What does the dragon want?

[KorvinStarmast]

Note: this is actually Noefra, with my other party. And the time is actually late summer 250 AC (so no time quakes currently).

Ooh, so Enigma is still doing their shenanigans ... OK.

Which is one reason I don't want anything particularly world-shaking...that last half of 250 AC was already fairly momentous and Korvin's previous party (who was active at this time) had a lot to do with dragons elsewhere.

I'll offer a variation on the 'something disturbed my dreams' theme then.

Spoiler: You woke me up for this? I was still dreaming! Now go and do this thing for me!

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The dragon coming out its slumber is a ripple effect from when the Conclave got together. What happened to disturb the dreams of this very, very old dragon/wyrm was a direct result of the messages that had gone out to all dragons for the Conclave to convene.

The Cysgor (being sort of fey) are related to this, as is The Watcher. (Whom Gozh was hoping to supplant but did not). As I recall, he can reach out into dreams. Before the Cysgor "went between" and ended up in Shadow there was a small colony/settlement of them in this area where the dragon sleeps. Maybe it included druids or archfey warlocks or nature clerics. A pure water spring deep underground. Whatever.

There was a temple here thousands of years ago, a temple which is now deeply buried underground with only narrow tunnels to get to it. (See also various places in Turkey that have been dug up, the Old Greek city in Naples that is waay underground from the modern city, the nine levels of Troy, etcetera).

The dreaming dragon is awakened and now can't get back to sleep. Being so old, it knows that it's metabolic rate and age, and inability to conserve anima/life energy by staying asleep are going to ends its life ... and it is at peace with that.

It also knows that when it passes on the local area will be rocked by natural disasters large, medium and small. As a matter of principle, since it has had stewardship over this region for so long, What The Dragon Wants is to pass that responsibility along to a worthy successor.
Why? Something in that buried temple needs to stay buried, or, it needs to be delivered to someone fey like (maybe Cysgor and maybe others), or needs to be protected.
Who will be the new protector of the legacy?
{As a twist, the thing in the temple is the other egg that's it started incubating but that egg, like the petrified egg you mention, was a little slow to develop. Until the two are brought together neither hatchling can be born due to {reasons} that have to do with Quartus and Anima. }

New Guardian? Who should it be?

It can be the party, or, it can be an NPC whom they have to locate, and this can all be related to the Fey Child (whom Enigma recently met in-context) who has known this dragon since it was a hatchling.
Or it can be an elf or Cysgor who is in suspended animation per the previous attempt at an answer. (See spell effect).

Party is asked to find that successor, or become that successor, and in any case they need to have an evac/disaster relief plan in case the dragon dies sooner than later and the region breaks up.

The option to to go deep underground, find that "thing" (egg?) and neutralize it or recover it should arise during conversation with the dragon.

Various giants might be allies or resources (Stone or Storm, thinking Cloud giants are not a good call here).

Spoiler: If they've gotten this far in the thread, then clearly the spoiler tags aren't stopping them.

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It knows that the egg is its child, or grandchild, or great-great-great-great-great-grandchild. It wants the egg to hatch before it dies, so he needs the PCs to find and travel to a land called Honah Lee to find the Artifact of Plot Significance, a scroll of Mordenkainen's Dragon Hatchery, the Wand of Bigby's Dragon-Hatching Hand, the Flame of Daenerys, and the Mace of Guffin, in order to hatch the little dragon before the ancient one dies.

Hilarity ensues when it turns out to be the wrong egg, and they now have a baby tarrasque and an upset ancient dragon.

The old dragon is obviously named Puff.

Spoiler: Why Puff?

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(Not sleepy, but rather stoned out of its mind!)