Balloon Dragons are so named because they are filled with a gas that makes them almost lighter than air, similar to balloons. However, they are not prone to bursting, as they are covered in tough skin and can deflate themselves if necessary. In addition, they generally are slow moving. They use their gas bladders to float to the tops of trees, where food is more abundant. They can shift their weight from their backs to their fronts, allowing them to reach leaves and fruit.

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.

When Motta is not floating about to eat, he spends most of his time sleeping on his personal hoard of gold.  He is always keen to find more gold to sleep on, but since he is so slow, he is not able to go out and find his own.  Instead, he bribes other dragons to gather gold for him.  He is quite smart, so he tends to bribe them with ideas on how to successfully woo mates or plans that would benefit the dragon in question.