Abandoned Outpost

Arriving at a small clearing high on the hillside, you have found a building with attached stable and gated yard. Unfortunately, the gate has been knocked off, as has the front door of the main building. The northern wall of the building is dominated by a towering second story with slits opening in the middle of its upper wall. From the far side of the building there is smoke rising. It doesn't appear to be on fire, but the smoke is rising from the entire length of the building, indicating recent trouble.
The whole place seems deserted, though a large fight clearly took place. There are signs of horses running off down the trail, chased by much smaller feet (Survival DC12 will recognize them as kobold prints). A thorough search of the main building will show many bodies, kobold and men, and a few goblins as well. The back half of the building is badly burned, with gaping holes in the rear wall and roof. Looking through them shows the whole river valley laid out below the clearing, clearly an advantage of this location.
In a large room to the left of the entrance, there is a staircase spiraling up into the tower. The upper floor is scattered with discarded and broken weapons. There are arrow slits in each wall giving coverage to the surrounding area. In the next room on the first floor there is a stairway leading into the basement.
Investigation DC15 will reveal that there were several potions and scrolls in the room at the back of the house, mostly consumed in the fire. If the check is 18 or higher, you recognize that the fire was set  intentionally to destroy the contents of this room. Searching (Perception DC15) will show three potions that survived the fire among the many smashed flasks (2 potions of healing and a potion of speed). DC18 will let them find three scrolls that escaped destruction (Alarm, Fog Cloud, and Sleep).
The rest of the first floor is scattered with broken items of all sorts. It appears that a dozen guards were stationed at the garrison. There are two larger rooms, one with sparse furnishings, the other with scribbled notes and arcane ingredients. If players look for a specific weapon or component, roll a percentile dice and give them a 10% chance of finding it among the wreckage.
Downstairs in the basement, little has been disturbed. There is dust and cobwebs everywhere, but no light sources. There are a number of small rooms carved out of the earth.
Perception DC12 to find a secret trap door in one room. In the room is an unconscious guard. He can be healed, but remains unconscious until he has had a long rest. Searching the sub basement can reveal a buried chest (DC18) with a mysterious orb inside.
While searching the building, the sun sets, leaving you to set up camp in the burned out building for the night. It does offer good shelter and protection, but it is also the target of an attack in the night. The kobold gang that ransacked it returned to their master with news of the victory, only to be savagely bullied for failing to recover the orb they were sent to find. They are sent back and attack in the night. There are 8 kobolds, 4 goblins, and 2 winged kobolds. There are many ways to play out the encounter, depending on where the players make their camp, what kind of watch they set, etc.

Where there's smoke, there's fire...

Traveling southeast from Denner's Bend toward Pinching, the mountain trail follows the contours of the ridges up and over the slopes of the higher peaks. The trail skirts the high valleys, hugging the outer spurs, running through forests of pine and birch.
Now the trail is turning down toward the moor, where it crosses to join with Black Ridge Trail which runs from Pinching along the Black Root Forest north of the River Flushing. You've been sent from Kellen to seek information on the dragons of the Iron Teeth. The clerics there have become concerned with stories from merchants and tradesmen about increased dragon activity along the ports and down the coast. Few outside the monastery know, but one of the young acolytes has been experiencing visions of dragon attacks, and they are concerned that the attacks are nothing to what lies ahead. They have told you of their concerns, and sent you forth to discover what you can.
For the last three days you have crossed the mountains separating Kellen from the coastal plain. Much discussion has passed among you about where to go, what course to take, but no consensus has been decided upon. Events are approaching to spur a decision.
Cresting the final ridge and looking down into the valley and across the moor, you can see Black Ridge Trail coming out of the forested hillside below. Looking back up the valley from where the trail emerges, you can see smoke rising from a point higher up on the ridge in the forest. There is too much smoke for a campfire or fireplace, but nothing else in the area that would cause so much smoke.
You quickly decide to follow the trail towards the smoke, in order to find the cause and assist in any way you can. You find a small path leading off the main trail up the hillside to where the smoke is rising. As you move carefully forward, you notice a clearing at the end of the path. There is a fenced yard surrounding a small one-story building with an attached stable. The gate is broken open, as is the front door of the building. The smoke is rising from the back side of the house which all seems to be smoldering.
What lies in the ruins? Where will this encounter lead?

Dragon Talk

"Some, I suppose, but the most powerful is Antaraxes Glavenis, and he lives at the highest point, Scarred Peak. Legend names him the father of all reds, but it is more likely a title. There is always conflict among dragons, and invariably the young surpass the old in strength. The old is defeated, and the young claims the lair of the ancient, becoming Antaraxes Glavenis as well. I have seen him once, enormous and terrible. Wings a hundred feet across, or so it seemed. Thankfully, I survived to be here today, selling you what you need.” The dwarf was tiring of the history lessons, and noticing other customers making their way around the town square, was eager to make a sale and talk to more people.

 There have long been rumors that Scarred Peak is laced with huge caverns and snaking passages, formed out of hollow lava tubes and enlarged by dragons and their willing slaves. Not surprisingly, there are no actual first-hand accounts to back up such tales. Occasionally, residents of the hills and mining towns, even the coastal towns that cling to the towering cliffs that butt the Iron Teeth and Scarred Peak, witness great winged creatures flying in or out of the mountains gaping crown. Whether it is one dragon or many, it presence is definite. And the hills are crawling with kobolds, the most likely fawners to serve a dragon.
Still, though dragons have been seen, they are rarely spotted abroad. In fact, the most recent sighting was more than ten years ago. No one really believed the dragon had died, but all looked at the lack of activity on Scarred Peak as a promising sign. Seismic activity was negligible, and prosperity grew among the prospectors and speculators in Aron's Bowl. There was a sense that fortune might shine on them all for years to come.
But three months ago, the earth had been shaken in the dark of night with a terrible fury. Since then, frequent earthquakes have been felt, and an almost constant smoking has been rising out of the many cracks and openings into Scarred Peak. There is concern that Antaraxes Glavenis is stirring, and will soon sweep down across the land wreaking havoc as it hasn't seen in over a hundred years.
More modern and practical folk have looked at the history of the mountains, considered all the legends and tales passed on from mother to son, from pub to pub, and from sailor to sailor in every port, coming to the conclusion that Antaraxes Glavenis is a title more than a name. They believe the increased activity portends doom for many, but not because the dragon is waking, but because its slumber and dotage has been challenged by the conquering virility of youth. A new, strong, young dragon has come to the mountain and is waging battle for its wealth.
One way or the other, all agree that terrible times are approaching. Word and coin have begun passing through the land, calling on any brave enough to make their way into the smoldering crevices of the peak and rid the mountain or one dragon or all. Promise of wealth beyond measure has stirred the sinews of many adventurers, and stoked the embers of greed in so many more. There is fame to be won on the peak, if one can survive.

Moor and Mountain

The land around Pinching rises steeply to a barren highland that runs for 20 miles from the coast to the mountains. This moor is full of steep dells and bowls that break up its otherwise flat appearance. These give access to numerous cave systems, which have attracted all manner of bandits. Little happens on these moors by day, but under the cover of darkness, it crawls with activity.
This is a bleak area of the world, stuck in the middle of hotbeds of activity. The Iron Teeth are an ominous barrier, and only marginally accessible, yet they are a doorway to riches through their mines. The sea is a ready conduit for cargo and men, but the great moor lies bleakly between. It is a region that must be crossed and often, and yet is so porous and concealing that it is far to dangerous to cross safely. It is a mix that factors into any campaign.
The mountains themselves form a wall along much of the southern coast of the moor, with only the narrow valleys carved by rivers over time allowing access into them. Yet the dominate feature of them is the mountain towering over them all, Scarred Peak. In all likelihood, the entire region is part of a giant super volcano, with the hot springs and thermal pools of Aron's Bowl the caldera of the giant. Of the ring surrounding it, Scarred Peak sits atop the highest slopes as a vulture on its high perch, threatening all in its shadow.
From the west and the north, the walls of the Iron Teeth rise so sharply and steeply that no passage can be found to the Peak. From the plain of Aron's Bowl, the slopes step broadly up toward the high peaks in dangerously inviting fashion. The slag from the weeping scars of lava giving the peak its name creep down these steps, mingling with the waters feeding the Flushing River, to create a hazy, sulfurous quagmire above the plain known as the Molten Hills.
The river itself starts high on the slopes of the southern face of Scarred Peak, snaking south and east around much of the Molten Hills, then turning north to cut through them and drop onto the plain of Aron's Bowl, then on to the sea. The eastern mountains of the ring can be scaled fairly easily, as well as those to the south. Their danger lies in their wild, untamed ways, and the extreme conditions that pervade the north once you get away from the thermal vents of Scarred Peak and Aron's Bowl.
The approach to Scarred Peak from the east and south is gentle by comparison to most of the other mountains of the range. This invites ascent, which risks the wrath of the dragon lairing within the volcano. Mostly dormant, the great wyrm within has become active of late, and begun reigning terror down upon the whole region, mountain, moor, and sea.
Tomorrow, we will consider rumors of the great beast itself.

Driscoll Vale

Pinching is a town at the mouth of the Flushing River. The Flushing cuts a gorge out of the moors running along the southern coast of Glacier Bay. There are many roads running out from Pinching to the north and south toward other settlements along the coast. The river gradually rises onto the moor and across it toward the east. As the river reaches the wall of mountains, it winds its way up into them through a deep valley cut by the water through long years of erosion. This is Driscoll Vale.
This is a hotbed area of activity for all sorts. Traders and miners use it to travel between the coast and Aron's Bowl, a broad plain high in the mountains cradled within the surrounding, towering peaks of the high mountains and Scarred Ring. This is an area of volcanic slag running down from the restless volcanoes in the high peaks.
Driscoll Vale, particularly near the moor, is rich in caves. These caves harbor all manner of creatures - from goblins to drow. This combination of travelers and monsters make the vale a common place for encounters. There is a great danger of kidnapping, banditry and general ambushes while traveling the trails up into Aron's Bowl. Most parties travel in groups for safety.
There are increasing rumors of organized activity by goblins and bandits kidnapping people to force into the mines as workers. Some believe they are being sold into slavery with the drow, others think the goblins themselves are beginning to exploit the mineral wealth of the hills and capturing people to do the work for them.
All that is know for sure is that Driscoll Vale has become a difficult stretch of road to pass through, and people have been disappearing from caravans and local towns and farms.

Mapping the Far North

North of Bayport, the mountains are wild, and nearly impassable. At least, they are extremely difficult to cross from the south. Swinging wide around the peninsulas extending from Kiel and Anspeth into the Glacier Bay, past the major port of Clear Harbor to Pinching, you can find easier access.
A river runs east and south down from the mountains to Pinching. The Iron Teeth are much easier to access from the north. Dwarves have opened mines throughout the mountains between the sea and Aron's Bowl. Aron's Bowl is a broad plain high on a mountain plateau within a ring of particularly high peaks. These are dominated to the southwest by a towering volcanic peak, generally referred to as Scarred Peak for the many jagged clefts and ravines splitting it apart. These have come from the many eruptions through the years.
It is believed that the mountain is home to an ancient red dragon. Access to the mountain is hindered by an area of swampy, brackish horrors known as the Molten Hills for its combination of lava, swamp and fetid pools.

New Starts

It is a new year, and a chance for new beginnings. It is always tempting at this time of year to start a journal or a diary, begin some project or diet, etc. I've been neglecting this blog of late, but not the concept. I've been able to do something with D&D on a daily basis for some time, although the holidays have slipped a wrinkle into that. The bonus is that when I haven't been able to work on a game, I've generally been able to play in one.
The Christmas holiday means a busy two weeks of jumbled schedules and relatives in town, which means less time online, less time developing any of my games or ideas, but compensates by giving us a chance to sit at the table with real dice and play. That is the best distraction.
Now, the holidays are passed, and the new year has begun. So it is time to start fresh. I've been having trouble focusing on one thing over the last few weeks. Our regular online game has been interrupted, and with separate face to face encounters filling the space, it is easy to get distracted by all the other projects that have been floating in my head. I thought this would be a good way to combine several elements to mutual benefit.
I'll be back to regular play in another week at the most, which will tie my attention to that one campaign for a while. Taking advantage of the urge to journal with the new year, I can develop other concerns concurrently, and use the forum to focus my energies on them. I think for this project I want to develop a dragon adventure, The Expedition to Scarred Peak. This was the basis for my NaNoWriMo project this past November, and has some good features to it that will make a good game. That was a story, and this is a game, but it gives me a framework to start with.
Today is an introductory piece, a planning session. I'm not fully sure of how this will work or develop, but I needed to start with an idea. I have several locations sketched out, and that will make a good opening. There may be a week's worth of entries related to that, starting with an overview of the location, key points along the campaign's journey, featured groups and monsters, and magical items. Subsequent entries can explore some of these more deeply. The key isn't to drag it out unnecessarily, but to give everything the space it needs to be explained and developed without trying to cram too much into any one post.
For now, the adventure is set in the far north, beyond the Iron Teeth Mountains, and features a red dragon living in a temperamental volcano towering over the mountains at the edge of the sea. Unfortunately, the route to the dragon's lair is by land, and runs through a more circuitous route. Tomorrow, we'll start with the geography of the area, and highlight some of the key locations.