Black Marrows are named for their dark colored hides which are encased in a distinct exoskeleton. Their skull and the top edges of their spine push out from under the skin as they age. As such, their young need excessive amounts of calcium for this armor to develop. The older a Black Marrow dragon is, the more skeletal their appearance. They often use their skeletal looks to lure in foolish scavengers or terrify predators. These vicious dragons love nothing more than to crack open bones with their stony beaks and eat the marrow inside. Voracious scavengers, Black Marrows will swarm and devour corpses both old and fresh, sometimes even dragging larger finds to the water to allow them to “ripen.” Despite their dreadful demeanour and often horrid stench, Black Marrows are devoted mates and parents.

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.

Unlike his brother, Charon, Starshimmer did not have the luck of being raised by his birth mother as well as his fathers, the Nebula effectively dumping the egg on his Marrow father before leaving to parts unknown.

That is not to say he lacked any love during his childhood, hardly. His fathers doted on the young Marrow, ensuring he had everything he would ever need, and even encouraged him to seek his mother if he so desired. Which he did not, because in Starshimmer's mind, since his mother did not wish to know him then he does not wish to know her.

Despite this, he has inherited several traits from her, specifically a love of the stars. He spends hour upon hour simply watching the night sky, painting what he sees onto scrolls that he "borrows" from his father, Peta. And despite himself, whenever he catches glimpses of nebula-studded wings glinting in the moonlight, he can't help but wonder...