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Gryphons or Dragons could explain it. But Gryphons tended to nest closer to mountain peaks or summits. No reason the Trolls would have been driven this far down unless it was an extra large and aggressive flocks. A Dragon could work as they are willing to live anywhere along a mountain. Top or bottom depending on species. Though Wilhelm wasn't completely familiar with this regions wildlife it was possible. His wayward mind snapped back to the situation as Alrick approached.
"What is it?" He says taking a few steps closer as the Drakes are brought around and the Trolls wander off.

Alrick indicated a small puddle of black goo that had steam coming off of it. "I believe that is what those chimera you encountered before bled?" Alrick asked quietly as to not worry the soldiers. Rumors about how dangerous they were had quickly spread.

Wilhelm's eyes widened as he quickly moved over to the substance. It was only a small amount. Maybe a third of a cup full. It had the same dreaded smell. Wilhelm picked up a small twig and dipped it in. Lifting it the ooze like liquid was thick and sludged back off the stick. Wilhelm dropped the stick in it as it slowly sunk. He saw it move away. Small drips by footprints on the Trolls. If nothing else they had encountered them. This was certainly an ill omen.
"I hate it when you're right Alrick." He turns to the troops. "But this would seem to be why they fled. We have less time then I thought." he stern anger which was shown in his face before was lessened with a cold fear being masqueraded as his usual stern determination. "We need to move."

"Agreed." Alrick said, going to his drake. The soldiers finished packing everything up. They mounted their drakes and continued on wards. Jackie caught up to Wilhelm and Alrick, clearly concerned. "Everything ok?" Jackie asked.

"As ok as it could be considering." Wilhelm says not looking at Jackie as they start riding. "If time is on our side we should be good." He says as they continue. The remainder of the journey was mostly quiet. Wilhelm thought hard about it they fought more. The fact the last Chimera was so much stronger then the ones before it disturbed him. He didn't know what to do but he knew when the time came he would need to face them down.

"Alright." She said. They continued on forward. The forest slowly came to an end opening to a large mountainous frozen plain. As they went on, a pair of large mountains could be seen on the horizon. Between them was a narrow path, which would thankfully be wide enough for them to get through. The path was called Dragon's Pass. The mountains were common nesting grounds for Dragons, but a good portion of the mountains were protected by a magical field that drove Dragons off, allowing safe passage through.

They got through Dragon's Pass and were met with a massive clearing, encircled by mountains. At the center of the clearing was a large lake that had a gargantuan mountain of solid ice. Surrounding the lake was a large wall of ice, obviously meant to protect the lake from entry. The ice mountain had several spire towering in the air. The soldiers stared in awe at the size of the structure. It was easily larger than anything the empire had built back in Arkden. "Holy cow..." Jackie muttered in shock.

Not even Wilhelm could hold back his awe at the massive spires of ice. During the war he never got this far in. Few people in the Empire ever got this far in. Alrick was one of them. But to everyone else this massive mountain of ice with surprisingly intrinsic designs was mind boggling.
"I take it that's the capital?" Wilhelm asks, his eyes locked on the construct. The ingenuity of the Y'kish was outstanding to build something like this. Most likely using their magic.

"You think?" Alrick questioned. "Come on. We won't actually be getting into Vylhiin with the bunch of you staring slack jawed at it." Alrick said, before continuing on. The Soldiers followed shortly. "H-How'd they build that?" Jackie asked. "With their magic." Alrick said. "Since most Y'kish magic makes heavy use of ice, there are architects who use their Ice magic to make buildings." alrick said. "It's similar to the a Carpenter Mage, only more extreme." Alrick said.

They got to the edge of the lake, standing before a large gate. "Halt." Spoke a guard. The Guards wore full suits of armor. Like most Y'kish guards and soldiers, the armor was made of ice, though this ice had a deep crimson color. It was commonly called Blood Ice. Whether or not it was actually made from blood was anyone's guess. "Who are you and why do you seek access to Vylhiin?" The guard asked. "We're Paladins from Amestra. We are to speak with High Chieftain Qi'ilv on official Paladin Business." Alrick said. The guard glanced at his partner, before going to the gate and opening. "Mind you soldiers, Paladins." Spoke the Guard. "Neither of us wish for trouble." He added.

Wilhelm nodded to them as a sign of respect. As they entered the fortress like city it was surprisingly warm inside.
"I'm frankly surprised that went down so easily." Wilhelm says just loud enough for Alrick to hear. Wilhelm and the soldiers looked about impressed. Wilhelm was more subtle than the soldiers who's mouths were agape.
"Outstanding." One says as they finish passing through the gate house.

"That was a Chief-Guard." Alrick said. "They're the closest the Y'kish have to the Paladins. They are required to be calm and collected." Alrick explained. "The chances of one of them attacking us or treating us with noticeable hostility is low." Alrick said.

The interior of the mountain was odd. The city was separated into several layers, with inter connected brides. stair ways, and paths. Much of the buildings inside were made up of ice, some having metal, wooden, or stone additions to provide better structure.

There were some areas in the city with ground from outside and growing plants. Y'kish traveled about the city. It was clear that the city was the 'heart' of the country. Many different Y'kish races could be seen, from the short and slender tree living Y'kish from the south, to the tall, bulky mountain Y'kish from further north.

A unit of Chief Guard followed them giving a protective barrier from the thousands of eyes following them. This escort was for the ease of the people and the Paladins alike. Y'kish looked at them with a mix of curiocity, hatred, fear and disdain. Wilhelm's eyes continued to scan around. Taking note of everything he could. There seemed to be standard Y'kish soldiers all over the main road. Standing at attention but looking more than happy to execute the Empire forces. On rooftops archers sat ready and watching like birds of prey. Wilhelm took a brief moment to glance at Jackie and his soldiers. He was worries how they would react. The soldiers were cautious and anxious. However they had the discipline to hide it behind stoic faces. They were worried of attack but so far they were yet to be harassed by officials. Wilhelm took comfort in seeing their professionalism as he looked to Jackie from the corner of his gaze to gouge her reaction to the city.

Jackie hadn't seemed to notice all the stares and guards and soldiers. She was still staring slack jawed at the construction of the city. "It would be best to leave your Drakes at the stables." Spoke up one of their Escorts. "Pathways through the city to High Chieftain Qi'ilv's palace are narrow and won't allow for the Drakes to go through the city." The Guard said.

"If you say. Our wagons carry gifts for your leaders from our own. Would they be taken care of and delivered?" Wilhelm inquires looking over to the heavily armoured Y'kish. "The Emperor was quiet insistent on not showing up empty handed." He adds probing for any form of response.

"Yes. We'll ensure they're delivered before you leave the city." The Guard said. "Very well." Alrick said, before the guard motioned for them to follow. The Guard lead them to the stables where the soldiers and Paladins dismounted, before continuing to the Palace.

Everyone was watched with intrigue as they were escorted. They were taken through more discrete paths. Avoiding as much commotion as possible. The soldiers marched along clad in their armour with emblems of the Emperor on their shoulders and chest plates. Wilhelm kept his eye out. Everything so far was going smoothly. But knowing there was that Necromancer or whoever was behind those Chimera about made him dreadfully nervous.

It wasn't long before they reached the Palace. It was built into a massive column that lead up to the ceiling of the city. It had many entrances and exists all over the column to different levels in the city. The Paladins were allowed inside, though the Soldiers were kept outside.

The soldiers were instructed to remain in the courtyard and with confirmation from Wilhelm they remained. Wilhelm, Jackie and Alrick were escorted in and brought before the councils ruling members. When brought into the grand audience chamber Wilhelm gave a bow of respect as he got to one knee before them.

Jackie and Alrick knelt down in a bow as well. The council was made up six Y'kish, each from the different subspecies. One was the same subspecies as Jackie, having pale and dark green fur. Another had limited greyish blue fur on their body and scale-like hide where there wasn't fur. Their horns stuck straight out of their forehead. The third was shorter, had dark green fur with orange markings, and longer arms than the others with claws on his fingers and toes. The fourth, a female with very small horns, had drab greyish green fur with counter shading. Her ears were small, herl imbs were stubbier than the others and she had webbed hands and feet. The Fifth was tall, and had white fur with leopard-like markings, they're horns pointed upwards, but were other wise straight. The last councilor was a drab shade of purple with exposed scales. They all wore similar red and purple robes.

The High Chieftain, Qi'ilv was clearly the same species as the sixth counsilor, a mountain Y'kish. The Average mountain Y'kish stood around eight or nine feet tall. Qi'ilv stood nearly eleven tall, towering over everyone in the room. He rose and approached the Paladins, quickly scooping Alrick up into a hug and letting out a deep laugh. "Oh I've missed seeing you my friend!" He declared happily. "It's a pleasure to see you as well Qi'ilv." Alric chuckled, as he was set down and Qi'ilv returned to his throne, a large seat decorated with the same red ice used in the High Guard armor and dragon bones. "I assume you haven't come all the way up here to visit?" Qi'ilv questioned. Alrick scowled. "Unfortunately no." He began. "The Paladins have made a few, worrying discoveries. We've encountered Chimera. We're uncertain how they were made. They don't seem to be made through the use of a Philosopher's stone, but we don't know how else they could have been made. However, we fear there's a possibility that the one who made these Chimeras might be seeking the Philosopher's Stones, if they do not already possess one." He explained.

"We've found through old texts that the Y'kish had a Philosopher's stone many years ago. Well, according to legend." Alrick said. "Further more we'd received reports of a massive Dragon-like creature further into the Kyldrii Mountains. This information has led us to believe these legends are true. We were sent here to find this stone, if it exists, and either secure it, or ensure it is secure already so that it does not fall into the wrong hands." Alrick explained. "Oh yes. Dragons in Kyldrii. What are startling discovery. What will they predict next? Water in the seas?" Spoke the Mountain Y'kish Councilor, named Viilk. "Reardless of how foolish it is to see a Dragon in Kyldrii and immediately assume it's a Chimera, we all know those Philosopher's stones are just old legends." Viilk added.

Jackie was quiet, in awe at the sheer size of Qi'ilv. Not even Orcs could get that big. She was honestly kind of intimidated by the massive Y'kish. As Alrick spoke, she looked around the room. She was surprised by just how different each of the Y'kish sub species looked. She took in the rest of the room. The roof had an ice sky-light in it, and the walls were clearly made from stone. The floor had the scaly hide of some kind of Dragon splayed out as a rug. As she was looking around the room, she noticed one of the Guards in the room staring at her. She shrugged it off assuming he was trying to figure out why a Y'kish was in the Paladins.

Wilhelm rose and stared down the council. He was surprised by how friendly Alrick was with him but it would make this easier. As for the other Councillors their arrogance was to be expected. If nothing else their politicians were similar to the Empires.
"We wouldn't be coming here if there wasn't premise. We had our scholars look over the evidence. Browse through potential Dragon species we know of here. But none matched. It's possible we may have missed some. Maybe some rare species living in the deepest mountains. But if not. If this is correct and the stone is there. If it gets taken." Wilhelm shows tension around his eyes. "These Chimera are abominations. If they are the result of a madman with alchemical skills and not a stone. I dread to think what he can create with one." His voice was thrown around the chamber. His concern was evidently real. "As for the stones existence. We both know it exists. I would think your council would have had this information. Even in an archive." He says with a frank sarcastic tone. He seemed to take a shot at Viilk, albeit discretely.

The guard looking to Jackie was similar in appearance. All the guards looked on to the Paladins with caution. They were the most elite of the elite for their army. They were in charge of protecting the council and each one could take on a band of Orcs with the ferocity of a ravenous Drake. His skin seemed a faintly lighter colour. Likely a sign of age or exposure. He was fascinated by Jackie. She seemed so familiar to him. But the memory was over a decade ago back in the war. He hadn't thought anyone in the outer regions made it. But this Paladin. This Y'Kish Paladin. She seemed so familiar. His hand quivered for but a moment as he regained composure. It's impossible. He thought as he kept looking at her taking in what details he could see. She's a spitting image. He thought as the rest of the events in the chamber faded away into the background.

"I'm afraid to say that we don't have one of those stones." Spoke the Councilor of the same species as Jackie, his name being Al'yq. "Even so, I htink it's clear not all of us believe in them." Al'yq said, glancing to Viilk. "And even if we had a Sorcerer's Stone, what in the name of the warm lands makes you think we'd give it to the Empire?" Spoke the short limbed Y'qish, Maalen. "Need I remind you your Empire was the reason behind that horrid war." She hissed. "That's not what I read." Jackie muttered under her breath. Maalen shot her a glare. She was about to speak, before Qi'ilv spoke up.

"You mentioned fighting Chimera." Qi'ilv said, not at all interested in the bickering about the existence of the stone, or who started the war, or whatever. The massive Y'kish looked to Wilhelm. "What were they like?" He questioned.