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.

A gleaming silver egg lay there, abandoned. Its shell was soft from a deadly sickness, something only the strongest of Whites could cure. But the egg didn't die. It was rescued by a young boy, Pallas, who was as alone in the world as the egg of the silver Tinsel. The egg hatched into a healthy dragon with scales that gleamed as brightly as the moon. Believing the Tinsel's survival to be some miracle, Pallas named the newly hatched dragon Athenaia, after a goddess from an old myth. Like the ancient goddess, Athenaia is very intuitive and sometimes with an uncanny display of wisdom that have saved both her and Pallas many times. But Pallas had a habit of leaping into trouble feet-first. Athenaia never found out what happened to him; he was beyond speech by the time she found him, and he died there in her silver claws. Bent on revenge, she leapt off in vain after the ones who had taken her friend from her, adding his name to her own as a tribute to him.