When Water Dragons mature, they lose the ability to survive on land, entering the water permanently. They are adept swimmers and eat whatever fish are in the lake they live in. They tend to inhabit the same lake for their entire lives, although a few live in the ocean and swim all over the world.

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.

Yangtze was one of the first residents of the cave. He is Daikoku's preferred mate and consequently is given power he never really asked for. Yangtze has always been more of a follower than a leader, content to go with the flow and not declare himself strongly for anything unless absolutely necessary. Rather than this being a weakness of conviction it is mainly because of his role in cave politics that he chooses to remain quiet. He is rarely corrupted by personal feelings of friendship or animosity, which makes him ideal to mediate situations Daikoku would judge with bias. Yangtze is considered a fair judge and all the other dragons are happy to take his word as the final word on settling disputes.