Factions of the OotS

[Ertier]

The Roachs count nine sides to the conflict. He could've been talking about the nine alignments, but that seems unlikely. So far I count nine precisely...

OotS

Team Evil

Goblins

Linear Guild

Azure City

{Kubota}

"Lord" Tyrinnar

THE SNARL

The Order of the Scribble

[David Argall]

Keep counting, and revising the count. Each of these sides is actually several sides, and some, such as the order of the scribble, should not be counted as a side. And we are told there are several sides we have not yet met.

[Red XIV]

Given that the the Order of the Scribble disbanded long before the current storyline...yeah. Obviously not a current faction. I'd be very disinclined to call the Snarl a "faction" too.

Also, the other roach mentioned that "they" don't know about some of the factions yet. I figure the roach was talking as much about us as he was Redcloak and his pallete-swapped minion.

[kabbor]

It is hard to argue about any of those 9. I was going to write off OotScribble, we have no reason to supose that Serini and Girard are dead, and what i have heard about SoD clearly suggests that we have not seen the last of Lirian and Dorukan.

We therefore have a clear 9, but the 'roaches stated that we are not aware of all those that they refer to. Curious.

While Tyrinar was unknown to Redcloak, the roaches have a long history of 4th wall breaking - that message was meant for us, I'm sure of it. We still do not know what he is doing. He may not prove to be a 'side', when we find out more about him.

I suppose you could rule out the Snarl itself as a 'Side' - But he must have his motives and aims, quite separate from those that wish to use him for their purposes!

[Beholder1995]

What about political factions that may have other interests than what the OotS have? Like Nowhere, Somewhere, Someplace Else, not to mention all of the nations that Hinjo apparently visited during their search for allies. If that were true, than we might just have to bump "Order of the Scribble" off and replace it with "Other". I mean, in today's world, there isn't just nine factions. Even nations that are allied with each other still have their own interests at the top. Not to mention cults, gangs, or other organizations. No, there might very well be hundreds of "sides" in the OOTS world.

[Querzis]

What about political factions that may have other interests than what the OotS have? Like Nowhere, Somewhere, Someplace Else, not to mention all of the nations that Hinjo apparently visited during their search for allies. If that were true, than we might just have to bump "Order of the Scribble" off and replace it with "Other". I mean, in today's world, there isn't just nine factions. Even nations that are allied with each other still have their own interests at the top. Not to mention cults, gangs, or other organizations. No, there might very well be hundreds of "sides" in the OOTS world.

They were talking about side in this conflict not how much side in the entire world.

Which is why your 9 sides just dont work. We are talking about the conflict for the gates. So firstly, erase Kubota because he doesnt even know about the snarl (at least he dont know about it yet anyway). We dont know about Lord Tyrannar, he could become a side or not. And the Snarl is no side, its the goal. The Snarl is not doing anything in the conflict. If he ever do something, it would be breaking from his prison and destroy the world which would end the conflict.

Even if they are together right now, I understand why you put Xykon and Redcloak on different sides. Its an alliance of convenience after all and they dont have the same goals. But I really dont understand why AC and the OOTS are two different side. They have the same goal, protecting the gates. Even if they have different leaders, it doesnt change the fact that they are on the same side. The Order of the Scribble, if Gerard and Serini are alive, will also be on the same side of the OOTS anyway. And I dont understand why Sabine overlords are not on the list, now those actually know about the gates thanks to Nale and they obviously intend to do something with it.

[DreadSpoon]

That list is easily disputable. Even if you say that Dorukan or Lirian are going to be involved again, what makes you think they and the rest of the Order of the Scribble are not on the OOTS' side? Or that Azure City is not on the OOTS side? They seem to have been allied pretty much constantly since the trial. The goblins and Xykon seem to consist of one side (and no, the SOD stuff does not mean they're on different sides - it likely just means that Xykon, RC, and maybe MOTD will have a throw down at some point independent of the rest of the conflict).

By the kind of logic you present here, Belkar, Durkon, Haley, and V are all on different sides... i mean, Belkar hates the group and sticks with them due to convenience, Durkon is really on the side of the dwarves and not the humans at all, Haley is all about her loot and her dad and not so interested in the rest of the group, V is all about gaining personal arcane power... Elan and Roy are maybe on the same side solely on account of not having any inane reason to say they aren't. Of course Elan and Haley are also clearly on the same side... oh boy, I hope your brain doesn't start to hurt trying to rationalize all this to support your random faction theory.

[Johnny Blade]

I'm surprised no one mentioned Sabine's superiors yet. (Well, not in this thread, at least.)
I mean, the gates could definitely "tip the cosmic balance of Good and Evil".

And they may even have sent Qarr, seeing how he apparently is a recent addition to Kubota's side and speaks of "our plan" and is therefore probably not his servant.

[bibliophile]

It would seem that we don't have enough information to definitly rule out most of these, sabine's superiors for instance. We have too little information to come to any definite conclusion.

[Lupy]

Hmm...

I see these factions, not so sure about others.

Oots(tick), SG, Oots(crible)
Xykon, Tsukiko, undead army
Redcloak, Hobgoblins, Goblins
Sabine's Overlords and Qarr
Lord Tyrinar
LG (except perhaps Sabine)

More to come!

[David Argall]

I'm surprised no one mentioned Sabine's superiors yet.

They may well be a faction involved.

And they may even have sent Qarr, seeing how he apparently is a recent addition to Kubota's side and speaks of "our plan" and is therefore probably not his servant.

Qarr's colors match none of Sabine's masters, who are likely CE while Qarr is likely LE.

A more serious problem is that Qarr shows no sign of knowing of the Gate, which Sabine's masters do know of.
Qarr-Kubota abandoned the city, which makes sense if they expected Xykon to loot the place and then leave. They could then return and take over the city.
But if they knew of the Gate, and thus of Xykon's interest in it, they would know he would not leave. Instead he would stay and take over the world. This makes leaving a bad idea. One should join the defense and save the Gate, or join Xykon and hope to share the loot. Standing on the sidelines means being part of the loot.

So Qarr has no idea of the gates and no connection with Sabine's masters. They are different factions.

[Johnny Blade]

Qarr's colors match none of Sabine's masters, who are likely CE while Qarr is likely LE.

About the colors: I assume you mean the speech balloons? That's unimportant. I mean, Sabine even has the perfectly normal black-and-white one.
About the alignments: We don't know about that. I mean, we don't even know what the lower planes are like in this world.

A more serious problem is that Qarr shows no sign of knowing of the Gate, which Sabine's masters do know of.

Um...he's been a part of the comic for how long again?

Qarr-Kubota abandoned the city, which makes sense if they expected Xykon to loot the place and then leave. They could then return and take over the city.
But if they knew of the Gate, and thus of Xykon's interest in it, they would know he would not leave. Instead he would stay and take over the world. This makes leaving a bad idea. One should join the defense and save the Gate, or join Xykon and hope to share the loot. Standing on the sidelines means being part of the loot.

Good point.
Although we don't know how much Sabine actually knows about the Gates and where exactly they are located. It is strongly implied that Nale knew about the one in Azure City, though.
Oh, and we don't know exactly when Qarr joined Kubota. Maybe they were surprised by Xykon's attack and couldn't devise a good plan quickly enough.
Maybe they wanted to reconquer Azure City shortly after Xykon invaded it, losing a good part of his troops and killing Hinjo in the process, with some mercenaries as reinforcements, maybe even with a little infernal help, and then had to come up with a new plan when the gate, well, exploded.
Granted, that's a little unlikely.

So Qarr has no idea of the gates and no connection with Sabine's masters. They are different factions.

Probably. That's as far as I'm willing to go.

[Beholder1995]

About the colors: I assume you mean the speech balloons? That's unimportant. I mean, Sabine even has the perfectly normal black-and-white one.
About the alignments: We don't know about that. I mean, we don't even know what the lower planes are like in this world.

Yeah, and plus, we don't even know if Sabine is a demon.












I curse myself for bringing that subject up.

[Kato]

I just wish everybody'd stop over analyzing this damn talk of the roaches. There a comic relief. There are no 'nine sides' neither about the gates nor about the comic in it's whole. There are like... twenty you can get, depending on how much you split the various goals. (You can put one for each of the OOTS if you want)
If there was any sense in it, it's a reference to the alligments, if it is anything with a sense behind it.

About the latest discussion: I also don't think Qarr knows about the gates. He's just some outsider supporting Kubota, cause he's evil and outsiders DO support evil people. No real proof of him knowing about the gates.