Pyralspite dragons are small, swift dragons that can breathe an intensely hot flame. They get their name from their resemblance to and affinity for garnets of the pyralspite family—they hoard such gems, preferring garnets that match their variant, and can tell the type of garnet from how it tastes. The dark red variant is known as Pyrope. They tend to be fiercely loyal and noble, and have a stronger sense of justice than other Pyralspites. They live primarily in volcanic areas.

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.

Sukumu likes to strategize, and can spend hours watching other dragons play puzzle and strategy games. In her spare time, she carves chess pieces out of the gemstones she collects, claiming that she'll give one away to every dragon who can beat her in a game. She still hasn't given out any of these chess pieces, but some do go missing from time to time. Sukumu shrugs and argues that if someone is smart enough to make it past all the magical safeguards and locks she has on her collection, that's as good as beating her at chess and they deserve to keep the small token of their intelligence and skill. Of course, Sukumu still changes the protections on the gemstone chess pieces fairly often, to challenge the would-be repeat thieves.