Fell Dragons are a primitive, fractious breed. They are born small but grow astonishingly quickly throughout their adolescence, and constant hunger inspires them to eat nearly anything that can be made to fit into their mouths. Legend has it that they never completely stop growing at all. Adult Fell Dragons are massive juggernauts: a diet rich in minerals and metals harvested from the earth helps them grow a dense, scaly carapace along their backs and toughens their thick hides, while their wickedly sharp claws and the bony, ax-like crest on their heads are well-suited for both hunting and physical combat. Though few Fell Dragons have crossed paths in the wild due to their primarily solitary nature, it is said that their thunderous disputes can be heard—and felt—for miles around.

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.

Dyewood has pined for a certain coastal waverunner for a long time. Every mating season, she asks him, and every time, he declines either because he's not seeking or because he chose another dragon. The latter upsets Dyewood greatly, and she has plans to kill everyone who's stolen her beloved. Her failures are not for lack of trying: she knows a lot about him but can't make use of her knowledge. For example, he likes shelled mollusks, so she waded into the water to catch one, but he only became upset when she presented him a chunk of coral reef. Apparently, coral reefs are not mollusks. He gets along with people who can relate to him, so she told him everything she has in common with him, such as breathing air and having red blood, but he didn't seem impressed. Though Dyewood is not a magically skilled breed, she does dabble, and she's working on a difficult spell that transfers a mind into another body. That way, she can transfer herself into her beloved's body so he can't escape her.