Black Marrows are named for their dark colored hides which are encased in a distinct exoskeleton. Their skull and the top edges of their spine push out from under the skin as they age. As such, their young need excessive amounts of calcium for this armor to develop. The older a Black Marrow dragon is, the more skeletal their appearance. They often use their skeletal looks to lure in foolish scavengers or terrify predators. These vicious dragons love nothing more than to crack open bones with their stony beaks and eat the marrow inside. Voracious scavengers, Black Marrows will swarm and devour corpses both old and fresh, sometimes even dragging larger finds to the water to allow them to “ripen.” Despite their dreadful demeanour and often horrid stench, Black Marrows are devoted mates and parents.

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.

Pentel is one of four important Guardians in his tribe, although the others have since left. He's considered the guardian of meat—food, physical substances, strong emotions, all the things that are supposed to make a dragon real and visible and not a ghostly Shadow Walker. He's almost idolized by the other dragons in the tribe, for his strong nature and devotion to those that he cares about, despite being... well, a Black Marrow dragon. His kind doesn't have the best reputation.

Lately, Pentel's health has been deteriorating to the point where he's seemingly "burnt", with ragged wings and graying skeletal armor, and a tendency to almost obsess over meat and the things that he's supposed to protect. The prospect of fighting and hunting send Pentel into flurries of excitement, far unlike the guise of calmness that he typically puts up.

There's a rumor going around that all the guardians will leave eventually, and Pentel will do the same, one way or another. His tribe can only hope.