Pipio Pygmies are a hardy—but not very intelligent—species able to survive in most places. They communicate with each other using chirps, coos, and clicking sounds. They are very easy to tame, and as they breed readily in captivity and aren’t terribly picky eaters, these small dragons are a common sight in human settlements. However, Pipio Pygmies are still dragons, and are bolder in groups: when a group of these pygmies feels threatened, they may take off all at once in a disorienting swarm, and if the threat is great enough, they will attack the instigator with razor-sharp claws and teeth. Predators hoping for an easy meal, or abusive caretakers, have been known to lose an eye.

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.

Pygmy dragons are the smallest category of dragons, being on the same scale as domesticated animals. They are often found around concentrated populations of dragons, relying on their larger brethren to ward away potential predators and leave scraps. As such, the majority of a pygmy’s diet is scavenged. Due to their tiny size, pygmies do not breed with larger varieties of dragons.

Nyuhaku and her colony live in a storage barn on a property owned by a horse breeder. They originally lived in a nearby forest, but gradually migrated into the barn after the stablehands started feeding the Pipios during their morning chores. The group was given their own special berth up in the rafters as a reward for chasing off would-be horse thieves and keeping out mice during the winter nights, and to this day Nyuhaku and her colony keep a close eye on the farm workers they've essentially adopted. Every morning, they will unleash a series of coos and chirps to wake the humans up to start the new day, and most importantly, bring them breakfast.