Narinder

* Chained
* No chains
* Unleashed
* Eldritch Form
* Follower

**Narinder**, as revealed by Shamura, is the true name of**The One Who Waits**. He was formerly one of the Bishops of the Old Faith, and is the entity that saves the life of the Lamb, demanding they form and lead a cult in his name as repayment. He is also the 3rd oldest of his siblings.

## Description

The Backstabbing secret antagonist of *Cult of the Lamb*.

Narinder has gray fur and three eyes with red sclera and black pupils. His crown has two ears and a red eye, but he does not wear this for long as he gives it to The Lamb. The Lamb agrees to be his vessel. His face is covered by a veil made of black thread, similarly to his disciples, Aym and Baal.

He wears a hooded white robe with a red stripe down the center. He is wrapped in chains, and he also has shackles around his arms and two chains that seem attached to him in a similar manner.

After the Lamb defeats him, he shrinks to the same size of the Lamb, though he keeps his head shape and two of his eyes while his third eye is forever closed. He wears a grey ragged shirt, the same as the other non-recruited followers.

## Personality

Narinder is uncaring, calculating, and treacherous, as evidenced by his willingness to try to kill his own siblings and the Lamb that faithfully served him. He sees the Lamb and the cultists as nothing more than tools to meet his ends.

He takes joy in seeing what cruelty the Lamb is capable of, complimenting their ruthlessness in crusades, in sacrificing followers, or in selling Ratau out to a murderer.

He feels entitled to his powers and the Red Crown, taking offense if the Lamb should defy his "divine right," him having given the Lamb his crown only out of necessity. When he is defeated and robbed of his powers, he continues to berate the Lamb. Should the Lamb spare Narinder's life, he will call them a coward before yelling at them not to recruit him, his ego bruised by the prospect of servitude.

As a follower, he keeps a somewhat callous personality and finds ways to insult the Lamb over minor things. However, his subsequent quests show he might have a softer side (which he denies, when brought flowers after contemplating the death of Leshy).

## Interactions

* Throughout the game, the player will have interactions with this character, but never on their terms until his demands have been met. As the crusades of the Lamb succeed, he will also introduce new Doctrines, allowing for new interactions with your followers, and eventually allow for giving him offerings (converting surplus resources into coins).
* If you defeat him and then spare his life he becomes a follower with quests that include unique dialogue:
	+ He will complain about the supposed aesthetically insufficient camp; When the proper decoration is placed, he bestows a condescending sliver of a compliment.
	+ As the Lamb brings him items with ties to his siblings, he will reminisce about the time before they became enemies, with a mix of resentful and wistful comments; after his recollection of Shamura, he falls into a quiet contemplation, perhaps for grief and regret.
	+ In his penultimate quest, he challenges the Lamb on how their Cult deals with death, his former domain; when the Lamb shows him, he seemingly makes peace with his grudge against them.
	+ When sent on a mission after the aforementioned events, he will finally give the Lamb genuine thanks.

## Dialogue

### Opening Sequence

> **The One Who Waits**Come closer. Fear not, for though you are already dead, I still have need of you. Those foolish Bishops thought they could keep you from me in death. But instead they sent you straight to me. I will give you LIFE again, but at a PRICE! All I ask is for you to start a Cult in my name. Do we have a deal?**The Lamb**["Yes." or "Absolutely."]**The One Who Waits**Wise choice... Take the Red Crown which I once wore. With it you shall command the loyalty of Followers and strike fear into the hearts of our enemies. Return to the land of the living, start a Cult in my name, and begin recruiting Followers. Once you have done so, you will see me again. Now, GO!

### Player's first death

> *"Fear not, for you are my chosen vessel and death cannot halt you. I shall not allow it, for I still have need of you. Take what you have gathered. Build and strengthen the Cult. This is how power is gained. Continue on, undaunted. Each time you are brought down, you rise again stronger."*
>
>

### Player's second death

> *"Death is of little consequence. Rise once more, vessel of mine. It matters not how many times you are struck down. The Cult shall continue to grow."*
>
>

### Amdusias beaten

> *"Very good, my vessel. It seems I chose well when I kept you from Death. I will be watching your every move. Do not disappoint me."*
>
>

### 2nd Crusade ends

> *"Do not make the mistake of becoming the servant of your Followers. They are for you to use to your advantage! Their faith is a resource, spend it as you would gold. For you can always regain their trust with a well placed gesture of kindness. Let it empower you, let it give you license to do unspeakable things. Bend them to your will. I grand you the power to read their feeble little minds."*
>
>

[The One Who Waits gives you the "Read Mind" command]

### 3rd Crusade ends

> *"You see me here in chains, reduced to nothing. But it has not always been thus. I was bound to this wretched place by the Bishops of the Old Faith. They betrayed me and left me to rot. Each of the four chains that bind me are guarded by one of the Bishops. Destroy the Bishops and you break the chain. Break all four and I will be freed. I gave you life anew, vessel, and now you must repay the debt. You know what must be done. To defeat the Bishops you will need to become stronger. Sacrifice a follower to absorb more power - this will aid you in your quest to free me."*
>
>

[The One Who Waits unlocks the Sacrifice of the Flesh ritual]

### Completed the last quest of the Fox (must happen before defeating The One Who Waits)

>
> *"So, you fed Ratau to the wolves. Your treacherous opportunism has far exceeded my expectations. Ratau was an adequate servant, yet lacked the ruthlessness you have so eloquently displayed. He renounced his position after striking a bargain that resulted in the sacrifice of a Follower. He was weak, and allowed my Temple to descend into ruin. I see that is not a problem you share. I sent Ratau to aid you, but this pleases me greatly. A great Vessel takes their master's will as their own. Very well done."*
>
>
>
>

### Leshy beaten

> *"Leshy fell before you like a grain of sand before a tidal wave."*
>
>

### 4th Crusade ends

> *"Vessel, do you not worship me? Do you not give offerings in hopes of gaining my favor? When you return to your Cult you shall find a new Offering Chest. There you can provide offerings that I, in my generosity, shall turn to gold, so that you might strengthen the Cult. But I am not easily satisfied. The same gift offered too frequently will cause the price to be lowered. Yet fear not - over time it will grow in value once more. Give me proper tribute and you shall be rewarded."*
>
>

### Heket beaten

> *"I enjoyed watching you destroy Heket. Her arrogance was always destined to be her undoing. Your merciless crusade against the Old Faith warms my cold, unbeating heart."*
>
>

### Kallamar beaten

> *"Kallamar was always a coward. This land is a better place now his pathetic, sniveling carcass is nothing more than a mound of rotting flesh. Soon I shall be freed, and the world remade in my image. All will pledge themselves to the Cult. All will bow to my name."*
>
>

### Shamura beaten

> *"Shamura was weak, not wise. Their vision was too small to contain the multitudes of one such as I. The time has come to free me. You shall have the honour of returning the Red Crown to its true bearer. I admit, you have worn it almost as well as I could have myself. "*
>
>
> * (If the player did not kill followers outside Sacrifice of the Flesh and Ascend Follower Ritual) *"You sacrificed [number of sacrifices] followers to strengthen the Cult - to strengthen us."*
> * (If the player murdered followers) *"You murdered [number of murders] followers in cold blood. I believe you enjoyed it."*
>
>
> *"Your appetite for death is something I can admire, Vessel. But the Crown is mine, and none - NONE - are worthy. None other than I. You shall lay down your life and return to me what is mine. After millennia, all may bask in my glory once more. But it cannot be done here. The final gate awaits. Hurry now, the time is at hand."*
>
>

### The Gateway

> *"Vessel, I relinquish you from your service to the Red Crown. Return it to me, and embrace the end that awaits. With this last sacrifice of my most devoted Follower, I will be freed. Finally... I will be FREE! Approach, vessel, and lay your life down at my feet."*
>
>
> * (Kneel) The Lamb kneels. The Red Crown returns to The One Who Waits, and the Lamb is lifted up into the air, where their limbs begin to snap one by one, until finally, they die and their body is thrown on the ground.
> * (Refuse) *"So you have betrayed me, Lamb. You have shunned my gospel, and claimed yourself a false idol. The crown is mine by divine right! You think to stand in the very face of death?"*
>
>
>
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> **Baal:** *"Master! Allow me. I will give this wretch a taste of your wrath."*
>
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> **Aym:** *"I will take care of this beast, master. I will cut that crown from its HEAD!"*
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>

### Boss battle

> (Start of first stage) *"Even after I have slaughtered you, your pain will not end. You cannot escape me, even in death."*
>
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> (End of first stage) *"Did you believe me defeated? Did you think that to be all there was to a being such as I? You thought yourself above a GOD"*
>
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> (Start of second stage) *"You are corrupt, false idol. Your corruption has no doubt spread."*
>
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> (After being defeated) *"You have supplanted me. A vessel no more, instead a crown bearing deity. Damned Lamb! I am at your mercy, are you to be a vengeful false idol, or a merciful coward? No longer can you blame your vile acts on me."*
>
>
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> * (Spare) *"You weak, snivelling, foul thing. You - wait! Waaaiiiiiiit!"*
> * (Murder) *"So, you are no different to me after all. You have become as I am."*
>
>
>

## Combat

### Unique Mechanics

If the Lamb refuses to kneel to The One Who Waits, they will then have to fight his servants Baal and Aym, only facing the god once those two are dead. This boss fight is different from every other one in the game, as there are no tarot cards and the only fleece that can be used is the default one. Additionally, rolling gives a much lower amount of invincibility frames than anywhere else in the game. In the Relics of the Old Faith update, any demons can not be used unlike everywhere else in the game.

### Behaviour

#### Stage 1: The One Who Waits

##### Overview

In this first stage, Narinder has virtually no melee attacks whatsoever and preferring to stay as far away from the player as possible.

In combat Narinder will have two types of attacks: **Chains** and **Fireballs**, and he will **always** teleport before executing an attack. He will either teleport next to the borders of the arena as far away from the player as possible before attacking them with ranged attacks or will teleport to a random location away from the border and will wait for a few seconds before attacking. Regardless of how he teleports, it is the only way he can remotely move about, as he will never chase the Lamb and will prefer to attack them from afar while forcing them to approach him, with the only exception being a single melee punishing attack that cannot be forced. Players are advised to use rolling to approach Narinder faster or try to approach him during his attacks instead of staying away, as Narinder gets invincibility frames upon starting his teleport action and the boss arena is so big that by the time the players get to Narinder he will frequently already be teleporting away. Like Kallamar, Narinder has absolutely **no set attack pattern** and whatever move he will use will always be random. In fact, although not as intensively bullet hell as his brother, Narinder is even more RNG-based than Kallamar because none of his attacks actually have a condition for being used like his brother's melee attacks, he can and will spam whatever attacks he feels like whenever he feels like it while being aided by numerous Swordsmen and Scamps. This first stage is divided between two phases: The Initial Phase and The Damaged Phase.

##### Initial Phase

In this phase Narinder will have access to 6 attacks, 2 of them using **Fireballs** and 4 of them using **Chains**. He will generally leave himself open for longer after an attack in this Phase, taking longer to teleport or in some cases to execute an attack to begin with. There will also be a limit of three cultist enemies that will aid Narinder in this Phase, cultists which will be instantly obliterated upon its end.

Narinder's available attacks and actions during the Initial Phase are described below:

**Fireball Circle Pattern:** Narinder will teleport to one of the borders of the arena and will launch up to six large circle of fireballs at the Lamb. There is no delay before he executes this attack and because of how big the circles are, it can be risky to attack Narinder thanks to him teleporting away by the time the player gets to him. If one feels daring however, it is possible to dodge through the circle if it's timed well enough.

**Line Chain Pattern:** Narinder will teleport to one of the borders of the arena and will draw up to to three lines on the ground from where chains will erupt in the Lamb's direction. There is no delay before he executes this attack but thanks to how easy it is to avoid and approach Narinder while he is doing this attack, this will usually be the best time to damage him.

**Swirl Fireball Pattern:** Narinder will teleport to a random location in the arena, usually away from the border, and will wait a few seconds before releasing fireballs all around him in a swirl pattern, with each arm composed of three fireballs and moving at a relatively slow speed. Due to the melee punitive nature of this attack players are advised not to be too greedy with their hits when Narinder doesn't seem to be doing anything, and to only continue hitting him once the fireballs are far enough. He will wait a full second before teleporting again, so it is a good opportunity.

**Circle Chain Pattern:** The other reason why players shouldn't be too greedy when Narinder seems to just be waiting. Narinder will teleport to a random location around the arena, usually away from the border, and will wait a few seconds before conjuring several chains in a circle very close to him. He will teleport away half a second later.

**Spiral Chain Pattern:** Narinder will teleport to a random location in the arena, usually away from the border, and will conjure chains in a four armed spiral pattern. This one can be tricky as the pattern will initially start as a cross before very quickly turning into the actual spiral, possibly confusing players who will try to dodge in the wrong direction and run straight into a wall of chains.

**Random Scattered Chain Pattern:** Narinder will teleport to a random location in the arena, usually away from the border, and will start randomly conjuring chains all around the arena. This attack is completely based on RNG, there is no pattern to it and Narinder can either finish it extremely quickly or extend it for so long that taking damage will be almost guaranteed. The best way to avoid it to to stick the borders, dodge and lot and go towards chains that have already emerged instead of those currently emerging.

##### Damaged Phase

Upon losing 50% of his health, Narinder will collapse to the ground, generating a shockwave that will annihilate any enemies that he has spawned. He will be vulnerable for around 2 seconds while some of the chains in the background snap before teleporting to the middle of the arena and conjuring fireballs in a cross pattern. Once he's done he will either do a random attack or teleport away before doing a random attack, after which he will continue his new attack sequence. In this phase Narinder will get 2 new attacks replacing his old, and will teleport and attack much faster, giving the Lamb less of a window to attack. Narinder will also be able to conjure up to six cultists.

Narinder's available attacks and actions during the Damaged Phase are described below:

**Accelerating Fireball Ring Pattern:** Replaces **Fireball Circle Pattern**, Narinder will teleport to one of the borders of the arena and will launch up to nine rings of fireballs at the Lamb, with each one going faster than the last. There is no delay before he executes that attack, and it is recommended to give Narinder a wide berth to try to circle him to avoid getting hit by the fastest circles. He will, however, wait for a longer time than in his previous phase after the move and will be open to attacks.

**Line Chain Pattern:** No obvious differences from the Initial Phase, but Narinder will teleport away almost immediately after concluding the attack.

**Swirl Fireball Pattern:** Same as in Initial Phase, but each arm of the swirl will be five fireballs long, the projectiles will move faster and the pattern itself will be more stable, with the fireballs being further apart from each other. Despite being a second phase attack, it is actually easier to dodge thanks to the fireballs not being so bunched up.

**Circle Chain Pattern:** No changes from Initial Phase.

**Spiral Chain Pattern:** No changes from Initial Phase.

**Random Scattered Chain Pattern:** The only change from Initial Phase for this one is that Narinder will conjure much more chains, and may extend the attack longer as well.

**Cross Fireball Pattern:** Will only be used once in the fight. Once Narinder gets reduced to 50% health he will teleport to the middle of the arena and summon 4 lines of eight fireballs in a cross shape around him before spinning it. While the cross is spinning Narinder will shoot fireballs outwards in an decagonal pattern.

## Statistics

##### Overview

In this second stage, Narinder will grow in size and go out of bounds of the arena at the front, his main body becoming invincible as his three eyes rip themselves from their socket and descend upon the arena. Any damage done to the eyes will be reflected on Narinder's main body.

In combat, the eyes will float around the arena in random patterns, neither getting away from nor chasing the Lamb. All of their attacks are fireball patterns targeting the Lamb with the sole exception of the **Poison Projectile Scatter**, and telegraphed by the eyes closing themselves and opening again. The eyes do not have any kind of movement abilities or anything giving them invincibility frames when they are fighting and thus can always be attacked even while doing their own attacks. During each of the phases, dealing a certain amount of damage to an eye will force it to hide underground until all the other eyes have done the same, after which they will emerge.

After Narinder's health has been reduced by a third, one of the eyes will burst into a shower of blood, forcing the other eyes to hide for a certain amount of time and initializing Narinder's actual attack sequence. Narinder himself will either use sweeping projectile patterns or summon chains from the ground when attacking, and will only do so in his later phases. Like the last stage, the attacks executed by both Narinder and the Eyes and completely random, with no set attack pattern. Although it is possible in the earlier phases for the eyes to all use the same attack. The final stage itself is divided in three phases: Three Eyes, Two Eyes and One Eye.

##### Three Eyes

The first phase will start with three eyes, which move at a slow pace and all attack at the same time with slower projectiles. Dealing enough damage to one of them will cause it to hide and once they've all hidden they will emerge again. Narinder himself will not attack during this phase.

The attacks that the three eyes can use in this phase are detailed below:

**Beam Fireball Pattern:** The eyes will close and will start shooting a steady stream of fireballs at the Lamb for a few seconds when opening.

**Circle Fireball Pattern:** The eyes will close and will conjure a large circle of fireballs around them when opening, they will then launch it at the Lamb.

**Chunk Fireball Pattern:** The eyes will close and spit a wide bundled stack of fireballs at the Lamb when opening.

**Hexagon Fireball Pattern:** The eyes will close and shoot out fireballs in a hexagonal pattern three times when opening. The patterns will be aimed towards the player, but by the sides and not the actual fireballs, so it is possible to avoid getting hit by this attack by staying stationary.

**Poison Projectile Scatter:** The eyes will close and spit out several green projectiles in the air when opening. Indicators will randomly appear on the ground showing where the projectiles will splash down. This attack is extremely slow and easy to avoid, if a player gets hit it is entirely their fault.

##### Two Eyes

Once Narinder has been reduced to about 2/3rd of his health, one of the eyes will explode, causing the two others to hide for few moments before emerging again. The eyes will start to move faster, will have less delay between their attacks, and their projectiles will also move faster. Narinder will start attacking in this phase as well.

The attacks that the two eyes can use in this phase as well as changes to existing attacks are detailed below:

**Beam Fireball Pattern:** Same as Three Eyes but the projectiles are faster.

**Circle Fireball Pattern:** Same as with Three Eyes, but they can conjure a minimum of two circles and maximum of four. The projectiles will be faster.

**Chunk Fireball Pattern:** Same as with Three Eyes, but they can spit a maximum of three chunks with the projectiles being faster.

**Decagon Fireball Pattern:** Replaces **Hexagon Fireball Pattern**, works the same, but the pattern will be changed to a decagon and the projectiles will be faster

**Poison Projectile Scatter:** Same as with Three Eyes but there is more projectiles.

The attacks that Narinder can use in this phase are detailed below:

**Triple Undulating Beam Fireball Pattern:** Narinder will stick both of his hands out to the sides and will shoot three continuous streams of fireballs. There are numerous blindspots in this pattern so it is easy to avoid. However, the eyes can attack at the same time.

**Radial Fireball Pattern:** Narinder will slam his hands on the ground and will launch a radial pattern of moderately fast fireballs starting from his chest.

**Scattered Fireball Pattern:** Narinder will slam his hands on the ground and will launch several packets of five fireballs that will split themselves in a pentagonal pattern. The projectiles move very slowly, so it is advised to simply move between the fireballs and avoid dodging and rolling too much.

**Line Fireball Pattern:** Narinder will slam his hands on the ground and conjure either horizontal or vertical lines of fireballs on all corner of the arena that will then speed up towards the opposite side.

**Vertical Spike Pattern:** Narinder will lift his hands up in the air and conjure two vertical lines of chains emerging from the ground in opposite directions near the middle of the arena.

**Horizontal Chain Pattern:** Narinder will lift his hands up in the air and conjure two horizontal lines of chains emerging from the ground in opposite directions near the middle of the arena.

##### One Eye

Once Narinder has been reduced to 1/3rd of his health, another one of the eyes will explode, forcing the last one to hide before emerging again. Once it has emerged it will gain a large boost to its moving and projectile speed, along with its appearance now featuring deep lacerations. It and Narinder will both attack faster and overlap their attacks, with Narinder gaining a new attack.

The attacks that the eye can use in this phase as well as their changes are detailed below:

**Beam Fireball Pattern:** Same as Two Eyes but the projectiles are faster.

**Circle Fireball Pattern:** Same as with Two Eyes, but they can conjure a minimum of three circles and maximum of five circles. The projectiles will be faster.

**Chunk Fireball Pattern:** Same as with Two Eyes, but they can spit a minimum of two chunks and maximum of four chunks with the projectiles being faster.

**Radial Fireball Pattern:** Replaces **Decagon Fireball Pattern,** will work exactly the same, but the pattern will be changed to a circle and the projectiles will be faster

**Poison Projectile Scatter:** Same as with Two Eyes but there is more projectiles.

The attacks that Narinder can use in this phase as well as their changes are detailed below:

**Triple Undulating Beam Fireball Pattern:** Same as with Two Eyes, but the projectiles are faster.

**Radial Fireball Pattern:** Same as with Two eyes but the projectiles are faster.

**Scattered Fireball Pattern:** Exactly the same as with Two Eyes.

**Line Fireball Pattern:** Narinder will conjure many more lines and they will move faster.

**Vertical Spike Pattern:** Exactly the same as with Two Eyes.

**Horizontal Chain Pattern:** Exactly the same as with Two Eyes.

**Accelerating Ring Pair Fireball Pattern:** Narinder slams his hands on the ground and conjures three rings of fireballs on both sides of the arena and launches them in pairs at the Lamb at increasing speeds. It's recommended to Bleat to avoid taking damage from the last pair, as it moves so fast that it is easy to get hit by it.

### Rewards

After defeating him, you have to choose to either "Kill" or "Spare" him. "Kill" will end his life, and unlock the One Who Waits Trophy. "Spare" will turn him into a Follower of your cult.

## As a follower

Narinder can be recruited as your follower once you defeat him. After that, he will join your cult. His skin can't be changed, but you can rename him. The One Who Waits will give you the same quests as other villagers (bring him 10 of a dungeon resource, add decorations and etc.) but he will have his own, special dialogue.

As a follower, he also has an Immortality trait, which means he can't become old or die of old age. However he can still die from starvation, disease, being sacrificed, being murdered by the Lamb, eating a Deadly Dish, or failing a mission.

Together with Aym, Baal, and the Bishops as followers, he may periodically flag you down only to deliver the following dialogue: *"Excuse me Leader, I just wanted to say that I love you!"*

In addition, if you have brought Baal and Aym back from Sacrifice of the Flesh, he will have additional dialogue when he requests to talk to you.

"*Hmf. Baal and Aym? I did not take them. They were given.*"

"*Intended as keepers, perhaps, but they were young and in need of guidance. Must I be blamed for my influence?*"

"*Salvaged from the void, they are yours now. Do what you wish, scornful God. I care not for them.*"

## Gallery

Narinder's idleNarinder talkingNarinder smiling maliciously while talkingNarinder trying to break his chainsNarinder escapes his chainsNarinder ready for battleNarinder during his boss fightNarinder vanishes into the floorNarinder reemerges after vanishingNarinder getting stuck in the floorNarinder becoming unstuckNarinder transforms into his Eldritch Form (Unused)Narinder's weakened form after being defeatedNarinder, defeated by his own vesselA defeated Narinder talking to the LambNarinder being finished offNarinder being forced to join the cultNarinder as a cultist
## Trivia

* The One Who Waits is that which awaits us all; death. The character was inspired by the idea of making a deal with the devil to save your own life at a cost, as well as a reference to the final Horseman of the Apocalypse. The developers used a cat-like head for this creature as a reference to the omen of sighting a black cat which signaled that a death would soon occur.
* Narinder is the one who injured the rest of the Bishops of the Old Faith, as a final reference to the phrase "Do no evil". This is also the name of the achievement earned for defeating him.
* Shamura was likely the closest of his siblings; his post-game reaction to their death is the most overtly wistful, while Shamura is the only Bishop to admit what love they had for Narinder in their dialogue with the Lamb.
* His species is confirmed in game files, where his skin name is "Boss Death Cat".
* The One Who Waits is the first individual whose follower is considered unique, as per seen on his species. However, prior to "Relics of the Old Faith" patch, he does not have unique sound effect as a follower.
* His follower ID is 666, most likely a reference to the satanic imagery that he is associated with.

### References

1. ↑ https://discord.com/channels/353179320644141057/353186720709214209/1083195587438051429
2. ↑ Haro's campsite encounter