Swallowtail Dragons are graceful and quick flyers, much like their namesake bird. They are capable of precise aerial acrobatics, and can reach very high altitudes. Because of this, humans observing these dragons are often astonished at how large they are when confronted up close. A Swallowtail’s diet consists of insects and small mammals plentiful in temperate forests. These dragons are also made remarkable by their paper-thin wing membranes, which allow light to pass through, creating an astonishing effect on starry nights.

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.

Unq has been called the "weird child" since she was a hatchling, and most of the dragons who knew her growing up don't have adequate words to describe her. She has the brains of a razorcrest, the hard head of a mutamore, and the heart of a sophrosyne, suspended in tanks of fluid. Nobody can turn up any evidence of wrongdoing, and Unq behaves sweetly and says there's nothing to worry about. Some folks are trying to enact a law that would ban the keeping of body parts in one's home, though the proposed law has been stopped at the council level or by the court every year for one issue or another.