Dorsal Dragons are so named because they have large fins along their backs that can be raised and lowered at will. They use these fins to regulate body temperature; they raise them to cool off when they become overheated. The bright colors on the fins double as a means of attracting mates.

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.

Woodshed is part of Batch 19 of her parents' adopted children, alongside his siblings Palisade, Tinderbox, and Flagpole. Each batch is a span of a decade and the babies adopted during that decade have names that follow some sort of theme. Woodshed spends a lot of time with her sister Palisade, the only human adopted within a span of about 40 years. They really are too complicated with too short a lifespan to make them worth saving, but Woodshed thinks her sister is pretty interesting still. For one, Palisade now has a job where she goes to the jungle's edge to look at trees and water sources, and she lives in a flat paid with whatever she earns. Woodshed kind of wants a job, too. It seems a lot easier than hunting, foraging, evading fiercer dragons and unhappy spirits, and hoping nobody hunts her.