Gold
A New Theory to Explain the Gold-Hoarding Habit of Dragons
By: Carolyn Oakbottom and Galric Axespine
Submitted for publication to the National Arcanoscience Society, Autumn 1582.
Gold has been valued by humans since the beginnings of civilization. It is crafted into ornaments for the powerful, offered to placate the wrath of gods, accepted in exchange for the necessities of life -- all due to its incorruptible beauty and scarcity. The love of gold has led many to ruin, motivated murder and violence, divided families and kingdoms. It is a significant source of economic and political power for those who hold it.
As a consequence, most people never wonder why other creatures would value gold. Our valuation of gold is so foundational in our culture, that we fail to ask any questions. And we fall again into the old trap of assigning human motives to non-human creatures.
Dragons are well known for amassing great quantities of gold. While it it true that they are ever seeking out gold to add to their hoards, and are ever aware of the smallest coin, do they seek it for the same reasons as humans, ie to gain economic advantage? Dragons never "spend" their gold, even those that maintain ties and relationships with non-draconic communities. A dragon does not display their gold, as humans are want to do, keeping everything deep in their lairs, in the dark, unseen. Most dragons (there are a few notable exceptions in history) do not craft with gold, or use it to create something else.
So of what use is gold to a dragon? Current research in arcano-materials suggests that Dragons value gold for a completely different reason.Gold radiates a mysterious Arcano-energy.
The discovery of arcane radiation1 has sent many scientist to conduct a more careful and ordered survey of both mundane and magical artifacts, especially those held in the Great Library of Vantage. In an unexpected outcome, Lanfranc Herschel, found that some of the ancient artifacts showed a new spectrum band on the far right of the range, heretofore undetected2. Even more odd, some of the artifacts were simply gold vessels3 brought from Knossos, several centuries ago. They exhibited only that one, new acano-spectrum band. Subsequent examination of gold items, both newly crafted and antiques, revealed a significant difference in intensity4. The oldest samples measured at 250 merts, the youngest barely registered at 2 merts5.Dragons must accumulate "Draconic Energy"
Noether's groundbreaking mathematical model of Draconic populations and death effects6 suggested the existance of a uniquely draconic type of arcano radiation. We propose that the band we have found associated with gold (especially items wrought more than 300 years ago) is that draconic arcano radiation.- The use of Jet in conjunction with the "Detect Magic" Spell, Pardis Yazdani (1580). Journal of the National Arcanoscience Society, v.7, pp 12-22.
- Novel Arcanospectrum Band Detected in Ancient Gold Items Lanfranc Herschel, (1583). Vantage Library Journal of Research, v. 240 no. 4, pp 134-136.
- One of the earliest vaults at the Great Library is still used to house the golden orniments, sculptures and ritual vessles brought over with Pasiphae and the first settlers in 600 BCE.
- Objective Measurement of the Intensity of Arcanospectum Bands, Rimpamert of Kenniwick, (1582). Journal of the National Arcanoscience Society, v.9, p 67.
- ibid
- The First Law of Thermodraconics, Ebby Noether, (1576). Journal of the National Arcanoscience Society, v.3, pp 23-31.
I'm getting flashbacks to having to read science papers in undergrad! This is a great article, I really like the scientific presentation and the unique spin on the age-old question of 'why do dragons hoard gold?' I think it's very clever that the paper acknowledges why we haven't thought too hard about it in the past, and having a proper little in-universe bibliography is such a good little addition.
Thanks for the feedback, Pud. One of the themes that I've fallen into is "what would the scientific revolution look like if magic were real?" I think it's pulling me away from high fantasy to idk... science fantasy? At any rate, I'm enjoying the mental exercise. And yes, read many journal articles (chem mostly) and even taught tech writing for grad students, so this is familiar territory.