Oots #461

[Celebrim]

On the contrary, her wisdom score is peerless. If her "sign requesting" behaviour in the OotS is not atypical, her ability to discern what is a sign and interpret it correctly (read to its logical extreme without losing paladinhood) must have been astounding in the years before she met the OotS.

That's an interesting argument, and I'm not saying that its wrong. But, she certainly has not displayed anything like a high wisdom score really at any point since the trial of the OotS. So while I agree that one would think that a high level Paladin/Monk (ECL ~17?) ought to have a decent Wisdom score, her actually displayed judgment has been painfully less insightful than either Belkar or Nale - two characters known to have low wisdom score.

 

[tzor]

And speaking of Belkar, I can't believe nobody's said anything about his plan to test the trajectory of the catapult.

Many strips ago, when they first ran into the tower there was a lot of seculation as to why a panel was devoted to getting a random NPC into the tower. He of couse had dragged the paladin in, she followed ... barely. Now we know.

 

[DreadArchon]

So while I agree that one would think that a high level Paladin/Monk (ECL ~17?) ought to have a decent Wisdom score, her actually displayed judgment has been painfully less insightful than either Belkar or Nale - two characters known to have low wisdom score.

One would think that a Ranger would have enough Wis to cast spells, but that's not happening either. I postulate that Rich's characters follow his own advice from his articles on gaming: NPC's do not have access to the core rulebooks (except as occaisonal jokes) and, thus, their actions and abilities are based on their motivations and situations, rather than behind-the-scenes game mechanics optimization.

Also, have we ever seen Miko cast any Paladin spells? If so, were they level 3+? If we haven't seen her cast any spells of level 3+, there's no evidence that her Wis is any higher than high average. Indeed, if we haven't seen her cast any spells, there's no evidence that her Wis is above average at all! (I ask you, why would she wear armor--and we know that she wears metal armor--if she was getting a Wis bonus to AC?)


The downside, of course, is that low Wis also disqualifies her from knowing any summon spells by which to take the Alienist prestige class. Pity, it would certainly suit her.

Miko's contact with the Creature in Darkness wasn't exactly peaceful, and her encounter with Sabine was anything but.

You assume that Sabine is going to report her hostile contact. What if she goes home and lies about it, so as to claim (at least partial) credit if Miko falls further? "Well, I met a fallen paladin, but she wasn't interested in becoming a blackguard just then. Still, we had peaceful contact, so if she ever falls later, I want a partial finder's fee."

 

[Kesh]

I still see that as the most likely scenario. In her insane state, this is how Miko understands the sitation:

• The leadership of the Sapphire order has been subverted. Thus, because her lawfulness leads her to top-down thinking, the entire sapphire order is also suspect and likely has been corrupted. Only she has remained pure. The defeat of the Sapphire order is proof of thier fallen state.
• As if any further proof was needed, the souls of the sapphire order have returned as vile undead ghosts! This is clear proof of thier evil. As ghosts, they are no better and are perhaps worse than the cleric or Lich.
• Faced with two potential evils which she must choose between, she can judge which is good and which false by thier actions. And what do we see? The Sapphire order is trying to destroy the very thing which she has sworn to protect, and Xykon and co. are fighting desparately to preserve and protect it. It is clear where her duty lies. She must help Xykon protect the throne.
• All of this has clearly been orchestrated by the dastardly Roy Greenhilt. He has clearly been trying to destroy all the portals, and Xykon has been trying to stop him. Everything makes sense now. This is why Redcloak compared her to Xykon - they have the same goal! And this is why Redcloack told her she was wrong when she said he was a soulless nihilist - they are on the same side, protecting the planet, not trying to destroy it. She must forge an alliance with Xykon, and in doing so, she will 'regain' her power - clear proof of the rightness of her actions!
• And her newly gained powers will able her to destroy Soon and save Xykon.

Expect Miko to be wearing black in her next transformation.

Nailed it. I fully expect this to be Miko's line of reasoning in the next couple strips. I have a feeling the OOtS will still manage to destroy the gate, thereby cementing her hatred of them, and leading to the next gate.

 

[kenobi65]

One would think that a Ranger would have enough Wis to cast spells, but that's not happening either.

Nope; way back when, Vaarsuvius realized that Belkar lacked the wisdom to even be able to read some of the then-unconscious Durkon's cure scrolls. In order to save Elan's life, Vaarsuvius cast Owl's Wisdom on Belkar. He was able to save Elan with the scrolls, and then the increased wisdom was causing him to rethink his homicidal life-path, until V dispelled the spell.

 

[The Grumpy Celt]

Miko has proven herself to be the benchmark in Lawful/Stupid.

I think it is more Lawful/Stubborn.

Was Miko set up? If so, by whom?

Do you think he is writing it that deeply? I mean, he has ongoing plot threads, story elements and so forth, but saying Miko was designed and set up by an evil god (or something similar) to all along be a mere goad and paper tiger is something else.

 

[wingsandsword]

Was Miko set up? If so, by whom? She certainly used to have a direct line to the gods... should we really blame her if a divine strength being started hacking the system (or if her gods decided to have her hang herself out to dry)?

But is "The Tangles" an "Evil Outsider"?

Hmm . . .

When Elan broke the gate in Dorukan's Dungeon, one of the rifts where the Snarl appears was opened, so the Snarl had (very) limited access to the world.

What if at that moment, the Snarl decided it needed a champion, somebody who would free it to let it ravage the world as only it could. Not somebody who would enslave it (like Xykon and Redcloak), but somebody who could serve as an envoy of ultimate entropy.

Enter Miko, unswerving loyalty to the gods and orders, and the Snarl quietly starts diverting signs and omens her way, giving her quiet divine whispers of hatred and madness, nudging someone who was already a little unstable way over the edge. The entire time she thinks she's a paragon of good, but her alignment is sliding down to CE the whole time unknowingly.

Then she falls from all this manipulation, and extra added bonus almost destroys a second gate. She walks into the throne room, to see the fate of the Azure City Gate at stake, and the Snarl knows he has his chance, if only the gate were smashed he would gain just a little more power, and more control over its nacent champion.

So, in another "divine" revelation it's made clear to her to smash the sapphire that comprises the gate, since now she "understands" that protecting it was just another lie, it is a prison that weakens and offends the gods (or so she thinks). With it gone, the Snarl could appear even more, and possibly even physically manifest, right in front of Miko, maybe complete with a facade of divinity (well, it is made from divine essence, albeit corrupted and warped).

Now Miko has been blessed by the "gods" with a new, special destiny all of her own, and with it comes special new powers. . .hence Blackguard Miko, Champion of the Snarl. Dedicated to the destruction of all the gates to allow the "gods" their full power (in other words, destroying the world).

 

[Thunderfoot]

Hardly unexpected though. I use to think that that was highly unlikely to happen because Rich had a great sense for steering away from cliche's, but I'm not so certain anymore.

I still hope he won't do this, Rich has proven that he can spin a tale and just when you think you have it pegged, BOOM! He pulls the rug out from under you and you're left going...whaaaa?

 

[Thunderfoot]

Easy. Undead Miko.

Tangles with the Throne Room Hodown, gets swatted like a fly, raised as Miko the Death Knight.

Her delusions make her think that because she's opposed to the OotS, she's somehow working in accord with her 'special destiny', which keeps getting more and more special, the more she realizes she's screwed up.

Oh, I killed the wacky old guy with the cat, fell from grace and was thrown in jail. I was MEANT to do that, otherwise I wouldn't have escaped.

Oh, I died and was raised as the undead. I was MEANT to do that, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to oppose the Order of the Stick.

Oh, I'm working with the bad guys to harness the gates and do something terrible to the world. I was MEANT to do that, because the 12 Gods will use me as their instrument to make it the change they want. And obviously I was MEANT to fall, otherwise I wouldn't be able to be in this position where I'm so very needed.

Yes. It's all destiny. It's not that I've done anything wrong, it's that I'm working in accord with a mysterious plan that I can only begin to understand in retrospect.

WOW!, now THIS would be just what I'm talking about. I would never imagine this senario, but now that I see it here, this looks like just what the doctor ordered.

Miko doesn't want the path of a Blackguard, turned it down cold when offered by Sabine.
But being raised as a death knight, the twisting of the raise, the last burning hatred of the OotS in her mind, BRILLIANT!