Book 2 – Text Updates 045

[Xenon]

i read things in what our dirtamancer has pondered... i wonder, if you can disband a hex? stanley is playing with a hammer, and he dosent like his 'half' of a city.... oooh that could be downright messy.

parson in jetstone... the 'perfect' warlord enters combat, gains XP, and probably a new ability when he hits level 3. for all we know he could be a single xp away, how could we tell? he has been in combat before after all.

[MonteCristo]

Can someone explain what is so remarkable about Parson suddenly showing up in Jetstone?

Well as they said it will change things... as it is casters NEVER take advantage of the fact that the portals to the other sides is easily accessible from the magic kingdom.
After Parson does it you can be sure other rulers will want to use the same advantage... rules will change.

Now kingdoms might need to keep their portals under heavy guard; perhaps have their mancers create guards to their portal on the MK side, or they might even find ways to block off their portal completely so as not to risk an attack. The whole naturally of MK may be called into question. there is much that can happen from this one move

Why does he want to go there at all, beyond intentionally placing himself at risk, for the sake of his principles?

First to supply his troops with his chief warlord bonus
A possible second would be his own principle, no longer wanting to send people into battles that he himself is would not fight

[Beeskee]

Awesome update.

I noticed the portals look different. Almost like the Arkentools do...

[warriortribble]

I do wish it was Maleficent that was chatting with Jafar. Those two need to get it on already.

He had not actually crossed the threshold to Master class, but that could happen any time a caster gained powerful new insight into his discipline or major class.

I wonder. Does this mean discipline and major class are synonyms, or that a caster can multiclass into multiple schools of magic?

[drachefly]

Aside from agreeing with several above-mentioned thoughts like the limits of predictamancy, wondering when Isaac and his buddies are going to show up, shovels, and Jafar/Fairy Godmother being cute...

I thought Sizemore was master-class. Looks like I was wrong.

I really need to get around to playing FF7 some time.

[No one in particular]

Oh my god, I just realized... this could be a far more insidious plan than Parson lets on.

What is the Magic Kingdom for?
1. A place for casters from all the various sides to get together peacefully, and relax, discuss the nature of Erf and magic, and get away from the demands of their side for a bit.
2. A place for barbarian casters to reside, and be hired from.

1 serves no purpose, from a Ruler's point of view. 2 is the only real benefit for them, and since most sides have a few casters of their own, they probably don't even use it for that very much.

Once Parson reveals that the portals are a major security breach to every side, a LOT of Rulers aren't going to bother posting guards, opting instead to just shut them down. (What's safer than a locked door? An unbroken wall.) This will leave a lot of homeless casters without any work, since how will they be reached? Or get where they're wanted? This will also leave a lot of sides without their usual go-to contract casters, so who will they turn to?

For the casters, Gobwin's Knob's door is always open, and they ARE one of, if not THE richest side on Erf these days...
For the Rulers, Charlie's Archons, while not having the same range of skills as their previous service providers, do have a number of talents that can be purchased for very reasonable rates. (Ask about our installment plan!)

Net results? The opposition is cut off from a lot of potential support. GK gains control of the MK job market. Charlie will get a lot of business directly because of something Parson did, and Parson will be sure to make Charlie aware that he owes Parson for it.

Let the negotiations... begin.

[gameboy1234]

The way Sizemore describes it, it sounds like Master class is granted based on a certain degree of skill, rather than a certain level.

That is interesting. It seems to imply that there's some sort of skill tree for casters. When you get certain skills, you get master. Those skills might come at different levels, depending on when and how the skills are chosen.

[Dr Pepper]

Mission Control: we are go for launch!

[warriortribble]

I'm guessing the Fairy Godmother is a changemancer, what with the pumpkins > coaches, rags > ball gowns thing.
Jafar... hm, not sure.
Aeris... healomancer, maybe?

I'm thinking Jafar is a Thinkamancer since in the movie the only thing human Jafar did was cast a suggestion spell on the Sultan. If that's genie Jafar than he's some demigod castor who's a Master in all mortal disciplines.

[gameboy1234]

Can someone explain what is so remarkable about Parson suddenly showing up in Jetstone?

He is attacking by going through the Magic Kingdom. The Magic Kingdom will never again be seen as a neutral, safe side. It's going to mess the MK up bad.

[cloudbreaker]

I do wish it was Maleficent that was chatting with Jafar. Those two need to get it on already.

He had not actually crossed the threshold to Master class, but that could happen any time a caster gained powerful new insight into his discipline or major class.

I wonder. Does this mean discipline and major class are synonyms, or that a caster can multiclass into multiple schools of magic?

For Sizemore, I think major class refers to Stuffamancy. And the Stuffamancy diciplines would be Dirtamancy, Changemancy, and Dittomancy.

Maggie and Jack would both be in the Eyemancy major class, but Maggie is in the Thinkamancer discipline and Jack is in the Foolamancer discipline.

[Tag]

Eh, logically I don't think it would mess up the MK that much. Only casters can travel between portals, and as we saw in the first chapter, casters are considered too valuable to have on the front lines. A handful of guards at the portal means that any casters that "zone in" get instantly captured or croaked since they don't have any support and are suddenly within range of the lowliest piker. Heck, it would be a great, low resource opportunity to capture or croak valuable enemies that are so unoriginal as to directly copy the tactic. Especially if you just put the portal in a room that locks from the outside for extra security.

That said, most of these rulers wouldn't react rationally to this. And I could see major backlash against Parson and his side from the MK for "poisoning" their neutrality (he got a pretty cold receptions when he simply entered the MK). I still think this is a horrible strategy -- there is basically nothing gained from Parson going through with this and a lot to lose. It's pretty selfish and short-sighted of him.

Edit: Actually, it might be most disruptive to Charlie as any ruler with a caster can now send that caster as a messenger to friendly sides. Or any neutral caster can act as a messenger for friendly/neutral/hostile sides. Two-way think-a-grams will dramatically lose their value except for on the field, and we already know rulers can sense and command their field units from the comfort of their capital. If Trem somehow does end up as Jetstone's king, I'm sure he'd be looking into this.

[DyolfKnip]

It sounds like becoming a Master class caster is akin to getting a doctorate in StupidWorld. It's not enough to merely grind through the levels, you actually have to contribute something new to the field.

Poor Janis. She brought forth the perfect warlord with the intent that he would start breaking rules. She never envisioned that some of the ones he would break would be so near and dear to her and that he would actually militarize her home. Be careful what you wish for! Gotta give her credit, though. She seems intellectually honest enough to realize that sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander as well.

Dunno if Sizemore realizes it, but working for Parson is going to make him the greatest dirtamancer Erf has ever seen.

[fjolnir]

The implications of this turn are so severe, divination cannot penetrate them, this is fairly heavy stuff...

[abb3w]

i wonder, if you can disband a hex?

Interesting. I've another notion more on Sizemore's lines: how about promoting a "light" hex like farmland to a "heavy" mountain hex?

Why does he want to go there at all, beyond intentionally placing himself at risk, for the sake of his principles?

First to supply his troops with his chief warlord bonus
A possible second would be his own principle, no longer wanting to send people into battles that he himself is would not fight

Plus, of course, the XP and chance to level up from same. Less obvious, the Boringworld military principle that faster communications and intelligence are major factors contributing to victory. (Usually.)

We also have no clue what Parson's new toys do. Well, not most of them. We have little clue what the staff Wanda used to command the tower defenses in Book one pp. 94-96 (and for a few other things) is capable of -- but Parson is dragging it along. What if he plans to have her try and use it to unleash the Jetstone tower on Jetstone's troops? He probably selected them for maximum impact.

[abb3w]

As an additional notion on the Magic Kingdom, some thoughts from Sun Tzu:

Ground the possession of which imports great advantage to either side, is contentious ground.
Ground on which each side has liberty of movement is open ground.
Ground which forms the key to three contiguous states, so that he who occupies it first has most of the Empire at his command, is a ground of intersecting highways.
...
On contentious ground, attack not. On open ground, do not try to block the enemy's way. On the ground of intersecting highways, join hands with your allies.

So, by Sun Tzu's lights, arguably Parson shouldn't start a war in the magic kingdom, nor interfere with free passage therein, but (most likely) see who the heck was responsible for his summoning and get some damn answers (and perhaps have THEM interfere... discreetly).
Of course, he needs to deal with Jetstone, first.

On the current situation:

Rapidity is the essence of war: take advantage of the enemy's unreadiness, make your way by unexpected routes, and attack unguarded spots.

Parson is the Perfect Warlord. King Slately is a target, but an obvious one; Tramennis guarding him is (idiot ball aside) an obvious choice. So, what other less obvious high-value targets remain unguarded?
...A portal is one of the defining characteristics of the existence of a side. What happens if on arrival at Jetstone, Parson immediately turns and attempts to destroy the Jetstone portal that he came in through?

[Nargrakhan]

Mission Control: we are go for launch!

Cry "Havoc!" and let slip the dogs of war.

It's time for Parson to do what he was summoned to do: may whatever Titans watching, have mercy on Erfworld's soul.

[regisminae]

But shame for not recognizing everyone's favorite Final Fantasy Flower Girl....

What I want to know is what kind of caster the Fairy Godmother, Jafar, and Aeris are.

Obviously, she's a Florist!


(it is not obvious, she may not be a Florist... etc. etc.)

[Doctor Grumpus]

I just had this really weird vision:

SG-E

(and it won't leave my brain...)

[the_tick_rules]

Poor sizemore, so sad all the time.