Dragons/Treasure, Property

## Hoards

Dragons have a natural tendency toward hoarding anything that is in their possession for even a little while, either something that they consider treasure or people.

In Crucible of Gold, the dragons hoard People more so then treasure, though they do not neglect the bright and shinny jewels and gold that is available in their lands.

## Treasure

Humans often believe that many dragons have an "inborn fascination with jewels or precious metals." It might be closer to the mark to say that dragons have an inborn fascination for anything shiny or flashy. Temeraire as a dragonet mistook pyrite for gold until Laurence explained the difference to him. Arkady, who as a feral dragon did not have the background to make such distinctions, was quite overwhelmed when Admiral Jane Roland presented him with a brass chain and a medal (a dinner platter) inscribed with his name. Even Temeraire, who knew brass was worth less than gold, bristled a bit over the size of Arkady's medal. Temeraire was also drawn to the bright, spangly jewellery he saw dragons wearing in bazaars along the Old Silk Road, even after Laurence explained that it was only tin and glass.

Thus, dragons appear to be attracted to jewellery not because of its monetary value - a human concept in any case - but because it can be used to boost their status in draconian society. A dragon displaying flash and glitter - what might be called, in 21st century terms, "bling" - is making a statement that they are ready, willing and able to defend their hoard against challenges from other dragons. Behind the psychological importance of social status lie some bluntly practical reasons a high status is preferable. When food and warm, dry sleeping spots are in short supply, it's the high status dragons who get what they need and the low status dragons who must do without unless a high status dragon chooses to share. A dragon who no longer cared about maintaining their status would be in fact a dragon who no longer cared about staying alive.

### Training

Dragons must be trained from immediately after birth that they can't keep everything that they become attached too. The Russian dragons are a prime example of what happens when that training is neglected.

Under normal circumstances, it would be almost impossible for a dragon to willingly give up status items to which they had formed an attachment. Among other consequences, this makes it impossible for humans to ask dragons to transport large amounts of gold and jewels for long distances on the humans' behalf. By the time the journey is over, the dragons will have become attached to their cargo and simply won't give it back.

### Property

The concept that gold and jewels also have monetary value and can be used as "capital" is not natural to dragons but one that they acquire quickly from humans. A handsome pavilion does just as well for displaying one's social status as a lump of gold - perhaps even better, because it's larger - and dragons readily grasp the principle of using one to purchase the other.

With purchasing power comes the human concept of "property". As Temeraire pointed out, if he bought a cow he could eat it, if Laurence bought an estate they could live upon it and if Laurence bought him a jewel, he could wear it. This does not shed a good light upon the human practice of using money to purchase other humans as slaves or to purchase dragon eggs.

A dragon's *natural* understanding of property is somewhat differently founded - a dragon displays their jewelry for the sake of making a statement that they are able to defend it. To leave property lying about undefended is, in a dragon's view, an open invitation to help oneself, to leave property lying about and then argue about its disappearance after the fact is plain nonsense. Thus when Temeraire and the ferals were attacked by Turkish dragons after helping themselves to Turkish cattle, Temeraire sniffed that "those dragons had no business lying out of sight like that and leaving the cows for anyone to take, if they did not like it."

Obviously, the difference between human and draconic concepts of property has the potential to create conflict. Humans rely on their property rights under the law to keep it safe even in their absence, an idea that is nonsensical in draconic terms. Sir Edward Howe noted that this was true even in China, where dragons routinely used marks to purchase goods against accounts held in their own names and disdained to use false marks. "They will without hesitation or any consciousness of shame seize any opportunity which offers of taking a beast from an unattended herd or stall and never consider leaving payment behind; this is not viewed by them as any form of theft." From a dragon's point of view, the herdsman or stall-keeper had no business leaving the beast unattended for anyone to take, if they did not like it.

### Draconic Jewelry

Like humans, dragons appeared to enjoy owning and wearing jewelry for a variety of reasons, including personal vanity and in order to display and possibly increase their social status among other dragons.

Jewelry for the head and neck appeared to be particularly favored - collars, necklaces, tiaras, headpieces of all sorts, etc. Some African dragons had piercings made in their upper lips in order to accommodate ivory and gold rings. Chinese dragons, besides adorning their heads and necks, sometimes also decked their forehands with rings or talon sheaths of precious metals and gems. Incan dragons had the uncommon characteristic of piercing the edges of their wing membranes, which has been observed to impact their performance in battle.

The only record of a dragon wearing bands on its forearms was the mesh message carriers worn by the Jade dragon couriers of China, such as Lung Yu Ping. The fine mesh was suspended from a silk and gold collar around the dragon's neck and fixed to their forearms and talons by golden rings. It may be argued that this was not purely jewelry but rather a sort of working uniform.

There are no records of dragons wearing bands or bracelets on their rear legs or tails, and few outside South America wear wing piercings. While non-combatant dragons such as Celestials may have displayed head and neck jewelry unsuitable for violent activities, it would seem that few dragons enjoyed wearing items that might hinder their flight performance.

There appeared to be little difference in the jewelry worn by male and female dragons. Temeraire was given a set of gold and silver talon sheaths "such as his mother occasionally wore" when Laurence was adopted by the Jiaqing Emperor. On another occasion, when preparing to meet with the generals of the British army, he considered borrowing a spangled net of chains from Iskierka, to be draped over his ruff.

The materials used in draconic jewelry varied with geographic and economic availability. As mentioned above, African dragons wore jewelry made of ivory as well as other materials. Temeraire saw dragons in bazaars along the Old Silk Road wearing jewelry made of tin and glass, presumably because they could not afford more costly materials. On the other hand, the dragons of the Chinese Imperial court wore jewelry made of gold, silver and precious stones.

A few materials used in draconic jewelry are discussed in detail below.

#### Pearls

Pearls are associated with dragons in Chinese myth and legend, as for example in the tale of Xiao Sheng. Certainly they appear to be a favourite gem among Celestial and Imperial dragons. At her first meeting with Temeraire, Lung Tien Qian wore "a deceptively fragile necklace of filigree gold, studded with more topazes and great pearls."  Lung Tien Chuan was first seen by Laurence seen wearing "a net of gold draped from his ruff down the length of his neck, studded with pearls."  Lung Qin Mei came to give Temeraire his lessons wearing "an elaborate collar of silver and pearls."

Temeraire himself was quite taken with the gold and pearl necklace Laurence presented him with when he was only a few weeks out of the shell and treasured it affectionately even after it had become absurdly small for his size. Later on, when Laurence bought him a larger and grander platinum pendant, set with sapphires around a single large pearl, Temeraire commented on his own love of pearls.

#### Platinum

The platinum of Temeraire's pendant will be of interest to students of metallurgical history. Although the first European reference to platinum appears in 1557, a consistent process for obtaining malleable platinum was not discovered until the late 18th century. Chemists did not realize that they were working with ores containing other platinum group metals (ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, osmium and iridium) and therefore obtained inconsistent results in their experiments.

In 1786, Charles III of Spain provided a library and laboratory to French chemist Pierre-François Chabaneau to aid in his research of platinum. After several months, Chabaneau succeeded in producing 23 kilograms of pure, malleable platinum by hammering and compressing the sponge form while white-hot. Chabaneau realized that the infusibility of platinum would lend value to objects made of it, and so started a business with Joaquín Cabezas producing platinum ingots and utensils. This began what is known as the "platinum age" in Spain, which was to last until 1808 when Chabaneau's laboratory was destroyed during an invasion by Napoleon's troops.

Platinum jewelry for humans had been available previously. Louis XV of France (1710-1774) had declared it the only metal fit for a king. However, prior to Chabaneau's discoveries, it would only have been available in small quantities. Thus, at the time Laurence purchased the pendant for Temeraire in 1805, platinum jewelry designed for dragons, particularly larger dragons, would have still have been a relatively new item on the market, quite fashionable and expensive.