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.

Scarmiglione is a devilish creature. Flighty, cunning, and fragile, she suffers from having great ambitions and very little talent. Her compromise is to seek a position of influence rather than power: for instance, the mate of a leader. To get in such a position, she is willing to do almost anything asked of her. Getting into the good graces of a male leader (hormone-driven leaders, anyway) is something she's skilled at, being quite beautiful as well as being warm and affectionate, or at least a good imitation of it. Whether she really feels anything for anyone but her own kin is another matter. Either way, the dragons she most dislikes are those that themselves feel no affection, that only want her or other females for their beauty.