Hellfire Wyverns are so named for their foul tempers and fiery visages. Their social structure places all females above all males, due to superior physical characteristics and violent dispositions. Forced subservience of the males causes them to become vicious, petty, antisocial, and passive-aggressive compared to the aggressive and social females. However, orphaned hatchlings raised by foster parents of another species can develop surprisingly even tempers and mellow dispositions, proving that their defining unpleasant nature is, in fact, a learned behavior.

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.

Zombie Fire's mother and father hailed from territories alongside those of the Marrow dragons. A peaceful time once existed along this borderland; Marrows even mated with White dragons. However, incited by the birth of White dragons, the Marrows slayed their White dragon mates in retaliation. As a result, the dragon breeds along the border plunged into a fierce battle. Zombie Fire's grandparents each lost their female mates in this battle. A small clan of White dragons attempted to revive the slain females using dark healing spells, now long-forgotten. Unfortunately, though the spells restored animation, they did not preserve the form or spirit. The enraged Zombies attacked their mates. One grandfather escaped, but the other fell to his Zombie mate's fang. Linked by this tragedy, Zombie Fire's parents bonded and became lifemates. When old enough, her parents told Zombie Fire their tale of woe. She traveled to their home territory, and there she met Dying Starsong...