A Dragon, a Kobold Tribe, a Fey Wood and a Traitor

[Obergnom]

My players will start to follow a side track quest next session.

The Quest:
The Lord of Shadowdale hired the PCs to end the Kobold threat to the trade road in the North. They allready suspect a green dragon to be involved. They are hired not only to slay the kobolds and the dragon, but to find out who is behind all this, as it is highly unlikely a dragon would ever become a highwayman.

Background
Adam van Winkel, a merchant from Sembia and owner of Shadowdales "Old Warehouse", was approached by the Cult of the Dragon to stop the trade coming from the Moonsea through Shadowdale. This would considerably strengthen Sembias position (High Ranking Dragon Cultists are wealthy Sembian merchants) on the markets of Bard's Gate.
To reach this goal, van Winkel approached the young Green Dragon Agoshyvor "The Verdant", who is battling with his siblings for the domination of his fathers domain. His father was Dretchroyaster, a powerful Dracolich. Through sheer luck, van Winkel knew of this, and using his connections to the Dragon Cult, promised Agoshyvor to solve the riddle that locks his fathers hoard, a feat none of Dretchroyasters brood was able to do. This would surely grant Agoshyvor a huge advantage.
Agoshyvor quickly took control of a tribe of Kobolds and used them to stop the trade coming through the North Ride to Shadowdale and thus Bard's Gate.

During the upcoming sessions, the PCs will navigate through a fey wood, in search of the dragons lair (They have rough information about its location, aquired from an elven clan). They will have to fight the kobolds and the dragon, make a connection to the sembian spy and get a chance of solving the riddle themselves.



While I have a reasonably good riddle, I have no good ideas for the rest of it. At the moment I would:

Make the search for the lair a skill challenge with a kobold ambush thrown in
Have a bunch of Kobolds at the dragons lair, but I do not really know what they are doing there, maybe the whole tribe lives close to the dragon?... same thing about the connection to the merchant, how would you make it known?

What I am looking for are good encounter or location ideas (The party is level 3) to flesh this out... and some good advice how to get the traiter info to the players.

 

[Gilladian]

Perhaps the dragon tries to bargain with them for his life with the traitor's name?

Or perhaps the kobolds are aware that a human comes to visit every so often and can be made to tell when the next visit will happen? They may suspect he's in league with the dragon, or may believe he's a servant/spy of the dragon's.

Of course, the kobolds were probably long-time servants of the old dragon, and "moved into the lair to keep it safe" when he died/vanished.

 

[Obergnom]

Hmm, the dragon bargaining... thats interesting... somehow I did not even think of that... my players are usually totaly confused when that happens

 

[Obergnom]

Next session, my players will be on their way to the dragons lair.

The remaining Kobolds live near the dragons lair, and the players have to pass them to reach the dragon.

- The PCs will have to solve a skill challenge (perception) to reach the kobold lair without triggering dozens of traps, thus loosing surges and alarming the kobolds.

- at the lair, the PCs will have to somehow overcome the kobolds. Most likely through combat. The path to the dragons lair is hidden with a powerful illusion.

- The Dragons Lair.

I am aware that solo encounters can be quite boring... any ideas how to spice things up a bit?

 

[Gilladian]

Is there any reasonable way the dragon could have knowledge of the PCs? Could he have been warned of their incipient arrival?

If so, perhaps he's prepared for them. Maybe he has a hostage to use in his negotiations. If not, maybe he has a long-term prisoner. He might have a bard in a cage, or something like that.

He might also have some constructs, or some animals that share his lair to make the inevitable fight more "fun". Remember, a dragon is usually a bit overpowered even on his own, so don't go overboard.

You can always plant some items in his lair, too, that point towards his involvement with local politics. A shield with an unexpected heraldic device on it, or scrolls written in a particular magic school's "dialect" could be clues to who the real bad guys are.