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.

Most of the time, Lurhstaap is a kind and peaceful person, and the same is true of most of his Breedery's dragons. He, and many of them, are willing to fight to defend the Breedery from threats that come armed, but other than a few (such as the vicious Seragamma pair) the Breedery dragons are warriors, not killers. Like many humans, however, Lurhstaap has a dark side. He does his best, but there are times when his shadow side becomes too strong. And sometimes, there are foes who can't be killed in a straight-up fight.

So when necromancy, knives in the dark, and bloodlust for its own sake are the order of the day (or night), that is when DeadSkinMask emerges, wearing the dry, flayed hide of past victims, grinning and eager to serve the darkest needs of the Breedery and its master. When Mask comes out, even the Seragammas retreat to their den. No one besides Lurhstaap, not even the other Marrows, wants to get near Mask, in case whatever insanity drives that monster is catching.