Gold dragons are the ones most often killed by humans, who consider their scales to be extremely valuable. These golden scales grant them a high level of protection, similar to armor, and they use this to their advantage in battle.

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.

Pyrite Glimmergold likes to lecture other dragons on the importance of minimizing one's impact on the environment. Most of what he says is quite sensible, so many dragons agree with him and take his advice, but his insufferable manner can be hard to bear. Once, a few of his friends banded together to dump indelible dye on him, hoping that he would be less convinced of his own brilliance if he temporarily lost his bright gold scales and truly "went green." It didn't work.