Blacktip Dragons are a small, shore-dwelling breed that tend to nest on sheer ocean side cliffs. They live in groups under a dominant female, who prevents her subordinates from breeding. During the mating season, a group of Blacktips can be very noisy and smelly indeed; males produce a distinctive musky odor and loud, low-pitched honking noises in an attempt to woo the alpha female.

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.

Fishgutter is, at best, a weak-willed dragon. At worst, he's a timid, spineless little "wyrm" of a dragon. He cowers at the sound of thunder, much less the roaring calls of his Weyrmates in the Weyr of Flame. His mate, Saltfisher, does what she can to soothe his frightened state of being, but he still trembles when the Weyr hunters return with blood on their claws. If it weren't for his cleverness at seeking out the best spots for fishing, he might have been chased out of the Weyr already just for his irritating presence.

What no other dragon knows, though, not even his mate, is that Fishgutter's terrified state-of-mind comes not from his natural personality. When he was a young hatchling, traveling to the continent for the first time, his family was attacked by the pack of Vampires that rove the continent in what they call the Bloody Weyr. Fishgutter was the only one to make it safely to the Weyr of Flame, but even now, even in the safety of numbers, he sees fangs in the shadows.