The dragon is a great lover of art, especially gold, and silver work. He loves to hoard jewels and treasure, amassing vast amounts of valuable antique metal work. He is not known for his love of manual work, preferring intellectual activity by far. That is why he does not devote himself to creating jewels, hut only to 'acquiring them' from human beings through various methods. Robbery, looting, trade, barter, fraud - by any means fair or foul, which enables him to come by the jewelry and precious stones he covets. Western Dragons are miserable misers. Although they haven't any real use for money and jewels, they collect heaps of gold and gems. They will try to kill anyone coming near their hoard. Miser dragons have bloodshot eyes. That's because they are always on the lookout for people who try to steal their treasures. They even sleep with their eyes open. Their eyes are red from the strain of never closing them, and from the glare of glittering gold and sparkling jewels.

Gold is a magnet that attracts dragons. The Roman writer Pliny relates that hunters baited a dragon by hanging gold at the entrance to its cave. When the beast came out, the hunters played soft music to lull it to sleep, then they cut off its head. The dragon feels he never has enough jewels and he finds it difficult to part voluntarily with a single one of his treasures. Even though, for example, he gives jewels to the favorites in his family; he does it purely because be knows that the young maidens cannot remove the jewels to the outside world.

He is very jealous of his belongings and guards the treasure he has built up over the years in large storerooms. He keeps detailed inventories of all his possessions so that he can be alerted immediately if a single object goes missing. Jewels serve a specific purpose for the dragon in that he usually sleeps on a bed of gems and luxurious fabrics, such as silks and velvets. For this bed he never uses soft stones like pearls and emeralds, as they are too fragile.