It was previously believed that purple dragons were exclusively female, but this is not the case. Recent environmental shifts have revealed the existence of both genders of this breed. Female behavior is well known; they are primarily herbivores but will eat meat during mating season. On the other hand, very little is known about the behavior and habits of male purple dragons.

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.

As a hatchling Anafaen was a dreamer with wide, innocent eyes, seeing magic and wonder everywhere he looked. His favorite place was a small clearing in the forest near his home that was inhabited by a small flock of woodland faeries. To Anafaen, the benevolent creatures were right out of one of the imaginative stories his mother would tell him at bedtime, but no one ever believed him because of the faeries' rarity. Except his mother, who alone told Anafaen to keep his relationship with the faeries.

But drought forced the clan to seek new territory and Anafaen was forced to leave his friends behind. Surrounded by skeptics who laughed at his "childhood foolishness", he slowly lost his touch with his imagination, eventually denying the faeries' existence. Except his mother, who saw what her son could not. Unable to believe in them, he was unable to see the signs that they were still there, still protecting him as they always had and always will.