Stanislav Rubin

Pathologic 2=

Stanislav Rubin is a faithful student of Isidor Burakh. After the death of his teacher, he becomes the only local physician.

Description
"The most gifted and active of Isidor’s disciples, his right hand. Artemy Burakh’s doppelganger and rival in a lot more ways than one. “A candle, burning up.” A man dealt a hard hand in life. Values resolve for resolve’s sake, which results in one poorly-thought-out act after another, leading to severe and sometimes fateful consequences. Rubin is not a nice guy. He’s exceptionally attached to Isidor, but there’s not a lot of love in him. He’s the fiery zealot type, like Levi Matvei in The Master and Margarita."

- From the game's design documents

Stakh Rubin is headstrong and determined, attached deeply to his morals and willing to break the law should they conflict. During the outbreak of the Sand Plague he is one of the only four healers in The Town.

Background
Isidor Burakh's apprentice and one of the local doctors, a pathoanatomist by training. He is disliked by the Kin for cutting bodies as part of his job, which he implies he partly did to shield Isidor's reputation. During his childhood Rubin was friends with Grigory Filin (better known as Bad Grief), Lara Ravel (nicknamed Gravel), and Artemy Burakh. Artemy claims that the group of them used to disappear for weeks, enjoying their freedom in a way that children of the Town normally cannot. However, sometime prior to the events of the game Rubin and Bad Grief had a falling out and he deeply resents Artemy for having left the Town, believing that he had abandoned Isidor.

Haruspex Route
"My path was called "The Warden." With the fruits of my sacrilege, I sated the Town."

Rubin is one of three childhood friends that the Haruspex thinks of visiting on his return to the Town. However, on arriving at Rubin's apartment, he will find the Bachelor instead, who informs him that Rubin blames him for Isidor's death. The Bachelor also says he has gotten Rubin to enter his service. It isn't until later that the Haruspex can find him in his apartment along with Lara Ravel.

On Day 3 he will be found at the Crucible, reporting on the disappearance of Simon Kain's body, and he can be invited to come to the Basket that night along with Lara and Bad Grief. He is also present at the Town Hall once the alarm bell rings, and if spoken to will tell the Haruspex to abandon his plans of vengeance in favor of focusing on finding a cure by falling back on Isidor's teachings. Once the hospital is set up in the Theatre, Rubin can be found working there during daytime.

Over the course of his investigations, the Haruspex can learn that the Kin are looking for Rubin. If he chooses to investigate, he can find in a few different ways that Rubin has a hideout in the Warehouses district where he is performing experiments. Over the nights of Days 4 and 5, Rubin will ask that the Haruspex distract the Kin surrounding his hideout so that he can continue his work, which he refuses to talk about in detail. If successfully helped, he does reveal that he has been helping the Bachelor to come up with a vaccine against the Sand Pest, but with unsatisfactory results.

If the Haruspex has made and tested the Panacea by the time the Inquisition arrives, Rubin will be found deeply asleep in his apartment. If the Haruspex helped him the previous nights, the Haruspex will reminisce about their relationship and express a wish for Rubin to stay; if not, he will simply let him rest.

If the Panacea was not completed and tested, Rubin will be absent. During the first conversation with Aglaya Lilich, she will reveal that Rubin died during the night but left a sample of a cure and credited its existence to the Haruspex. He can confront Aspity about Rubin's death, but she denies that the Kin touched him at all and implies he killed himself out of a guilty conscience.

If alive on Day 11 he can be found near the Train Station ready to leave with the army. The Haruspex can convince him to stay and become his assistant, or let him go.

In the Diurnal Ending he will be found on the same Stairway to Heaven as Lara and Bad Grief. He seems sullen when spoken to and torn about his decision to stay, and remarks that the Haruspex has turned out to be just like his father in the end.

In the Nocturnal Ending, he flees the Town with many of the Utopians and Humbles.

Pathologic: The Marble Nest
"Stakh Rubin, one of the few local doctors, used to live here. Now he sleeps in the Army train. Any soldier’s mask may hide Stakh Rubin's face."

Though he cannot be found or interacted with, Rubin is still alive during the events of The Marble Nest, having joined the Army.

Spoken Dialogue

 * → See Stanislav Rubin/Spoken Dialogue

Description
"Appearance: Wide shoulders, strong neck, narrow waist and small wrists. Stakh has clean-cut features: a hooked nose, fiery brown eyes. The whites of his eyes contrast with his swarthy complexion. There are lines in the corners of his mouth, like he is biting his lips. His forehead is crossed with a long horizontal wrinkle. Everything about his appearance indicates his readiness for confrontation. He looks like a guy straight out of Manowar album art cover.

Pose: Standing with his legs astride and arms akimbo, as if he’s about to face his opponents.

Personality: Stakh is of composed “nordic” character. He is a warrior moved by his will, confident in his righteousness. He finds the axes of “good — evil” convenient, although his definition of good is rather narrow: there are good guys who are worth fighting for because of their moral values. He isn’t a cruel man, but he gets drunk with the moments of triumph and the realization of his own strength. He prefers destruction to protection, especially if the destruction happens in the name of poetic justice. To be fair, Stakh feels this way only towards those who truly deserve it. He is Alexander Block’s opposite: a frustrated general, which is definitely for the best."

- From original Pathologic character concepts 

The only authority he recognizes is that of his teacher, Isidor Burakh, so he is then thought to be stubborn by the town's leaders. He does whatever he feels is appropriate and is considered "impossible to find a common language" with. He is strongly principled—when Rubin believes that his master's son, Artemy Burakh, is the one responsible for Isidor's murder, he attempts to mercilessly hunt him down for revenge. However, his actions are always for others, never for himself; he is firmly selfless and honest.

An avid believer in Bos Turokh and the cult of bulls, he cares about the protection of the Kin and the morals of natural law.

Background
Isidor Burakh's most loyal and talented apprentice. Rubin began to study under Isidor an unspecified time ago, and was taught medicine and dissection. He mentions that shortly before the Second Outbreak, Isidor was planning on formally adopting him as a foster son, which would allow him to be viewed as a proper menkhu. He and Artemy were close childhood friends.

Though he is one of the only local doctors, he rarely spends his time in the Town, preferring to sleep out in the Steppe or occasionally boarding at Lara Ravel's Shelter.

He is a former mercenary and soldier-for-hire, but his military service was ended by a head injury during a battle. After this, he was made to return to the Town-on-Gorkhon.

Portrait Quotes
"A strong person in every sense of the word. He can break your neck or set your dislocated joint equally easily. A very gifted autodidact. His main concern is the others, never the man himself. A selfless man. A man of principle. Someone you can always rely on."

- Alexander Saburov's take on him "He was old Burakh's best student. Wilful. Headstrong. Sturdy. He will always do what he believes to be the right thing and be stubborn as a mule about it. It's almost impossible to find a common tongue with him. He doesn't respect any authority except for that of his precious master..."

- Vlad the Younger's take on him

Spoken Dialogue

 * → See Stanislav Rubin/Spoken Dialogue