Hellfire Wyverns are so named for their foul tempers and fiery visages. Their social structure places all females above all males, due to superior physical characteristics and violent dispositions. Forced subservience of the males causes them to become vicious, petty, antisocial, and passive-aggressive compared to the aggressive and social females. However, orphaned hatchlings raised by foster parents of another species can develop surprisingly even tempers and mellow dispositions, proving that their defining unpleasant nature is, in fact, a learned behavior.

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.

Andreas Drezel is part of the Hellpack, a group of Hellfire Wyverns and Horses that live slightly separated from the rest of the flock. Having started with a few mated pairs made of one of each breed, they take in new wild-born Hellfires and Horses every generation, as mates for their Hellhorse offspring.

Andreas is mate to fellow founding member Alicia. Due to the injuries his mate sustained from some soldiers he mistrusts any strange group of humans found anywhere near Hellpack lands.

He thinks it's especially suspicious that the soldiers' insignia bore no resemblance to that of any lord inside or neighbouring AnselaJonla flock territory. As none of that group survived the vengeful wrath of the flock in order to be interrogated, he's always on the lookout for any more people wearing similar marks, so he can find out who they answer to and who he can ultimately blame for Alicia's crippling wounds.