Next martinian dead: Sabine

[Blas_de_Lezo]

In a burst of rage, she Plane Shifts to Tarquin's location. In a very unfair fight, she dies horribly (possibly compelling Tarquin to show a new card) and joins Nale and fullfill their wicked love in the afterlife.

[Crossblade]

Nah, she'll probably end up more like Tsukiko; a female baddie with more attention on team Evil (but working for the 3 demons instead of Xykon) that gets betrayed by a team mate when it's convenient.

Also:
Noooooo!!! Not the Blood Plasma TV!!!

[Urglbrgl]

If Rich follows 3.5 rules for demons, then when they are killed outside of the Abyss, they are banished to the Abyss for 100 years. If they die in the Abyss, then they are reabsorbed into it.

[zimmerwald1915]

In a burst of rage, she Plane Shifts to Tarquin's location. In a very unfair fight, she dies horribly (possibly compelling Tarquin to show a new card) and joins Nale and fullfill their wicked love in the afterlife.
Sabine's not chilling in Hell by choice; she was banished by Durkon's holy word. As such, she still has upwards of twenty hours to calm down from her "rage" and think of a better plan.

[Mike Havran]

Sabine's not chilling in Hell by choice; she was banished by Durkon's holy word. As such, she still has upwards of twenty hours to calm down from her "rage" and think of a better plan.

Come to think of it, shouldn't be Sabine banished to her home plane, which is, for demons, the Abyss? Or she can travel between the planes just fine, as long as it is not the plane she's been banished from?

[AKA_Bait]

Very true. There are quite a few directions in which she could go and I'm sure her employers will have some suggestions.

Things that spring to mind other than obviously suicidal attacks:

(1) Sneaking and attacking members of Team Tarquin individually (more succubus style anyway),

(2) Stealing Tarquin's knife, trying to use the little blood on it to get a resurrection spell for Nale from someone (really RedCloak is the only option I can think of) but presumably her employers know some high level evil clerics too.

[Gift Jeraff]

I read the title as "Next martianmister dead: Sabine."

[Yadugara]

I dont think Sabine gets wasted so quick.She is an enemy Tarquin,the master of preparation, is unaware of.
So she is the perfect nemesis for him and could take Tarquin "out of the game" maybe by sacrificing herself.So could the "Tarquin"-arc be solved.

[Rakoa]

I dont think Sabine gets wasted so quick.She is an enemy Tarquin,the master of preparation, is unaware of.
So she is the perfect nemesis for him and could take Tarquin "out of the game" maybe by sacrificing herself.So could the "Tarquin"-arc be solved.

She kills Tarquin silently and shapeshifts into him, and proceeds to destroy everything he has worked to build, including his reputation.

Of course, that will never happen. Tarquin is far too amazing to be eliminated by a B-list villains slutty sidekick.

[Shred-Bot]

I read the title as "Next martianmister dead: Sabine."

Though if martianmister had any say in it, it would be Mr. Scruffy.

[mhsmith]

OTOH, the "B kills A, C kills B, D kills C" arc suggests that Tarquin may get offed by Sabine, either directly or through some kind of plot.

[SoC175]

I don't really see any martinian deads during the last few comics.

Durkon would count, but his death is merely a change.

The drow is hardly better than the faceless mooks dying all the time and even Nale is not much above them. Neither of them is a major character in my eyes

[Gift Jeraff]

I don't really see any martinian deads during the last few comics.

Durkon would count, but his death is merely a change.

The drow is hardly better than the faceless mooks dying all the time and even Nale is not much above them. Neither of them is a major character in my eyes

If Nale was not a major character in your eyes, you might want to get your eyes checked.

[Kish]

George R. R. Martin did not invent the idea of villains dying. Sheesh.

[Nettlekid]

If Rich follows 3.5 rules for demons, then when they are killed outside of the Abyss, they are banished to the Abyss for 100 years. If they die in the Abyss, then they are reabsorbed into it.

Where's THAT rule from? I know that the guidance for how Outsiders are killed and can they be raised/reborn keeps changing, but I've never read that one.


I dont think Sabine gets wasted so quick.She is an enemy Tarquin,the master of preparation, is unaware of.
So she is the perfect nemesis for him and could take Tarquin "out of the game" maybe by sacrificing herself.So could the "Tarquin"-arc be solved.

Tarquin knows who Sabine is. In fact, it's suggested that they have prior history (he knew her "other" skillset extensively) so he knows what she's like, and he knows she'll want revenge. He also knows that she was Banished by Holy Word for the next 20~some hours, so he knows not to worry until then. Perhaps he wouldn't expect her sooner than that, if the IFCC finds some way to bring her back to the Material Plane, but I'm sure he's prepared for the eventuality anyway.


I don't really see any martinian deads during the last few comics.

Durkon would count, but his death is merely a change.

The drow is hardly better than the faceless mooks dying all the time and even Nale is not much above them. Neither of them is a major character in my eyes

To quote Tarquin himself, well then, you're in the minority. The fact that Zz'drti was brought back since the early strips says a lot for his character even if we didn't see it in-comic (namely the loyalty to Nale that others like Pompey and Leeky Windstaff didn't have) and the coordination between the two in Malack's murder just confirms that. If you don't see that Nale, in his failed attempts to carve a niche for himself as a grand Machiavellian schemer, has been shown to adamantly oppose suggestions that he is in actuality rather insecure (hence his desire to upstage his father and prove he is capable and competent every step of the way) then I'm afraid a large amount of the character was lost on you.

[Lord Raziere]

Of course, that will never happen. Tarquin is far too amazing to be eliminated by a B-list villains slutty sidekick.

I'd like to ask you a question: was Malack too amazing to be eliminated by a B-list villain?

[ThePhantasm]

Sabine won't die anytime soon, methinks. She's working closely with the IFCC now so she is technically on their team.

[rgrekejin]

George R. R. Martin did not invent the idea of villains dying. Sheesh.

I'm beginning to think that the George R. R. Martin fandom may have at this point actually outstripped the Tarquin fandom in terms of overstating the brilliance and importance of their object of adoration.

[The Pilgrim]

She kills Tarquin silently and shapeshifts into him, and proceeds to destroy everything he has worked to build, including his reputation.

Of course, that will never happen. Tarquin is far too amazing to be eliminated by a B-list villains slutty sidekick.

Well, Tarquin is a B-list villiain. The A-List villiains of this story are Xykon and Redcloak.

Now that I think about it, I wonder if Tarquin's Ego is driving him into beliving himself the main villiain of this story. Maybe he can't accept to be just a book-of-the-week villian. Maybe he will force himself into the rest of the narrative and, thus, be slain rather unceremoniously either by the OOTS or, worse, by Team Evil, in order to fulfill no other narrative purpose than to show how dangerous the real villiain of the story is.

-----

PD: A note for all people plotting plans for Sabine: Tarquin has a Ring of True Seeing, so Sabine's shapeshifting abilities are useless against him, directly.

I insist on the "scry, teleport and launch the half orc" doctrine.

Better, "Scry, teleport, and launch in the half orc, the female captain and any surviving military from the Free City of Doom... when Tarquin is already busy on a pitched battle against somebody else.

[BenjCano]

I'd like to ask you a question: was Malack too amazing to be eliminated by a B-list villain?

In my opinion, yes.

[Sir_Leorik]

Sabine can't return to the Material Plane until the affects of Durkon's Holy Word spell wear off. And before that happens, Director Lee may decide to reassign her to supervise a more important account.

Like maybe Vaarsuvis.

Sabine can rant all she wants, but I don't think she can disobey Lee in his "Home Office", not with Nero and Cedrik there to back him up. She'll need to bide her time more carefully if she's going to get revenge for Nale's murder.

However, there's no reason she can't vent her outrage on a more suitable target, one that won't get her pay docked: Qarr. If Qarr hadn't hung up on her so rudely, she might have been able to warn Nale about would happen if he tried to take out Malack without her there. I'd like to see Sabine rip Qarr's barbed scorpion-like tail off and feed it to him. :smallmad:

[Yadugara]

Tarquin knows who Sabine is. In fact, it's suggested that they have prior history (he knew her "other" skillset extensively) so he knows what she's like, and he knows she'll want revenge.


Edit-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ok i checked it.He knows that they are related.But he seems to forget her at the moment.

[Psyren]

George R. R. Martin did not invent the idea of villains dying. Sheesh.

I think it's just shorthand for "surprising character death" - Kinda like how Whedon didn't invent the concept of disproving outlandish fan theories within the plot, but it ended up being called "Jossing" (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Jossed) anyway.

(Amusingly, Rich himself 'Josses' us quite a bit. Maybe it should be called "Burlewing?")


Come to think of it, shouldn't be Sabine banished to her home plane, which is, for demons, the Abyss? Or she can travel between the planes just fine, as long as it is not the plane she's been banished from?

The exact wording in the spell is "cannot return." So she can go anywhere else, just not the material, if we're talking RAW.

[Lord Raziere]

In my opinion, yes.

Yet, here we are. Malack dead. To a B-List villain.

Don't underestimate people. a character's charm, competence or awesome means nothing. even the most competent of people can die y'know. competence doesn't make it impossible, it just makes it less likely. and underestimating people is practically fatal in fiction, and of course it can be dangerous in real life as well.

if you think being amazing is enough to not get killed, your in an unpleasant surprise.

[Giggling Ghast]

Oh, Sabine is going to die presently, but it won't be Tarquin that kills her...

...it will be the IFCC.

Her usefulness ended with Nale and they don't need vengeful pawns screwing with their plans.

[Nimrod's Son]

The drow is hardly better than the faceless mooks dying all the time and even Nale is not much above them. Neither of them is a major character in my eyes
Nale has his own board smiley and has appeared in more strips than any other character who is not a member of the Order, Xykon and Redcloak included. There aren't many who have a better claim to being a major character than that.

[The Pilgrim]

Nale has his own board smiley and has appeared in more strips than any other character who is not a member of the Order, Xykon and Redcloak included. There aren't many who have a better claim to being a major character than that.

And let's not forget this:

http://www.ookoodook.com/store/media/other/PostersTogether.jpg

[Kish]

...Yeah, Nale's a lot bigger than Tarquin or Malack there, isn't he?

[ThePhantasm]

Index to the rescue!!!


The presence, absence, position, or style of any character on any piece of merchandise has no bearing on any future (or past) plot points. I design the merchandise to look good and sell well. Usually, I specifically design the merchandise in order to avoid any sort of plot relevance; the Thog kids shirt still has all his tusks unbroken, for example. I generally choose the most "iconic" look for each character, if there is such a thing.

This quote brought to you by.... well, check the sig.

[snikrept]

Tarquin is pretty good at discerning plots and motives.

He also has a long history with Sabine, judging by their dialogue when they meet at the palace.

Tarquin does not seem a forgetful man, yet he lumps her with the folks who entertained killing Nale. I'm guessing that at sometime in the past, Sabine and Nale did not get along at all, and Tarquin was there for it.

[WindStruck]

I bet the IFCC guys kill her.

[Thanatosia]

I think Sabine is gonna kill Tarquin personally.

It's one of the few good ways to eliminate him, since Elan almost certainly won't.

And the fact that she's a B-namer is the ultimate defeat for Tarquin. Dying in an utterly epic way to a hugely significant character is exactly what how he wants to die.

[ThePhantasm]

I don't think Tarquin will be killed at all. I think his entire plan / scheme will be nullified by whatever Elan's plan is (probably involving Elan's mother). Tarquin's story will end with neither a dramatic death nor a legendary status.

[EnragedFilia]

Surely the IFCC has better ways to dispose of a troublesome unhinged succubus than simply destroying her. That would be a needless waste of resources, and probably way too much paperwork.

[Alex Warlorn]

I bet the IFCC guys kill her.

Sadly logical. Even if it would A LOT MORE INTERESTING, if Mr Evil Father Overlord got a humiliating death at the hands of no face minion of a minion, who then DOES take his form and destroys his great reputation till the history books either remember him as a laughing stock, or not at all!

[Knight.Anon]

Sabine has been a succubus too long. Hopefully she gets promoted into something level appropriate to eat Tarquin's heart.

[Giggling Ghast]

Sadly logical. Even if it would A LOT MORE INTERESTING, if Mr Evil Father Overlord got a humiliating death at the hands of no face minion of a minion, who then DOES take his form and destroys his great reputation till the history books either remember him as a laughing stock, or not at all!

Will never happen. Elan has a plan for dealing with Tarquin. And since the details have gone unspoken, it's guaranteed to work.

[Shred-Bot]

Sure the IFCC has better ways of disposing with a troublesome unhinged succubus than simply destroying her. That would be a needless waste of resources, and probably way too much paperwork.

Yeah, nobody likes paperwork... and since she's working under Director Lee, there's got to be an extra heaping helping of it. I'd imagine Cedrik's side of the team has a lot less red tape.

[R. Malcovitch]

Has it really not occured to anyone else that the main reason Nale has gotten so much spotlight in this book is BECAUSE he was fated to die? Think about it, Nale and the LG weren't nearly so prominant or developed before the current book. It's likely that they got that attention specifically because the Giant was pruning plot threads and the Nale/Tarquin dynamic made an effective book plot.

[The Pilgrim]

...Yeah, Nale's a lot bigger than Tarquin or Malack there, isn't he?

Tarquin is so going to execute The Giant for this... :smallbiggrin:

[Killer Angel]

I think Sabine is gonna kill Tarquin personally.

Oh, it's certainly possible.
Only, I wouldn't bet a cent on it.

[Sir_Leorik]

I bet the IFCC guys kill her.


Surely the IFCC has better ways to dispose of a troublesome unhinged succubus than simply destroying her. That would be a needless waste of resources, and probably way too much paperwork.


Yeah, nobody likes paperwork... and since she's working under Director Lee, there's got to be an extra heaping helping of it. I'd imagine Cedrik's side of the team has a lot less red tape.

There's a simple way for Director Lee to resolve this issue, without needing to kill a valuable employee who is specially trained and highly motivated. All he needs to do is... give her some vacation time. Let her spend two weeks in Sigil, drowning her sorrows at the Styx Oarsman, or going to the Civic Festhall, and when she returns to work set her up with some counseling to channel her grief into hate. No messy paperwork needed.

[ThePhantasm]

"That's coming out of your paycheck" /= "we're going to destroy you"

[Sir_Leorik]

"That's coming out of your paycheck" /= "we're going to destroy you"

Technically, it's coming out of her "holiday bonus", not her paycheck. But you're right, I got a "mildly annoyed that an employee is breaking the office furniture" vibe from Lee, not a "could someone call security and ask for the Bearded Devils to execute Ms. Sabine?" vibe.

My prediction is that Sabine will play a larger role in Book Six. Maybe she's going to be sent to keep an eye on V, since Qarr's been doing an awful job of that.

[davidbofinger]

Nah, she'll probably end up more like Tsukiko; a female baddie with more attention on team Evil (but working for the 3 demons instead of Xykon)

Not sure I understand what you mean here.

But if Sabine is going to join some other group that is interested in destroying Tarquin then it just about has to be the Order of the Stick. Elan at least has a plan for defeating Tarquin, which makes him the only game in town. It's far from clear Roy (or Durkula) will assist Elan with his plan, or that Sabine would be welcome in their ranks, but I can't see anyone else trying.

And it's at least possible that Tarquin killed Nale partly to motivate Elan.

[WindStruck]

"That's coming out of your paycheck" /= "we're going to destroy you"


Technically, it's coming out of her "holiday bonus", not her paycheck. But you're right, I got a "mildly annoyed that an employee is breaking the office furniture" vibe from Lee, not a "could someone call security and ask for the Bearded Devils to execute Ms. Sabine?" vibe.

My prediction is that Sabine will play a larger role in Book Six. Maybe she's going to be sent to keep an eye on V, since Qarr's been doing an awful job of that.

Of course, your reasons only come from a single panel we see. That's the only thing she's done ... yet. But I'm thinking the linear guild will be completely eradicated.

[137beth]

I bet the IFCC guys kill her.

I doubt it. She's their servant. And she hasn't done anything to betray them in any capacity. Besides, if they were planning on killing her then there wouldn't be any holiday bonus to take stuff out of, would there?:smalltongue:

[EvilJames]

I don't think Sabine is going to die soon. She still has some plot relavance and some character arc to do. I assumed she was going to have to choose between her job and her lover but it's clearly not that, at least not in that way. Either way she's been built up to have some more story to go.
Just randomly killing her now would waste all that build up.

Also Martin doesn't kill lot's of villains. Now if the OotS was dieing off in droves, then it would be similar.

[Clyner]

Can the IFCC guys offer deals to outsiders? It would be awesome if they can.
She could probably come up with a group to go after tarquin. Leeky and Pompey are still around. The order might help, but she'd have to get control of herself and convince V that she will help them first.

[maxi]

She is the most conflicted character of all remaining at the moment.
I don't think it'll just spur her to early death, though.
Also i am still holding my breath for Elan having a contingency plan in case of untimely death. It would be quite Lawful Evil of him :D

[Unisus]

George R. R. Martin did not invent the idea of villains dying. Sheesh.

He didn't invent the idea of heroes dying, too.

[eilandesq]

Here's a wacky question. With all of the "active" members of the Linear Guild dead (Nale, Z) or presumed dead (Thog), can Sabine just bop back to the Prime Material Plane whenever she pleases, since the people she's had a connection with aren't there any more? She seemed to have the ability to plane shift back and forth, but was that only because of her job with the Directors (who probably won't back a revenge trip), or because Nale "invited" her at some point and therefore gave her a connection she could exploit as long as he (and perhaps his crew) was around? Mr. Burlew homebrews this stuff to a degree, so it's less a rules question than a "given that the rest of her group is dead, is there an easy way to logically block her from going back and thereby effortlessly tie off this loose end?"

[Psyren]

Sabine has been a succubus too long. Hopefully she gets promoted into something level appropriate to eat Tarquin's heart.

Actually this is an interesting angle. It would be pretty cool if she got pissed off enough to move up the abyssal ladder. It's pretty unlikely but the thought of her as a Marilith gave me chills.

[martianmister]

Sabine is a martian? That would explain her green skin.

[Alex Warlorn]

Of course, your reasons only come from a single panel we see. That's the only thing she's done ... yet. But I'm thinking the linear guild will be completely eradicated.

It DOES feel like in this comic where villainous love interests, or villain love interests are swiftly and quietly disposed of.

Priestess Of Loki - Blown up off panel (we can assume)
Paladin Who Must Not Be Named - Blew herself in half thinking she was saving the world
Orc Assassin - Poisoned as a distraction
Mystic Necrophiliac - murdered by Redcloak to keep her from blowing the whistle to Xykon


While their deaths were logical, it almost begins to feel like a pattern is emerging independent of the natural flow of the story. Sabin being unceremoniously swept under the rug does fit the pattern.

[Sir_Leorik]

Sabine is a martian? That would explain her green skin.

Aren't there supposed to be red and white Martians as well? :smallwink:

[EnragedFilia]

It DOES feel like in this comic where villainous love interests, or villain love interests are swiftly and quietly disposed of.

Priestess Of Loki - Blown up off panel (we can assume)
Paladin Who Must Not Be Named - Blew herself in half thinking she was saving the world
Orc Assassin - Poisoned as a distraction
Mystic Necrophiliac - murdered by Redcloak to keep her from blowing the whistle to Xykon


While their deaths were logical, it almost begins to feel like a pattern is emerging independent of the natural flow of the story. Sabin being unceremoniously swept under the rug does fit the pattern.



1. That whole thing happened before the strip 100 mark, so you can't really use it as a benchmark for the Giant's predilections regarding characters in general.

2. I'm pretty sure that blowing oneself up at the climax of a major arc does not count as "quietly"

3/4. Likewise, slowly dying in the arms of a major protagonist at the climax of a sidequest arc (so to speak) and being cruelly and messily dispatched by a major antagonist in furtherance of these more significant actors' character development is hardly "unceremonious"