Karl jogged down the road in front of Thor, who was nearly prancing with joy to have passengers. Especially passengers who were gratefully petting the rough scales around the carrier bags on his back.
Karl noted that they seemed to be becoming more smooth with age, or perhaps he was keeping his barrier up over them, as the sandpaper texture of the scales was not harming the Elves at all.
He wasn't a dragon, but his scales were similar to Dragon scales, and the Elves had a ritual for polishing Nature Dragon scales in their home villages. The Green Dragons apparently liked to visit the Elves when they were young, as the Elves lived long enough for the Dragons to get to know them.
So, the Elves viewed them as an extension of the Nature Goddess, which in a way they were. All Dragons who came from the lineage of a Chromatic Dragon God could hear instructions from their species' patron.