I was exploring the desert coast by Yaraq....

[ClanGreyhood]

and ended up by the festival stone out there. WHen I climbed to the top I saw a tower filled with drudges that had a pinkish, swirling portal over it. I fought up to the top of the tower and found a button, which I pushed, and an untraslatable note. The portal was still just hanging in the air above me.

Can someone tell me what this is and / or direct me to where the story behind it is?

[Gustaive]

Ho there!

That has to do with the lair of the madstar Marionette! There's a person in Yaraq who knows of this ... but I think he'll want to know what happened to his brother before he tells ... ;)

[Cuaradan]

As Gustaive mentioned, that tower is tied in with Mad Star Marionette, whose lair is just below the tower. However, there are actually two quests involved there. One involves the missing brother of Ma'yad ibn Ibsar, who was also looking into the Mad Star mystery. The other quest involves a scholar named Akyafi ibn Sumwar. He is looking for information about the Mad Star and had originally hired the brother of Ma'yad. Both of these people can be found in the bar in Yaraq.

However, neither of these quests lead to information about the Mad Star itself. While the energy there does look like portal magic, it is not a portal, at least not like most portals in Dereth. I am aware of no way to reach the energy, and doubt that it would be plesant if I succeded. ;)

To my knowlege, the Mad Star is like many other places in Dereth. A legacy of the Empyreans but little else is known of it.

~Cuaradan~

[Order of Chaos]

If you need to know anything about everything, go H E R E! (http://acvault.ign.com/)

[MeTaGarfield]

If you need to know anything about everything, go H E R E! (http://acvault.ign.com/)

Or if you want everything about everything (basically) but served in a slightly unorthodox manner: http://www.thejackcat.com/AC/

But if you want answers like those given here, check out the Lore board here on Turbine, most people there would give you just the right amount of information.

Still, a newbie should never be afraid to use the newbie board.

[An Adventurer]

There is a drudge in the tower that has a note. This is given to the translator in the yaraq bar. The note reads,

"you that come after here we meet air walkers say come from between-place made strong us made dark us want strong wait you here come be strong never fear small eyes with hit things never be run away made come they leave talking-star to call you "

the "air walkers" are virindi. Basically, the mad star is used by the virindi to lure drudges, so they may augment them into lurkers, stalkers, raveners, etc.

As for the dungeon below the tower, I don't know the purpose of that place. The dungeon is full of undead and the madstar Marionette. I know that Marionettes are virindi-altered undead, and I believe that Aerbax was the one that created them.

So, I believe that this whole place, the tower and dungeon, were set up by Aerbax for his experiments. His laboratory (or his old one, at least) is in the desert n/e of Tufa, so its not so unlikely he would use Yaraq to harvest creatures for experiments.