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.

Black dragons are warriors. They are strong and capable in battles of force, but also ample magic users, capable of devastating opponents with their spells. Their bright eyes give them excellent night vision, which is why they generally hunt during the night.

Gruslen does most of the Slyther caves hunting and for this reason is much admired by the rest of the cave. When not hunting she scours all the caves and caverns in the area because, unlike the rest of the dragons of the cave, she wishes she hadn't been stolen from her parents as an egg and searches for them every day. So far she has not had any luck but she keeps looking. She has formed a bond with Thermir, a skywing, but it is probably more for her own gain as she coerces him to help her in her search.