In the Night

During the night, one of the party (whichever the GM feels is the most connected with Everett), is visited in their sleep by Everett. Anastasia has used the Dream spell to project him into their dreams. The spell allows Everett to enter a trance-like state, and be projected into the other character's dream. Inside the dream, they are able to communicate freely as long as the character remains asleep.

Warm air rises in rippling waves across an expanse of barren rock and pooling streams of lava. The air feels cracked and hazy. The silence of the setting is overwhelmed by a pulsating pressure that carries the weight of danger and a grim threat through the very air itself.
Yet, standing in the midst of all this, you feel no actual threat, instead the anticipation of waiting. Turning to take in your whole surroundings, you sense you are inside a large cavern which seems to have no walls and no ceiling above you, not even sky. Across the room a figure solidifies out of the haze, approaching you in an oddly smooth way, almost as though gliding through the murk. As he appears before you, you recognize him as Everett, the ranger you rescued from the ruin of the watchtower in the first encounter of your adventure. He approaches with purpose, and a wry grin upon his face. He greets you warmly by name, reminding you of who he is and assuring you he has returned to you with critical information for your benefit.
He will respond to the character's questions if they have any, and allow them to interrogate him if they prefer. He intends to provide the details he has uncovered, which are sparse, but may be helpful. He can relate the details of his journey to Anastasia, and their studies, as well as their experience with the dragon cult deep in the mountains.
The most critical information he has to impart is that the cultists are more widespread than initially thought, and the small shrine you cleared out to recover the necklace was only the latest in a series of shrines, not the first. During their captivity, they learned of a major shrine located in the mountains near the volcano that was directing the activities of the cult as a whole. They have started a network of shrines running through the mountains, and begun a process of searching for and recovering artifacts of power or threat against the dragon.
The necklace is a powerful artifact created by the dragon's magic with the help of the original cult. It was a gift to allow them to spread through the world subjugating others to the will of the dragon and the cult. There was an effort in the last century to hunt down the cult and destroy it, and it was successful. The necklace disappeared from knowledge, and only in the last decade with the resurgence of the cult has it been discovered.
Everett will also reveal the details of the magic item's abilities as described in a separate entry. Unfortunately, he doesn't know much about the dragon's actual lair, other than its location within the volcano. He also couldn't find the location of the primary cultist shrine, but believes it is probable that it is within the volcano, or very close by.