Shallow Water Dragons are found in tropical regions where the water is warm. They use their magic to hunt, using bubbles to capture small fish and animals. Their large, webbed feet make them excellent swimmers and they are able to move at very high speeds. Due to their bright color, these dragons are easily spotted in the lagoons where they live.

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.

Nepexes is the youngest male in the local colony of Shallow Water dragons. The coastline that this colony calls home is winding, full of twisted caves and hidden treasures for those who care to look. Nepexes has chosen and claimed a small submerged cave as his own; he doesn't live there, but it houses his collection. In a trapped air pocket that the rest of the colony is oblivious to, he has gathered some of the treasures that the sea has given him. Bright agate stones, fossils, shells, fragments of carved driftwood, pebbles of colorful glass worn smooth by time and water--these are the things Nepexes collects. He gathers the finest of them for his hidden cave, and by now he has built a fascinating and beautiful nest. His secret wish is to build a collection that will impress Siren, the colony's respected and reclusive eldest female. Siren has no inkling of Nepexes's interest, and he would like to keep it that way until his nest of sea-treasures is someday complete.