Nocturne Dragons are a strange breed. Whenever light strikes their bodies, they are frozen in whatever position they were in. This leaves them vulnerable and they rely on camouflage to keep themselves safe. They are often mistaken for statues when in this frozen state, but Nocturne dragons do not actually turn into stone. Rather, they merely idle until the sun goes down. At night, these dragons come to life, proving themselves to be powerful fliers, although little else is known about their true 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.

Tillman enjoys the relative safety of living on a farm with a bunch of other farmer dragons. There is a single other nocturne on the farm, whom Tillman looks up to and sometimes emulates when nobody's looking. Unlike her, though, Tillman isn't any good at herding the livestock (he doesn't have the right attitude for the job) and instead is assigned to till the soil and keep up the trenches that water runs through. He really digs his job and doesn't ever want to deal with the living creatures the farmers keep. There used to be a dog on the farm, but after it urinated on Tillman's arm when he was sitting idle, it mysteriously disappeared by the next morning.