OotS 406

[delericho]

Yeah, Miko falls. Not so much because her attacking Shojo is Evil (although it is), but because she has just ceased to be Lawful.

She has declared that the laws are meaningless. She has appointed herself judge, jury and executioner. She has ignored the legitimate authorities (Shojo and/or Hinjo). And she has engaged in summary execution without stopping to gather the evidence that she should have been required to have.

She's not a Paladin (or shouldn't be). She's not Lawful. And she's probably not Good. But she's not yet a Blackguard, either.

Edit: Oh, and incidentally, she is right that Shojo should not be running the country. If he wanted the services of the Order of the Stick, there are a great many ways that that could be achieved that would not have required him to make a mockery of the lawful structure of their society. Shojo has probably done irreprable damage to the fabric of that society by his actions, a fact that Roy (himself LG) was rightly outraged at when he found out about it. However, what is required in that society is a very public enquiry, governmental reform, and the replacement of Shojo - all of which Miko has rendered impossible. Summary execution renders the damage permanent, since whatever happens next will sound like 'coup d'etat' and 'cover up' to outside observers.

 

[WhatGravitas]

Edit: Oh, and incidentally, she is right that Shojo should not be running the country.

Hehe, it's right. As much as I like him, a CG leader is not a good fit for a LG society.

 

[LoneWolf23]

Hehe, it's right. As much as I like him, a CG leader is not a good fit for a LG society.

Chaotic Good? Just because he occasionally breaks his own nation's laws, doesn't mean he's Chaotic. I'd rate him more as Neutral Good: willing to work within the rules if it helps, but willing to break them for the greater Good.

 

[LoneWolf23]

Personally, I think that during the fight with Roy, Belkar, and Hinjo she will realise her paladin powers are gone. Rather than think she is being punished for breaking her code, I think she will turn on the gods, believing they too are in the wrong. I think she will survive the fight, and later on she will appear again - likely as a blackguard. She will not be serving Xykon, however, as she believes him to be evil and thus one of her (several) foes. Instead, I think she will be fighting on her own.

Perhaps not on her own... She still needs "peaceful contact with an Evil Outsider" to become a Blackguard...

...and wouldn't you know it, there currently is an Evil Outsider within conveniant distances, right in the Sapphire Guard's own jail, along with a master manipulator skilled in Bluffing, who has a grudge against the Order of the Stick himself.

 

[Darklone]

Uh oh... Miko and the succubus...

 

[Andor]

My Predictions:

Miko gets beaten and thrown in jail ('cause Hinjo has to show her the difference between her actions and LG). She's in the cell next to the Linear Guild, after a chat with Nale she is shocked but not surprised when Sabine 'reveals' herself to be a celestial. Some standard fodderol about how her gods have abandoned her, but there are still forces for good in the world from Sabine and *Bamm* Miko swears herself to Sabines 'Gods' and Ta-Da! Blackguard.

Unless Rich reads this and changes his mind just to spite me.

 

[Gez]

Bet the next few comics have nothing to do with this.

I called it on the first page!

Rich wants everyone out there to suddenly spring up and feel sympathy for the old man and hate Miko. Why? So that when he reveals what's truly going on people are blown away.

Obviously. Just like when he revealed the truth behind the Nale and the Cliffport Police Chief, we were blown away. Now, wait, we weren't. The Chief was a likable old man, and Nale is still a murderous villain.

My prediction for the future: Miko will become a blackguard. I don't think she has fallen yet, but her faith has been badly shaken. The only thing left is for her to meet an outsider and who is waiting in the dungeon for her Sabine. Sabine will corrupt her and when they break out she will be the newest member of the Linear Guild.

Very possible, indeed. In her deluded world, she will think that if Nale, Sabine and Thog are enemies of Shojo and the Order, then they are good guys.

Maybe she'll become the Guild's new anti-Belkar. Would that make her... Mikobold?

Shojo's not quite dead

Again, just like the Chief. Oh wait...

Exactly. Shojo has been underhanded, devious, and manipulative for the greater good. He has subjected himself to ridicule and serious inconvenience (with the senile act). He could have achieved a bit of safety in far more evil ways, but he chooses to NOT kill those who would wish to assassinate him, but rather to suffer indignity. Self-Sacrifice: It's Good(tm).

Miko, on the other hand, puts her anger and desire for revenge ahead of the public good. She puts it ahead of the law. She puts it ahead of the lives of the many innocents who need defending against the known evil army of hobgoblins and undead.

She's just done herself some cold-blooded murder, with a dash of regicide for spice.

Miko, welcome to the Dark Side.

-- N

Yup.

Attacked. Attacked a defenseless old man in cold blood. He's not Dead Yet.

Again, this was also said profusely back in strip 360, when the little flying head of the Chief had not Xs for eyes yet. Somehow, he wasn't alive and well in 361, joking about how he couldn't feel his elbows.

So, by your interpretation, how could anyone ever lose their paladin status?

Say I'm a paladin. I'm in a village that was attacked by orcs yesterday. The orcs had some knowledge of the village's defenses and so were able to kill a lot of people before they were finally driven off. I know that a teenage boy was seen going into the woods yesterday from which the orc raiding party came from.

So I walk up to this teenage boy in the street and brutally cut him down with my sword. I figure that he was working with the orcs and told them the weak points in the village's defenses. After all, he was seen going into the forest where the orcs came from, the orcs had knowledge of the village's defenses, and the boy wasn't hurt in the attack. That's good enough for me. This defenseless boy dies in the street like a dog.

According to you, I'd still be a paladin. What you're saying is that as long as someone can justify their actions to themselves, no matter how thin the justification actually is, they won't lose their paladin status. I don't think it's supposed to work that way - and it certainly doesn't in the games I run.

Very apt transposition.

Miko will fall. Remember her fight with Belkar? She was going to snap there. And she was much more justified in killing Belkar (who is really evil, and a murderer, and provoked her repeatedly) than in killing Shojo. Miko fell.

 

[Vraille Darkfang]

Yup.

Again, this was also said profusely back in strip 360, when the little flying head of the Chief had not Xs for eyes yet. Somehow, he wasn't alive and well in 361, joking about how he couldn't feel his elbows.

I'm not saying I'd be surprised, if, in fact, he is dead.

After all, this is a Comic Strip, that while it uses a lot of in-jokes based on D&D, is not in fact, 100% D&D Rules 100% of the time.

I'm just saying that his death is not guarenteed.

As opposed to some 3-4th Level Warrior with some pretty severe Wealth Limitations, Shujo is a High Level Noble. He has access to the Wealth of an Entire City-State. A State with a Good Divine Presence. He's Paranoid & has to look out for Assassination attempts everywhere.

So if you tell me that someone can just chop down on him with a sword & do enough to take him down to -10 HP & that he has NO MAGICAL ITEMS TO AID HIM....

I wouldn't buy that module. Too much DM Fiat to make that work.


Again, if he's dead fine.

I just think that if I was running him as an NPC. You can bet a good deal of his Character Wealth would be invested in Items to Keep him Alive during an Assassintion Attempt.

Especially if he spends a good deal of time pondering when the next attempt will be.


Ring of Regeneration is the most Obvious Item.

 

[Hussar]

Heh, as much as people hate Miko, that's the one character that can generate the most chatter about a strip. I haven't seen a OOTS strip discussion go into 5 pages since... oh since Miko last danced with Belkar.

 

[Aaron L]

Huh. In my games, intentional killing of in innocent being is an automatic and permanent loss of Paladin abilities. It doesn't matter if the Paladin "thought" he was doing the right thing or not.

PS I'm pretty sure Shojo has specifically said hes a Neutral Good Aristocrat.


[Edit] I jut looked it up, he just says he's not Lawful. But I still agree that he's Neutral Good. He hasn't done anything really Chaotic, just "for the greater good" type stuff, which is definite Neutral Good behavior[/Edit]