Balloon Dragons are so named because they are filled with a gas that makes them almost lighter than air, similar to balloons. However, they are not prone to bursting, as they are covered in tough skin and can deflate themselves if necessary. In addition, they generally are slow moving. They use their gas bladders to float to the tops of trees, where food is more abundant. They can shift their weight from their backs to their fronts, allowing them to reach leaves and fruit.

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.

Nurse Puffles was originally the Clan's battle strategist, but seeing the clan was too small to be a threat to anyone, Puffles' job switched to being the official caretaker of eggs and hatchlings, a job much more suited to Puffles' taste. Although she does her best to watch over each and every one of the newborn hatchlings, some of them still manage to cause trouble once in a while, so the devoted nurse is hoping to find an assistant with faster reflexes who can help her corral the more spirited younglings. Puffles has a seemingly infinite amount of patience for hatchlings, a quality most useful when dealing with particularly rowdy young ones. Puffles has her heart set on being only a caretaker, never a mother, because she claims that "no male dragon in their right mind would choose me as a mate over any one of the graceful young females in the clan!" and claims that she is too old to mate now, anyway, but is content with watching over the new adoptees into the Clan and the children.