09/21/2024
Star and Scale faced off against the three "Nails" of Vast, Zawala, Rax, and Temult, when it became clear they meant to bring Zeb and Eden to the Final Sea not as allies but as enemies.
The group managed to win the day amidst the choking atmosphere of the Ruins of Caern, but noticed the three vanished upon being defeated. Rax claimed they'd be better prepared for Star and Scale, "next time," before impaling himself, apparently to go back to wherever they came from.
Concerned the Nails could be back at any time, the group pushed onward until they came across a small creature calling itself Marzapan, some type of aquatic species who was seemingly impervious to the toxic atmosphere of the ruins.
The group helped Marzapan finish his chores in exchange for an introduction to his master, a person known as Turkish, who lived in the Ruins, in the hopes Turkish could help them find Lithua'wan, the contact of Mythranthar, who could help them locate the King's father.
Marzapan's chores involved digging up soil and rock samples, and while doing so, the group found a large piece of metal which seemed like a shoulder pauldron of a giant.
Marzapan took Star and Scale to Turkish after his chores, an old dragonborn man who lived in a bubble at the bottom of a crater, within which green and good things still grew.
Turkish claimed to be a failed Idyllic of Drakar Skala in Vad, and was in Caern as a form of recompense for the sins of Hellfall. He spoke to the group about the conflict between the two nations and how each side needed to take responsibility if there was ever to be peace.
Turkish also gave Zeb a sight of riding through the twisted labyrinthian trees of Drakar Huggtand in Vad, an offer of a life of plenty and happiness, which Zeb shook off in order to fulfill his current duties. Turkish accepted Zeb's resolve, and pointed the group toward where they could find Lithua'wan.
The group struck out, leaving Turkish and Marzapan behind, to find Lithua'wan buried beneath a collapsed building of ash.
Star and Scale helped the drow out, but he was more concerned with the bones he'd been collecting buried beneath the house.
After a quick back and forth and deal making, Lithua'wan showed the group the location of the angel presumed to be the King's father, also named Cadogan, who sat atop a peak of the Scaleback Mountains.
In exchange, the group agreed to recover the bones of some nameless being, located beneath the monoliths that seemed to be the center of Caern, a place Lithua'wan claimed would be the death of at least one of the group.