Shimmer-scale Dragons are a very beautiful breed with small—but highly reflective—scales that shimmer and shine as the dragon moves through water. They don’t have fins or webbed feet, but their long, eel-like bodies allow them to swim quite fast. They were once rumored to carry large pearls in their claws—causing many to seek them out in search of this fabulous treasure. In reality, the “pearl” is of greater value to the dragon, for the fabled treasure is actually an egg carried by a migrating female.

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.

Dutra is a fan of the local humans' language, one with 32 basic characters and tens of thousands of words and somewhat confusing syntax rules. For many years, he'd been trying to teach it to the rest of the coastal and ocean dragons, but it's a difficult task. It is almost impossible to get long-lasting reading material underwater, and since there's little surface to write on, it is mostly learned by thinking it constantly. Many potential students don't want to learn at all, clearly in disagreement with how to feel about humans and their affairs. Dutra does have some pupils, but there's no doubt they find learning a challenge, since they didn't begin when they were small. He doesn't give up easily and won't abandon his notion that the language can be learned. "Yes, it's difficult and awkward, but it can be mastered through tough, thorough thought, though!" the teacher would often say.