Striped Dragons come in a dazzling array of colors complemented by an intricate pattern of stripes. These bright colors and patterns help attract their favorite food, insects. Because their prey is so tiny, striped dragons must spend a large portion of their day eating. The color of the offspring is usually determined by the dragon’s mate.

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.

Rhyme has doubts about the stability of the society he lives in, governed by their owner. Under her dark system, hatchlings must be raised by specifically assigned 'capable' dragons (of the same breed as the hatchling). This has resulted in several murderers, torture artists, and violent dragons being in charge of raising hatchlings. Rhyme barely survived his hatchlinghood, due to getting too close to the Ice and Nebula dragons, even though his own guardian, Return to Sin, was caring and motherly to her hatchlings. He's taken note of some of the signs of the horrible system, as well, such as dragons attempting to take their own lives or even contemplating the idea. Unfortunately, Rhyme has begun contemplating the same exact thing in order to escape the sheer discomfort and paranoia of the cave. On the other hand, he quickly notified Return to Sin of his thoughts, to which she replied with love and care, slowly convincing him otherwise. Though, he suspects his thoughts may return soon.