Gold dragon Gold dragons are the most powerful of the metallic dragon s , and the most dedicated to defeating evil . They spend the bulk of their lives in human form , seeking out evil and punishing wrongdoers to the best of its considerable abilities . Its typical mode of operation runs roughly along the lines of a sting operation : the dragon will listen for stories of dangerous or evil creatures or people , then reveals its true form and metes out punishment . They prefer to turn villains over to law enforcement if available , but will ultimately take whatever actions they deem necessary in order to see justice served . They are best summarized as the paladin s of the draconic world . Gold dragons can often be seen talking and teaching their acquired wisdom to human s , elves , aasimar and other non - hostile races . When forced to fight , gold dragons prefer to converse with intelligent creatures , using Intimidate and Sense Motive to gain the upper hand . Their attitude towards visibly evil characters is not as forgiving though , as it will try to eradicate any evil aspects in its territory . Gold dragons are the nobility and royalty of the metallic dragonkind . From hatching , they are instilled with a sense of order tempered with a benevolent nature . Some gold dragons , however , see the need to impose order on others from the good of all . This sense of doing things “ for the greater good ” can lead a gold dragon to become a tyrant . This is a rare instance , however . Physical description . Physically , gold dragons are quite spectacular . Several large horns tipped with umber shoot sideways from their cheeks , and two very prominent horns point backwards along their heads . The most obvious feature is probably the tentacle whiskers that sprout from the top and bottom of the gold dragon ' s jaw , giving the appearance of a beard of sorts . Their wings , like those of brass and copper dragon s , connect to the body all the way to the tip of the tail . From below , the overall shape resembles that of a brass dragon , but the different coloring and dramatic difference in size enables easy differentiation . When in flight , the gold dragon ' s wings ripple , giving the appearance of swimming rather than flying . They smell of saffron and incense . True to their name , gold dragons are a brilliant , shimmering gold color . Their head is crested with a ring of majestic horns . Their muzzles will often sprout growths that give the appearance of a mustache or beard . A gold dragon is rarely encountered in its natural form . They possess the ability to change their shape into that of an animal or humanoid creature . Combat . Gold dragons prefer to talk rather than to fight . They will never engage in combat if they believe it is unnecessary . Once they believe it " is " necessary , however , they are amazingly powerful opponents . Their ability to breathe fire rivals that of the eldest red dragon s , and they will pour their entire being into a battle against evil . Gold dragons dislike killing , but they do not hesitate to do so if it is necessary in order to defeat an evil foe . Breath weapon . Gold dragons are powerful combatants , and they have two separate breath weapons . The first is fire . In the second , the dragon holds the fire in their bodies and instead of exhaling the fire , exhales air over the fire which emits a cone of hot , dry , dehydrating air that weakens foes . Ecology . Lair . Unlike most other species of dragons , gold dragons devote immense time and energy to the construction of their lairs . The layout of their lairs often resemble those of elegant human mansions , albeit buried underground . Rooms are well - constructed and elegantly decorated with the many art treasures the gold dragon has collected over its lifetime . Typical rooms in a gold dragon ' s lair include a main hall , a banquet hall , a resting chamber , a study , a kitchen , a lobby , a storage room , and perhaps even a lavatory . Many gold dragons even have a glass - walled observatory , especially if they live underwater . Gold dragons are known to reside in the Serpent Hills , the Earthfast Mountains , the Vast , the Graypeak Mountains , Loudwater , the Orsraun Mountains and Turmish . Parenting and Development . Gold dragon eggs must be incubated in a nest of open flames . A newly hatched gold wyrmling appears similar to an adult , except that it lacks horns or tentacle whiskers . At some point , however , the biological parents may send the wyrmling to live with foster parents ; this allows the parents to undertake their own quests , as well as exposing the wyrmling to new experiences . Wyrmling , very young , young , juvenile , and young adult gold dragons tend to be solitary or live in a clutch of 2 - 5 dragons ; adults , mature adults , older dragons , wyrm s or great wyrm s will live solitarily , in a pair , or a family consisting of a couple of adults and several offspring . Society . Unlike many species of dragons , gold dragons have a very firm and hierarchical social structure , encompassing all members of the species . This structure always has one gold dragon as its leader , who serves until he / she either dies or steps down . At that time , all gold dragons congregate and choose the next leader of their kind . Sometimes two dragons may be chosen ; in such cases , the two will share the duties of leadership . The position of leader , or ' top dragon , ' does not so much involve the maintenance of order - - gold dragons are famous for their good behavior - - so much as the dispensing of advice and wisdom to any dragons who ask for it . Gold dragons are voracious learners , and they tend to become very wise and worldly as they age . They freely share their knowledge and experience to anyone who asks , dragon or not . In fact , it is not unknown for a gold Great Wyrm to take the form of a scholarly professor in order to spread its knowledge at some human center of higher education . Gold dragons can sometimes be seen taking human form to experience living in human society , and aiding travelers . They are not however , oblivious to chaotic and evil plots and will do to their best to thwart said plots whilst remaining within lawful grounds . Language . Gold dragons are the only species of dragon to have their own language . They can only write this language when in human form as their dragon form claws are not practical . These dragons even kept records of historical events . The content of these records is mostly useless to human historians however , as they describe dragon events like dragon births , trials and deaths , rather than events that affected the non - dragon world .