Dragons are creatures with nearly unlimited life spans. They can survive for long periods of time, and no one has found a dragon that has died of old age. Adolescence 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. Once they hit adolescence, hatchlings change quickly, maturing to their full forms in only 2 years.

Dragons don't communicate with each other verbally, but they will growl to scare off predators and frighten prey. Young dragons will emit an extremely high-pitched squeal when they are frightened. To communicate, they use telepathy with each other and to speak to other creatures.

Gold dragons are the ones most often killed by humans, who consider their scales to be extremely valuable. These golden scales grant them a high level of protection, similar to armor, and they use this to their advantage in battle.

When Damsel was born, the clan psychic Clairvoyant decided that Damsel must be a female. Accordingly, since the egg seemed to get into all sorts of misadventures, from nearly being squashed by a stone dragon to having the dull What a Chauvinist attempt to fry him for breakfast, he was nicknamed Damsel in Distress before he hatched. The entire clan was quite dismayed to find their beloved accident magnet was actually a male, but the name had already stuck.

Damsel refuses to leave the clan weyr lest he be jeered at by other adult dragons for his feminine name. He is appropriately mated to Gender Confusion, an athletic and disdainful pink who does much of his physical work for him. Thus, he spends most of his days dreaming up ways to revenge himself on that stupid little Clairvoyant.