Radiants spoke with Olen regarding what is going on, Olen divulges little information, only that they are going to meet with the Hundri
The Hundri in the party express their concerns that this is an invasion (spoilers: it's not, see below)
Bora wanders off and gets high on ˢᵗʳᵃⁿᵍᵉ ⁿᵉʷ ᵐᵘˢʰʳᵒᵒᵐˢ
The Zunthr settle down for the night
Abek attempts to communicate with the red shard pulled from the cave, but finds that the god sibling inside is either asleep or will not listen, he does not know what he needs to do to awaken them
Overnight, Olen and Garth have a particularly heated conversation about the need for speaking with the Hundri, with Gareth accusing Olen of being a coward, and Olen insisting that Gareth does not see that he is being too confident in his own abilities, with Sang providing his own quiet comments from the side
While the party is on watch, Sang hears steps from outside the light of the camp fires
Bora wanders back in, and shortly afterwards the sound of a bow being released from an unknown direction is heard by several in the party
Gareth takes an arrow to the groin as he moves to intercept the arrow which is heading for Olen
With no information on where the arrow came from and whether another attack is forthcoming, the Thog and others remain on guard throughout the night
The night passes without further incident
Examination of the arrow reveals no information, as the make and materials cannot be traced to any particular source
Investigation on who could have done it reveals that there are 5 people in the Basin who are blessed with Hundri bows, two from the Hundri, one from the Derash, one from the Collga, and one from the Kollin, the most recent being the reclusive Collga tribesman Glogglug, of which there is not much known. He had received his bow around 20 years ago.
Thog, after receiving assistance from others in the party, chases down the tracks of the archer, leading everyone except Abek to the river where the trail goes cold
Having spent the day tracking the archer, the party decides to camp for the night near the river
Thog, on the other hand, pulls an all-nighter and returns to the Zunthr just in time to find that Olen has taken a critical wound to his abdomen from an arrow which was lost in the rush to tend to the wound. He is pale, having lost a lot of blood, but still alive
Abek tries to heal him, but cannot for reasons he cannot explain; he is unsure if the wound itself is resisting him, or if he cannot because of a block in his own skill, Thog becomes radiant to apply first-aid to Olen, and is then ushered away by the healers of the tribe
Meanwhile, the rest of the party camps at the river, and finds the floating corpse of Barleth. It is a bloated corpse, but somehow remains alive enough to tell Garth that "It was too easy" before having his head caved in and his corpse thrown into a tree to prevent it from contaminating the waters
Olen stabilizes but remains catatonic, and Thog falls unconscious due to exhaustion; the Zunthr carry both on stretchers throughout the day and rejoin the remaining Radiants. The Zunthr begin to feel a little respect for Thog, and prioritize getting him to the Hundri, who are known to have particularly knowledgeable shaman healers
The Radiants and Zunthr arrive at the border of the Hundri
After a brief but tense exchange, the Hundri take over care of Olen, with Trinn leading the effort stating that "This is not how he saw this going", promising to do everything in their power to heal Olen.
The party continues to travel until they arrive at the Hundri camp (total elapsed travel time: 13 days)
Olen is immediately rushed into a lean-to where two shamans, Trinn, and another healer work for the whole day to try and heal Olen, to no avail
Thog attempts to peak in to the healer's lean-to, but is told to keep out to avoid distracting the healers. He continues to sit outside.
Sang, with a depressive Bora in tow, inquires with the locals to see if they can identify the make of the arrow, but there is nobody who knows, as most arrows are made by the archer themselves
After finding no information, Sang and Bora go hunting for a time in the forest, where Bora expresses his feelings of ineptitude while demolishing a forest creature with a sling. They later find Toland unconscious on the ground due to heavy spell experimentation
Garth attempts to garner information on the political landscape in an attempt to be informed should his father Olen's death come to pass, but is given the cold shoulder. Arbor, Bora's father, encounters him and expresses his frustration that Bora is nowhere to be found when he is not told where he is
Abek approaches Thog and sits down beside him, with the god sibiling's shard in-hand. He confides that he still cannot speak to the god within, but wonders if it can help. Garth is aggressively dismissive, to which Abek recoils. After some prompting by Thog, he enters the lean-to to see if he can contribute to the healing efforts.
A couple of days pass, with no sign of recovery. When opportunities are available, the healers rest. It is during this time that Thog enters the lean-to to find Abek still there, appearing to concentrate on the shard
Abek confirms that there is still no progress, but mentions that he feels another shard is close. He is not sure if it is the right one, but says that each god had a different affinity. If the right one is nearby, and they're awake, they might be able to do something for Olen
The party quickly visits Trinn with threats if Olen is to come to any harm while they are away
Trinn sleepily asserts that no harm will come to them, that Olen had actually come to begin efforts of reunification, stating that "The animosity began generations ago, we have forgotten why we hate, and see no reason to continue," and that "Olen's actions were not inspired by the Derash, but were certainly helped along by it." He also clearly states that they intend to be joint rulers, and that he harbors no ill will towards the Zunthr
The Radiants are intercepted by an irate Arbor who demeans Bora for associating with savage Zunthr and demands him to step away. He is warded off by a very "friendly" Thog and (less successfully) by Sang who tries to convince him that they are on a god-given quest to save the Basin. Bora appreciates this, Arbor does not and leaves.
With a general idea that the next shard is in the forest and a couple-days travel away, the party departs for the next step in their quest to find the second shard
