Vampire Dragons are members of the undead. They sustain themselves by drinking the blood of others. It is said that they are only “alive” at night, and seem dead or asleep during the day, as they cannot endure sunlight for long periods of time. Vampire Dragons can only reproduce by changing the eggs of other dragons, puncturing the shell with their fangs and injecting venom that kills the baby inside.

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.

Unlike Succo and Sanguinem, Aryun feels no resentment towards Zephyr for converting her into a vampire—but neither does she feel any gratitude towards the tyrannical vampire dragon. She simply feels detached—a sort of resigned acceptance to her lot in life. Yes, she is, for all intents and purposes, a decorated slave, but she has known no other way to live. She does not envy the dragons and their freedoms, nor does she wish she could rise to same level as Zephyr and Gale. Her only desire is to survive another day—to eat another scrap of meat or find another rat to drain and devour.

Everything else is secondary.