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.

To Mortica, the most heavenly aroma is the crisp smell of paper, from books just lying there with their cracked leather covers waiting to be opened and their secrets waiting to be discovered. She spends hours in the tiny library arranging the books again and again as she rereads them for an umpteenth time. This favorite pasttime of Mortica's has made her into a gentle, intuative dragon who can read others' emotions like, well, books. Never without a story to share, always seems to show up when someone needs comforting. Her voice may not be as melodious as Celesti'iya's, but she always knows the right thing to say--- her soothing words are the only thing can make Mortac's crazed mumbles make sense. "Books can take you anywhere," as Mortica is fond of saying. "You just need to know where to look."