Seasonal Dragons take on the characteristics of the season during which they are born. Thus, eggs that are laid in spring match the pink flowers and green buds of spring, and those that are laid in the summer grow to depict the bright green of the forest trees and the yellow of the sun. Eggs laid in autumn display the bright colors of leaves falling from trees, and those that are laid during winter take on the appearance of the icy snow.

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.

Eldl has always resented being forced to have a mate who he disliked. Although dragons do get a choice in who they mate with, the clans will try to orchestrate it so they choose someone complimentary, and someone with as weak willpower as Eldl cannot resist the insistence of his entire clan that he partnered with his mate. So he did. Like many of the dragons in the cave, Eldl's mating is nothing more than looking after their eggs together, and they sleep in separate nests and associate with different friends, but he still resents that he cannot have the thrill of flirting as other dragons do. It's not to say his mate is disagreeable, she is perfectly nice in many of ways, but there's no chemistry, and the fairy tales he read as a hatchling always spoke of true love. Yet Eldl does not have the strength of mind or spirit to break society's norms and leave her, and he would never risk the disapproval that occurs when one cheats on one's mate.