Book 2 – Page 45

[danhaas]

Damn you, fractal. No more meds for you.

Wanda doesn't need featherfall. If she can't decrypt from a distance, she just has to jump off the dwagon and land on an injured dwagon on the floor, the way Jillian did.

Yadda yadda, Jillian's target gwiffon was not landed, that sort of jump could require special skill, it may be a risky move... but it's possible.

[Intruder]

Yeah, I think it's just the whole "Sizemore is a hippie shtick."

Agreed, you can very easily make the argument that Dr. No and Dr. Evil are among the most insignificant pop culture figures to take up the style along with Steven Seagal and the Monkees. The Nehru Jacket's popularity is often attributed to the Beatles and then became pretty common with a lot of musical acts. That totally makes sense given that Sizemore is a "rock star" in the Magic Kingdom and spends his free time with hippiemancers.

[charles]

Sizemore is acting out John Lennon's career. Rockstar turned to Hippie.

And who says Erfworld can't have youtube? I'm sure the Archons and Thinkamancers could use a thinkagram to record something directly into the eyebooks for later viewing... Actually, wasn't an Archon doing just that when Parson drunkenly tried to ride a yellow dragon off the Garrison wall?

*checks back*

The dwagon was falling, more or less straight down over the side of the tower.

He then noticed that one of the Archons had her fingers up and was "filming" this event. He had time to wonder who might be receiving the live feed of this view, or if Archons could "tape" the events they saw, and play them back later. He thought in this case that would be useful for talking to the insurance company.

I also notice that while Parson is pissed off enough at Maggie to shoot her down for questioning his orders, he's still on friendly terms with Sizemore and just plays off his questions with a joke. But then, Maggie is a bit of a cold fish as parson has noted, and her first impression on him as someone who killed Misty probably doesn't help either.

[gaiaswill]

I also notice that while Parson is pissed off enough at Maggie to shoot her down for questioning his orders, he's still on friendly terms with Sizemore and just plays off his questions with a joke. But then, Maggie is a bit of a cold fish as parson has noted, and her first impression on him as someone who killed Misty probably doesn't help either.

I don't think it's necessarily that distant. It's probably just residual annoyance from her forcing him to be CW again 15 minutes ago.

[Intruder]

Agreed. It definitely helps that Sizemore hadn't just used a creative approach to fulfilling Duty to promote Parson to Chief Warlord against his wishes. I think there's enough evidence in place to say that Parson seems genuinely fond of Maggie by now, but I can understand why he'd want to make it clear who is in charge given the circumstances. Beyond that, Maggie also justified her actions by quoting Sizemore's understanding of Duty. I think Parson realizes that if Sizemore is worried it's likely due to morality rather than simply second-guessing him, and given Parson's own reluctance that probably draws more sympathy than Maggie's pragmatism.

[davesnothere]

Okay, I was in the group that was hoping Parson was not going to use portals.
But now it seems he has an approach figured out. I must believe the portals have a normal protection against enemy usage.
Perhaps Parson figures if the non-caster screening doesn't prevent him from entry, perhaps the enemy exit screening doesn't work on him either.
Once in, he probably doesn't need Sizemore to follow.

Dave.

[the_tick_rules]

I'm wondering some things

Combat power-How tought is Parson in fighting really?

Gate defenses- Odds are the gate to the magic kingdom has virtually zero defenses to keep people from the magic kingdom getting in so he'll have a pretty sweet surprise. But odds are it's deep in castle so it can turn bad fast.

His goal- Is he assuming him alone can do something huge? But then again heck he might be able to get Slately. Since Slate is short even by erf standards Parson can like step on him.

[DukeGod]

Hmm... it does seem odd that portal guards would see Sizemore tunneling at their feet and not get curious where the tunnel goes. I hope Sizemore has the good sense to wander off into the forest and then tunnel beneath the two portals... then come back through the gate to pick up Parson and finally, after emerging, just connect the surface to the tunnel itself....

What?Sizemore will of course generate a couple hundred drills,use Giga Drill Breaker with the help of some giant dirt golens and simply build a hole through the core of the world rather than through the portals...
Or not...I think I also forgot to take my meds

[Oberon]

Wait... No... Parson COULDN'T be thinking of doing an "Ender's Game Instant Win Condition," could he?!

It's clear that Parson doesn't think so. He has said that what he intends to do is a cheat, may not work at all, and will still see the GK side suffer significant casualties even if it does work. Well, hell... Maybe it does apply. There's nothing about the Trope that suggests that taking massive casualties is any detriment to achieving the win. Which is so Ender, and also so Parson.

Hmmm... this might work to let Parson get past the guards, but it'll aggravate the political implications of violating the MK's neutrality (by demonstrating that they can't prevent Portal Park from being used as a vector for raids by enemy casters).

I'm pretty sure that if you have a pile of casters and want to prevent something you've seen done once, you've got the means to do so. Preventing repeat tunneling excursions only requires other Dirtamancers. Or any number of other ways to counter using any of the other 'mancer disciplines. The whole issue with Parson is that he is likely to use a different strategy for the first 4 or 5 times he violates the MK neutrality while bringing utter destruction upon most of Erfworld.

Also... you know the portal is a weak point for every Kingdom. However, you have not created additional defenses, posted extra guards, traps, etc to protect your own portal. Warfare is about what you can do to your enemy, and what you can stop your enemy from doing to you (loosely paraphrasing from Ender's Game). Seems odd to leave your back door vulnerable to counter attack.

You know, meaning who? It would appear that no one knows, except Parson. No Side guards its portal because no attack has every been initiated across that portal. And this makes sense. Parson is the sole non-caster (perhaps) or at least CWL who has ever had the capability to enter the MK and not die. Casters are rarely used in the field at all, and are poor combat units without support, so it isn't terribly odd that no one ever considered using casters across the MK. No one posts guards against the Spanish Inquisition!

Maybe the MK casters will just be puzzled when Sizemore starts excavating the ground in front of GK portal, but when they see the tunnel coming out in front of SR portal, they shouldn't take long to understand what's happening.

Understanding what's happening and being able to prevent it or interfere at all is a completely different thing. Remember how Sizemore was able to run raids against the RCC? He popped out, grabbed Wanda, and popped back in with no problem. And he popped out, has rock golems use a pair of RCC Warlords as cymbals, dropped a pile of Shockamancy spells and a crap elemental bomb (hereafter referred to as a "shit storm") without any problems also. Despite calls to "engage that caster!" coming from the defenders. I think that it has been fairly well established that tunneling units can easily go where they want, and just as easily sow chaos in units which are surprised by their sudden appearance. And, the MK casters should be no better at combat than any other caster, where supporting units are key to their success. Parson is there to support, the MK casters have only each other, and a tradition of complacency and non-intrusion.

I wouldn't be surprised if neutral casters followed Parson through the gate to stop him, unless sizemore shuts it or the portal has an Off switch on SR side.

Why would they? Being neutral has a meaning, one which involving yourself on one side or another violates. I would expect the MK to spend several turns discussing the implications and arguing one position against another before settling on some cautious position. If they were a force to be reckoned with, then the MK might as well be the ruler of Erf. They must have some reluctance grounded in mechanics which prevents them from enforcing their will on the various Sides.

Sizemore using pants?

He just banged Uhura. If I had just banged Uhura, I'd be wearing the pants also!

[John Thacker]

Or Nehru? Non violent neutral as far as he could be as a head of state?

"Non violent" is a pretty interesting term to apply to someone who invaded Goa and also did his part to help incite the Sino-Indian War. Being neutral between the great powers is not the same thing as being non violent.

[Neko]

Damn you, fractal. No more meds for you.

Wanda doesn't need featherfall. If she can't decrypt from a distance, she just has to jump off the dwagon and land on an injured dwagon on the floor, the way Jillian did.

OR she can croak the dragon she's riding on, let it fall through the hex boundary, then immediately decrypt it before it hits the ground. That puts her "legally" in the garrison hex to decrypt any other units that fall through without having the 2/3 chance of death on impact or the risk of a missed jump. All under the cover of yellow dwagon crap bombs. Then the only units you have to worry about *really* losing are the ones who are already decrypted - like all the archons and most the warlords.

Sorry if that's been posted in a previous forum - I haven't read them all.

[ShinyBrownCoat]

I'm wondering some things

Combat power-How tought is Parson in fighting really?

Gate defenses- Odds are the gate to the magic kingdom has virtually zero defenses to keep people from the magic kingdom getting in so he'll have a pretty sweet surprise. But odds are it's deep in castle so it can turn bad fast.

His goal- Is he assuming him alone can do something huge? But then again heck he might be able to get Slately. Since Slate is short even by erf standards Parson can like step on him.

I'm not sure his preference is even to directly fight; he may just be planning to get to the zone and hide somewhere, so all the GK units warlord bonus during the fall-to-death-then-decrypt battle.

[shadowdemon_lord]

I get the impression Parsons plan is a crapshot, like almost everything he does. It's a crap shot that will work based on sheer surprise and speed alone. Given time to prepare the MK would probably stop him, but Sizemore can move fast while tunneling, and Parson is planning on doing a fifty yard dash to the finish line. This is never going to work again, if he sets foot in the MK again he'll probably be killed on site (same goes for Sizemore, or likely any GK caster). He's sacrificing all use by GK of the MK ever again. This is why it's going to work. His plan is so crazy, so off the walls insane, that no one is going to see it coming, and that no one has ever done it before. Sacrificing use of the MK for an entire side for one victory is to steep a price to pay for most sides, ever. The MK exists and functions as well as it does because it's a neutral side, because its able to hire out to anyone (kinda like Charlie). Screwing GK specifically isn't such a big deal, having that neutrality trampled on and destroyed in a fundamental way is going to hurt them a lot however.

[ftl]

I would expect the MK to spend several turns discussing the implications and arguing one position against another before settling on some cautious position. If they were a force to be reckoned with, then the MK might as well be the ruler of Erf. They must have some reluctance grounded in mechanics which prevents them from enforcing their will on the various Sides.

Well, I got the impression that part of the reason they're not dominating Erf is because they're not a unified Side like most Kingdoms are. It seems more like a loose agglomeration of casters which hang out near a single place. For example, Sizemore is part of the Magic Kingdom - but he's not an MK unit, he's a GK unit. He's not going to contribute to the MK being a force to be reckoned with - he takes orders from Parson. That's probably the case with other casters too -they have loyalties to somewhere other than the MK. MK doesn't inspire Duty or Loyalty in its units, and so on and so forth.

I'm not sure this is canon, but that's the impression I got - the MK isn't really a force to be reckoned with because they're not a single unified force, just a group of casters who go there often.

[Chit Rule Railroad]

no one is going to see it coming

Predictamancer.

[build6]

An update on a Monday? No, I couldn't be so lucky!!

heh, my thoughts exactly

anyways - I do recall reading in some forum post long ago from someone who talked about having sizemore tunnel within MK - good call, indeed (can't remember who said it, though).

[Ansan Gotti]

OR she can croak the dragon she's riding on, let it fall through the hex boundary, then immediately decrypt it before it hits the ground. That puts her "legally" in the garrison hex to decrypt any other units that fall through without having the 2/3 chance of death on impact or the risk of a missed jump. All under the cover of yellow dwagon crap bombs. Then the only units you have to worry about *really* losing are the ones who are already decrypted - like all the archons and most the warlords.

This would be a fantastic idea, but for the fact that I believe we know the hex boundary technically starts at the ground... as weird as that might seem to work out, sometimes.

[Joe22c.]

Welllll, obviously, we have a GAMER in Jetstone's base...

He's flyin in yo towers
He's snatchin yo people up
Tryin ta cheat em so y'all better

hide yo troops,
hide yo guards,

hide yo troops
hide yo guards

hide yo troops
hide yo guards

and hide your casters cuz they' rapin' e'rybody out there

[shalist]

My vote is that he just hurls Slately right out the window and into the neighboring hex, where I'm sure Wanda and all those dwagons would be more than happy to lend Slately a hand.

Also, I'm guessing Parson's happy the casters are in the tower since they're the only ones that can even go into the MK--I'm assuming the tunnel is more of an escape hatch than a means of sneaking into Jetstone, seeing as how they are expecting him, and they must know, from his dossier, that he isn't with the dwagons.

edit: Too lazy to find the linky, but I'm pretty sure Stanley can fly with the arkenhammer.

[paint]

My vote is that he just hurls Slately right out the window and into the neighboring hex, where I'm sure Wanda and all those dwagons would be more than happy to lend Slately a hand.

Also, I'm guessing Parson's happy the casters are in the tower since they're the only ones that can even go into the MK--I'm assuming the tunnel is more of an escape hatch than a means of sneaking into Jetstone, seeing as how they are expecting him, and they must know, from his dossier, that he isn't with the dwagons.

edit: Too lazy to find the linky, but I'm pretty sure Stanley can fly with the arkenhammer.

they were talking about slately not stanley...