Dragon Flea

A Dragon Flea is a small, gold or silver-colored creature that looks very much like a gold or silver coin, like the Onze Gild of Nodyund, or the Dorla of Sudland, and some other currencies used throughout Derkomai.   As they sleep on the treasure they've accumulated, Derkorim, especially Haka Derkorim (Red Dragons), are known to get coins embedded into their scales due to the heat coming from their bodies and their great weight. Dragon Fleas mimic these embedded coins, camouflaging themselves so as to not draw attention from predators; though what predators would dare approach a Dragon is unclear.   Despite looking like a gold or silver coin, the body of a Dragon Flea is, in fact, quite soft and flexible, and they are fairly mobile. Their undersides are covered with thousands of tiny hair-like appendages that are covered in even smaller cilia that enable them to cling tightly to the scales of a Dragon. Dislodging a Dragon Flea from a Dragon's hide is next to impossible.   Even though they are called Dragon Fleas, they are not parasites. Rather, they move across the Dragon's body, scrubbing away dirt and other contaminants as they do, looking for and eating true parasites called Dragon Mites. Dragon Mites burrow into the softer, thinner scales of the underside of the Dragon. They irritate and weaken the Dragon's hide, spread disease, and generally sap the Dragon's health, so Dragons usually do not mind having a few Dragon Fleas patrolling their enormous hides, scrubbing their scales clean and ridding them of the mites.