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.

Purple dragons are one of the few all-female breeds of dragons. Their bright colors make them easy to spot during dragon mating season. They are primarily herbivores, but eat meat during mating season when it is brought to them by a mate. Mating seasons occur once every 200 years and can last up to 2 years.

Sarnut II, 13th of the Tolander clan, has a lot to live up to. Named after a deceased hatchling of the same breed, she is expected to do everything her precursor was supposed to do. As a result, Sarnut II is always nervous and afraid of messing up somehow. She often seeks counsel from Draimi, the clan leader, and his mate Li Amia, who treat her as a daughter, but they believe she must find her destiny on her own. The entire clan - even the local humbugs - are kind to her, but she feels as if they are really being kind to Sarnut the First, so she never knows is she should take them sincerely.