Caligene Dragons have long been considered omens of death—reinforced by the skeletal markings on their bodies. They exert a malignant force on the world around them, causing other living things to slowly waste away in their presence. Caligenes favor the seasons of summer and autumn, disappearing entirely from the forests they inhabit during winter and spring. These malevolent dragons are physically weak, though this is countered by their natural stealthiness and alarming speed—enabling them to close in on large targets quickly and silently to create ambushes from which prey cannot escape.

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.

Mortera Carna Zioensis is a philosopher (which, according to certain philosophical theories, means she is named "Bruce") and has a fondness for the holiday seasons. In her mind, each of the three major holidays represents one one of the three major divisions of elements. Halloween, of course, is destruction, for all the horror, stealing, and destruction involved. Christmas is change, full of items changing hands as sapient creatures the world over exchange gifts. Valentine's is creation, the celebration of courtship which is a necessary first step for the generation of new life. The thing that bothers her is why so many dragons of the winter holidays are light-aligned, while there are many change-aligned Valentine's dragons. She suspects the reason is that in order to give, one must create things to give, and in order to spark love, emotions must be groomed. Desipises use magi to shape emotions, so Valentine's dragons need the alignment in order to prepare hearts to love.