Almerald Dragons are an unusual species. They have gem-like protrusions along their spine that brighten and darken depending on their mood. In addition, their body temperature grows warmer during periods of excitement, and cooler during darker moods such as anger or depression; as such, it is fairly easy to read an Almerald’s emotions. Their mood can change quickly at times, going from calm to angry in a matter of seconds. If their anger becomes bad enough they can become a frightening opponent. Adults are not normally high in energy, so they hunt infrequently and prefer to lazily consume large quantities of fruits and nuts.

Dragons are highly-intelligent reptilian creatures that—from a human perspective, at least—appear to live forever. Many different varieties of dragon exist, each with their own unique qualities, habitats, and behavior. Adolescence in dragons is usually marked by the growth of a hatchling’s wings, although not all breeds of dragons grow wings and some breeds have other traits that indicate the beginning of maturation. In Galsreim, dragons and humans coexist peacefully.

While Bonwit shares a close friendship with a human peddler, they didn't meet under the best circumstances. The human peddler had chanced across Bonwit one calm autumn afternoon and gained a strong fascination with his color-changing scales. Seeing money signs in his eyes, the human peddler sought out to capture Bonwit with the intention of cutting off the gem-like protrusions and selling them as jewelry. When he finally managed to succeed after a long game of cat-and-mouse, the human peddler realized that he couldn't bring himself to kill Bonwit to obtain what he wanted. But Bonwit, touched by the human's mercy, decided to remain with him. Since then, the human peddler has studied his dragon friend, hoping to find out the secret behind the color-changing scales so he could mass-produce synthetic versions.