Word of Recall

[Ron Miel]

A son that your own daughter is telling you is a good person she's known for years.

In a world where, for instance, +30 potions of bluff exist, she may possibly have been fooled.

"Hey, Haley. I'm a good person. You've known me for years. I'm your boyfriend. Now, introduce me to your father"

Okay, we know he is wrong. But Ian doesn't have access to the comic archives. It is not entirely unreasonable for him to mistrust what Haley tells him.

Haley thought that Blind Pete was a good person, and she knew him for years. She trusted him, and look how that worked out.

[NerdyKris]

But what's more reasonable to assume? That someone just happens to be tipping off the guards every time you escape, or that Tarquin, who doesn't even know who Ian is (implying there hasn't been a meeting in a long time, if ever), is dedicated to keeping this one man in prison (instead of just killing him) and is so dedicated to screwing with him that he'd send his son to another continent to befriend and seduce his only daughter, then convince her to come to the Western Continent for a ploy to.... what? Get Ian to escape so he can be captured again? Kill him outside the prison instead of just executing him?

Do you see how Ian is being paranoid? His thought process doesn't even have a logical conclusion. He's completely dedicated to his conspiracy theory that he ignores the massive leap of logic required for Elan to have befriended Haley on Tarquin's orders and then brought her to the Western Continent to fake a failed escape attempt again.

[Grey Watcher]

...

or that Tarquin, who doesn't even know who Ian is

...

I think this is perhaps, to me, the most important thing in distinguishing paranoia from a more legitimate concern about one's safety. Ian incorrectly assumes that he is as important to Tarquin as Tarquin is to him. Because he can't fathom that he just doesn't matter that much. That, apart from Haley, no one really cares that he's rotting away in prison and no one noticed his attempts at revolution before.

A key part of being paranoid and assuming that man is following you is assuming that a random stranger has a reason to follow you.

[Porthos]

In a world where, for instance, +30 potions of bluff exist, she may possibly have been fooled.

"Hey, Haley. I'm a good person. You've known me for years. I'm your boyfriend. Now, introduce me to your father"

Okay, we know he is wrong. But Ian doesn't have access to the comic archives. It is not entirely unreasonable for him to mistrust what Haley tells him.

Haley thought that Blind Pete was a good person, and she knew him for years. She trusted him, and look how that worked out.

OK, let's flip this around. Is there anything Roy, Haley, Elan, <Insert Character HERE> could have said to Ian to get him to trust Elan?

Y/n

If the answer is "n", then that makes a strong case for being paranoid. Especially if the reasons Ian gives get more and more ludicrous.

See, it's not just the opposition. It's the refusing to listen to other possibilities and coming up with far fetched theories to back your point.

It's summed up in the famous phrase: My mind is made up, don't confuse me with the facts.

Now did Ian Starshine have good reason to think people were out to get him? Naturally. Unfortunately not only has he's let that fact blind him to all other possibilities, it's set him in a position to not take any other facts that might change his mind into account.

THAT is being paranoid.

Ironically the one person he does trust in that jail cell... Well. It's a long held fan theory as too how wise it is.

[Psyren]

OK, let's flip this around. Is there anything Roy, Haley, Elan, <Insert Character HERE> could have said to Ian to get him to trust Elan?

Y/n

If the answer is "n", then that makes a strong case for being paranoid. Especially if the reasons Ian gives get more and more ludicrous.

See, it's not just the opposition. It's the refusing to listen to other possibilities and coming up with far fetched theories to back your point.

It's summed up in the famous phrase: My mind is made up, don't confuse me with the facts.

Now did Ian Starshine have good reason to think people were out to get him? Naturally. Unfortunately not only has he's let that fact blind him to all other possibilities, it's set him in a position to not take any other facts that might change his mind into account.

THAT is being paranoid.

Ironically the one person he does trust in that jail cell... Well. It's a long held fan theory as too how wise it is.

Precisely.

And besides, he never asked to meet Haley's father anyway - that was 100% her idea.

[Porthos]

I'd like to bring up another bit about Haley, Ian, and paranoia.

Yes, Haley trusted Old Blind Pete and got ambushed for her trouble.

OTOH, being paranoid and secretive SO screwed up Haley that she suffered a mental breakdown when the stress just got to be too much for her.

Clearly being paranoid wasn't all that is made out to be.

See, the thing about opening yourself up to trust someone is that while you might get hurt (Old Blind Pete) you also get the opportunity to find something special (Elan).

Furthermore by not trusting his own daughter, Ian made the situation in the jail worse for himself than it needed to be. Yes, he was protecting himself from the possibility of being tricked by someone. But in doing so, he missed an opportunity to help himself. And in the process of rejecting this, he put a big huge dent in the relationship with his own daughter.

Under any view of the situation, this is NOT a win for Ian Starshine. And it happened because he was too damn paranoid to take the chance that his daughter might know more about what was going on than him.

[Math_Mage]

Ironically the one person he does trust in that jail cell... Well. It's a long held fan theory as too how wise it is.

Somehow I managed not to realize this was the case. Obvious in retrospect. Thank you for bringing it up.

[Ron Miel]

OK, let's flip this around. Is there anything Roy, Haley, Elan, <Insert Character HERE> could have said to Ian to get him to trust Elan?

For someone ion Ian's position, trust has to be earned over time. He genuinely does have many enemies, some known, some unknown. He should not trust someone he has just met. That's not paranoia, it's a basic survival skill.

[Grey Watcher]

For someone ion Ian's position, trust has to be earned over time. He genuinely does have many enemies, some known, some unknown. He should not trust someone he has just met. That's not paranoia, it's a basic survival skill.

He trusted Belkar pretty quickly. Which does not reflect well on his judgement.

[NerdyKris]

For someone ion Ian's position, trust has to be earned over time. He genuinely does have many enemies, some known, some unknown. He should not trust someone he has just met. That's not paranoia, it's a basic survival skill.

Except that he's in his position because of his paranoia. And seriously, you're saying his own daughter needs to "earn his trust over time"? What, the previous 25 years didn't count?

Again, his assumption that she is lying requires a Byzantine sequence of events that don't even make sense or reach a logical conclusion.
Tarquin doesn't even know he exists.
The idea that he would simply keep Ian in prison while wasting resources capturing him over and over is absurd.
The idea that Tarquin would send his son to another continent to maybe befriend his daughter so she would come back and break into the prison doesn't even reach a conclusion.

It's just absurdity.

He's ignoring the obvious, that someone who is with him daily is tipping off the guards, for the ridiculous, that a mad emperor has a vendetta against him that strains the laws of logic.

[Amphiox]

IIRC correctly, Haley was not all that surprised when Pete betrayed them.

She seems to have anticipated the possibility that Pete might betray them, but decided to take the chance regardless as she had no other better options at the time.

[Amphiox]

In not trusted Elan, what Ian signalled was that he did not trust Haley's judgment about him.

That he did not trust that Haley was sufficiently cautious.

But since he was the one who taught Haley to be cautious in that fashion, by not trusting Elan what he is REALLY signalling (whether or realizes it or not), is that he is not trusting HIMSELF to have properly taught Haley how to be cautious.

That for me is some very fine paranoia there.

[NerdyKris]

In fact, it's a common theme of the actual real world disease of paranoid delusions to view anyone challenging the delusion as being part of the conspiracy, no matter how much they trust that person. I'm not saying Ian is mentally ill, but he's showing the traits of someone who is extremely paranoid by trusting the people who play into his delusions, and rejecting anyone with a rational argument against it.

[bguy]

#3 = Quickened Inflict Moderate.

It is the killing stroke after Harm, or a quick bit of healing. We saw this employed in his fight against Nale. While that does not prove he prepared such a spell again, Malack being Malack, it is a pretty good bet that his ways vary little day to day.

Malack wouldn't need to prep Quickened Inflict Moderate, since he could spontaneous cast any of his 6th level spells for it if he needed one.

#3 was probably Blade Barrier seeing how Malack cast it back in #721, and he doesn't seem to change his spell load out very often.

[Porthos]

For someone ion Ian's position, trust has to be earned over time. He genuinely does have many enemies, some known, some unknown. He should not trust someone he has just met. That's not paranoia, it's a basic survival skill.

Except that he's in his position because of his paranoia. And seriously, you're saying his own daughter needs to "earn his trust over time"? What, the previous 25 years didn't count?\

This.

He trusted Belkar pretty quickly. Which does not reflect well on his judgement.

And this.

Let's step back a bit and look at Comic 769, Comic 770, Comic 771, and Comic 772

In 769 once he finds out the connection between Roy and Haley, he immediately leaps to the conclusion that Roy was planted there by Haley and he "should have seen it coming" since there is no way a Big Guy who wants to hear about the local political scene could possibly be in there by chance.

Paranoid thinking. It helped Haley and Roy, sorta, because he already liked Roy. And it did have a wink and a nod to Dramatic Conventions. But still paranoid thinking.

In 770 he, rightly in this case, figures that someone is thwarting his escape attempts. But he comes up with the explanation that his bugs have been bugged.

Paranoid thinking. Not because he realized that someone was thwarting him. But because of who he fingered.

In 771 he immediately presumes that Elan was planted by Tarquin to get to at him. Not Haley, though he brought that up as he was thinking about it. Him.

"He joined you team to gather information on us - or maybe to catch you red-handed in the act of busting me out!" is his line.

The paranoid thinking isn't so much the fact that he immediately presumes Elan is bad news. It's that he was put in Haley's group to get at HIM.

Now in 772 is where it really goes off the rails. It starts off with Haley reminding Ian that Ian used to feel that Haley was the one person in his life who could always tell when someone was lying.

His reaction? "I don't think you're lying, Kitten, per se. I just think you're being tricked." He then goes on to say that she used to be so perceptive. His reasoning for why she isn't anymore? That she disagrees with him.

This is still paranoid thinking.

This is reinforced by him saying, "Kitten, try to think about this rationally. Why would Tarquin infiltrate your team just to catch YOU". That Elan is a plant by Tarquin is a given, and poor Haley is just too smitten to see what is really going on.

Paranoid thinking. Also with a huge dash of "It's all about him".

Then they have a huge fight about the value of trust and love. He flat out ignores Haley's description of Elan's qualities and what she has to say about him. He simply says "blood doesn't lie. You can always trust in family, for good or for ill."

He just presumes that since Tarquin is evil, so too will Elan be. He isn't open to discussion on the matter. Family is the most important determiner of how a person will act.

Which is... potentially ironic.

It is for all of the reasons above that Ian Starshine is paranoid. Life might have made him that way. He might have had reason to be skeptical of Elan. Even highly skeptical. But it is the fact that he refuses to acknowledge the possibility that he's wrong, and to automatically assume that every situation revolves around him that makes him paranoid.

He might be able to function normally when he is in control of a situation or when things are pretty free and easy. His interactions with Belkar and Roy whilst in the arena jail show that. But once things crop up that threaten, even slightly, his already established world view?

You guessed it.

[JCAll]

He trusted Belkar pretty quickly. Which does not reflect well on his judgement.

But then, Belkar wasn't trying to be his friend. Belkar is a jerkass and a bully. You don't have to trust him, or even like him, but you know where you stand with a guy like Belkar.

[Sir_Leorik]

Hit points =/= sustenance in D&D. You can be at full hit points but if you don't eat you will eventually starve.

But even without that aspect, it would fly in the face of every piece of vampire fiction ever written if a vampire could live by just punching someone once in a while. At that point, is that even really a vampire anymore?

Even in 2E, when the Monstrous Manual still gave Vampires only an Energy Drain attack, every "Ravenloft" novel depicts Count Strahd drinking blood, not draining energy. And "Van Richten's Guide to Vampires" gave an early version of the Constitution Drain to represent Vampires drinking blood.

I am now picturing the Vampire Health Council putting out food group infographics that show new vampires how to stay fit.

I think the Kargat, from the "Ravenloft" setting, make their newly sired Vampire agents take a five hour certification course to make sure they know how much blood they need to drink to stay fit. They even make them watch a two hour film, and there's a written exam. Any Vampire that doesn't try to stake the proctor is weeded out by Beryl Silvertress; she's so paranoid that she reasons that any Vampire willing to sit through the film, the lecture and the written exam, is plotting to slay her.

[Fish]

I think the Kargat, from the "Ravenloft" setting, make their newly sired Vampire agents take a five hour certification course to make sure they know how much blood they need to drink to stay fit. They even make them watch a two hour film, and there's a written exam.

"Please take out your #2 Pencil... no, please don't stake your neighbor with it."

[RMS Oceanic]

I am now picturing the Vampire Health Council putting out food group infographics that show new vampires how to stay fit.

An important piece of levity for Durkon's character arc now?

[SaintRidley]

Malack wouldn't need to prep Quickened Inflict Moderate, since he could spontaneous cast any of his 6th level spells for it if he needed one.

#3 was probably Blade Barrier seeing how Malack cast it back in #721, and he doesn't seem to change his spell load out very often.

Quickened spells must be prepared, as spontaneously cast spells cannot be Quickened.

But even without that aspect, it would fly in the face of every piece of vampire fiction ever written if a vampire could live by just punching someone once in a while. At that point, is that even really a vampire anymore?

Not quite as extreme as living off punches...

[NerdyKris]

I beat you to it:

It would be Morbius the Living Vampire from the 90's Spider-man The Animated Series. Energy suckers on the palms for everyone! Except Blade. He still gets teeth.

[Shining Wrath]

There is a simple answer.

The one person Malack feared most was Tarquin. It's part of being part of a team of evil people - can you be completely certain that your ally won't betray you?

And when said ally is a schemer with the ability and long-term planning and attention to detail that allows him to take over a continent - yeah, you better assume that you might be expendable and not realize that your moment has come. Not even if you're an immortal vampire.

So, suppose Malack is preparing his spells and considers Word of Recall (or is considering buying a ring with WoR). What is the most likely scenario where Malack needs to Get Out Now? A betrayal by Tarquin.

So, if Tarquin is trying to kill Malack - where, exactly, does he go with WoR?

Word of recall teleports you instantly back to your sanctuary when the word is uttered. You must designate the sanctuary when you prepare the spell, and it must be a very familiar place. The actual point of arrival is a designated area no larger than 10 feet by 10 feet. You can be transported any distance within a plane but cannot travel between planes. (SRD)

Where, pray tell, is a sanctuary for Malack that Tarquin cannot reach? If Tarquin is preparing to kill Malack, what place could Malack choose that he could return to and NOT find a bunch of soldiers with mirrors, wooden stakes, garlic, and definite orders about what to do when Malack arrived?

Word of Recall is essentially useless to Malack because his worst enemy is his best friend. It does suck to be evil sometimes. This is one of them.

[Dalek Kommander]

From a rules perspective, it is quite a bit of luck that Nale and Z both rolled well on initiative. From a story perspective and common sense perspective, big bonuses to initiative for a surprise coordinated attack makes perfect sense.

from a character perspective, it doesn't even matter if Malak had a round to act after Nale grabbed the staff if he wasted it saying "what are you- ?" in a tone of mild irritation, as if he was chastising the insufferable antics of a childish buffoon and not wasting a precious opening round in a curb-stomp battle for his very existence.

[Diadem]

It still doesn't sit right with me, the way Malack was defeated.

Not because it's not according to the rules, and not even because it's out of character. But because a major villain like him deserves a more significant death.

It just felt too easy. Take his staff, cast a spell, and he dies. He apparently didn't have a single trick up his sleeve, not a single unexpected turn of events for Nale to overcome. He just attacks Malack and destroys him with childish ease on the first try.

In itself a curbstomping battle isn't strange. Redcloak does the same to Tsukiko. But Tsukiko was a minor villain, already established as pretty incompetent, while redcloak is a major villain. Here however, it was the other way around. Nale is pretty incompetent, and Malack is a major villain.

Nale defeating Malack is a good way to show that Nale is perhaps more competent than he's given credit for. But that still shouldn't make their battle this one-sided. Either this battle should have lasted longer, and been closer, or more time should have been spend beforehand setting Nale up as a major threat.

[Kish]

But because a major villain like him deserves a more significant death.

Malack was never a major villain anywhere but in the minds of readers who gave Tarquin an immediate promotion to "on par with Xykon, with his companions on par with Redcloak," instead of "third-string where he actually belongs, firmly in a smaller role than the Linear Guild, about on par with the IFCC."

You can argue Nale's competence. You can argue that it doesn't fit with Malack's existing character to leave himself that vulnerable--though I wouldn't do either. But I am shaking my head in disbelief that you're trying to argue the one case you can't make, that Malack should have overcome Elan's evil twin and the leader of the Linear Guild on major-character-ness.

[Snails]

It still doesn't sit right with me, the way Malack was defeated.

Not because it's not according to the rules, and not even because it's out of character. But because a major villain like him deserves a more significant death.

He is most certainly not a major villain any more than Crystal or Tsukiko were major villains. They were important to the arcs of one or two particular major characters, but they were never part of the main storyline in terms of being a significant obstacle to the Order itself.

The Giant could have chosen to put evil mastermind vampire here at this point in the story. Instead he chose to put in Tarquin and emphasize the family related themes and set up Elan.

Malack is merely a very interesting sidekick with delusions of a greater destiny. He got played and he never saw it coming. That you are fond of the character is all very nice, but it is not an argument for his greater importance.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

It just felt too easy. Take his staff, cast a spell, and he dies. He apparently didn't have a single trick up his sleeve, not a single unexpected turn of events for Nale to overcome. He just attacks Malack and destroys him with childish ease on the first try.

This is selective amnesia talking. It was not 'easy' to destroy Malack. It was easy for Nale only because Durkon did most of the work for him a few pages before. You cannot just brush under the carpet that Malack was involved in a high-stakes fight that got very close to destroying him earlier, and where he used many of his spells, nor that his friendship with his enemy compelled him to use the tricks up his sleeve to protect Durkon, rather than save them for himself.

If Nale had pulled this off that morning, it would have been too easy. Since Nale instead waited until his target was out of resources, it is perfectly credible his plan worked.

Grey Wolf

[jere7my]

It still doesn't sit right with me, the way Malack was defeated.

Not because it's not according to the rules, and not even because it's out of character. But because a major villain like him deserves a more significant death.

I advise you to never watch a Tarantino movie or season 2 of Buffy.

[Shale]

Also, given that Nale was exploiting Malack's predictability and arrogance, having the attack be foiled by his unpredictability would run against his whole characterization.

[Amphiox]

It still doesn't sit right with me, the way Malack was defeated.

Not because it's not according to the rules, and not even because it's out of character. But because a major villain like him deserves a more significant death.

He's not a major villain at all. He might be powerful, but that alone doesn't a major villain make, anymore than the ABD or Tiamat are major villains in this story. He had no investment in the main plot, was not interested in the Gates on his own accord. He had no history or backstory to make him a personal rival of any of the protagonists. What he was, was an unexpected obstacle. A roadblock. A natural disaster, even, if you will, that basically randomly dropped on them and took away their cleric. And he was removed just as randomly.

It just felt too easy. Take his staff, cast a spell, and he dies. He apparently didn't have a single trick up his sleeve, not a single unexpected turn of events for Nale to overcome. He just attacks Malack and destroys him with childish ease on the first try.

In itself a curbstomping battle isn't strange. Redcloak does the same to Tsukiko. But Tsukiko was a minor villain, already established as pretty incompetent, while redcloak is a major villain. Here however, it was the other way around. Nale is pretty incompetent, and Malack is a major villain.

Nale defeating Malack is a good way to show that Nale is perhaps more competent than he's given credit for. But that still shouldn't make their battle this one-sided. Either this battle should have lasted longer, and been closer, or more time should have been spend beforehand setting Nale up as a major threat.

Based on what Malack is and was shown to be capable of, the most likely defeat for him is a quick one, even if the battle itself is close. He is basically the type of character that becomes less and less likely to be destroyed the longer a fight lasts, the type of character that either gets defeated really quickly, or not at all.

And besides, even if the climax was quick, this defeat actually took over 10 years in the making.