"Yes. I have been assigned to oversee you as you journey into the mountains to hunt down the Gorynych. If you are able to confront the creature and kill it, you will be permitted to claim the Ring of Maran for your quest, although the Kingdom of Naraka will claim to any treasure that this creature might happen to possess."  

Yvan's expression falls stoic when Father Tarkus explains more on Naraka and their society. Their way of thinking reminded the goliath of his tribe, remembering how those 'weaker' than would be left in the snow to die, or be forced to fight him in the ring. At the memory, he immediately seeks to hold Alys' hand, using the comfort it had given him to remind himself this would be the last task. There was nothing to be afraid of.

Upon meeting the Colonel, the barbarian merely gives the man a respectful bow of the head, though the way he pretty much spat that last word at them wasn't exactly settling well with the goliath. When he answers Courage, he leans down to the others and whispers, "Would any of you know what Riiselians means?"

Stella's face is utterly expressionless and serene as the man talks, betraying nothing of what she might be feeling of the situation. Out of the corner of her mouth, she mutters, "It's us. People from Riisel. Evidently that's sufficient to make us weak and/or inferior in his eyes." Her tone suggests that she is internally rolling her eyes.

Since Courage became something of a focal point for the Colonel, if he heard the whispering, the tiefling pretended to not notice, but rather keep conversation going a bit more, if only as a distraction. "So, we can expect the creature to have some degree of intelligence then? What with the treasure keeping n' all that. Tricky business, that! But, I'm certain this outfit can handle as much." He said with a small grin, knowing his more boisterous one might only diminish opinions of the party. 

"But what else more can you tell us about the creature? Even if its only hearsay, the knowledge could yet prove useful. And-..." Courage pauses there for just a moment, and with a bit more care for his next few words adds, "-that's should be about it."

As always when any figure was sharing knowledge, Alys would listen intently to absorb the details. Of course, as quiet as she was, she was attentive, and when Yvan would reach out to feel for her hand, it was there for him to find without a doubt. She'd reciprocate his touch, giving a return squeeze for comfort. The elf projected humble confidence, although deep inside she was bursting with it, wholeheartedly believing in the group being able to tackle anything.

Should the Colonel not have much to share with Courage, the wizard would try a search of her own. Eyes clouding over white and activating her third eye, Alys would sift through her mind and memory for any information on the creature and/or it's locations of preference.

Gorynych: 15 + Guidance: 2 +10 if history, +5 if nature

(It's Arcana, actually)

Alys knows that a Gorynych is a greedy, aggressive creature that is able to steal territory and treasure from dragons and is able to get away with it on account of possessing three heads that each possess their own breath weapon and ability to take independent action. She knows that its' preferred locations would be the traditional dragon hideouts like caves in forests or mountains.

Alys shares the information with the rest of you, which spares the Colonel from having to do so. "If those are all of your question, let's be going." The Colonel leads you out from the Narakan capital and into the countryside. Moving through the countryside, you can somewhat understand why this society is so warlike and the Narakans seem to view you all as being soft, as the fields of green that are a common sight in Riisel are a rare sight here, with the environment being dominated by dark, imposing mountains. The Colonel leads you into the mountain pass and leads you to a side road that goes up one of the mountains rather precariously. "This road should take you into the lair of the Gorynych. Good luck, Riiselians."

In grabbing attention and passing along the details, Courage lets out a low whistle and nods. "Almost reminds me of the Deep Dragons of home!" He chuckled. "Well, the mutant varieties with two to three heads instead of the one. But either way, keeping spread out will be doubly important for the fight to come by the sounds of it. That, and taking it unaware from the start if at all possible. Though, uh... not sure how effective we would be at that last bit." He adds, looking to his own near dwarf sized armored form, and then to the rest, glossing over Stella. "Bah! We'll be fine~ It's all fine~Let's go!" With that final assurance on the tiefling's part at least, they are soon to be off!

Sometime later and with the group staring for the most part down the path, both Courage and a shoulder riding Souperb had been rubbing their chin at that point before the Colonel's sendoff. "Uh...  I'm an Offworlder, technically, but well wishes in general to all of us is, uh, appreciated!" Courage said with a smile, then turned to the rest. "So, how we proceeding up? Casual stroll, or maybe something extra spoofy?"

After his initial question, the goliath fell silent, keeping a hardened gaze on the dragonborn as they traversed through rocky mountain sides. Yvan truly hadn't been a fan of those who thought lesser of his family, and it seemed that this was the one way to prove them wrong. So be it.

Yvan gives a grunt in acknowledgement to the Colonel's well wishing's, even if it didn't feel like a sincere one to him. He brings his gaze towards the path, brows furrowing in thought, before bringing his attention over to Courage. He tilts his head at the question. "What do you mean by... 'spoofy?'"

Courage looks up at Yvan with a raised brow (not that anyone would see it due to the visor) for a good few seconds there, before chuckling patting Yvan on the back. "Good one there, lad! You almost had me going for a second." He said brightly. But if after a few moments Yvan gave any indications on not understanding still, Courage lets out a softer and more awkward chuckle. "Ya know... magic. Or artifice. Or something else altogether that you guys never me about as of yet. Those sorta alternate means of transportation and slash or protection for the trip. Which, for the record, apart from me boots, I don't exactly have, uh, gadgets that might assist in this clearly treacherous climb."

Yvan did indeed make some indications that he had no idea what the tiefling was talking about with a thinned frown and quirked brow. His expression relaxes once it is explained to him. "That's an... interesting way to refer to magic..." He's heard the art be referred to some other things but never 'spoofy'. "Erm... I think the only other way we could get there is to... fly?" The barbarian passes a questioning look over to Alys and Vastra to confirm (maybe they had some alternatives up their sleeves?).

"I can cast Fly on all of us, although if any of you have means of flying yourselves, it would reduce the level of spell that I have to use."

Stella looks up now that Books has enough brainpower to actually check her sheet. "Well, I can do my wind thing, so don't worry about casting it on me," she says with a nod.

"Of course I can assist with fly to save some of your magic Vastra." Alys would smile.

"And I have me boots. So, that pretty much settles things for the moment.  I'll leave it to you two to decide who will be, eh, assisting Yvan here. But other than that, we should fly with some measure of haste given the time limitations, and me very much doubting you all would want to get into a pitched aerial battle. That said, I did forget to prepare me, uh, special draft for increasing mobility. But, I shan't be lagging too far behind, I assure you." Courage said while Souperb threw out a thumbs up towards the end.

"In any event, shall we get going? With any luck, enough of those extra heads will be too tired to warrant taking a peak outside there, no doubt, cavernous domicile." He adds with a chuckle. "Either way, lets keep parallel at least loosely with the 'road' so that we don't lose our way, eh?" Souperb takes that as its cue to climb into its creator's backpack for the ride just as Courage with but a thought triggered some mechanism in his boots. For soon the tiefling would rise a few feet off the ground; his boots, as well as small ports along other parts of the armor(when necessary for stabilization), emitting a similar repulsing force as the faint barrier the elder often deployed ahead of time for battle.

"I think I have a potion that can help me... I don't want to waste your reserves..." Yvan says as he begins looking through his pouch. A few moments later he pulls out a potion with a clear liquid swirling within it. A thin frown spreads upon his lips. "Not exactly the most appetizing looking potion though..." 

The goliath clears his throat and looks over the others. "Shall we?" After watching Courage kick start his boots and armor, Yvan downs the potion in one gulp, his expression twisting at the taste. Soon, he begins to hover in the air, stumbling forward, before trying to regain his balance to stand straight. "I don't think I'll ever get the hang of this..." He mutters, cheeks flushing crimson in embarrassment. Eventually though, he ends up taking hold of Alys' hand to help him steady himself, murmuring an apology and also a thank you.

"Hmm. It seems that we don't need to worry about making anyone fly." Vastra kicks her heels together and activates her Boots of Flying, moving on up with everyone else. When she makes it to the top with everyone else, she spends a few rounds casting Mage Armor, Mirror Image, Enlarge/Reduce on Yvan, and then downs the treat that Courage made for the party.

Courage follows Vastra's example once the group leveled out once more. Some potions are downed, plans considered, and eventually Courage figures out the right incantation as to leave Vastra enveloped in translucent red armor that soon would fade from view. But, each time that she was to be struck, it would be there in an instant trying to deflect most attacks. With all such preparations out of the way, he looked to a reforming Stella as the go to for the assault to begin.

Prep Over the Minute:
Cast (1st level)SoF on Vastra.
Drink Potion of Stone Giant Strength.
Drink Potion of Invulnerability(in last second).

Initiative(For when necessary): 9.

Stella finishes reforming and pops the treat down.

Obsidian sits on Yvan's feet while he waits for everyone to buff up.

Like some of the others, Yvan also snacks down on Courage's treat. After Vastra casts her spell upon him (and after giving Obsidian and Hoodini some well deserved good luck scratches), he unsheathes his blade and sets it aflame, and once everyone looked ready and prepared, he leads them forth into the lair.