Lorcan smiles at Chendra's sudden change of manner. He takes a seat on a handy chair, before answering her questions.
"I've not fought any dragons as yet, but I have once tackled a vampire. Myself and some companions.. not these fine gentlemen," He gestures at Horros and Durban. "but earlier acquaintances of mine, were protecting a village close to the boarders with the outside. Some fell beast had been preying on the young women of the village, killing some, and leaving others close to death. My companions and I lay in wait one night, keeping a watch upon the daughter of the miller.
"That night, a strange mist flowed under the door of her room. That alone would have had us suspicious, but more was to come. The mist took the shape of a young man, a swain of the village who had been dead almost a full two weeks.
"Needless to say, we moved forth at this, myself and a warrior by the name of Haldirk attacking the creature with our blades, which had been imbued with magic earlier that night." Lorcan raps his fist on the guard of his rapier as he says this. "Yana, a follower of the blessed Pelor called forth a ray of light that scorched the creature's cold flesh, while a mage by the name of Raynard struck out with bolts of pure magic.
"The foul undead swayed from our first assault, Yana's light having grievously wounded it. But before we could finish our foe, he dissolved back into his vapour-form, and fled into the night. We followed, and Goddess only knows how, I managed to lead my companions to it's lair, an old cave up in the hills.
"We cautiously moved into the cave, only to be swarmed by a dozen or more bats! They swept down at us, breaking Raynard's concentration on the spell he had started to work. Reluctant as I am to kill animals, I and Haldirk quickly slew several of the bats, but we had been distracted at a vital moment! The vampire leapt forth from the shadows, many of the wounds we had inflicted on it already healed. It lashed out, it's claws scoring deep into Haldirk's skin, and my warrior friend paled at this hurt.
"We attacked the vampire again, my and Haldirk's swords wounding the creature. Yana called again on Lord Pelor, and his light burned away yet more of the creature's corrupted body. Raynard threw an magical arrow of acid, and this too caused the undead to stagger. But only for a moment...
"It sprang at me, claws outstretched, fangs bared! I felt one of its tainted hands touch my skin, and for a moment I thought my soul would be torn from my body. I prevailed, but my strength had been weakened.
"Yana touched her holy symbol to the creature, the sign of the sun seeming to be almost as effective as Pelor's own radiance. The creature yet again flinched back, and this time we took no delay. Raynard invoked a scroll of power, a clap of sorcerous thunder flaying at the vampire. Yana threw water blessed by the gods onto the creature, and Haldirk and I sheathed our blades into it's chest.
"Again it turned into fog, but this time its flight was short, flowing into a coffin at the back of the cave. Haldirk tore the lid off the vampire's hiding place, and I drove a wooden stake into its black heart, returning the poor soul to the proper state of death."
Lorcan sits back, having almost finished recounting his tale. "I recovered from the vampire's touch, but Haldirk was less lucky. His wounds were infected from the foul muck that encrusted the claws, and he had to retire from the life of a hunter of the dead. But perhaps he is the lucky one. He runs an inn near the eastern mountains, and now has a wife and child."
