Cult Backstory

Copper dragons and red dragons have long been adversaries. The copper dragons like the high hilly terrain west of Aron's Bowl, and have long lived within a broad valley sheltered within the high mountains surrounding it. Many years ago, two adventurers entered the valley as members of a party slaying dragons. The coppers had word of them, and hid in their caves. The reputation of the party was grim.

Erin Kamina and her best friend Ran Tethrek began adventuring as young people. Erin was in her thirties when she started out into the wild, a wizard finally out of the academy, and itching to impact the world. Ran was younger, mid twenties as far as he knew, a half-orc raised on the fringes of civilized society. He didn’t like to admit it, but he felt a touch of blood lust, and yearned to savage anything he could. He was not readily welcomed in most adventuring circles because of his looks and wild nature. Erin was often dismissed as old, and weak, and out of touch. They found each other, accepted their differences as a bond that couldn’t be shaken, and joined forces against the world. They quickly made their fortunes, and a strong reputation for success in their endeavors. Once shunned, they became sought after for adventuring groups. In time, the call came for a dragon quest. It was to change their fortunes.

The adventuring party had been making their way through the mountains, slaughtering any dragon they could hunt down. They had made a name for themselves coming up from the southeast, killing several dragons - white, blue, and if you believed rumor, even a gold. There was a terrible commotion in the volcano to the south of the coppers valley two weeks prior to their arrival in the valley. The coppers were hopeful they had driven the red off, and some hopeful that it was dead, when the party arrived in the valley. This made them slightly less cautious than they should have been.

Concern grew as the party advanced on a central promontory that had long served as a nesting site for the coppers. The eggs would be cared for their under the watchful eyes of coppers ringing the valley protectively from the high encircling hills. Three of the party advanced on the promontory while two stayed back. Suddenly, as the coppers were poised to come to the defense of their nest, a massive red dragon swooped down into the valley from the direction the party had come, and unleashed a cloud of flame that enveloped the three out ahead as well as the nesting area. A great cloud of smoke and flame hid the terrible battle from view, but in the end, the dragon rose and soared away, leaving burning carnage in its wake.

The two stragglers had taken cover, and hidden from the dragon's assault. Eventually, the coppers came down out of the mountains to assess the damage, and to unmask the two characters they had watched hide. The nesting site was a smoking ruin, and thankfully, had not been in use at the time of the attack, but the coppers no longer wanted anything to do with it. The two members of the defeated party, Erin and Ran, threw down their weapons and surrendered, begging to be spared. With their hatred of reds, and having witnessed the destruction of their nesting grounds as well as the party members, they took pity. Erin and Ran threw themselves at the mercy of the dragons, and swore off adventuring, asking to stay and learn from the dragons.

The coppers consulted, and thinking they could work together, offered to provide the two with a sanctuary to study in and be safe while drawing together the resources they needed in their study. They also suggested that a way could be found to avenge the loss of their party members and seek revenge in one last dragon attack against the evil red that had attacked them. They all agreed, and a fortification was erected on the promontory for their use. The nesting grounds were relocated to a more secure (and secret) location. The group sent out word and rapidly grew.

In time an unease grew around the coppers, as they began to suspect treachery among their new neighbors. They slunk into the background and watched. The cult grew and expanded their fortifications, mostly underground. They maintained a neutral external presence, but became more secretive. The coppers suspected their intentions. They also suspect the two made an alliance with the red to expose and destroy the rest of their party, gain the confidence of the coppers, and wait for a signal to trigger some trap against them.

The dragon cult have an item they will use against the copper dragons when the time is right to act, an item dangerous to any dragon. The cultists came to the area claiming to seek the coppers’ alliance against the red, though in fact working with the red to undermine them. The copper dragons are keeping a watch on the cultists - preparing to attack, waiting for the cultists to make their move. They both think the other is not aware of their motives. The coppers began suspecting the cultists’ true allegiance and have become watchful. The cultists have become increasingly secretive.