Sapphire Dragons were so named for their brilliant blue-green color, which is reminiscent of the gemstone. This breed was historically hunted for their scales; even long after, they remain distrustful of humans. Normally a Sapphire is not very aggressive, but they will defend themselves vigorously if under attack. Their diet consists mainly of fruit, with smaller portions of large insects and other invertebrates. Males woo females with vocalizations similar to bird songs. Sapphire Dragons are very loyal to their mates, and it is not unusual that they pair for life.

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.

Philips lives in a human town, many days' flight from his old home. As a youngster, instead of learning to be wary of these creatures, he became dangerously fascinated with them. They have a complicated way of life, particularly their method of communication, called "words". Curious things, words. It takes years to learn words well, but it's impossible to communicate without them. There are thousands of words and many rules for putting them together. There are infinitely many more not-words, until enough people agree that a not-word is not a not-word any more, after which it becomes a word. Philips theorizes that these humans have so many rules in their lives because words have so many rules in their deployment, and he equates himself to an enlightened being studying the ape herd's odd ways. They are largely unfazed by his opinion of them, fortunately. They have grown fond enough of him to give him one of their words as a name, "Philips".