Ridgewing Dragons live just below the snow level on the upper slopes of mountains. They are a friendly, playful breed and enjoy dancing in wind currents near their homes or plummeting down into valleys from great heights. Their wings, by far their most striking feature, grow in fin-like ridges along their backs. While their bodies lack markings to blend better with their surroundings, a ridgewing’s wings have bright markings in the colors of the flowers that grow in their mountain habitat. Occasionally different-colored individuals can be found, but they are rare because their striking coloring offers little protection.

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.

Z'onho shuddered and jerked, air pouring into her lungs. She gasped, trying to roll to her feet, but she was too weak to stand. Something had happened. Something terrible. She shook her head, mind strangely fogged, as she tried to remember. Memory eluded her, and she laid her head on the ground. Perhaps sleep would help.

Nightmares flashed in her mind. Shining blades, dark incantations, smoke, evil- humans.

Z'ohho awoke in a panic, memories flooding back. She'd been killed and revived. She had survived death. She pawed at her chest where the knife had struck into her heart, shuddering with horror. She remembered how it felt- the hot agony of her heart shredding itself on the knife, beating faster and faster as she died. She collapsed into a quivering pile, keening her distress for all the world to know.

Z'onho would never be the same.