Book 2 – Page 45

[fjolnir]

no one is going to see it coming

Predictamancer.

This, and this will probably be the weird formative moment that cements parson's goals, sizemore goes through, heads off to one side to make the tunnel and gets accosted by janis and the unknown faqian predictamancer, who convince him to let them into his hole to meet parson, the gamebreaker again...

[shalist]

I don't think the Pliers have fetherfall. The Arkenhammer OTH very well might.

they were talking about slately not stanley...

Slately doesn't have the arkenhammer...

In any event, here's the linky for Stanely flying around with it.

---

On a side note, is there any other foolamancy going on in the area that they can dispel? Use the order as an excuse to screw Charlie over somehow, perhaps?

[fjolnir]

As far as we know, charlescomm forces are not present near the city due to the very high spot rate that gk's army has for veiled units with all the decrypted warlords and archons as well as jack...

[dirocyn]

Up to this point, it was widely believed that only casters could enter portals without instant death. (I'm not sure this is necessarily true, possibly the portal guards just croak non-casters on sight, this possibility makes the Queen Bea story even darker.) Casters are fairly rare and quite valuable--1 to 4 casters is all a side seems to have, and if you have a caster that dictates a LOT of your whole side's strategy. If a caster entered an enemy side's portal alone (i.e., with no other units in the stack to screen attacks), that caster would be easily captured or croaked. No one caster is tough enough to defeat a capitol's garrison units, let alone other units that may be available. Even Wanda with the Arkenpliers would have trouble in a one-on-one fight with the likes of Bogroll or Zhopa, probably most casters wouldn't last long enough to cast a single spell. Therefore, no sane ruler would ever order an attack through the Magic Kingdom.

A caster (or two casters) plus a magically armed and armored Heavy Warlord may last long enough that the balance tips in their favor. They'll still be badly outmatched, but I expect Parson can pull off the Sneaking Around Inside the Enemy Base trope.

Though the bigger benefit to Parson being in Jetstone is probably the Chief Warlord Bonus that applies to every unit in his hex. We have reason to believe the entire city, including airspace, is a single hex. Yes, I'm deliberately poking the hex vs. zone debate again.

[shadowdemon_lord]

I don't think we ever got a confirmation one way or the other during the siege of GK as to whether Ansom had to be in the same zone as his troops to provide chief warlord hex bonus. We have no real way of knowing precisely, but in all other respects city zones function as hexes for the attacker, but not the defender.

[MarbitChow]

Though the bigger benefit to Parson being in Jetstone is probably the Chief Warlord Bonus that applies to every unit in his hex.

Parson already calculated that a huge warlord bonus wouldn't be enough to turn the tide.
Having Parson running free, reuniting with Wanda's troops (once they drop out of the sky and enter the Garrison space, I believe where he will also end up via the gate), and being able to react to battle conditions on-the-fly is the main benefit.

[Whispri]

How could Jetstone ever be sure the Foolamancy had been truly dropped? Nice to see them leading with their chins though.

[effataigus]

Hmm... YouTube started in 2005, but didn't really become popular until awhile later. Erfworld started in 2006 (as close as I can figure from a copy write symbol on the first page).

I guess where I'm going with this is... anyone know when Parson got "Plotted" (or will get plotted) into Erfworld? Memes come and go faster than Erfworld will (I hope), so I'm curious how Parson will stay relevant. I suppose it hasn't been that long in Erfworld time though, and who knows how time in Erfworld compares to time on Earth.

I can't wait for his gamer friends to show up and start Rick Rolling him, or something. He'd be like "Wha' hoppan, Lucy?"

[Decorus]

Parsons's bonus without Ruthlessness is +2 he is by far the gimpiest Warlord in terms of actual bonus for combat. However having armed himself with the best gear that GK has and the fact that he is a heavy unit and has a special bonus he will tip the scale. Honestly his plan is to drop wanda's troops onto the tower taking out the archers and casters with "falling" damage then decrypt everything that died. Him being there allows him to level and fight against the troops in the tower with Maggie and Sizemore providing extra muscle.

[Ansan Gotti]

Though the bigger benefit to Parson being in Jetstone is probably the Chief Warlord Bonus that applies to every unit in his hex.

Parson already calculated that a huge warlord bonus wouldn't be enough to turn the tide.
Having Parson running free, reuniting with Wanda's troops (once they drop out of the sky and enter the Garrison space, I believe where he will also end up via the gate), and being able to react to battle conditions on-the-fly is the main benefit.

Parson said the warlord bonus ultimately might not matter for the "sitting duck decrypt as they fall" strategy... not the new strategy he is implementing now. I could definitely see how his bonus (small though it might be) would be a help when there is active melee happening at the tower/garrison.

[Morak]

I just had a thought.

What if while tunneling under the Magic Kingdom they find the fourth Arkentool?

[coyo]

I guess Parson didn't see this movie : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M68ndaZSKa8

But seriously, he's taking major risks and I'm excited to see how this will play out. His one huge advantage is that he knows that the unexpected moves he makes can only work once, and the Erfworlders are used to having their own tactics work consistently.

I'm as interested in seeing negotiation between him and Tram as I am in seeing a huge battle. I suspect the negotiation will occur, but will very heavily favor the GK side rather than the other way around.

As for the fourth Arkentool, I would bet that might show up next book, not this one.

[CelebrenIthil]

I was about to write it but then I felt it would be better expressed in the right illustrated medium:

[Raza]

Hmm... YouTube started in 2005, but didn't really become popular until awhile later. Erfworld started in 2006 (as close as I can figure from a copy write symbol on the first page).

I guess where I'm going with this is... anyone know when Parson got "Plotted" (or will get plotted) into Erfworld? Memes come and go faster than Erfworld will (I hope), so I'm curious how Parson will stay relevant. I suppose it hasn't been that long in Erfworld time though, and who knows how time in Erfworld compares to time on Earth.

Hmm. I wouldn't say his knowledge of the real world should be limited to the real-world start of Erfworld, though. More like the current date (dynamically), minus the fictional amount of days he spent in Erfworld. So currently, his cut-off date would lie somewhere inside august of this year.

That is, if erfworld time and earth time have any unit in common. If they don't, this whole speculation is irrelevant.

I just had a thought.

What if while tunneling under the Magic Kingdom they find the fourth Arkentool?

There's four known 'tools. If there is one sitting in the ground under the MK, it probably wouldn't be one of those.

They could theoretically find a fifth, but we don't even have reason to believe that exists yet, let alone happens to be buried in Sizemore's tunnelling path.

[fjolnir]

I like that caruso is putting sunglasses on his sunglasses, it's a nice touch.

[Morak]

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

Why not it is on his offical strategy list; Fool's Mate:

[Intruder]

How could Jetstone ever be sure the Foolamancy had been truly dropped? Nice to see them leading with their chins though.

Well, they could just be asking nicely or there could perhaps be magical compulsion involved if a formal parley invokes game mechanics. In Erfworld it appears that certain types of agreements and contracts must be followed once you agree to the terms, much like how Parson can't just welch on the calculations he owes Charlie. For all we know GK may not even be able to agree to the parley at all without dispelling the foolamancy now that it has been named as one of JS's conditions. Of course, that'd cast Ansom in an even worse light, however, since if all that is true he should have dictated a couple of sensible precautions prior to initiating surrender proceedings instead of flying up there by himself like an idiot.

[trustey]

In the 7th panel, the weapons are color coded like Fable. First time I noticed that...

[Guppy]

OK I did not want to believe that Parson was planning on short cutting through MK but that seems to be his plan. I do not know what to think of how this comic went yet because it hinges off things that we do not know like how Parson is going to actually get in the MK, I thought that they had the portal guarded and I do not think that the guards would be that dumb about the tunnel.

I am assuming that the Portal gate extends underneath the Portal-room floor, and that Parson knows this. In that case, Sizemore is going to start the tunnel below ground level while still in GK, cross through silently below MK, and go right through Jetstone's own gate below ground-level, exiting within their city. Magic Kingdom won't even know until it's done, and maybe even not even then -- if there are no surviving witnesses -- in which Parson has a really mean exploit to use again

[Sieggy]

Unless it's like the Stargate, sitting up on a pedestal. In which case, Sizemore simply has to ramp up to the base, so Parson can take it at a dead (or puffing) run. It's going to be funny if Parson has to take a minute to get his breath back before inflicting mayhem on the enemy . . .

Of course, Next Time, Parson will have Sizemore tunnel under the pedestal so that the portal falls face down onto the newly exposed tunnel . . . And the time after that, he'll come through the ceiling . . . And the time after that, he'll have Sizemore tunnel under the Portal so it drops into the tunnel . . . And the time after that, He'll have Sizemore tunnel through both the ceiling and the floor under the portal, install a jack, and raise the portal to the tunnel into the ceiling above . . . Wile E. Coyote will not be thwarted!!!!