Dragon questions · 8:07pm Dec 17th, 2016
What do the dragons do with their hoards when they migrate? They're not shown carrying it, so do they leave it behind? Do the ones with hoards not migrate?
Why do they migrate? To see friends they're isolated from? to trade for their hoards? To socialize the kids?
What do dragons hoard? Gems are clearly valuable as food, but when Spike when through his greed growth he collected everything. does this mean dragons hoard things other than gems?
Do dragons keep their hoards? Or does the hoard stay with the cave and if they move (Like in Dragonshy) they lose their hoard and start over in a new cave?
I've got a few theories but I'd love to hear what you guys think too.
My thoughts are under the cut.
So my take on those questions is that it varies. Dragons are fairly isolated from each other, so the migration is a chance to meet up, let the kids mingle and find mates, trade stories or hoard items, hear where the caves are best etc. The dragons either hide their hoards from sight, or bribe another dragon to watch their hoard from them, usually someone junior in status so they can boss them around and make sure they're not tempted to help themselves.
They start with hoarding gems. After they have a sufficient number of gems/foodstuffs (Each dragon is different in needs) their brain state changes and they begin hoarding something else of value, books of knowledge, or histories, maybe letters, maybe unique items, maybe items that have value to others, maybe exclusively X century goblets
One of the most interesting things Spike has done is exhale a business card in "Spike at Your Service" and incinerate again once he has through, implying that he can delay his message fire indefinitely if he sends something to himself. If that is the case and other dragons can do the same, then they may be able to transport their hoards magically. Burn before leaving, belch after arriving.
As for the migration, it could be a matter of arranging for the next generation in a normally solitary species, a trade meet of sorts for the connoisseurs, a reminder for the other species that the dragons could incinerate them at any time, or all of the above. So basically what you propose.
Some thoughts on the subject:
Most fish species that migrate, explicitly do it to breed. In particular, pink salmon always breed in the same streams they were born in, even though their normal habitat can be halfway across the world. So do at least some species of eel, too. It’s likely that for dragons, the reason is the same: for whatever reason, only specific locations are appropriate to mate in, or lay and/or hatch eggs in. The occasion could be used for other social activities.
I come up completely empty on the question of the hoard itself, though. If a dragon’s hoard can be left unattended at all, or trusted to anyone else, or carried without being seen, greed growth Spike displays in Secret of My Excess wouldn’t be a thing.
Also… So why exactly does a dragon migration need to be watched from a trench and wearing camouflage?
4343558
Could be what FanOfMostEverything said about using their breath to relocate, but I have a slightly different theory.
Dragons seem to have their own form of magic, Spike being the main example. And their magic appears to be connected to their fire and smoke. Basically, their breath. I think with enough practice and power, they can create a pocket dimension where they can summon and send pretty much anything using fire or smoke breath.
As for migration, not really sure. Could be that they are moving to a place with more gems or treasure to stock up on their hoard.
They could be displaying behaviour akin to locusts, which are normally solitary but under certain circumstances will group together and breed prolifically before swarming.
4343558
I'd forgotten about that ability.
Perhaps it only applies to paper goods, like letters, books, and business cards? If that were the case, then I think that dragons with a predilection for hoarding such items (or at least those that have faxing as their breath weapon) would have a disproportionately easy time amassing and managing their hoards.
At first I was excited about an opportunity to help but then I realized you meant the show and my answers wouldn't be relevant.
Your answers are a good fit to the source material.
4343686 I'm more meaning canon or fanon, I'm interested to hear what people think.
4343698 I think migration is for those with no current hoard, and that hoarding is not a linear component of their life cycle. Important, critical even, for things like sustained hibernation, mate selection, rearing hatchlings, and influencing political situations, especially political situations involving mortals.
During those points of the life cycle, which I'd wager is too slow to be synched with yearly cycles very well if at all, a drake might have a greatly reduced urge to consume the objects of value. Those points also naturally preclude migration.
It isn't actually a migration; it is just the dragon lord calling the dragons up so he (or she) can yell at them. Everyone just assumed it was a migration.
Non-perishable food items. And sometimes cats.
Until they get really hungry or they can't cram it all into a U-Haul truck when they move.
4343698 Also, I see the hoarding as the exception case, with the norm being simply eating the stuff to... internalize its value. Yes, even the books.
4343559
Some creatures get touchy if sex is on the table at any point in the near future. If the migration is involved in mating habits, well, it might be best to try and not bother a bunch of pent up creatures capable of nuking a town from the air.