Balloon Dragons are so named because they are filled with a gas that makes them almost lighter than air, similar to balloons. However, they are not prone to bursting, as they are covered in tough skin and can deflate themselves if necessary. In addition, they generally are slow moving. They use their gas bladders to float to the tops of trees, where food is more abundant. They can shift their weight from their backs to their fronts, allowing them to reach leaves and fruit.

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.

Joro Wind-Drifter is extremely lazy, never wanting to do more than the absolute minimum necessary to get by.  He'd rather be blown well out of his way by a strong gust than make the slightest effort to go against the wind.  Luckily, there's usually another dragon nearby who's willing to drag him back to the weyr (though they often grumble at the inconvenience).  Some dragons joke about attaching a tether to his foot, thus creating something like the small, brightly-colored objects human children sometimes carry around.  Joro wouldn't mind, but he also wouldn't do anything to keep the tether from getting tangled around objects, so nobody's carried through with the threat (yet).