Ridgewing Dragons live just below the snow level on the upper slopes of mountains. They are a friendly, playful breed and enjoy dancing in wind currents near their homes or plummeting down into valleys from great heights. Their wings, by far their most striking feature, grow in fin-like ridges along their backs. While their bodies lack markings to blend better with their surroundings, a ridgewing’s wings have bright markings in the colors of the flowers that grow in their mountain habitat. Occasionally different-colored individuals can be found, but they are rare because their striking coloring offers little protection.

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.

Derran is one of the few Ridgewings to be born from a beige egg. The purple Ridgewing egg is much more common, so much that he is treated like a rare dragon among his friends, family and others. He doesn't talk much, but when he does, almost no one can hear or understand what he is uttering. Derran spends almost all of his time in air, where he gets his food and spends his life. Only once has he sprained his wing, and that was at the end of a week-long air show which he won.