Striped Dragons come in a dazzling array of colors complemented by an intricate pattern of stripes. These bright colors and patterns help attract their favorite food, insects. Because their prey is so tiny, striped dragons must spend a large portion of their day eating. The color of the offspring is usually determined by the dragon’s mate.

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.

Sebastian is an aristocrat by nature, or at least this is how he sees himself. He is very proud of his stripe heritage and, though he professes no prejudice against other species of dragons, he has also never shown any interest in non-stripes for anything other than political reasons, including his own children. He is also the patriarch of the Amberwings clan and his is the final authority in all decisions related to the caves' stripes; from naming hatchlings, to which outsiders are chosen as mates for the stripes under his rule, to how many individuals will be allowed into the Amberwings clan at all. His authority is recognized within the cave by Wesley and the rest of its larger ruling body, and is accepted by most other Amberwings simply as "the way things are".