When Water Dragons mature, they lose the ability to survive on land, entering the water permanently. They are adept swimmers and eat whatever fish are in the lake they live in. They tend to inhabit the same lake for their entire lives, although a few live in the ocean and swim all over the world.

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.

Nessie Echo is the daughter of Larkspur Oskana and Echo Monsoon. Unlike her mother, who lives primarily in the sea, Nessie prefers to live in a lake further inland. Nessie dislikes the feeling of salt water on her skin and in her mouth, and so avoids going to the sea when possible. Once she even dragged herself across land like a seal to get to a nearby river where salmon were spawning.

Nessie knows that her father Larkspur is very paranoid about his inbred family, but Nessie has never been bothered by it. She points out that clanless wild dragons do not care if they mate with their cousin, so why should she care if her ancestors did so. All wild born dragons are probably distantly related anyway, even if there is no record to prove it.

Nessie met her mate Valero Aegis when he came to bathe in her lake, and the two have many children together. They can often be heard singing at night together by the lake shore.