Shadow Walkers are a strange breed that possess the ability to slip between the planes of reality, becoming immaterial. This allows them to hide in the shadows, either hunting from the concealment of near invisibility or evading enemies. Though they become corporeal to mate or to eat, they spend most of the rest of their lives walking in the shadows. Shadow Walkers are wary creatures, though on dark autumn evenings when the leaves fall to swirl in the chill, rain damp air, they may be seen drifting out from the shadows.

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.

Crossroads Weyr is located wherever the majority of its residents (all shadow walkers) happen to gather. All are united by the desire to leave a mark on the world—something that will last after they fade back into the shadows. The whole thing was Cilca's idea. She didn't want to settle down, but she wanted some sense of community with others of her breed. Finding a few other like-minded individuals wasn't hard, and as she and they recruited others, the peripatetic weyr grew. Cilca's contribution to the wider world is to spend time with a small community of mountain-dwelling dragons, bringing them news of far-away places.