Crimson Terror

The stone was polished to a glistening shine, though it would never be seen by human eyes.
No, this magnificent gem would sit in a place of pride deep within a labyrinth of caverns, where bats flew and rats scurried to hide from the crimson terror.
A colossal, scaled beastie, the crimson terror was the local dragon of Fardell, known for his delight in pilfering stones from the farms and towns nearby.
Any stone would do, be it the rarest exotic sapphire or a lump of local red clay. Some of the more cunning villagers had taken to leaving a selection a stones on the road a short distance from their homes, so that when the crimson terror came calling, it would take that instead of destroying buildings in his search.
The crimson terror thought well of these humans, and so kept the charring of roofs to a minimum in places that left him an offering.
Some of the not so cunning humans left unacceptable offerings such as golden-haired maidens.
The crimson terror didn't want maidens with false gold locks. He'd rather have real gold, and so ignored such distasteful offerings.
Still, the crimson terror's collection was quite vast, and though none had yet dared enter his labyrinth, the dragon couldn't help worry that some foolish adventurer might one day seek to claim his hoard.
And so when the crimson terror wasn't out gathering more stones, he was digging; striving with each excavation to make his labyrinth more complex, his hoard ever harder to find, and thus safe from thieving human hands.
For with how precious each stone in his collection was, surely some adventurer would one day come calling.