Swallowtail Dragons are graceful and quick flyers, much like their namesake bird. They are capable of precise aerial acrobatics, and can reach very high altitudes. Because of this, humans observing these dragons are often astonished at how large they are when confronted up close. A Swallowtail’s diet consists of insects and small mammals plentiful in temperate forests. These dragons are also made remarkable by their paper-thin wing membranes, which allow light to pass through, creating an astonishing effect on starry nights.

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.

Originally called Weak Drab the Tiny, the dragon finally decided as an adult that she wanted to change her name and asked the first intelligent creature she found for a suggestion. That happened to be a small human named Jocelyn—a strange name, the dragon opined to herself. After a long and confusing conversation about "copying" names, the little girl suggested "Joycelyn" because swallowtail dragons looked pretty bright and cheerful to her. The dragon accepted this without question and moved on, and she never saw the human or that town again. She joined a large group of mixed dragon breeds shortly after the meeting and had plenty of opportunities to exercise her new name. Joycelyn is not a very joyful individual: she's usually serious and quiet, and she keeps her thoughts to herself. Some would say she's morose. She does her jobs around the community without complaint, and when she isn't busy, she can be found sitting on the cliff, staring at the ocean.