Camping beyond the Crossroads

The copper dragon will attempt to convince you to come with him to deal with the cultists. If the party chooses to fight the dragon, play it out. The dragon is reluctant to do combat with the party, but will assuredly defend itself. It will fight for a round or two, but then take to the air and fly off toward the northwest, denouncing the party as villainous and reprehensible for their actions.

The dragon will take to the skies angrily, and fly off to stew. Eventually, it will calm and shadow the party if they continue toward the cultists' complex. It will not interact with the party directly, but will try to protect their approach by intercepting any enemies along the way.

If the party decide to take the offer made by the copper dragon, it will agree to lead them. The dragon will take them a couple of hours northwest on the trail, and show them a secure location to camp for the night. If the party follows its' lead, they will not have any trouble in the night (the dragon hunts), and will awake fully recovered in the morning. Without the dragon's guidance, they will not find the secure location, and will risk discovery by passing groups in the night.

Two groups will pass by, first a trio of blue slaad making their way to the swamp. Have the slaad and any awake characters on watch roll perception checks. DC20 will notice the other group, DC10 or less will reveal a group's position whether they notice or not. The second group is a band of orcs on the hunt through the mountains. It is unusual to find them on the trail, but they are using it as a reference moving toward the crossroads, and will break away from it once past that.

The orcs consist of 5 generic orcs, and an orc war chief. They are actively scanning the area as they march, so a perception DC12 will reveal the PCs to them. The PCs can notice the orcs while they are still 80 feet away with a perception DC18. Otherwise, they will notice them within 20 feet, but not have time to awaken anyone prior to rolling initiative.

If either of these battles goes really badly, the copper dragon will sweep in to help win the fight, but will not stick around afterward for anything less than a truly inspirational moment.