Sabas is the tyrant king of Torregrises, ruling also the adjacent farming kingdom of Argivah and the lesser domains dependent on the capital. He took the throne by killing Arturo, the previous legitimate king.
| Type | Character (king, tyrant) |
| Sin in the Pantheon | Pride |
| Spanish entry | Sabas — rey tirano de Torregrises |
Description
He is shown enthroned in full plate, a circular astrological sigil on the breastplate (repeated on the throne’s base), sword at his belt, an iron crown with thorns, unblinking. Two halberd-bearing Sabasios flank him before a Renaissance palace; thorned white and red roses are heaped at his feet. Associated saying: “Mátame, si puedes. Si no, paga el impuesto de la rosa.” (“Kill me, if you can. If not, pay the rose tax.“)
Rule
A recorded phrase: “la gran mano de Sabas se extiende sobre todos los dominios de Argivah” (“the great hand of Sabas extends over all the domains of Argivah”). His regime combines absolute monarchy, an allied sorcerous apparatus, an institutional security force (the Sabasios) and an underground network of informants and hired killers. He boasts of being “the best gladiator of the political arena”, a phrase preserved in Pablo and Miranda. Recorded traits:
- a personal secretary for sexual functions;
- physical and magical hounds (orcs, beasts, agents released without warning);
- a fragile tolerance of the Sacred Order: he watches and taxes it but does not openly persecute it;
- the Sabasian Lyceum, an educational-and-control institution named after him.
Pantheon
In the Postmodern Pantheon, which assigns each major figure a capital sin and its counterweight, Sabas embodies Pride; the figure holding its counterweight, Humility, is not yet securely fixed. He also belongs to the Torregrises version of the ancient Pantheon, though he receives no popular worship.
Death
The “Torregrises Attacks” section of Pablo and Miranda records his death: a young girl with an explosive nose ring destroys him “in an expansion of semen and adrenaline”. The regime persists after him: the Sabasios still patrol, the Lyceum still teaches, the allied sorcerers still rule their towers.
Rivals
His main doctrinal rival is Sucor, whose exact role is not fixed. Clean and Sadi and Madi move in orbits that cross his, sometimes as temporary allies, sometimes as conspiracy.