Olive Dragons are a small, forest-dwelling breed, rarely growing much larger than the average sheep. When alarmed, they can erect a long row of venomous spines on their back, serving to warn any potential predators that Olives are not a good choice for a meal. While not strong enough to kill anything larger than a small deer, their venom causes an extremely painful reaction and necrosis at the bite site, sometimes causing the flesh to rot and limbs to fall off.

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.

Barstow is obsessed over his area. To most dragons, one's area is a strange-sounding way of describing a living space or territory. For Barstow, that "area" is literally a five square centimeter patch of hide on his left cheek, which he claims to have been blessed by an invisible purple spirit. Blessed with what is a mystery. Even he doesn't know. He will not call that spot on his face anything else but "my area", which is an awkward conversation topic to strangers.