"Hmph, in my experience information is the heart and soul of survival... of course, my viewpoint is a bit skewed, information being my trade. I'm John, by the way. Sergeant Johnathan Fitzgerald; information brokered, sites reconnoitred, provisions acquisitioned, allies overly-watched, manships marked, and dragons baited, at your service... Technically retired, but in this economy who can stay idle?"

“Now, two neat little tidbits; first, I can probably recreate your crime scene if you give me a few days, and second... I might not know where I am, but I do know where I'm [i]not[/i]... specifically, I am not in my own universe. Lots of reasons, none very interesting, no time to explain. There's an ornery dragon with a grudge outside; we likely have minutes before it starts ripping apart the castle."

"And it's a fire dragon by the way; it's just got a fondness for avalanches. The fire's probably methane, but I wouldn't rule out hydrogen. Dragon's approximately 60 meters in length, 10 meters body diameter, 100 meters wingspan. The scales are actually transparent and, based on their electricity resistance and the damage patterns to a few around the mouth, they are most likely carbon laminate... that's lots of very thin layers of diamond to you laymen. Red coloration suggests high red cell count- it's built for high altitudes. Scales are sparse or non-existent on the wing membrane, the insides of the joints, and around the top of the nose."

"From there what I can tell you is basically just speculation, but it's speculation based on a hundred or so lab grown weapons that all shared a lot of similarities to this thing. I've got...” John surveys the group around him “...four ideas on how to take it down. Only one's guaranteed to be lethal, so if you want to ask it some questions you should get your chance... Oh, didn't I mention? It's relatively intelligent. And vindictive. Can't forget vindictive. And I shot it. A lot.” 

“...It [i]really[/i] wants me dead."