Shadow Walkers are a strange breed that possess the ability to slip between the planes of reality, becoming immaterial. This allows them to hide in the shadows, either hunting from the concealment of near invisibility or evading enemies. Though they become corporeal to mate or to eat, they spend most of the rest of their lives walking in the shadows. Shadow Walkers are wary creatures, though on dark autumn evenings when the leaves fall to swirl in the chill, rain damp air, they may be seen drifting out from the shadows.

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.

Every year, as the various Yuletide dragons finish preparing their feasts and celebrations, a quartet of shadow walkers put their plans into motion. After having spent all year observing dragons to find one most in need of their talents, it's time for them to reenact their own special morality play for this dragon.

Tiasfial is first to put in an appearance. Having used her talent at shapeshifting to disguise herself, she shows in the guise of a lost loved one just as her target is dozing off. Tiasfial first tries to convince her victim of the error of their ways, and if that doesn't work (and it usually doesn't), she sets the scene for the appearance of her three colleagues. Her job isn't particularly rewarding, since she never gets to see any year's dragon at anything other than their complete worst. Being softhearted by nature, Tiasfial would like just once to see for herself that the end result is worth all that the four of them put their chosen dragon through.