Arik's Pass
"Stories of selflessness are few and far between in broken times. To commemorate those events in which an individual risks all for seemingly little is worth every page and drop of ink this world can provide. I will write their stories. I will remember. As Highcroft remembers." - from the memoirs of Lewin Von Treet, Vault: the Land of Stuff and Things
Located along the Royal Road, above the peaks that empty into the Heart Pool, is Arik's Pass. One of the few traversable ways across the Scalebacks, it acted as a bridge between the Mythrisyl forest and the divine plains of Two Stars before Dragonfall.
During Dragonfall, when the people of Highcroft fought to get out from under their draconic oppressors, the pass became an important inroad to the domain of the dragons. The forest was protection but the pass allowed the people of Highcroft access to the dens of their enemies when they decided to fight back.
One of those decisions was the stealing of a number of dragon eggs from an elder dragon, Lithenlight. Fearing those eggs would create a new era of tyranny, there was little choice but to incur Lithenlight's wrath by stealing away and hiding within Mythrisyl forest until the eggs could be destroyed.
Those brave souls, or monstrous thieves depending on one's outlook, never made it back to the forest. Lithenlight caught up to them in the pass and stayed their destruction only until their eggs could be retrieved. It was then that one of the giants of the Scaleback mountains, Arikkarrashaa, an outcast from his people due to his immense size and overwhelming strength, heard the pleas of the people. His heart broke for them and the knowledge that a new era of dragons would spell the end of their civilization.
For twenty five days Arikkarrashaa shielded the people with his body, protecting them from the dragon's breath, protecting them from its ripping claws and tearing teeth. He bore wound after wound as the people escaped deeper into the mountains, able to rest while Lithenlight attacked and travel while the dragon rested.
It wasn't until Arikkarrshaa finally died that Lithenlight realized their prey had escaped along with their clutch. In their rage, they attacked Mythrisyl forest, which was the decision which cost their kind their homes in Highcroft.
To this day, the giant lovingly known as Arik is a paragon of honor and love for the kingdom of Highcroft. His armor and shield still lie in the pass, arranged as a mountain sized monument, protecting the pass to all who would traverse its roads. There is even now a community of people who live near the pass who worship the giants of the Scalebacks as some once worshipped the dragons. They believe Arik's spirit will be born again in a giant of immense size and will be the sword where once Arik was the shield.