Someone's probably already mentioned this, but...

[thereaper]

There's a very good chance that Ian's "friend" is Serini.

As a fellow Rogue, he'd be more likely to trust her (especially since this strip implies she might be Chaotic or at least non-Lawful). We know that she didn't settle down and continued adventuring (and could therefore show up anywhere). We don't know for a fact that she is dead (though some would argue Xykon finding her diary would imply he killed her), but one way or another she has to appear in the strip in some form simply to explain how Xykon got her diary. Moreover, we need someone to explain just what happened with the Scribblers. That someone would most likely have to be one of the Scribblers themselves. Given that Kraagor (even if he isn't dead) wouldn't know anything about what happened after the sealing of the rifts, it seems most likely that Serini would be the best candidate for explaining exactly what happened between them (especially as she was the mediator who suggested the gates in the first place).

And what would be the easiest way to suddenly introduce such a character? By having them be friends with another character who has some unresolved plot threads.

Where would a good place for an epic (presumably Good, possibly Chaotic) Rogue to be who constantly travels and seeks adventure? The Western Continent, where evil empires are constantly falling and springing up, and there are some high level or low epic evil adventurers ruling some kingdoms (heck, maybe Serini will off Tarquin ).

What would be the best way for our heroes to catch up to Team Evil in Kraagor's Tomb despite their head start? To have assistance from the Epic Rogue who built it.

The final reason this could work would be the symmetry. Ian has trust issues, and the story of the breakup of the Order of the Scribble may well be a failure of trust. The way these plot threads interact could be interesting.

So, there you go. I just had to dig up and replant this particular epileptic tree.

[Copperdragon]

Possible, but I think such a coincidence would be lame. The stories would be fantastically linked and "everything is linked" is getting old. I think it was already enough that Ian (Haley) was help prisoner by Tarquin (Elan) and his wife got killed by someone else from the party (Vaarsuvius).

At one point it's getting from "Ah, cool, that is an unexpected twist or relation!" to "Huh... again a link? That is feeling artificial..." and for me Serini also being linked into the main story via some external coincidence would be just that.

[KillianHawkeye]

Interesting idea. It's certainly possible. And I have to give you points for coming up with a theory that I haven't seen mentioned before. Plus, it looks like the theory that Ian was friends with the Draketooths (Draketeeth?) since their ideologies are so similar has pretty much been eliminated now that the OOTS has finished with Girard's pyramid and he never showed up there.

[BaronOfHell]

Serini never stopped adventuring and reached a power level where even the Gods fear her, she got so powerful that nothing was a threat to her anymore, not even the snarl, hence she stopped caring about her diary.

At some point in her solitude she got raving mad, and is has become death itself, anything that stands in her path, wherever she may go, will be killed so throughly that the souls has ended up on the wrong afterlife planes afterwards.

Once Serini finds out that the lowly thief that is Xykon the lich sorcerer stole her diary, she'll track him down and split him up bone for bone. Hilarity ensues when Xykon has to flee through the rift in hope the Snarl's unmaking will be his only salvation, and here Serini finds the only thing that can stop her craze, largely thanks to the Order of the Stick, she finds Kraagor, the only person among her former allies who ever threated her with respect and dignity, seeing Kraagor again, she realizes her love for him and she and him lives happily ever after..

Or at least she does, Kraagor kinda got forced into that one.

So Serini cannot be Ian's friend, because she's married to Kraagor in the planet within the planet.

[Kish]

I think the Order is probably not going to set foot on the western continent again anytime soon.

Correspondingly, I doubt anything plot-central is here.

[Mike Havran]

I don't think this is terribly likely. If she was Ian's friend, why didn't she help him to escape?

[Rodin]

I think the Order is probably not going to set foot on the western continent again anytime soon.

Correspondingly, I doubt anything plot-central is here.

Been thinking the same thing. The only part that's still throwing me is the whole "Ian now has a massive bounty" sub-plot. Sure it's possible that it was just another way for Tarquin to be a jackass, but it seems major enough and specific enough that introducing that complication for the sake of a single page of villainy is unlikely.

[CaDzilla]

That strip you mentioned implies the opposite. If she was going to multiclass to paladin, wouldn't she have to be lawful good?

[Rogar Demonblud]

She'd have to become Lawful Good, hence the comment about needing a stick up the ***.

[Jaxzan Proditor]

Interesting idea. I don't think it's terribly likely, but it's not impossible. Kudos for coming up with an idea that I don't think anyone's suggested before.

[Amarsir]

So Serini cannot be Ian's friend, because she's married to Kraagor in the planet within the planet.

When you put it like that, it seems so obviously true that it should probably be in spoilers.

[Gift Jeraff]

Did Ian ever even mention a "friend"? He just said he knows a place. It might just be a strategic location that the Empires would "never" look. My guess for how the Ian subplot is continued or resolved:

-Elan asks Julio to rescue Haley's family so the OOTS can focus on saving the world.

or

-The place Ian fled to is the same base mentioned in Panel 6 and he will bump into Sabine who returns there for one reason or another. Then they realize they have a mutual enemy. She won't tell him that she loved Tarquin's son so he doesn't completely distrust her.

[137beth]

Been thinking the same thing. The only part that's still throwing me is the whole "Ian now has a massive bounty" sub-plot. Sure it's possible that it was just another way for Tarquin to be a jackass, but it seems major enough and specific enough that introducing that complication for the sake of a single page of villainy is unlikely.

That could easily be resolved by the mechane flying over Ian and picking him up. They are going to the northern continent anyways.
But yes, I agree, I don't think anything plot-critical is left on the western continent.

[BaronOfHell]

I thought on them picking Ian up as well, while I could see him being willing to maybe leave his just cause at bringing the empire down, it's harder for me to believe he'd accept a lift where Elan is on board.

I'm not really sure how to approach Ian to be honest, who can talk to him in a manner that'd make him trust Elan? Not even Haley seemed to be able to, and apart from his late wife, I'd have thought she'd be the one with the best chance of doing so.

[Kish]

I imagine Haley will be forced to leave Ian to deal with the bounty on his own.

[Paseo H]

Possible, but I think such a coincidence would be lame. The stories would be fantastically linked and "everything is linked" is getting old. I think it was already enough that Ian (Haley) was help prisoner by Tarquin (Elan) and his wife got killed by someone else from the party (Vaarsuvius).

At one point it's getting from "Ah, cool, that is an unexpected twist or relation!" to "Huh... again a link? That is feeling artificial..." and for me Serini also being linked into the main story via some external coincidence would be just that.

Exactly. Or put another way: too simple, too clear cut.

[Ward.]

I always thought the "friend" was the guy he's doing time with.

[KillianHawkeye]

That could easily be resolved by the mechane flying over Ian and picking him up. They are going to the northern continent anyways.
But yes, I agree, I don't think anything plot-critical is left on the western continent.

I somehow doubt this will happen. It's going to be pretty difficult to see a couple of rogues hiding in the desert from 500 feet in the air. If they want to save Haley's dad from the bounty hunters, they're going to have to figure out where he went the old fashioned way. Or just use magic, since V's put so much time into researching divination spells.

[thereaper]

That strip you mentioned implies the opposite. If she was going to multiclass to paladin, wouldn't she have to be lawful good?

"I don't know if you're the paladin type, Serini."

Let us not forget that Elan has in the past considered multiclassing to Cleric and Wizard (which he lacks the wisdom and intelligence for), and while likely not quite as stupid, Serini appeared to play a similar role in her party to that of Elan (look at her diary, for example).

I don't think this is terribly likely. If she was Ian's friend, why didn't she help him to escape?

I never claimed Ian considered her an ally in his plot to topple Tarquin (this is Ian we're talking about here), only that he might trust just her enough to crash at her place (or at least that they have a hangout in common) if necessary. If she were an official ally, Geoff would probably have already known about her, and Ian wouldn't have needed to say that he "knew a place" (thereby implying that it was somewhere Geoff didn't know about).

Interesting idea. It's certainly possible. And I have to give you points for coming up with a theory that I haven't seen mentioned before.

Wait, what? Really?

No, I refuse to believe that this hasn't been mentioned somewhere on the forums at some point.

[KillianHawkeye]

Wait, what? Really?

No, I refuse to believe that this hasn't been mentioned somewhere on the forums at some point.

Quite possibly it has, but I try not to venture into the meaningless speculation threads too often. So even if it's not new, it was new to me.

[dps]

I thought on them picking Ian up as well, while I could see him being willing to maybe leave his just cause at bringing the empire down, it's harder for me to believe he'd accept a lift where Elan is on board.

I'm not really sure how to approach Ian to be honest, who can talk to him in a manner that'd make him trust Elan? Not even Haley seemed to be able to, and apart from his late wife, I'd have thought she'd be the one with the best chance of doing so.

Yeah, I don't see him getting on board the Mechane. And given that Roy has just asked Julio to get them to the Northern Continent as quickly as possible, I don't think we'll see anything else going on on the Western Contintent any time soon.

[Sir_Leorik]

You're assuming

a) that Serini is ever going to show up in the comic (outside of flashbacks);

b) that Ian actually has a friend he's going to (he mentions a place to hide, not a person who will help him);

c) that the comic will focus on Ian Starshine in the immediate future.

The OotS is heading directly to Kraagor's Tomb. They might not arrive at the front door (and need to spend time in the Dwarven Homelands) but they're not staying to help Haley's dad. Ian was quite clear about how much he wanted her help.

As for Serini, what makes you think she would settle down on the Western Continent? If she were still alive and interested in settling down, why wouldn't she settle down near Kraagor's Tomb? Maybe drop by every so often and add more monsters to replace the dead ones, make sure the Random Monster Generator is still working, feed the Deepspawn and toss some treasure into the mix. She wouldn't be hanging out in the Draketooths' backyard, because that would violate the agreement. (Even Dorukan and Lirian tried to keep their rendezvous a secret from the others.)

If Lirian shows up in Book Six (and the jury's still out on the question) it will most likely be in or near Kraagor's Tomb.

[sengmeng]

Serini doesn't need any contrivance to be introduced; they're heading to her gate. She can just be there. I imagine all they'll be able to spare for Ian is a heads up in the form of a Sending from Durkon.

[martianmister]

"I don't know if you're the paladin type, Serini."

Let us not forget that Elan has in the past considered multiclassing to Cleric and Wizard (which he lacks the wisdom and intelligence for), and while likely not quite as stupid, Serini appeared to play a similar role in her party to that of Elan (look at her diary, for example).

Elan can be a cleric or wizard, a non-lawful good person can't be a paladin.

[KillianHawkeye]

Elan can be a cleric or wizard, a non-lawful good person can't be a paladin.

Elan could, theoretically, BECOME Lawful Good and then take levels in Paladin though. Alignments are not permanent things that can never be changed. Not that this is a thing that would ever happen.