Balloon Dragons are so named because they are filled with a gas that makes them almost lighter than air, similar to balloons. However, they are not prone to bursting, as they are covered in tough skin and can deflate themselves if necessary. In addition, they generally are slow moving. They use their gas bladders to float to the tops of trees, where food is more abundant. They can shift their weight from their backs to their fronts, allowing them to reach leaves and fruit.

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.

BalloonSmoke is a Balloon Dragon with a nasty habit: he smokes tobacco. He picked this up from the group of humans he hangs around with. They dry the tobacco plant, shred the leaves and rolls them in a tobacco leaf, then they light the end on fire and smoke them. All the other dragons in his cave find this disgusting, and the White Dragons in the Clinic keep telling him how unhealthy it is. But BalloonSmoke is an adult, and he gets to make his own decisions. He doesn't care what others think, if he doesn't smoke he gets really tense and the smoking relieves his stress.