Book 2 – Page 27

[Hefesto]

One word: Ansownage.

Looks like Ansom turned Haggar into cut-offs.

You mean the show was cut short?

Or that Ansom has reduced their head-count?

Or maybe that, *ptui* Kingworld and all, Ansom still got in a decapitation strike?

[Salvage]

Wow ,combat shots, cool. Really enjoyed the art of this one. Too bad about Sammy but great death scene.

[build6]

More than that, how do you think Jillian's going to feel when she finds out Charlie wanted to eliminate the man who he KNOWS is important to Jillian (and Jillian knows he knows that, see http://www.erfworld.com/page/8 on the interplay between them)?

this must mark the start of a rift between Jillian and Charlie (though I suspect Jillian has always known Charlie cannot be 100% trusted). I mean, "main objective" of croaking Ansom? I'd like to see how Charlie explains that away...

[HandofShadows]

The BOOP is going to hit the fan in so many ways right now. Charlie just ROYALY (Pun intended) pissed off Jillian. Wonder how Charlie will try to control her now? And Hagars forces are now going to get heavily damaged. In fact unless Jillian is able to capture Ansom GK's army may well be able to surive.
A dual between Ansom and Sammy would not have been an even fight. Ansom is still banged up from earlier.

[Sieggy]

I like the new artwork on Jillian . . . she looks far more human, less cartoonish (I first noticed it when she called for Duncan). I suspect that this is how the Rob & Xin are showing the development of the characters. I'd be willing to wager that when we see Wanda, she will similarly have her growth marked by her portrayal. Nicely done, and subtle . . . Status does not mean growth; look at Slately's muffin man face, and consider his depths as revealed thus far.

Now, as for how Jillian is going to react when she finds out that Charlie put out a hit on her undead hunny-bunny, whoo-ha-ha! Their next thinkagram ought to smoke the aethyr. Since Charlie has linked with Vanna in the past, I can definitely see him having left a back door to take her over if necessary, so perhaps Jillian needs to keep an eye on her. Though I suspect her next move will be to have Vanna attempt to turn Ansom, the results of which will be nothing any of us suspect . . .

Now, the question is, do the Hagar forces fail and withdraw, or does Sammy's second take over? And if they're routed, will the Jetstone force buttress them, or get all fouled up in the confusion. Janis spoke of 'disarray', this has the potential to set a whole new record, here. And think about it . . . if Wanda makes it back on her turn, Sammy and the band will make an excellent addition to the tour (Toolapalooza?).

Edit - Hey, does Ansom get enough EP off of Sammy to level?

[Vorteks]

When Wanda took off for Jetstone's capital, Ansom had a black eye - http://www.erfworld.com/book-2-archive/?px=/2009-12-31.jpg.
Now he doesn't. Gobwin Knob hasn't started a new turn... did they heal Ansom off-screen using a scroll or something? Or is this an oversight?

Just curious. Love the artwork.

[The Black Hand]

I wonder if Dickie loves his son enough to ally with GK. They could resurrect him. HSAS was short lived (very fitting), but just the beginning of Sammie Haggars career.

Does anyone smell foreshadowing?

I do, for gorram sure.

Also, I feel vindicated now. Not only do we know Charlie ordered Ansom's death, but Jillian knows that too.

I have a sneaking suspicion that Jillian's likely going to say something like "Guess what, Charlie? Boop you, boop your deal, and boop the horse you rode in on! Your boop is MINE now!"

[ShinyBrownCoat]

Have you noticed the spedew's eyes in panel 7? BTW, r´what are the dirty spots on the ground, i.e. panel 4? Bloody dirt or dust from the recroaked decrypted?

Nice on the eyes, I guess that kick hurt! I imagine the spots are blood.

Nope. Dusted re-croaked decrypted. Check out panel 3 carefully.

[Ansan Gotti]

I imagine the spots are blood.

I take it back. Based on the color of the dust coming off of the guy killed in panel three, I think the spots on the ground are clearly dusted pikers.

By the way, there had been a question back on the GITP boards as to whether Erfers bleed. Sure looks like blood coming from Sammy's mouth the panel before he's decapitated.

EDIT: Ninja'd!

[Dark Arbiter]

I wonder if Dickie loves his son enough to ally with GK. They could resurrect him. HSAS was short lived (very fitting), but just the beginning of Sammie Haggars career.

Does anyone smell foreshadowing?

Just a thought, but don't corpses go *poof* at the start of a new day? And since Wanda and GK had their turn first, doesn't that mean that Sammy's body will be all disappeared by the time Wanda shows up?

EDIT: Also, I feel like if Erfers bled, there'd be some blood coming out of the series of spear-protrusions all over Sammy right before he and his cranium lose touch.

[Ansan Gotti]

Just a thought, but don't corpses go *poof* at the start of a new day? And since Wanda and GK had their turn first, doesn't that mean that Sammy's body will be all disappeared by the time Wanda shows up?

From the wiki under "Canon" (I think this was Word of the Titans):

"Bodies disappear at the start of the next turn that their side has, unless moved/claimed (e.g. uncroaked, reanimated as golems, eaten, used for something else like the teddybearskin rug and mounted gwiffon head in Parson's room)Erf-b1-p035. In the event that their side is eliminated, unclaimed bodies disappear at the next nightfall."

EDIT: Adding link:

http://www.erfworld.com/wiki/index.php/Croak

EDIT 2: Responding to your edit:

EDIT: Also, I feel like if Erfers bled, there'd be some blood coming out of the series of spear-protrusions all over Sammy right before he and his cranium lose touch.

You might be right, I looked at the second-to-last panel and thought Sammy's mouth was dripping blood, but as I look at it more carefully, it's just the crease of his elbow and his uniform/armor.

[Angband]

It would be funny if Ansom dinged off of killing Sammy.

I wonder if Erfworld units get a free heal to full as they level (like they do in a certain popular massively multiplayer online game).

[Rosa Vernal]

Aww, poor Sammy. I hope to see him Decrypted, because he's just badass-looking. Nice to see that Ansom isn't taking chances here. Survival before honor. I think Parson would approve.

And I'm sure there's SOME exploit here. Maybe if the Decrypted took a bite out of each corpse, they'd be "claimed" corpses due to being "food" or something.

[Dark Arbiter]

Just a thought, but don't corpses go *poof* at the start of a new day? And since Wanda and GK had their turn first, doesn't that mean that Sammy's body will be all disappeared by the time Wanda shows up?

From the wiki under "Canon" (I think this was Word of the Titans):

"Bodies disappear at the start of the next turn that their side has, unless moved/claimed (e.g. uncroaked, reanimated as golems, eaten, used for something else like the teddybearskin rug and mounted gwiffon head in Parson's room)Erf-b1-p035. In the event that their side is eliminated, unclaimed bodies disappear at the next nightfall."

EDIT: Adding link:

http://www.erfworld.com/wiki/index.php/Croak

Gotcha. So the only way his body would disappear would be if the entire side got nixed.

Good call.

[badninja]

Way to go Jill, I just love how Ansom refused to play "fair", this is a nice change from how he was during book 1. I wonder if this is going to get everyone to dis like Jillian more now because she contributed to the death of a royal heir? Now how will this story continue to play out and who else is going to croak now? I got a strong feeling that Jillian is going to be captured soon. Loved the art of Sammy having all those spears run through him.

[gazes_also]

Ah the old Charlie is all-knowing, devious and stupid meme
Remember she told Charlie she was going after the column WITH THE CHIEF WARLORD
Implying that he was one of the key targets, if Charlie thought it was ok to croak the main bonus-supplier of the GK forces it's her own fault.

[oslecamo2]

Now, the question is, do the Hagar forces fail and withdraw, or does Sammy's second take over?

Sammy had some warlords with him. Probably should be at least one alive and he'll take command because otherwise troops auto attack untill they're all dead. But since they lost their biggest leadership multiplier, well, they can't do much against Ansom's massive bonus now. But they also can't retreat untill half their numbers are dead because of the deal With Charlie. Sucks to be them.

+1 to Jillian being royally pissed off with this. She wants her boyfriend back damnit!

Also, Ansom wasn't dishonorable here. Far from it. He's wounded and this is war. Sammy was just stupid/desesperate literally charging into Ansom's pikemens. Compare with the assault of GK, where he hides behind his mobs of infantry while dancing disco

But he still deserves some pity. At dawn he was thinking he would get to capture an enemy capital, get some fat ransom from a captured archom and have overall a good time.

Instead he ends up being humiliated and blackmailed into a suicide charge, and gets to die hearing his "allies" telling him to let himself be chopped to pieces so they can solve out their love problems with the enemy. Sucks to be him.

Finally, Awesome Art is Awesome.

[yay]

Ah the old Charlie is all-knowing, devious and stupid meme
Remember she told Charlie she was going after the column WITH THE CHIEF WARLORD
Implying that he was one of the key targets, if Charlie thought it was ok to croak the main bonus-supplier of the GK forces it's her own fault.

probably not, or at least not the whole truth. he may have just wanted to elimante a major distraction of jillians, removing the bonus was just a perk

Sammy will be GK's next chief warlord, he is a big impressive looking hard-ass who can rock out. sounds like stanley's type of guy.

[Firkraag]

Yes, like that! For Gobwin Knob!

[Ansan Gotti]

Ah the old Charlie is all-knowing, devious and stupid meme
Remember she told Charlie she was going after the column WITH THE CHIEF WARLORD
Implying that he was one of the key targets, if Charlie thought it was ok to croak the main bonus-supplier of the GK forces it's her own fault.

I don't get that feeling at all from this page. If anything, it shows Charlie is fallible and that perhaps the deaths of his archons and all of the chaos ended up affecting his critical thinking ability. People have indicated before that the latest developments have felt a bit ham-handed for Charlie, and I think that chicken is coming home to roost with this discovery of info by Jillian.

Also, Charlie and Jillian in the text update I linked earlier had an interesting conversation about Ansom (without ever naming him) and it's clear to me that both of them know what Ansom means to Jillian. So I think he wanted to eliminate a "distraction" in his mind, but that is going to backfire, and big time (I hope).