If Malka didn’t exist, Barak would probably get eaten by an owlbear right off the bat. Assuming he survived and found Shiri anyway, things would quickly go off the rails. There would be no tavern brawl, no meeting up with Paz and Lior, and no saving the mayor. Shiri and Barak would argue over whether to save the gryphon, with no one to mediate, and this conflict would escalate to the point where they would never really become friends at all. They would not care about each other; they would not work well together. They might be killed along the road by bandits; Shiri might allow Barak to die and return home to her forest. If they made it to confront the Void for the first time, without Paz and Malka to help them flee, they would both be killed.

If Paz didn’t exist, Lior would not have a way to break out of jail, and would probably never make it to the tavern to meet Barak, Shiri, and Malka. They would continue to wander, miserable, without hope. Maybe one day they would attempt to reach out to their family, but I doubt it. Barak, Shiri, and Malka might escape their first encounter with the Void. They might even figure out how to defeat the Void. But without the “breaking Lior’s curse” sidequest, they’d never be able to convince Shiri to go back with them, and the Void would win.

If Lior didn’t exist, Paz would calmly stay the night in jail, get a job on a ship the next day, and never look back. Things would go similarly for Barak, Shiri, and Malka as in the “no Paz” scenario.

If Shiri didn’t exist… Barak might find and convince another Child of the Stars to join him on his quest. But who’s to say what that person would be like, and what choices they would make? This is a story of five, and all five heroes matter. Changing one might change everything.