Striped Dragons come in a dazzling array of colors complemented by an intricate pattern of stripes. These bright colors and patterns help attract their favorite food, insects. Because their prey is so tiny, striped dragons must spend a large portion of their day eating. The color of the offspring is usually determined by the dragon’s mate.

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.

Joy Brightstripe came into the clan as a sickly and scared feral hatchling, having hatched alone and almost did not survive long enough to be found. She was adopted by the female black Koiai Darklove, whose own children had long left the nest. Joy never trusted anyone other than Koiai, and was terrified of relying on anyone else. She made it her mission to learn all the skills she might need to survive as soon as possible. Although most dragons in the clan rely on the hunting, gathering and cultivation of food by others in the clan for food, Joy has refused to eat anything she did not catch herself. Due to this Joy spends most of her time hunting and gathering food for herself, and has even learned several methods of preserving her food from human villagers.

Joy decided in her youth that she could never trust a male with her heart, and so has stated that should she ever desire children, she will objectively choose a sire, and remain with him only as long as egg making takes.