Book 2 – Page 54

[atalex]

At this point, I don't see how Slately gets to the portal room. I think he's going to beg Don King for enough Smuckers to promote Tremennis. Whether Don King can afford that price and whether it will be the final straw leading to rebellion by Caesar are both unknown. So far, it looks like Wanda is cooperating with Tram's plan. instead of attacking the tower immediately, she is leaving behind a force of heavies to go after it while the bulk of her force retreats to the dungeon. Unless Slately does something stupid or Sylvia something smart, I think Slately will make it outside.

An interesting twist at this point would be for Tram to evacuate the city, raze it, end turn and then send a message to Charlie "Wanda is here, along with all those archons you want. Come and get them."

RE panel 5, I believe we are seeing the front of the Garrison where the Tower is located. The hole is farther behind that. And speaking of panel 5, is that Bat 5, I spy hanging from a belfry? Maybe that's who Slately is going to speak with.

[coyo]

I put on my predictamancy hat now.

Closing my eyes.

I .. I see .. I see a big potato man, flying through the air, an odd contraption stuck on his back.

I .. hmm, what is this now? That pototo man is changing sides? Curious.

The key, oh yes, the keys are Ossomer and Ansom. If they can be turned, there is yet hope in the world.

Takes off the hat now.

Woah, nice update, Rob!

[BLANDCorporatio]

Great update, though I am a little wary of Scarlet being left behind with the dragons and non-tunnel capable units.

Me neither. It's why we all (I think) like her, it's her shtick, to constantly gamble with Fate.

On the matter of Wanda's strategy and whether it was foolish, I ... really hate to, but I must side with the majority for this one. It wasn't foolish, it was a seemingly practical allocation of available resources and available info (some of that info not being known to Parson, namely whatever Wanda can get out of the decrypted), it's not like only Parson can produce good plans, it's not like he forbade the action etc.

Though I think Jack IS a bit worried at Wanda's "my order" line. Not out of loyalty to Stanley, of course, but to his own status as not-(de)-croaked. Wanda must be itching to try the Pliers on a caster ...

Anyway, as for the update itself, I like how things are shaping up! (Minor quibbles about who's supposed to have the upper hand being inconsistent at various times notwithstanding) There will be a battle in Jetstone, there will be upheaval in Transylvito ... and I can't help but think that something's afoot in the MK. Remeber, not all great minds who think alike, actually do think alike ...

Predictions (which I expect to be invalidated by twists):

1. Slately gets out, no problemo. Even with the purples yelling at the tower, I think the ol' monarch can make a dash to the exit faster than the purples can level the building. I mean, if the purples would actually be able to demolish the building, then dwagons actually would not suck, and that would be big news.

2. Parson darts through the MK, no problemo. If any delay occurs, it is due to Janis insisting that he stay a bit for tea and crumpets. Which may contain hippiemancy ingredients.

3. Upon seeing Parson's impressive hardware collection, Ace defects to GK. Wanda is disappointed at yet another caster that she can't decrypt ...

4.* ... until she decides GK is not good enough for her. As soon as Spacerock falls, she forms a new side, and orders her decrypted to hunt down Jack (who is to be Decrypted) and Parson (who isn't, because Wanda isn't sure the Pliers will work on him). Jack and Parson must make a run for it into the MK, dueling Decrypted along the way. In one such battle, we get the answer to an old forum speculation on whether Sylvia was some kind of sleeper-caster and whether she can attune to the Pliers, as Parson manages to throw her into the MK Portal. The answers are No, and No, respectively.


(*: actually, unlike 1-3, 4 might be quite dramatic.

However, it's ... seemingly slightly out of character, for Wanda. She might ditch Stanley for an alliance with another attuned, but so far she seemed content to align herself with Stanley, whom she can apparently manipulate. The best time for her, imo, to split, was way back at the end of book 1. They even had an empty capital site back then! And a Stanley with a meager force of fliers vs. the thousands that Wanda decrypted.

OTOH, now Wanda just did bad things to Stanley's dwagons. That rift might be impossible to heal, even by an impromptu massage session.)

[Dr Quest DFA]

If that was the case then I should be able to see the tower though what you think is the giant hole in the roof, but instead it is just a plane of gray

What panel do you see "just a plane of gray?" What do you see on panel #5 of this update?

In the panel five we can see the outside of the roof of the atrium, on the right side of the panel, that appears to be all gray (as in no breaks in the roof and no transparency to see the tower's middle section). compare that to the other side of the roof through which you can see the sky. It just looks odd is all I am saying. Either the crashing dwagon completely demolished (including superstructure) the part of the atrium that would be closest to us or Xin forgot to add in some holes in the ceiling.

Like I said in my first post on the topic, this is a nit pick, and does not distract form the rest of the awesome update and art.

[Crarites]

Very confused....

I didn't think Spacerock had tunnels? Why would they need only tunnel capable units? Doesn't the atrium connect directly to the dungeon? If so isn't Wanda making a mistake?

[Ansan Gotti]

I believe (now) that only tunnel capable units can enter the dungeons.

[Carne]

Jack seems to have a very surprised look in panel 7. Is it because Sylvia seemed to butt in or because Wanda agreed with his plan or because of the "You have MY orders" line?

The way I interpreted that panel was Jack being bumped out of the way a bit by Red barging up behind him to get a word in edgeways.

[joosy]

Is it Charlie's turn next?

No, Charlescomm is allied with Faq, which took its turn with along with Jetstone. It's Charlie's turn right now. For all we know he could torpedo Sizemore's Duty with a Thinkamancy attack and leave Parson buried alive in the middle of Portal Park. Things are not all roses for GK just yet.

Close but no cigar. Charlescomm is NOT allied with Faq but is working in concert with them.

Remember the archons trapped in the sky above Haggar units? Charlescomm took their turn at dawn.
If you are going to argue using the caster link remember that Charlie was "simply" linked to a caster - he did not move or take any actions that he couldn't off-turn.

[joosy]

Great update, though I am a little wary of Scarlet being left behind with the dragons and non-tunnel capable units.

Me neither. It's why we all (I think) like her, it's her shtick, to constantly gamble with Fate.

Muah-ha-ha-ha-haaaaaa! (wrings hands evilly in anticipation)

[MattR]

I think Slately is about to tell Don to forgeddabout the heir hes trying to pop and stick with Ceasar and tested asset with brain and brawn. Oh hes also gonna beg the shmuckers to promote trem.

[BLANDCorporatio]

Remember the archons trapped in the sky above Haggar units?

Yeah. Now that you mention them, they turned out to be easily dispatchable. Sorry, just had to point that out.

{irt. Scarlet always placing herself in harm's way and all that}

Muah-ha-ha-ha-haaaaaa! (wrings hands evilly in anticipation)

Well, she croaked once. She got better. Sylvia is not afraid of death; death is afraid of Sylvia.

[joosy]

Remember the archons trapped in the sky above Haggar units?

Yeah. Now that you mention them, they turned out to be easily dispatchable. Sorry, just had to point that out.

They only took out three of the six archons above them and "momentarily" captured the leader. Also the archons couldn't fire back or use thinkamancy to confuse them.

[Sixty]

If that was the case then I should be able to see the tower though what you think is the giant hole in the roof, but instead it is just a plane of gray

What panel do you see "just a plane of gray?" What do you see on panel #5 of this update?

In the panel five we can see the outside of the roof of the atrium, on the right side of the panel, that appears to be all gray (as in no breaks in the roof and no transparency to see the tower's middle section). compare that to the other side of the roof through which you can see the sky. It just looks odd is all I am saying. Either the crashing dwagon completely demolished (including superstructure) the part of the atrium that would be closest to us or Xin forgot to add in some holes in the ceiling.

Like I said in my first post on the topic, this is a nit pick, and does not distract form the rest of the awesome update and art.

We were talking about different parts of the roof I think. You were talking about the part of the roof RIGHT around the tower? That part was never bombarded by yellow dwagons. The dwagons were made to stay a way off by order of Jetstone during the parley. So that part of the roof you're talking about (the part that is the ceiling near the tower) shouldn't have holes presumably. I was talking about that big gaping hole that was allowing us to see inside the atrium itself.

[Dr Quest DFA]

We were talking about different parts of the roof I think. You were talking about the part of the roof RIGHT around the tower? That part was never bombarded by yellow dwagons. The dwagons were made to stay a way off by order of Jetstone during the parley. So that part of the roof you're talking about (the part that is the ceiling near the tower) shouldn't have holes presumably. I was talking about that big gaping hole that was allowing us to see inside the atrium itself.

Two things:

1) Why is one side (left side) of Atrium ceiling transparent while the other is opaque?
2) It looks to me that the near part of the atrium that is destroyed was UTTERLY destroyed. As in no support beams left or any indication that the structure of the Atrium continued out past of the of the ragged edges of the remaining roof. Damage just does not seem comenserate with what heppened to it. At the very least the walls of the Atrium should still be standing even if the roof was severly damaged.

[HandofShadows]

At this point, I don't see how Slately gets to the portal room.

Why would Slately go to the portal room? If he tries to use the portal it would kill him.

Sylvia seems to be staying up top which I think may be a good idea for a number of reasons. She is injured and may not be able to move so fast. And of course her bonuses would help with the destruction of the tower. Wanda here is really only playing the cards that have been delt her and making the most of them. Also as a good commander Parson alllows and expects people to operate on their own initiative in order to persue goals set by the commander. People that are too tied to the chain of cammand or to a specific plan usually loose battles (and wars).

[effataigus]

Gah, so many wild cards in this fight. I count 4 different characters under suspicion of turning...

Can happily say I have no idea how the cards will land!

1) Why is one side (left side) of Atrium ceiling transparent while the other is opaque?
2) It looks to me that the near part of the atrium that is destroyed was UTTERLY destroyed. As in no support beams left or any indication that the structure of the Atrium continued out past of the of the ragged edges of the remaining roof. Damage just does not seem comenserate with what heppened to it. At the very least the walls of the Atrium should still be standing even if the roof was severly damaged.

re 1: This is excellent attention to detail on Xin's part that you're seeing. For transparent objects with a different index of refraction from air there is such a thing as a critical angle below which the object will appear opaque. To demonstrate this principle you need only look at glass head on and then move your head (or the glass) so that you're looking at it from the side. At some intermediate angle you should no longer be able to see through the glass. In this picture the far side is seen from a more perpendicular perspective, and thus still appears transparent.

re 2: I believe your objection is correct, though I take this to be artistic license that is allowing us to see into the atrium despite the (presumably still standing) wall. It caught my eye too, but I appreciated the perspective of the drawing and therefore understood the choice.

[BLANDCorporatio]

Gah, so many wild cards in this fight. I count 4 different characters under suspicion of turning...

Eh wot? Who? There's Oss (fair enough), there's Ace (j/k) ... do you also count Wanda and Caesar, though "turning" means something different there (side-split, and inner power struggle respectively)?

They only took out three of the six archons above them and "momentarily" captured the leader. Also the archons couldn't fire back or use thinkamancy to confuse them.

A situation that is oddly ... reminiscent ... of some other situation we've seen. That's all I'll say about that and revert to avoiding the topic until next update or such.

[odoflood]

I think he's going to beg Don King for enough Smuckers to promote Tremennis

Ahh...I like it. I change my prediction to that. That's much better than my "suicide by portal" scenario.

[effataigus]

Gah, so many wild cards in this fight. I count 4 different characters under suspicion of turning...

Eh wot? Who? There's Oss (fair enough), there's Ace (j/k) ... do you also count Wanda and Caesar, though "turning" means something different there (side-split, and inner power struggle respectively)?

Indeed, those are the four I was referring to! Not to imply I buy into the speculation for all of them, just that it has been repeatedly popping up on the forums for each of them.

Ace for one might be happier with GK, but I don't think he is jaded enough to contemplate treachery. Also, that's what decryption is for. The other 3 I could see switching sides, though I'd definitely expect that it would take something extra to prompt Wanda to split into a new side... Stanley raging over the dwagons, an offer from Charlie, or an explanation for why she didn't turn earlier...

[Alexei P]

guys guys guys

They're about to collapse the tower with Parson inside.