OotS 631!

[moritheil]

I'm willing to bet that the four words will be "I accept the terms"

Or try these four words: "I cannot fail again."

 

[Dausuul]

There is no possible way that anything V says to the imp or its masters at this moment is the right thing for the wrong reasons. The wrong thing for the right reasons, sure. But the idea that "selling your soul to Hell" is the right thing, and "saving your family" is the wrong reason, is ludicrous. It's far more tortured than anything the Oracle tried to pawn off on Belkar.

If this is in fact the point where V gains ultimate arcane power, then there has been nothing other than "Disintegrate; Gust of Wind" which could even remotely be construed to be The Four Words. Of course, this might be a giant red herring and V's actual ascension to UAP comes much later... perhaps after the Nine Hells have had a chance to sink their hooks in and twist.

(For the record, I think "Disintegrate; Gust of Wind" was absolutely spoken to Kubota, no twisting required. IMO the only weak spot in this interpretation is the length of the causal chain between V saying those four words and the current situation.)

Sabine is a succubus...

This has never been established. She could just as easily be a brachina, a pleasure devil. Certainly our brief sight of her masters, and their mode of operation ("You'll be eligible for a 10% finder's fee"), suggests Lawful Evil and the Hells. Moreover, since Nale is explicitly Lawful Evil, it would make sense for Sabine to be the same.

...Thinking about it, demons and the Abyss have played virtually no role in the story to date. In fact, if it weren't for a couple of throwaway background characters (like the marilith in the line for the dungeon bathroom), and Haley's uncertainty over whether to use silver or cold iron on Sabine, there would be nothing to indicate that the Abyss even exists in OotS-land.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Well, that's a good way to keep the question of V's gender still in the dark, isn't it

And V's mate - the possible combinations expanded from two to four.

-Hyp.

 

[Ripzerai]

"A petty noble whose soul we're getting anyway and who will be instantly wiped out by the squad of paladins he hangs around with? Pass."

The devil shuffles through some papers. His eyes widen.

"A player character? Hot damn!"

Of course, this is why V's on their list. Not because she's (arbitrary pronoun) a high-level spellcaster, but because she's a PC.

As for powers, I predict a free teleport, a level up, and all her spells augmented with hellfire.

 

[jmucchiello]

(For the record, I think "Disintegrate; Gust of Wind" was absolutely spoken to Kubota, no twisting required.

I can't buy this at all. Spells are not spoken TO their targets. Who do you say "clone" to? "Summon monster 3"? Did the black dragon say "Anti-magic Shell" to V?

The spells were cast at Kubota, they weren't spoken to anyone.

There is no possible way that anything V says to the imp or its masters at this moment is the right thing for the wrong reasons. The wrong thing for the right reasons, sure. But the idea that "selling your soul to Hell" is the right thing, and "saving your family" is the wrong reason, is ludicrous. It's far more tortured than anything the Oracle tried to pawn off on Belkar.

Except that she tells the imp she wants a Faustian deal because she needs more arcane power. Saving her family seems almost incidental. She is doing it for the wrong reason. Of course this just means it's not the right 4 words since she should be petitioning hell to save her family.

And again, that in itself is a wrong reason. Do you want to survive the black dragon to find out that your lover/parent consigned themselves to hell for you? Can you live with that? Who would burden their children with that reality? As a parent I can understand not thinking it through to that level.

A true catch-22. But that's what Faustian deals are made of I suppose.

 

[Chaoszero]

When was it established that V's kids are adopted? I know they have a different skin tone, but that can be just be a genetic thing - like hair color for humans.

 

[jmucchiello]

When was it established that V's kids are adopted? I know they have a different skin tone, but that can be just be a genetic thing - like hair color for humans.

8th panel of 631. "An hour? My adopted progeny will be long dead by then, imp."

 

[jeffh]

Neither was Haley's gifthorse the means by which she got her speech back, it was her declaration of love. But it was the fact she did not look into the gifthorse's mouth that led her into the position that she had to make the declaration.

It still led directly to the situation where she got her speech back. V's current predicament owes to making a decision of his/her own free will that may have happened shortly after the Kabuto incident, but was not in any obvious sense a direct result of it. (And for the record, I do think the connection there is pretty tenuous, but it was still a lot more direct than you're proposing.)

And there was no literal gift horse, Nale was a human.

Look, I don't appreciate being wilfully misunderstood any more than you would were I to do it to you. If you have an argument with something I actually said, make it, but please check this kind of crap at the door.

For me the "tortured reading" is claiming that when you speak words at someone you're not saying words to them.

Good thing I didn't say that. Casting a spell is not "speaking words at" someone any more than shooting them with a gun is.

I also find it a very tortured reading, for anyone to claim that what V is doing right now is for all the wrong reasons.

Good thing I never said it was, then. Others might have, but guess what? People who disagree with this are not a monolithic, interchangeable mass. I doubt very much that we've seen the last significant plot twist in this part of V's arc.