Dragon Hoards

Dragons do not gather hoards from a desire for wealth, or at least not just for that; some dragons do have a taste for gold for its own sake. More than any avarice, even the avarice of a dragon - whose avarice, should they possess it, is of course as vast as any other draconic trait - the hoard is collected to act as a dzenmistic lodestone. It is the concentration of dzenmisa in the hoard that creates the lair's intrinsic Magic.
In order to create the lodestone, the hoard must be formed of things that have value. To bind the dragon to their terr­itory, it is formed of two parts, called the cavern and the cabinet. The cavern contains things that are valued by the World - precious metals, works of art, gems and jewellery - while the cabinet is given over to a special collection of things that are important to the dragon as an individual. Each dragon's cabinet is unique, and the items within speak volumes about the dragon's personality. The greater the value of the cavern hoard, the more powerful the lodestone effect. The more precious the cabinet, the greater the dragon's influence.
Neither the cavern nor the cabinet is an undifferentiated body of treasure. Both include items of singular importance to the dragon which become imbued with a fragment of eir power. These items are called hallows, and they have a key role in maintaining the lair and hoard. The hallows of the cabinet are the items with the most importance to the dragon, while the hallows of the cavern have the highest material worth or arcane power.
The hallows of the cabinet are the territory's anchors. The dragon will never let them leave the lair, and stealing even one would provoke the unmitigated wrath of even the most relaxed dragon. The hallows of the cavern, on the other hand, can function more like a trawl net. When removed from the hoard, they tend to attract treasure and create a subsidiary hoard. If the dragon reclaims this secondary hoard and adds to it at least one cabinet hallow, e can create a subordinate lair to extend eir territory and strengthen eir control. For this reason, dragons will often gift such hollows, or even allow them to be stolen.