When Water Dragons mature, they lose the ability to survive on land, entering the water permanently. They are adept swimmers and eat whatever fish are in the lake they live in. They tend to inhabit the same lake for their entire lives, although a few live in the ocean and swim all over the world.

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.

Metemne has had a rather harrowing childhood. As a hatchling, he lived in a castle moat, rather like a watchdog. But Metemne liked his humans and wasn't very good at acting scary. So when he got too big to keep in the moat (and too friendly), he was moved to the sea nearby, in the hopes that he would be free to seek out his own adventures and stop pestering all the guests.  But he was loath to leave his "family" and stayed in the bay, attracting quite a bit of attention. Unfortunately, despite his friendly demeanor, he was angering the local fisherman population by scaring off (and eating) the fish.  As an apology, he now offers something of a tugboat "service" on calm days, and he'll guide lost ships back home when the sea is treacherous for free. All he asks in return for the "service" is a 50-50 split of the boat's catch.

...Naturally, nobody ever takes him up on his offer. Instead, Metemne has become something of a tourist attraction, as he lets humans ride him around the bay.