Bones

It was tradition for all children of Skag the progenitor to be cast out from their birth lair shortly after hatching, sent out to new homes in all corners of Sornieth while being expunged from their clan's records completely... to be forgotten by all but their unfortunate mother and father. It was the only way the Plague clan could guarantee the continued quarantine of Skag's infectious fungal growths, sparing his children from the same terrible fate, while allowing him to father new babies and keep his bloodline alive.

Though Skag's heart pained for his children, longing to be able to see them grow up and thrive, and he worried endlessly about what parental figures they might look up to in his absence, the infected Mirror understood that this was the best solution for everybody. He couldn't bear the thought of one of his children being exposed to the same parasitic spores that had overtaken his body completely...

Maybe it's a good thing, then, that poor Skag couldn't keep in touch with his young son Marrah, to hear of the adoptive father the little hatchling found for himself in the Sunbeam Ruins. It just might have shattered his heart to learn that his baby boy had all but forgotten about him completely so soon after leaving.

...

Bones was pleased as punch to meet his clan's newest arrival, when the small hatchling showed up at the Temple's doorway one sunny morning. And he was even more delighted to see that the little kiddo was a macabre, monochrome Mirror male just like himself! He quickly set out to taking the little boy under his wing, teaching him all about scavenging for scraps and bones around the dreary land of the Hewn City they called home. He called Marrah his newest prodigy, and Marrah himself, knowing nothing of his birth parents and needing an adult to call his role model, quickly bonded to Bones and began picking up on all of his interests, his hobbies, and his strange little mannerisms.

Marrah even shed his birth name after some time of living with Bones, adopting the new bone-themed name, "Marrow," for himself instead. Nowadays he refuses to respond to Marrah, and acts as though it's the name of a total stranger.

After many weeks of collecting and studying bones with his father Bones, learning to assemble new apparel and other crafts with them, Marrow decided he wanted to set out travelling around Sornieth to begin a collection of his own! He hopes to collect enough bones to rival even his father's hoard, one day. Maybe he'll discover the skeletal remains of some ancient creature that even his father knows nothing about! He'll keep his papa in his thoughts the whole time, of course.

Bones graced his adopted son with a heartfelt goodbye and a kiss on the forehead, eight eyes misty with tears between the two of them. Marrow has been reassured that he'll be welcomed back home, back to The Purified Temple, whenever he might need it.