During their search for the Stone, from liberating the town of Liore from the cult leader Father Cornello to their tragic meeting with Nina Tucker and her desperate father Shou Tucker, Edward and Alphonse had a near-death experience when attacked by Scar, a vengeful Ishvalan targeting State Alchemists for the mass murder of his people during the Ishvalan Civil War. This led to the Elrics making a brief return to Resembool with Winry becoming Edward's automail mechanic, the brothers encountering a former State Alchemist named Tim Marcoh who gives them the method of creating a Philosopher's Stone. The brothers, deciding to find another means upon learning human souls are required to create a Philosopher's Stone, get later revelations in the form of immortal beings known as the homunculi.