Hey Guys!

So I'm doing a really fun campaign where I'm having a friend run a Young Dragon bent on taking a region for himself, to rule, plunder, and dominate. He has a Cleric of Death named Krull (ripping the tortle from Avernus haha), he has 10 low level lizardfolk paladins, and he has 30 or so kobolds at his disposal. He also just found a magical orb of scrying (I'm going super classic haha).

But I'm trying to figure out threats that could be foiling the dragon's plans that are independent of the characters. (I don't plan on the characters even finding out about the dragon for a while - I'm going to let it organically grow). I feel like I need to give my friend who's playing "Zalmarok the Burning Nightmare" something to worry about and manage. I considered another dragon, but I feel like it should be something more interesting. Not necessarily another big beast, but maybe an organization? Or a tribe of stone giants? Not really sure.

Looking for any ideas you guys could throw my way! Maybe there's a dragon-slaying party in the region, or there are spies trying to infiltrate, who knows!

I'm really excited for this campaign, thank you guys for reading!! :D Happy Dming and happy playing!