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.

In a town where every dragon knows every dragon's parentage and achievements, Woodpile is a nobody whose parents are nobodies, and she's fine with that. She only goes to events and parties if she absolutely must, and when in a place with a bunch of other dragons, she really tries to remain a part of the scenery. Her job requires low skill and is only moderately dangerous, and it's one where no one doing it gets recognition. She only has the name Woodpile because soon after she moved into town, her lack of name drew more and more unwanted attention from various people as they began wondering why she's being mysterious and theorizing that she might be hiding unsavory machinations.