You will have to fight plenty of groups of Cultists, including Reavers, Archers, and Mages, throughout these caves. A new threat will be Cultist Assassins, who can use Stealth to sneak up for damaging attacks on your characters, and can use the other abilities associated with the Assassin specialization. Another occassional threat is the odd pack of Dragonlings who will swarm your party from all sides. For these situations, use crowd-stopper abilities such as Captivating Song, Sleep, Waking Nightmare, Blood Wound, etc.
Here you will have to fight a large group of Dragonlings and Cultists. The chests in here will contain random items. There is also a book here that yields a Codex entry for "The Frostback Mountains".
Here you'll have to fight another horde of Dragonlings and Cultists.
Here you'll notice what appears to be an animal pen. Once you come in, three Drakes will attack you from behind. Drakes will have, besides their melee attacks, special abilities like breathing fire and roaring, which can stun nearby characters. They are also capable of an Overwhelm attack that can kill a character outright. Each Drake when killed will leave behind a Drake Scale which can be used in the crafting of special armor. A nearby Pile of Dragon Filth also has a Stone Warrior Statuette which Alistair will appreciate as a gift.
Here you'll encounter a Cult Overseer, who happens to be an Arcane Warrior that can bolster himself with abilities like Shimmering Shield and Combat Magic. He will also be assisted by several Cultists and Dragonlings, as well as two Drakes. Here you're faced with a strategical choice. One choice is to make a b-line straight for the Overseer. This means having to risk getting overwhelmed by the hordes, so don't try this unless you have crowd-stopper abilites like Captivating Song, Waking Nightmare, Blood Wound, and such. Another approach is to lure the hordes away from the Overseer and deal with them separately. This is actually fairly reliable since the Overseer tends to stay on the top of his little pyramid, but you might have to risk a spell or two. The Drakes will each leave behind a Drake Scale, while the Overseer will leave behind Spellweaver and possibly another random item.
Here you will have to fight a Mage, a few Cult Assassins, and a Drake. The Drake will leave behind the Drake Scale. The Dragon Egg in this cave will have Lifedrinker.
A book in here will provide the Codex entry for "The First Blight".
Here you will meet the leader of the Cult, Kolgrim. He will be supported by two other Cultist Reavers, as well as two Cult Mages who are spread far apart. Kolgrim, if you allow him to, will explain the Cult's beliefs. They believe that the High Dragon that occupies this mountain is the glorious reincarnation of the Prophetess Andraste, and they will do whatever they can to protect her and enhance her power.
Kolgrim is however open to a deal. He offers you a Vial of Dragons Blood to pour into the Urn of Sacred Ashes, in the belief that this will help the Dragon, the reincarnated Andraste, realize her true potential. Sten will dislike the idea of encouraging 'worship of lizards' as opposed to pursuing combat against a Dragon. Keep in mind that fulfilling Kolgrim's request is an action that will not go over well to say the least with your good-aligned companions, Leliana and Wynne in particular.
If you are intent on slaying the High Dragon, then you'll need to kill Kolgrim for his horn. In fact, it won't take much to provoke Kolgrim into fighting you. Any dialogue choice that's even remotely insulting or disrespectful is usually enough. This can be a challenging battle, even for high level parties. Kolgrim attacks slowly with his two-handed axe, but he pretty much hits every time, and for quite significant damage. He himself needs to take quite a lot of damage before going down. He is also supported by two other Cult Reavers, and two mages who are well back and away from the thick of things. Take out the Mages as quickly as you can. Pull out Mana Clash if you've got it, otherwise use things like Crushing Prison, or Petrify followed by Stonefist. Now do what you can to either immobilize (e.g. Glyph of Paralysis) Kolgrim, and reduce his fighting ability (e.g. Misdirection Hex) while you go to work on the other two Reavers. Once his helpers are gone, now go all out for Kolgrim, making generous use of Heal as well as Health Poultices if you have to. Once he falls, he'll leave behind Faith's Edge (Silverite) and Kolgrim's Horn.
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"*KNOW THIS: There is MUCH that CANNOT be seen in you. I shall WATCH you. You have been PUNISHED. But it will not save you from FUTURE punishments for CRIMES to come.*" -Vhailor, Planescape: Torment