Background

Three events in your past

Three beliefs

Three goals

For more than a millennium, the might of Riedra has thrown itself against the defenders of Adar and its people. Though most folk of the mountain refuge have never seen one in the flesh, dragons receive an almost holy reverence in this land. All Adarans know that dragons created their mountains, and that the draconic power of the Storm Guardians has protected them since long before the Riedran siege began.

However, not all the dragons of the mountains fit the noble mold of the average Adaran’s expectations. For many recent Argonnessen expatriates, the Storm Guardians’ mythical reputation is an insult added to the injury of bitter exile. Most such rogues simply establish territories far from Korrandar, often along the storm-battered cliffs of the Barren Sea. However, a rare few dragons join the age-old conflict against those the Storm Guardians seek to protect.

Along the northern extents of Jathara Sound, the natural border between Adar and Syrkarn, a Riedran outpost is served by an unlikely ally—a chaotic neutral young adult silver dragon (MM 87) who has become an agent of the Harmonious Shield. Haurungad was a wyrm ling when his family fled Argonnessen and brought him into exile. Though lacking the lawful bent of most Riedrans, the dragon follows the Path of Inspiration zealously. In the Riedran belief in ascending to a higher state of being, he senses echoes of the dimly remembered faith of Argonnessen. Though he can be unpredictable at times, the dragon is steadfastly loyal toward the troops with which he serves.

Approach

The war zone frontier between Riedra and Adar is a harsh and unforgiving landscape. Neither the hard-hitting fire soldiers of the Harmonious Shield nor the Adarans defending the mountain passes have any patience for adventurers or explorers. Wise parties avoid the forces on either side of this thousand-year struggle.

PCs traveling within Adar might be teamed up with the guides of the Summit Road (SoS 30), whether they actively seek the dragon’s lair or simply stumble upon this adventure location in the course of their travels.

Features

Adar is a land of endless mountains and fierce storms that rage and abate as if by conscious design (SoS 19). The winds in the peaks and passes are always moderate or stronger (DMG 95), and twisting mountain trails often reduce spotting distance (DMG 90).

The steady lash of rain and snow often obscures all sight beyond a few feet, and the relentless rise of the high mountain pass forces all to fight for breath. No Adaran patrols can be seen, but they are no doubt watching closely. Such patrols deal harshly with any suspected of being in league with the Riedrans.

Suddenly, a massive skeletal maw appears through a break in the sleet. A dragon’s skull some 20 feet in length juts from the rock outcropping. Its open mouth screams a silent warning, and in the shadow beneath it, a small cave opens up into darkness.

Important Features

No detailed map is provided for this location. The placement of the following features is at the DM’s discretion, as is the composition of guardian forces.

Riedran Fort: Since allying himself with Riedra five years ago, Haurungad has adopted a territory along the mountainous Adar-Borunan frontier. There, the dragon works with one of the small fortresses (known as “tams” in Riedra) that mark the war zone. The fort holds some two hundred fire soldiers (lightly armored troops specializing in hitting hard and fast; see the encounter table) and Riedran regulars under the command of a captain named Shaalas.

The Riedran garrison operates on high alert at all times, even when not actively engaging in skirmish operations within Adar. Discipline and duty are a way of life for the Harmonious Shield. Intruders see the inside of a Riedran fort only as prisoners.

Hermit’s Cave: Below a narrow mountain pass three days from the Riedran fort, a fossilized and fractured dragon’s skull juts up from a bluff of splintering shale. The great black skull overhangs the entrance to a small cavern, hidden behind a stunted screen of wind-whipped scrub pine. Within, signs of ongoing habitation include a pile of bearskins, a half-filled rainwater bucket, and a collection of carved wooden instruments on a stone shelf.

Riedran troops call this pass the Noose, for both its steep, arrow-straight rise and the number of deadly skirmishes that have taken place here over the years. They know a mad hermit who dwells in the cave, and they obey Shaalas’s orders to leave him alone. The Adarans who patrol this territory see the hermit as a Riedran sympathizer, but they have bigger concerns than this harmless exile.

What neither the Adarans nor the rank-and-file Riedran troops suspect is that the hermit is actually Haurungad in disguise. The dragon lairs here when in human form, using his hermit identity to approach any non-Riedran travelers in the area. He is as cunning as he is duplicitous (Bluff +16); the dragon plays the role of a harmless fool in an attempt to befriend the party. To win sympathy, he feigns great hunger (adjusting his form to appear near starvation). He then assesses a travelers’ motivations before offering to lead them to a secret location of great interest (treasure, ruins from the Age of Demons, a secret Riedran outpost, and so on). If the PCs fall for this ruse or knowingly play along, Haurungad takes them on a pointless, wandering journey through the mountains as he plies them for information to be passed on to Shaalas. When he is satisfied, he abandons or kills the travelers as the mood strikes him.

Lair Entrance: A two-day hike farther up into the mountains, the dragon’s lair proper is hidden beneath the ruins of a stone watchtower dating from before the Sundering. Now little more than a circular stone wall atop a windswept rise, the tower’s scattered remains are spread across the slopes beneath it, making for a hazardous ascent (Climb DC 20). With no ground-level entrance, access to the interior can be had only by flying over or scaling the 20-foot crumbling walls (Climb DC 15). Once inside, the PCs can explore a field of shattered rubble that hides the secret entrance to the dragon’s lair. The massive stone door appears to be a rough slab set across a low pile of rubble. It can be located with a DC 25 Search check, but it takes a DC 40 Strength check to push the massive portal open (up to six characters can attempt at once).

Dragon’s Lair: A system of underground caverns is protected by a few nasty magical traps of the DM’s choice and four well-trained ambush drakes (MM3 8). The lair is also guarded by a squad of six Riedran soldiers (fighter 3) that mutinied more than two years ago from Shaalas’s command. The six decided that secretly protecting a dragon’s lair offers greater job security than yet another suicidal raid up the Noose, and they are now officially missing in action. Proof of their service would likely undercut Haurungad’s relationship with the Riedran captain.