Black Marrows are named for their dark colored hides which are encased in a distinct exoskeleton. Their skull and the top edges of their spine push out from under the skin as they age. As such, their young need excessive amounts of calcium for this armor to develop. The older a Black Marrow dragon is, the more skeletal their appearance. They often use their skeletal looks to lure in foolish scavengers or terrify predators. These vicious dragons love nothing more than to crack open bones with their stony beaks and eat the marrow inside. Voracious scavengers, Black Marrows will swarm and devour corpses both old and fresh, sometimes even dragging larger finds to the water to allow them to “ripen.” Despite their dreadful demeanour and often horrid stench, Black Marrows are devoted mates and parents.

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.

Kirtonos enjoys scaring the hatchlings with his skull-like armor. He loves watching them screech and run away in fear, but this is only one of his avocations. When hunting, he will do everything he can to keep other Marrows away from his kill, as he does not like to share. He will eat his own kind, skeletons of Marrows have even been found in his cave. Eggs, hatchlings, adults, it doesn't matter; they all taste the same to him. Strangely, he does not seem to devour hatchlings of other breeds. Besides cannibalization, he will eat decaying corpses, and might actually prefer doing so. It gets even better if he drags the corpses into the water. Aside from this, he is known by many as a sadist. Very few dragons are his "friends", as they have to be totally insane or a sadist like himself. Only one other dragon lives with him, in the very back of the cave. She is a Marrow known as Chillheart. She is very quiet, but do not underestimate her, she may be even crueler than Kirtonos himself.