| |
| Ian Starshine | |
|---|---|
| Biographical information | |
| Hometown | |
| First Comic | |
| Last Comic | |
| Physical description | |
| Species |
Human (Northern) |
| Gender |
Male |
| Age |
60+ |
| Hair color |
Ginger, later white |
| Chronological and political information | |
| Affiliation | |
| Class | |
| Alignment |
Chaotic Neutral[1] |
| Known relatives |
Mia Starshine† (wife) |
| Status |
Living |
| D&D Stats | |
| Str |
~7 |
| Con |
~7 |
| Int |
~12 |
| Wis |
~12 |
| Cha |
~12 |
| Skills |
Bluff, Knowledge (Local), Move Silently, Not Dying, Open Lock |
| Abilities |
Rogue class abilities |
Ian Starshine is the father of Haley Starshine with Mia. He was a First Edition thief.[2] He became involved in the adventures of the Order of the Stick when they encountered him in the gladiator pit at the Bleedingham arena.
Biography[]
Raising Haley[]
Mia died when Haley was still very young, while asking Ian and Haley to become better people than Greysky City would encourage them to be.[3] He taught Haley not to open herself up with others[4] and showed little acceptance of her "dark goth" phase at 15.[5]
When Haley was 17, he gave to the Thieves' Guild in Greysky City special permission to train her. About two years later he introduced Crystal to Haley.[6]
He mentioned that once he scheduled a bank heist on his wedding anniversary, making Mia furious about it; this he would remember as one of his greatest mistakes.
When Bozzok succeeded the previous Guild leader, he claimed that he "had to get rid of Ian and wrote some letters to his friends in the Western Continent to take care of it".
Having received letters from Geoff and Ivy, he decided to overthrow Tarquin's regime of Tyrinaria and for this he entered jail voluntarily so that he would find and recruit like-minded people.[7] He was arrested and imprisoned two years ago by Lord Tyrinar for life for 'crimes against the government'. Haley was informed that if she, as her father's only living relative, paid them the sum of 200,000 gold pieces, then they would consider granting her father clemency.[8]
When he saw that he couldn't complete his plans, he regretted entering jail and tried 12 times to pick its lock, but each time the guards would stop him. Once he managed to leave the city but again, they re-captured him.
Blood Runs in the Family[]
He was found serving in the gladiatorial camp with his brother-in-law, Geoff. There he met Roy Greenhilt and Belkar Bitterleaf. He told them the secret of Tarquin's power behind the Empire of Blood.[9]
When Haley discovered his presence, she immediately went to rescue him, taking Elan with her.[10] He refused to leave with Elan however, due to his blood relationship with Tarquin. He attempted to persuade Haley to leave him, believing him to be a spy. Haley said that she trusted Elan, despite her father raising her to be completely untrusting, and accused her father of almost ruining her life by raising her the way he did.[3] As Haley left, Ian asked her if she really meant what she said. She used a Potion of Bluff she had already consumed to convince him that he hadn't, noting to Elan that the potion only works when the user is lying.[11]
He was released at Roy's request, with an official pardon along with Geoff, when Tarquin seemed to recognize him, they started exchanging words, and when he asked Kilkil check the prisoners files, Belkar trumped Kilkil and the files were taken away by the wind.[12]. When nobody was watching, he and Geoff jumped from the dinosaur that were taking them to the palace and went into hiding, even when Geoff insisted that they had an official pardon, to which Ian replied that knowing Tarquin, it was good for nothing.[13]
On his end, Tarquin disliked Ian for speaking to him "as if they were equals." He soon got his opportunity for revenge when Gourntonk attempted to rat out his collusion to the Empress of Blood. Jacinda killed Gourntonk, and Tarquin had Ian framed for the crime, placing a massive bounty on his head.[14]
Ian, meanwhile, went into hiding in an abandoned Tyrinarian border patrol HQ along with Geoff. When Haley looked for him to get him out of the Empire of Blood, he refused to leave. But then, Gannji and Enor came in, looking for him to come with them, holding the 'Wanted' poster. They were not hunting him for the reward, as Amun-Zora came in also and explained that she wanted him to join her party to get revenge against Tarquin. He gladly agreed to help.[15] Even when his daughter disagreed with the idea, they parted on good terms and Elan gifted him with a plan to bring down Tarquin that he actually liked, making Elan look better on his eyes.[16]
It was later revealed that Geoff has been passing information to Bozzok all these years having a wand of sending concealed in his his peg-leg, but Geoff did it to save the life of his son, Jiminy, since Jiminy wanted to leave the Greysky City Thieves' Guild. For that, Geoff agreed to keep Ian away from Greysky City and since Ian only trusted family, Geoff was the perfect person to help Bozzok. Ian understood that Geoff had no other choice since he would do the same if it had been Haley.[17]
Personality and Traits[]
Ian is fundamentally distrustful of anyone outside his family. He is a conspiracy theorist, inventing complex schemes connecting Elan to Tarquin's schemes. There is some basis for his paranoia, however, given that Tarquin really is scheming to conquer the Western Continent, and he was betrayed on an on-going basis by his brother-in-law over a period of four years.
He deeply loves his daughter, Haley.
He distrusts authority, and works politically to undermine Tarquin's authoritarian regime.
Ian had red hair and beard, though at the time of his imprisonment, it had turned white.
Powers and Abilities[]
1st Edition Thief: Ian began his career under the 1st edition rules, all the characters in the strip have since been updated to 3.5 edition rules, but if Ian retained his 1st edition abilities he would be able to:
- Pick Pockets
- Open Locks
- Find/Remove Traps
- Move Silently
- Hide in Shadows
- Climb Walls
- Backstab
- Speak Thieves' Cant
- Read Languages
Trivia[]
He is not featured on a poster published just after comic 745 in which many minor characters appear, despite hints that he will be important to the plot. This is most likely because of his now-grey hair.
References[]
- ↑ Forum post by Rich Burlew
- ↑ Comic #8, "The Benefit of a High Bluff Score"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Comic #772, "Haley's Commitment"
- ↑ Comic #681, "All in the Family"
- ↑ Comic #93, "Teenage Wasteland"
- ↑ Comic #680, "Mean Girls"
- ↑ Comic #770, "Hard Time"
- ↑ Comic #131, "Money Makes the World Go Round"
- ↑ Comic #758, "Spins of the Father"
- ↑ Comic #768, "+2 Embracers"
- ↑ Comic #774, "Telling Lies"
- ↑ Comic #814, "The Answer is Blowing in the Wind"
- ↑ Comic #815, "Close Call"
- ↑ Comic #915, "Custom Framing While You Wait"
- ↑ Comic #940, "Resisting a Rest"
- ↑ Comic #941, "Relatively OK"
- ↑ Comic #942, "But He Probably Has a Halberd Now"
| The Starshine Family |
|---|
| Ian Starshine • Mia Starshine • Haley Starshine • Ivy • Geoff • Jiminy • Sheila |
| Appearances |
|---|
| 93, 608, 681, 744, 746, 750, 758, 768, 769, 770, 771, 772, 774, 779, 782, 783, 784, 786, 792, 798, 814, 815, 887, 915, 922, 940, 941, 942 |