Is Serini still alive?

[prism6691]

Hey I've been wondering about if Serini might be still alive. Has there ever been confirmation that she is no longer alive?
I know Xykon has her diary/journal but if I remember correctly she didn't actually stay at Kraagor's gate. From what I understood she filled the place with monsters and then left never truly retiring.
Is there a chance that she might pop up somewhere along the line? Also apparently she stayed in contact with Girard so I wouldn't say it is out of the question that she might have found out what happened to Girard's descendants ect.

That is if she hasn't died of old age of course.

[Grim Portent]

To the best of my knowledge it hasn't been stated that Serini is alive or dead. As I recall, what we do know is that she never retired, Xykon has her diary, and she didn't respond to a sending spell from the Order.

[Dr.Epic]

To the best of my knowledge it hasn't been stated that Serini is alive or dead. As I recall, what we do know is that she never retired, Xykon has her diary, and she didn't respond to a sending spell from the Order.

Xykon has her diary and she never retired...

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Xykon is Serini! Of course! It all makes sense now!

[t209]

Xykon has her diary and she never retired...

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Xykon is Serini! Of course! It all makes sense now!

Uhhh...

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Nope! Start of Darkness showed Xykon as a sadistic child, therefore he was born AFTER Serini.

[Dr.Epic]

Uhhh...

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Nope! Start of Darkness showed Xykon as a sadistic child, therefore he was born AFTER Serini.

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How do we know that wasn't secret Serini in disguise? I mean, we've never seen Xykon and Serini at the same place at the same time.

[Forum Explorer]

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How do we know that wasn't secret Serini in disguise? I mean, we've never seen Xykon and Serini at the same place at the same time.

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Yes we have because Serini is clearly the MitD and has amnesia!

[Tvtyrant]

Uhhh...

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Nope! Start of Darkness showed Xykon as a sadistic child, therefore he was born AFTER Serini.

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That was a boy named Xykon. But as we all know, all undead look exactly the same. Thus Serini simply killed Xykon and turned into an undead, disguising herself as a charismatic imbecile until the time was ripe.

[Pokonic]

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That was a boy named Xykon. But as we all know, all undead look exactly the same. Thus Serini simply killed Xykon and turned into an undead, disguising herself as a charismatic imbecile until the time was ripe.

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Indeed. I mean, there's nothing to disprove the theory....

[Dr.Epic]

I like how my crackpot theory is gaining "support."

[Tebryn]

Uhhh...

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Nope! Start of Darkness showed Xykon as a sadistic child, therefore he was born AFTER Serini.

Uhh...

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Nope! Start of Darkness showed Xykon as a sadistic child, therefore he was born BEFORE Serini. Considering he's over one hundred years old. And the Order of the Scribble had disbanded only after he was an old man.

[Finagle]

Halflings live longer, right? What's the rules on that? Girard is long dead in the present time. Serini seemed pretty adolescent in the crayon comics, what with her high school girl writing style.

I could see her still being alive when we get to the end of the story in 2018 or so. Then, she reveals what made OOTS break up in the first place and what Girard was so angry about that he attempted murder with his desert explosion trap.

[prism6691]

Halflings live longer, right? What's the rules on that? Girard is long dead in the present time. Serini seemed pretty adolescent in the crayon comics, what with her high school girl writing style.
.

Thats the real question here. It wouldn't be unrealistic even if halfling lifespan was the same as humans. Dorukan was still alive 6 months before the beginning of the comic although he was ancient. Lirian too.

Now also keep in mind that everyone in the party has been represented as incredibly powerful in least in terms of being able to take on the toughest baddies in the comic (even if they lost those confrontations in the cases of Lirian and Dorukan).

If she is still alive and aware of the situation with the gates falling one by one she may end up showing up. If so thats another high level adventurer for the good guys.

Another thought, she had feelings for Girard right? Maybe once she finds out about V's effect on Girard's descendants...well that may not end well.

[ti'esar]

the end of the story in 2018

Wow, you're optimistic.

Speaking seriously, I think it's likely. We've encountered all of the other gate-keepers in some form, and I doubt that Serini's diary would be all we get for her. Plus, she's the only surviving - and most trustworthy - source for what exactly went down back then anyway, which is still a major unanswered question. As for the technical details of her survival, it's not hard to speculate - halflings do live longer, and given that she's epic she may have some means of extending her life as well.

There's only one real reason I'd guess against it, and it's related to another unanswered question:

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just how did Xykon get the diary during his three missing years in SoD...?

[factotum]

I'm in the opposite camp. Serini was the type who liked to wander the world adventuring, which is a high-risk profession, and you have to ask how Xykon came by her diary if she's still alive?

[Mike Havran]

Remember Vaarsuvius was unable to contact Serini via sending, which means she is most likely already dead, or at least on another plane. Hypertext says nothing of how can a Sending spell be dodged.

[Arranis Thelmos]

She's in a box petting Shrodinger's cat.

[Winter]

Hypertext says nothing of how can a Sending spell be dodged.

You can simply chose not to answer.

I think Serini is still alive and she's going to do some Plot Exposition before the comic fully launches into the last arc.

[ReaderAt2046]

I think Serini is on the world inside the Snarl, along with Kraagor, Mijung Soon, and the Gods of the West.

[Mike Havran]

You can simply chose not to answer.

So if I understand this correctly, the caster of the Sending spell can't know the difference between:

1. His/her spell reached the target, delivered the message, but the target did not respond.

2. His/her spell didn't reach the target at all, possibly because the target is dead.

Because V said she was unable to contact miss Toormuck, I automatically assumed that she didn't deliver the message at all.

[King of Nowhere]

If I were to bet based solely on evidence, I would say it's morew likely she's dead, since she would not have surrendered her diary to xykon easily. Of course, she could have done just that - know when to walk away and know when to run, that kind of stuff. Anyway, there's enough argument to be made for an alive serini too.

Being this a story, it will be decided by narrative purpose, so there's really no saying

[shadow_archmagi]

If video games have taught me anything, it's that people do not love their diaries. Serini probably tore her diary into 57 parts and then spread them throughout a dungeon, and Xykon painstakingly reassembled them because he wanted an achievement

[sims796]

If video games have taught me anything, it's that people do not love their diaries. Serini probably tore her diary into 57 parts and then spread them throughout a dungeon, and Xykon painstakingly reassembled them because he wanted an achievement

I love this quote.

[SlyJohnny]

Everyone is convinced that Serini is a non-entity, but look at the kind of stuff Right-Eye, as a high level rogue, was pulling. All sneaking in to human cities and making deals and buying positive-energy daggers on the sly, and shizz. Now imagine what shenanigans an epic level bard gets up to. So what if she doesn't have a fortress? It just makes her impossible to track down. She can know whatever she wants to know. I bet she knows about the Order and Xykon and everything.

She's probably all silly and comic relief-y, but you know who else is a goofy kind of character? Tarquin.

I'm telling, you guys. Serini be running this.

[Finagle]

Remember Vaarsuvius was unable to contact Serini via sending, which means she is most likely already dead, or at least on another plane. Hypertext says nothing of how can a Sending spell be dodged.

Huh? How, exactly, is Serini supposed to reply? Sending is a one-way communcation. Serini can't cast spells.

[CoffeeIncluded]

Huh? How, exactly, is Serini supposed to reply? Sending is a one-way communcation. Serini can't cast spells.

She can still cast off of scrolls.

Sweet merciful god, Giant, PLEASE get better soon!

[Finagle]

I'm in the opposite camp. Serini was the type who liked to wander the world adventuring, which is a high-risk profession, and you have to ask how Xykon came by her diary if she's still alive?

Yeah, but Serini was with her group, and they all had tons of adventures and got to epic level. So, she passed the high-risk part of her career.

Her diary is the big question - how'd Xykon get it? The obvious answer is he tracked her down and killed her to get it. However, the author typically doesn't like the obvious answer unless it's funny. I like to think he found it in a library somehow, Gandalf-style. All we can do is speculate, seeing as there's nothing else to do until next year at least.

How do you go about finding something that you don't even know exists when you start? Xykon went questing for Gate information and ended up with Serini's diary. What are the A -> Z steps for something like that in D&D terms?

[Finagle]

She can still cast off of scrolls.

How does anyone know if she even has the proper scroll lying around? Even so, she has to pass her caster check. Plus, she has to WANT to reply! If I was guarding a secret world-shattering ward I probably wouldn't say anything, especially to an unknown caller ID.

How many years has it been since OOTSc and the gate quest? Someone ask Belkar how long halflings live.

"Not for long if I have anything to say about it!"

[Throknor]

Huh? How, exactly, is Serini supposed to reply? Sending is a one-way communcation. Serini can't cast spells.

Maybe by using the 25 word response?

[Dr.Epic]

If video games have taught me anything, it's that people do not love their diaries. Serini probably tore her diary into 57 parts and then spread them throughout a dungeon, and Xykon painstakingly reassembled them because he wanted an achievement

...with a limited battery supply on his flash light while being pursued by a faceless man.

[coineineagh]

Someone ask Belkar how long halflings live.

"Not for long if I have anything to say about it!"

If Belkar is Serini's relative ( I know...), then it would explain why he's tagged along with the Order all this time.