Mariner pygmies do not venture often to any mainland, preferring to lead their lives spread across the ocean’s multitude of small islands. They can soar for great distances with little effort, stopping only as necessary to rest. Mariners feed mostly on fish, sharing large catches with the rest of the colony. Pairs mate for life and usually remain in the same colony; when the colony becomes too large, it begins to split, and the smaller groups relocate to distant islands.

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.

Pygmy dragons are the smallest category of dragons, being on the same scale as domesticated animals. They are often found around concentrated populations of dragons, relying on their larger brethren to ward away potential predators and leave scraps. As such, the majority of a pygmy’s diet is scavenged. Due to their tiny size, pygmies do not breed with larger varieties of dragons.

Every now, and then Shikkari feels rather nostalgic and yearns to visit the island she was hatched on. Even though her first colony split awhile ago and her current family lives far away from where most of the members were originally born, she makes the long trip back to the island she remembers as having that special feeling of the beginning, of good times. The island itself may not really be anything out of the ordinary, and it no longer feels like home the way it used to, but all the same Shikkari enjoys scurrying around in the warm sands and seaside foliage she remembers. Since Shikkari often brings back treats to share, some of the younger dragons in her current colony have recently taken to accompanying her on these journeys.