Cavern Lurker Dragons are nocturnal ambush predators. Although small, they are very aggressive and will attack anything weak enough to be overpowered. Their preferred method of hunting is to lie in wait in a cave, burrow, or other small, enclosed space; when any potential prey passes they will lunge out to grab hold of the unsuspecting victim and drag it back into the lair. Cavern Lurkers have an odd aversion to sunlight and almost never venture out during the day. More commonly sighted are the odd piles of bones they stack near the entrance to their dens. Their mating call is a low-pitched bumping noise.

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.

Iris knew what she wanted to be from the second she hatched. The life of a cave guard, and the honour that bestowed in it, was her ultimate dream. She'd always wanted to work as one, and used to pretend that she was a guard in her own right, protecting her family from anything that would come to close. She trained nonstop, until she had the fiercest roar and the sharpest claws of all her classmates, and in the evenings she read up on the traits of wild dragons, and how best to fight them. As she grew older, she learnt how to patch up basic wounds, and how to fortify an area, as she felt that these abilities would be useful in her future career. She even made friends with some of the cave guards who lived nearby, and sometimes was allowed to accompany those who worked on the smaller cave entrances during the darker nights where no higher ups were looking. It was a shame that she had to train to be a messenger, but it was what her family wanted.