and shit.

For some reason gold insulates magical energy, just like lead; when in sufficient thickness it protects from radiation.

Also male dragons hoard massive amounts of shiny stuff to impress the super-materialistic she-dragons. It's not the size of the dragon that counts, but the size of his hoard.

>>51184203
There exists, imbued in the heart and soul of every dragon, an ambition for power. One of the greatest ways to exert power is wealth, and the things it can buy. That is why they every dragon has an inborn drive to acquire valuables.

>>51188535
>Smaugs hoard contained roughly 50 times as much gold as ever mined on earth

Smaug please stop

>>51184203
because people around them do and dragon are prideful and aggressive beings

do the math

>>51188652
What part of 'fantasy world' do you not understand?

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>>51184203
They want to be shiny

>>51184203
It's not just gold. They're polyphilometallycasts.

>>51184203
Dragons are supposed to represent greed.

>>51184657
>/pol/fags in charge of spelling

>>51184365
Some European folklore and legends that is.

>>51184203
Dragons like to accumulate power and wealth is one such very tangible expression of power.

This is a different take inspired mainly by Smaug and Pernese dragons, that I've used in games

Dragons eat metal, not as any form of nutrition, but in order to strengthen their scales. Dragon biology has specialized to encapsulate almost any metallic elements and deposit them in dragons' scales, which also lends them their color. This is why dragons roost in mountain caves, to access natural ore veins (which they can melt out of the surrounding rock), and also why they hoard.

Green and blue dragons eat copper, having less impressive natural armor among dragons.
Red dragons eat iron ore, and have some of the hardest scales.
Gold dragons usually turn gold later in their lifespan, after growing to maximum size and acquiring a significant hoard. Their gold color is a signifier of their success to potential mates, or a warning to rivals.

>>51184203
As magical creatures, dragons are attracted to gold as a symbol of power, despite not actually spending it for power.

>>51188853
>taking the bait this easily

dragons just want to control the most desirable things, because it displays to themselves and others how powerful they are. in most settings, gold happens to be one of the most desirable things. other things include jewels, coveted artifacts, magical objects, princesses, etc.

>>51184214
>>51184452
>Gold conducts heat

You guys realize this would conduct heat AWAY from the dragon, right?

Regardless of whether it's cold blooded or warm blooded, the dragon is a creature with a metabolism, in a closed system it's always going to be hotter than the surrounding area.
Considering it's traditionally living in a cave, it's MUCH warmer than the gold and cave itself.

That said, conducting heat away might not actually be a bad thing. Dragons have scales and therefore can't sweat, they're massive, and the larger something gets the smaller the surface area (cooling area) becomes compared to the volume (heat generating living tissue), even something the size of an elephant has trouble staying cool and risks overheating.

Gold doesn't warm dragons, it's a radiator that cools them.
Smaller dragons can manage without a hoard, even medium sized ones can stay cool by bathing in lakes and rivers.
Large dragons need a conductive hoard to take away their excess body heat, or their biological functions would literally cook them from inside over time. A few hours resting on a pile of gold once or twice a day should be enough to reduce average body temperature by a degree or two.
The largest dragons can barely even leave their hoard, and definitely not for any extended periods of time. The massive amounts of heat they generate just by pumping blood around require huge amounts of cooling, and they need to spend almost 24 hours a day cooling just to maintain stability.
It's either gold, or move to Siberia, and no self-respecting dragon wants to live in Siberia.

>>51189629
I actually kind of like that. Would explain the choice of caves and mountains as lairs too- those both tend to be quite cold, and the combination of the cold environment and the bed of gold would cool them down pretty effectively.

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>>51184203
it has value
they are attracted to valuable and powerful things

as in folklore they represented greed in some stories,

in others they represented a natural guardian of wealth or of things of value (better then its had to find and mine gold from rock)

in still other stories they represented a powerful foe that owned wealth that is ok for a hero to kill (better then he killed the last king and took his stuff)

and still in yet other stories the dragon represented political and/or military power and wealth is never far from power

for d and d i like the idea of them just liking valuable things and having an urge to nest near and in them
as a had a game where the dragon and his lair was the local bank and he was the gard/banker , fighting him was a bad idea as even if you win then all the local people hated you as it was there money he was guarding. but he will guard your treasure as well for the payment of it just being in his lair and to take it out you had to pay him in some food (like a pig or cow)

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>>51189855
also had a dragon that hoarded valuable knowledge and his lair was a library
if you befriended this dragon you got extras like crafting skills and magical knowledge
also used him like a google or wiki for information in game

>>51190028
That sounds like fun actually, wish I could have been in a game like that.

Because dragons collect shit. It's part of their nature, just like having innate magic and breathing fire/lightning/acid/whatever is part of their nature. It's not always gold, dragons might collect stuff like paintings or statues or alcohol or quilts, but gold very common because it doesn't rust or decay, and it's rare enough that it's a challenge to collect, but not SO rare that it's IMPOSSIBLE to find more.

>When they lie on gold for ages the gold sticks to them
>When hero shoot arrow, arrow bounce off gold
> literally that simple

>>51184203
I was always fond of the idea that a dragon will surround themselves with whatever they think is valuable based on instinct and the natural inclination for people to do so as they age

There are dragons that will surround themselves with gold and gems and treasure because the value in those is rather inherent.

There are dragons that will surround themselves in ancient artifacts from bygone eras because the value of those is inherent for anyone who has lived through history

There are dragons that will surround themselves with books, tomes, and scrolls full of knowledge about both the mundane and the mystical because their value is inherent for anyone who has the time to read through them

There are even dragons that will surround themselves with lesser beings because their value is inherent for anyone who has taken the time to get to know them and become their friends, or dare they say family

Of course, most dragons will prefer gold and most dragons will have some of it in their hordes as a result of it being so ubiquitous.

>>51189629
This is good too

>>51184306

NOW I know what to put into my next hoard.

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>>51184306
Holy shit, I was looking up the dragon dildo dragon hoard and I didn't realize that there were so many of these. Anyone want me to post unusual dragon hoards?

>inb4 get banned for posting nsfw content

>>51189629

I like this, but I don't think gold is the most conductive metal you could find a pseudomedieval setting.

Or is it?

>>51184664
Gold is soft for a metal. You can bend it with your hands and leave teethmarks on the pure stuff. I'm certain that it would not be that uncomfortable for a dragon. It probably would be like memoryfoam for them. And I'm still out on the conductive metal shit. Like some anon said it must need to stay cool. and the gold removes heat from its body.

But really yhtis is all moot. Dragons hoard gold because they were meant to be personifications of greed. Show the folly of wealth. They have so much treasure no man could spend it all in one life. They have so much gold that it is essentially wortless. How would a dragon ever be able to buy anything anyways? Why would a dragon need to buy anything?

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They're a symbol of blockage. The hero, the gold, and the dragon are all one and the same thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uttP42aYY9o

>>51191963
Either that's a very small dragon, or those are some fucking big dildos

>>51184203
Why do dwarves have beards?

>>51184214
Yes, but can you see why kids love cinnamon toast crunch?

>>51184203
They eat it.

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>>51192093
Better?

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>>51192093
Small dragons are the best dragons.

Dragons eat gold and precious gems, their gut metabolises them very well and so young dragons don't need to eat much at all. However, dragons keep growing so long as they aren't killed so they're going to need that gold one day.
That's why you hear tales of dragons being world-eaters, they can get so big that they end up devouring huge swathes of land to get even the barest amount of sustenance.

>>51184203
A dragon grows in size and power with age, yes. But dragons also grow with the worth of their hoard. Even a hatchling becomes a real threat if it inherits a large enough amount.

>>51184203
Dragons have an inborn draw to the idea of worth/value, which is generally best represented by gold. Some dragons also collect salt, spices, or princesses.

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>>51184203
Like crows, they are attracted to shiny objects and often collects them
>How none say this?

>>51192022
Silver is but silver is a lot harder and less comfy to lay on. Also, silver tarnishes, lowering its conductive properties unless polished regularly. Gold is the only metal that stays pure.

Fortunately silver is also valuable so dragons don't mind having a bunch of silver in their hoard as long as there is enough gold to keep the piles soft.

>Dragons getting big piles of silver and covering them with a thin layer of gold to attract mates is the fantasy version of a broke dude with a nice car.

>>51184203

It attracts mate. If you have a big hoard, it means you defeated a lot of mortals. It means you are strong. If you have a big hoard, a lot of mortals show up to try steal it and if you are alive, it means you defeated them.

And if you are strong, other dragons will want to mate with you.

>>51184203
Dragons are giant magpies.

>>51189629
>gold is a dragon's radiator
I've used this before, though I had it that Dragons needed to bleed off excess magic. And since gold pieces were directly consumed to create magic items, they must carry some amount of magic themselves. Hence, gold absorbs excess magic in the environment.

>>51184203
because otherwise they'd be a dumb lizard without a reason to have them in the story

>>51184214
that would be like the opposite of a self heating mattress, it would cool you down super fast

>>51184304
And his modern incarnation, Smaug.