Month of the Dragon: Gold Dragon

Expanding on Monster Mondays, I’m spending March digging deep into dragons. Inspired by James Jacobs’ 10 goblin facts written for Pathfinder, I’m working my way through the Monster Manual creating ten facts about each creature based on their art and lore. The goal is to provide habits, scene-setting tools, and plot hooks for encounters.

10 Facts About Gold Dragons

1. Favored Form: Gold dragons traveling amongst humanoids will typically don an unassuming disguise that allows them to blend in with the people around them. However, in their own territory, if they must take humanoid form, they typically prefer the faces of elves. As beasts, they often travel as songbirds, dogs, or cats.
2. Celestial Company: Gold dragons rarely seek company beyond their mates and young, but they do associate with celestials and other benevolent creatures when it suits them. Gold dragon lairs are often visited by creatures like unicorns, pegasi, and couatls.
3. Demonic Destruction: Most gold dragons readily align themselves against the forces of evil and make little difference between the wickedness of hags and liches, but even less goodly gold dragons have a special hatred for demons. Gold dragons appreciate the beauty of the natural world and of the works of living creatures, but a demon’s will is bent toward destruction and chaos, something gold dragons will not stand for.
4. Gastrointestinal Gold: Gold dragons eat gold, jewels, and especially pearls. Stomachs capable of digesting such materials possess a variety of potent capabilities. Some smiths and alchemists will pay a handsome figure for the intestines of a gold dragon. Treasure hunters are also known to seek gold dragon droppings so they can be refined.
5. Perilous Pearl: Old stories claim that old gold dragons have pearls deep in their gullets with potent magical properties. Those familiar with the anatomy of a gold dragon will ignore such superstitions, but this has not dissuaded foolhardy treasure hunters from seeking such pearls out.
6. Fabled Fishers: Gold dragons prefer to dine on precious gems and metals, but when such sustenance isn’t forthcoming, a gold dragon will make do with fish and shellfish. Some gold dragons take a particular interest in angling. Villages in the vicinity of a gold dragon’s lair often have tales of mysterious and generous fishermen pulling in vast hauls of fish and sharing them with the needy.
7. Aquatic Abodes: Even if they don’t dwell in or by a large body of water, gold dragons almost always include running water in their lair. Babbling brooks, waterfalls, fountains with dancing lights, the sight and sound of running water are essential to a gold dragon’s home.
8. Aurum Armorers: Gold dragons oft concern themselves with the well-being of smaller creatures, but they take little pleasure in implements of violence. Some gold dragons take up the craft of forging armor to protect heroes. Gold dragon armor is both beautiful and strong.
9. Cautious Courtship: Gold dragons do not readily seek mates on their own. Instead, potential gold dragon partners are introduced by mutual allies, and if both parties are interested, the dragons will spend decades or centuries getting to know one another through debate and questing.
10. Distant Development: Though they adore their children, gold dragon parents often send wyrmlings away early on, leaving them in the care of trusted friends for their protection. Some gold dragon cultures will have seasonal holidays centered on parents returning to visit their children and rites of passage wherein a young gold dragon is allowed to return to their parents’ lair.