Everyone in the group is a ticking time bomb, so it’s no surprise that they don’t always see eye to eye. But while there have been plenty of arguments and disagreements, there are two major events so far that have threatened to split the party for good.
The first is when Ashton decided to try and absorb the primordial shard of Rau’shan, and very nearly killed themselves in the process. You see, Ashton already has a primordial shard, the shard of Ka’Mort, within him after his parents and Hishari tribe imbued it within them as a child. Having one shard within a person is unpredictable enough, but two is a recipe for disaster, a risk that Ashton very well knew before they tried to do it.
The rest of the group thought that Fearne was planning to absorb the shard and wanted Ashton there to help her through it. So they kept their distance, letting the two do what they needed to do, realizing too late what was happening. Once the group got over the initial shock of Ashton almost dying as their body rejected the shard, they didn’t hesitate to let them know how they felt.
But even though this event has divided the fandom and left a rift for a while between some of the characters, the cast remained as close as ever above table. The same is true for the most recent instance of inner-party conflict – when Laudna and Orym fought each other in Zadash.
Only about a day after FCG sacrificed themselves to kill Otohan Thull, Bells Hells is still reeling from losing their friend. Delilah’s influence on Laudna is growing, and seeing Orym wield Otohan’s blade so freely in the aftermath sets her on edge. This is the blade that killed Laudna a second time, the blade that took so many of them down in battle. It becomes yet another way for Delilah to convince Laudna that her friends can’t be trusted, that she should absorb the blade’s power for herself to rid the world of its corrupting power. And Laudna, in her still-fragile emotional state listens.
She tries to take the blade from Orym in his sleep, casting magical darkness that only she can see through before casting the spell wither and bloom on the vines keeping the sword sheathed on Orym’s back. Her spell misses, however, and she doesn’t just get the sheath in its radius. Orym takes damage, and wakes up ready to fight whatever just attacked him, not able to see that it’s Laudna who did it. The aftermath of this left the group reeling, with both parties having a solid argument for their actions.