Dragon metal is not, as the name might imply, made of dragons. Well, not directly. It's a composite of a material called orikalkum (or orichalcum, depending on whether you prefer to use the dwarven spelling) and drakolith, which no longer resides on Ashenfall. The dragonkin, notably Brakka, exhausted whatever deposits were left on the island.
Once an alloy has been formed by these two materials, it needs to be forged in dragonfire. That, unlike drakolith, was in abundance on Ashenfall. The result was dragon metal, and Brakka could make precious little of it. There was enough to make a throne, perhaps, or a motherlode maw. Realistically, Brakka couldn't use the metal to make much of material use, so he a forged small armoury of kiteshields, scimitars and crossbows. If the dragonkin were to ever be threatened, then they would at least have the best weapons on Ashenfall to respond.
