While the mystique and romanticism surrounding the vampire is well known, the cultural fixation upon the Bodak is compelling and, quite frankly, a little astonishing.
The bodak is an undead creature that resembles a wight or other non-decomposed humanoid undead. Its most powerful ability is its gaze attack, which can snuff out the life of opponents. This terrifying power was apparently not to stop gnomish bard and playwright Glimstobbin Bwaddle from creating a series of plays and ballads about a pair of the creatures, Bo and Luke Dak.
Bo and Luke Dak, as the story goes, were fine young men killed by the corrupt Sworn of Bergis. Their Uncle Junsan, a priest of the OlderSister, redeemed them when they rose from their graves in their new forms, and they commenced to have heroic adventures, foiling the Sworn and helping the innocents of the area.
Their most popular ballad, which was usually used as an introductory prologue to the plays, is written below:
The Daks of Bergis
Couple dead old boys,
Seeking glory and praise,
Out for revenge an'
I should probably mention
They can kill with their gaze.
With just a glaaaaance,
Oh yeah, they slay all their foes.
OathMaker priests, they get mad
When their lies are exposed.
Just some dead old boys,
Only recently killed.
Someday the CryptLord might get 'em
But the Law never will.
Their most popular magical item, the "General Grath", was a Stone Horse that seated two and was permanently empowered with the Jump Spell, as well as a Magic Mouth that played the first few notes of "Oh I Wish I Was in TwinGate."
The popularity of the Daks of Bergis is somewhat mystifying when one looks at the plays and sees that they essentially have the same plot. Sworn Swine, leader of Bergis, enlists his bumbling sheriff Rosconius to bring in some evil hired muscle and take care of "Them Dak Boys." Then there would be a chase scene, which usually involved the Daks jumping over a collapsed bridge on the General. Then the hired muscle would turn on Sworn Swine, and the Dak Boys would have to rescue him and save the town.
On the other hand, the plays did introduce several colloquialisms into the common vernacular. Some of the more popular examples: