Copper Dragons are masters of stealth, slipping silently and swiftly through the forests and jungles where they live. Often hunting in groups, their prey rarely know they are being stalked until the dragon’s at their throat. In the air they are agile and skilled. Copper Dragons prize family groups, spending large amounts of time teaching their young skills. So great is their love of life and family that they will sometimes adopt orphaned dragons of other breeds to raise.

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.

Smokedapple and her brother Cloudbrook have been enslaved by their mother, the terrible Desipis Torment. They are used as personal hunters for Torment, and are basically chained up like dogs when not performing their duties.

As the eldest of the brood, Smokedapple is constantly trying to protect her brother. When he messes up she often takes the blame, braving her mother's vicious temper with a stoic face. Her strong sense of loyalty towards Cloudbrook may stem from the fact that their father left their lives as soon as they each were hatched; the only dragon Cloudbrook saw when he hatched was his sister, causing a particularly powerful bond to for, between the two. Likewise, Smokedapple had no one when she hatched, so she made it her eternal job to protect and nurture her young brother like the mother they never had.