This breed of dragon results from eggs or hatchlings that have been neglected. They are usually rebellious, not obeying their masters, sometimes even attacking them. However, their neglect as a hatchling leaves them crippled, and they are weak compared to other breeds, causing them to stay with their masters for protection.

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.

Unusually, Valcen's crippled state is a curse, intended as punishment for his hubris. A respected and revered part of a powerful clan of dragons of exceptional magical prowess in his previous incarnation, Valcen's immortality suffered an unfortunate encounter with the unstoppable force of statistical probability: He made a mistake. Unfortunately, consequences of mistakes are often in direct proportion to the power behind them, and this particular metaphorical elastic-band-unintentionally-launched-into-someone's-eye had grave consequences indeed—Valcen accidentally obliterated his home... along with most of his clan. After his unusual exile through reincarnation, first emotionally transitioning from numb shock to violent self-loathing, Valcen spent a few hundred years mulling over what happened, only to finally reach the desperate, bitter conclusion that it could have happened to anyone—and in his solitude impotently, feverishly dreams of redemption.