Lucien Vandiir's Links
Lucien and Riken met in Barovia, where they decided to team up along with Calvan and Xaros. Lucien immediately spots that Riken is a former noble who chooses to walk away from his family and abandon the life of a nobleman. Lucien cannot really understand why someone would abandon a life of luxury and therefore is a little skeptical of Riken, but he still sees his uses and strengths.
After spending some time with Riken, Lucien has come to find out that Riken can be reasoned with and is actually easier to get along with than he had first anticipated. After Riken had shown him compassion with his fears and attempted to help sustain Xaros, Lucien has come to trust Riken more than he has before. He now knows that Riken can be trusted with secrets and sensitive topics, a trait he values.
Riken has known Lucien for a short amount of time and already feels that the man had questionable character and seems to behave in a manner both becoming and unbecoming of a nobleman. He seems to be a bit of a snob and Riken finds that expected, but his hostile behaviors causing Riken to suddenly become the leader of a whole town has made him question the man's sanity and moral compass. He worries for the party as a whole, but when it comes to Lucien, he worries in a very different way compared to the others. Deep down he hopes the other might have a change of heart and head so he doesn't risk getting them into even worse messes. He worries the man's callousness and his "I'm clearly better than you" attitude will risk getting them into trouble or killed. The man is lucky he's so attractive otherwise Riken would have lost his patience with him from the beginning.
Lucien does not like that Calvan is rather hotheaded whenever anything vaguely related to his missing fiancé comes up. He has never thought that much of romantic relations and thus doesn't have much empathy for those that do.
After some time with Calvan, Lucien has come to appreciate that the rogue is pretty straight forward and doesn't question his motives as much as Riken does, nor does he question his authority. He has come to appreciate Calvan's use in their party but otherwise doesn't know much about him or his motives aside from his missing fiancé.
Calvan met Lucien at the Blue Water Inn along with Xaros. After meeting Lucian and getting to know the man more and more, he just reminds him of all the snobby nobles he’s dealt with over the years. Especially with his demeanor and behaviors, Lucien has proven himself to be a bit of a know-it-all and a man that definitely prefers the finer things in life, but with the sudden murder of the burgomaster, he sees him differently now. Questioning his judgement and decision-making capabilities. He is also concerned over the man's reactions to Strahd as well, feeling like he’s behaving way too buddy-buddy with the clearly evil vampire lord. With the man’s behaviors, treatment of Riken, and the way he carries himself, he knows he can get used to him, but he doesn’t have much reason to care for him just yet. Calvan still needs more time and reasons to be able to trust Lucien, only time will tell if the man can show him he’s worthy of his trust. However, he will say this about the man, he never backs down from a fight and has always had their backs in the end. This alone gives Calvan reason enough to trust him as much as he does, but he's still a bit too full of himself to actually like the man, Still, only time will tell.
At first, Lucien wasn't quite sure how to feel about the so-called 'C', who later turned out to be Carmilla. After a few battles with her by their side, he has quickly realized the importance of having such a capable cleric at their midst. Lucien finds it amusing how C and Xaros always seem to bicker like siblings, though he isn't all too thrilled when that bratty behavior is directed towards him instead. After the revelation that Carmilla is actually Strahds daughter, Lucien has taken a more active interest in his companion. He plans to use this information... for better or worse.
Carmilla has started to somewhat look up to Lucien, even though she knows that one step too far means bad stuff will be happening, she also knows that he is a somewhat better man, than her father could ever be. She still doesn't always agree with his actions, but at least knows his stance and will try her best to stay on his good side, while still being her stubborn self.
Lucien found Xaros at the edge of town, starving. They shared mutual goals, and therefore formed an alliance to fight the vampire Strahd. Lucien has come to appreciate Xaros' usefulness when it comes to magical matters as well as his combat capabilities. Xaros has proven to be a capable companion, which is something Lucien values highly in people he surrounds himself with.
After some time, the party has finally found out the real reason why Lucien and Xaros are so close—at least from what Lucien has told them. Lucien helps Xaros with hunting, as the Dhampir needs a regular supply of blood in order to survive. The reason for this is that Xaros doesn't have the heart to harm anyone innocent, be it animals or people.