[They'll whittle down their options soon enough, van Zieks is sure. Either that, or they'll pester him into defeat. He much prefers these sorts of battles.]

If you'll not play the part of the sphinx, then perhaps there's a thorn we're meant to extract.

[He'll actually get to a more serious suggestion in a second, maybe. He can't help himself when he's on the opposite side of this particular man-turned-dragon.]

Can you spot anything particularly amiss with our scaled friend, Miss Iris? Aside from the obvious.