When Water Dragons mature, they lose the ability to survive on land, entering the water permanently. They are adept swimmers and eat whatever fish are in the lake they live in. They tend to inhabit the same lake for their entire lives, although a few live in the ocean and swim all over the world.

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.

Valentina Dell is a self-certain aquatic dragon who ventures onto land more often than most of her kind. This may be due to her heritage, as her mother ventured as far as the frozen tundra of the north to visit a silver dragon. Laid in a small cave in the frigid wasteland, Valentina was carried south by her father to a temperate climate with many lakes and ponds, where she grew up. Valentina uses her snakelike body to slither over the earth at an amazing speed, although she can still not equal the speed at which other dragons fly. She has a mate known as Sanyi, who dwells in a secluded mountain range. The two rarely meet but in breeding season, when they share a cave in the foothills of his mountain.

Valentina's home is a freshwater lake, which supports many unique species of fish and shellfish. Clams, mussels, and oysters are Valentina's favorite foods, but she knows better than to eat them all; she supplements her diet with non-indigenous bass and carp.