Gold dragons are the ones most often killed by humans, who consider their scales to be extremely valuable. These golden scales grant them a high level of protection, similar to armor, and they use this to their advantage in battle.

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.

While Vanilla is dearly loved by her parents and siblings, she is a source of concern for them. They can live quite happily with her odd manner of speech, such as referring to herself in third person, but they find her love for the 'slimies' and the 'slitheries' quite worrying.

At first they were happy enough to let her play with any frog or snake she came across, but it was when they discovered she was dressing them up and holding them tea parties that they started to feel apprehensive.