The fiendish slurpers of blood—the vampyres, so-called—the dead and yet alive, called by others—are cunning beasts—verily, some suspect they even reason and converse—yet beasts they remain. These vampyres lead solitary existences—even their beastly and abominable ilk, they shun. The bloodslurpers are not idly named, for the blood of other beings is their bread. They hack apart their victims with sharp claws—daggers, in truth, though of one with their flesh. Upon feasting thus they grow in foul force and can turn into flying rats—gaining these animals’ keen hearing and also a sense of smell to match that of hound or hind.
It is our luck seasoned hunters of bloodslurpers know ruses with which to trick these horrors and slay them without excessive risk. To kill a vampire easily and surely, it is enough to lure him into the light of the sun. He will then disintegrate into a fine dust at once, ready to be scattered to the four corners of the earth by the next gust. Yet well-advised is it to further equip oneself with garlic, lest the horror crawl too close and strike out at the hunter with its dagger-claws. Vampyres fear garlic with all-consuming terror—the mere smell of it reduces them to violent heaving and sobbing. In this moment should the hunter pound into the beast’s heart a sharpened stake—the second best weapon (the first being the sun) for the killing of the bloodslurpers.
Value: 10 crowns Weight: 0.5