My current lengthy project is heavy on the dragons, and yet not a single one has appeared thus far. I think they are hiding from me. They probably just don’t want to share their gold.
The plan to lure them out of their caves so that I might steal said gold and buy myself a pony is to put the character they are “attached” to in peril and see what happens.
As Bradbury so rightfully says–and yes, I am paraphrasing here, do not think this is an exact quote–”characters are not puppets on strings, they are living people who tell their story through you”.
Just because they aren’t puppets does not mean a little manipulation isn’t in order.