Graul scale are in Ra'kash Ruins. To get there finish the Main Quest Get out of Kavhar, Then Follow the "Develop The Meta-Sith Formula" side quest. The instructions are on the quest logs themselves.
Just follow the quest logs in the quest and you'll be on your way. Right now I am waiting for Cicero, (meaning I need to find the seedy bar too, then ask for Snake which is also in the bar (at daytime 8:00- 17:00). Usually the mc need to sleep a day if this happens or just walk back and forth from the Sithyryan Map from Kavhar-Silent Plains.
Yes, it is. It will make the battle to Warlord (Arihama) a bit easier and you will amass EXPERIENCE for your mc. Equipments will add to your mc stats, so you can kill the boss efficiently, Pills that can be hoarded from the through Galactic Union (GU) Missions. It will shorten the amount of times battling the Warlord, mitigating impacts of anyone dying from the same battle.
SPOILER some of the crew members will die. e.g. Hakkon (The Subguhnir Alpha, if you choose to hire him in Akra), Bradley (if you didn't gotten to the side quest) NPC: such as Riordan (can die too if you choose let him join in the battle).
NOTE: They will not, if you didn't make the battle for a longer amount of time. Or you choose to exclude them, like Rylan (due to his brother's wishes) or Hakkon.
Bradley's chance to die is from prolonging from the battle or not doing the side quest too.
(If you killed the Subguhnir Alpha at Akra, you cannot have him (Hakkon))
Trigger the side quest would be if you already talked Bradley after he came back a day after meeting the Sithyryan Council. (Wait a day). Then there is a "killing the warlord" conversation. Wherein Bradley will talk about his punishment and he will proceed to relay the side quest to you in the same conversation.
They weren't required but yeah, side quest is needed in order to build mc's stats and team stats. Don't be afraid no month, day or time cycle mechanic that kills the character... But the duration of the boss battle will likely kill some of them as I stated above (my own game experience). It is highly recommended, that you kill Arihama (the Warlord) in short shots so no dying character will deducted from the roost of crew members.
Though R.I.P to my Hakkon... his sacrifice will never be in vain.😭😭