Albino Dragons are so named because their translucent, scale-less skin lacks all pigment. Instead, to help protect their bodies from the sun, they are coated in an oily secretion that blocks the sun’s harmful rays. The call of an albino dragon is similar to a barn owl--a shriek instead of a roar.

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.

Valcree's personality is the most diverse in the whole cave. She has a short temper and snaps at everyone except the hatchlings. She works with Hwaar, a male whiptail, to take care of the hatchlings and eggs and she loves them fiercely. She and Hwaar fight all of the time but (though she won't admit it) she enjoys being with him. It seems that the more she likes a dragon the more she snaps at them. She and her mate Tailfryn's eggs often mysteriously turn into Vampires.