At the Crossroads

After finally climbing up out of the last dregs of the quagmire passing for a swamp in the foothills of the eastern slope of the volcano, the faint traces of a path continuing up the exposed hillside toward the volcano can be found and followed. The slaad village pointed you in this direction, either from information gathered from them or from searching their remains. Ahead of you is a hundred mile trek up into the mountains, with the scarred, smoking peak of the volcano lying straight ahead. There are many ridges and difficult terrain ahead, but the way is clear and the land rises before you toward your goal.

The path appears to lead in that direction. Moving forward along it, you are able to make out prints indicating regular use, but they appear to be slaadi, with a few orc-like prints mixed in. After a couple of hours, you sense the trail is shifting slightly to the north. Before long, there appears to be a drop off to the right of the trail, and the trail itself appears to drop over it a few hundred yards ahead of you.

If the party approaches with caution, give them advantage on their perception rolls as they crest the ridge. There is a crossroads 500 feet down the hillside. The trail continues past the crossroads, but turns more directly north, and away from the volcano. A smaller trail crosses it, leading along the inner ridge of the valley more due west. To the right, it appears to drop rapidly down a steep hillside to the northeast toward the plain far below.

At this point, the party will have to decide where they wish to go. The information they gathered in the swamp suggests that they may be able to gain entry to the dragon's lair through a kobold lair located on the northern slope of the volcano. It also mentioned the presence of a cult of dragon worshippers in the mountains to the north of the volcano. A successful survival check (DC12) will believe the kobolds can be found along the crossing path, while the trail you have been following will lead to the cultists. There is evidence of heavier travel north toward the cultists.

Perception (DC16) rolls will reveal the presence of a lone figure huddled to the northwest of the crossroads in a curve of exposed ledge, apparently waiting. Undiscovered, it will hail the party at the crossroad as they decide which way to go. Either way, it will step forward revealing itself to be a tall humanoid, cloaked in a heavy, copper-colored cloak, drawn closely around its face. As it rises, it shakes off a great cloud of dust as if it had been waiting for a long time.

The traveler is actually a copper dragon disguised as a human hunter. It has been waiting for a party to come along that it believes can help its cause. It will approach with friendly, although guarded, intentions. It offers to treat the party to a meal and rest at its shelter a mile up the road and into the pines that are growing on the northern slope as it drops back toward the plain below. If they refuse, it will offer to lunch with them at the crossroads, though it cautions them about the risk of kobolds and orcs traveling along these same paths.

Unless it is directly attacked, the copper dragon will persevere until it has the party's attention. It will make it known that it opposes the red dragon, and would like to see it defeated or driven away. It will encourage the party to visit the temple of the dragon cult before heading to the volcano. The cult is dangerous and readying some action aimed at increasing the power of the red dragon, and must be stopped. The dragon will also mention that the cultists are in possession of an item that could be useful in helping defeat the red dragon.