Side quest: The Dragonborn Clan

As you steel yourself for the first challenge of your journey, you notice a small path, winding its way uphill through the trees to the right. At the junction where the path meets the road, you spot a wooden signpost, the greenery around it recently hacked back to make it readable. It reads:

‘AKIRION CLAN TERRITORY - OUTSIDERS BEWARE’

After studying the sign, you eye the path a little more guardedly. The name Akirion sounds draconic, and you wouldn’t want to face an entire clan of dragonborn, especially not on their home soil.

You spend a moment re-reading the words, uncertain, until your curiosity gets the better of you. Walking past the warning and into the forest, you’re struck by a sense of awe. On both sides, trees tower scores of feet into the air. Their thick trunks are covered in tough, dull grey bark, and dark green leaves form a thick canopy over each. Under the trees is a layer of hardy bushes and grasses that see little light.

A narrow but fresh dirt track runs fairly straight through the wood, with small stone cairns lying by the sides of the path every so often. The canopy hasn't grown to cover the recently-cleared trail yet, though the edges and the cairns sit in shadow, so you have the sunlight to warm you as you head upwards.

The path is quite steep, and it feels like you're heading up one hill, then another, then another, so eventually you stop for a break. As you go to sit down by the roadside, you hear a noise, muffled by the trees and the bushes but still audible. It's the clash of metal meeting metal.

Forgoing your rest for a moment, you head through the foliage until you find the source of the sound, in a small canyon between two hills...