Summer Updates - 004

[Occasional Sage]

What looks like a sea urchin? These are Stanley's own troops and he can see stats, but the thing doesn't have a name that he notices? And why didn't we ever seen such a thing during TBFGK?

(Apparently I like question marks?)

[Alcazabedabra]

Sea Urchins are spiny sea creatures.

Pikers have pikes. Imagine if you will, a perfectly-ordered piker formation with their long pikes each at a perfect angle, armor shining in the sun, faces stony, dignity and discipline in full display...


...and then the whole mess of men and their pointy poles gets knocked into wild dissaray by a low-flying Dwagon. It'd look like a sea urchin, wouldn't it?

[KBF]

I think Stanely is more worried about exactly what everyone else was worried about. Wanda isn't actually Stanley's troop. She's under no loyalty spell. She is more powerful than him. And he is completely surrounded by her troops in his city. Not a great situation. He's trying to act as nonchalant as possible to remain in control of the situation, although he has no idea what to actually do with that control. What do you do in that situation? I mean, she joined with him from his perspective because he was powerful. Now she is more powerful.

I'm pretty sure Wanda is still Stanley's troop. Just because she isn't loyal to him, doesn't mean she doesn't belong to him. Remember, Units that have been converted to your side have notoriously low loyalty. And if she is still his unit, then if she tried to take over and croaked Stanley with the army (which I believe would be under his command anyway) then the Gobwin Knob side would be leaderless and everyone within the city limits would freeze in time until an enemy attacked. So I'm thinking it would be entirely beneficial for Wanda to stick with Stanley. At least for now.

You are forgetting something. Wanda counts as an enemy if she turns. I'm not saying she will, but when your life is in the hands of someone that was on the other side and turned for reasons that aren't actually beneficial to her anymore, you have a right to be nervous.

Also, just because Stanley can see their stats doesn't mean they aren't Wanda's troops. Not only do we not know the rules of Erfworld that familiarly yet, we don't know where uncroaked troops loyalties lie in the event of a rogue Croakamancer. And even if Stanley did, these units are Dycrypted, which is a new mechanic.

Not enough italics this post. Sorry.

[Frogpop]

Sea Urchins are spiny sea creatures.

Pikers have pikes. Imagine if you will, a perfectly-ordered piker formation with their long pikes each at a perfect angle, armor shining in the sun, faces stony, dignity and discipline in full display...


...and then the whole mess of men and their pointy poles gets knocked into wild dissaray by a low-flying Dwagon. It'd look like a sea urchin, wouldn't it?

ohhh! I misread "one formation of pikers was knocked into something resembling a sea urchin" as "one formation of pikers was knocked into something-resembling-a-sea-urchin" (like some other weird unit standing next to the pikeman), instead of "one formation of pikers was knocked into BECOMING something resembling a sea urchin". I'm glad I wasn't alone, AND I'm even gladder we got that sorted out! Thanks!

[HandofShadows]

Wanda is there all happy and proud (showing off a little to impress Stanely even) and he acts like a child. Typical really. It IS an improvement over a temper tantrum though. I really don't think that Stanley put it together that the Arkenpliers created the dycrypted army. I really don't. He is that dense/unthinking. He's tying to get control of things and has not realized things are sorta out of his control now and will be from now on (wait until he meets with Parson!)

The buzzing in his head is interesting. I think it could be a sign of one of three things #1 The ArkenHammer doing something (to the peron that posted that, it's a good idea), 2 a mental (brain) problem that Stanley has or someone is using thinkamancy to influance or spy on him (wonder who THAT could be? )

I am enjoy these pages quite a bit.

[Zeku]

Head buzzing may be the sensation you get when violence is imminent, and you're worried, but still feeling pretty confident. For me it's more of a throbbing, kind of a mental white noise, like the quality of your senses are changed, some better, and some worse.

[Lemarc]

Head buzzing may be the sensation you get when violence is imminent, and you're worried, but still feeling pretty confident. For me it's more of a throbbing, kind of a mental white noise, like the quality of your senses are changed, some better, and some worse.

You might want to consult a doctor.

[Welf von Ehrwald]

I wonder if that buzzing noise is the result of an thinkamany spell. Maybe Wanda once put Stanley under a loyalty spell, and not the other way.

[nony2klerch]

Something else to consider.

The Arkentool was being used to decrypt things.... Are they actually being decrypted? Or are the units being brought back to life with new loyalties.

Ansom looked awfully "fleshy" The other decypted units were rather greyish and not nearly as "pink", if that makes any sense.

To quote Wanda when she answered Ansom's question of "What am I"

"I don't know....Something new....Something glorious"

A way to tell is if they start to deteriorate(ref p27) which is what normal decrypted units do after time. (so far) Wanda raised an entire "decrypted" army with the Arkenpliers, go Titans!

thoughts?

[joosy]

Something else to consider.

The Arkentool was being used to decrypt things.... Are they actually being decrypted? Or are the units being brought back to life with new loyalties.

Ansom looked awfully "fleshy" The other decypted units were rather greyish and not nearly as "pink", if that makes any sense.

To quote Wanda when she answered Ansom's question of "What am I"

"I don't know....Something new....Something glorious"

A way to tell is if they start to deteriorate(ref p27) which is what normal decrypted units do after time. (so far) Wanda raised an entire "decrypted" army with the Arkenpliers, go Titans!

thoughts?

They are being de-crypted - a pun as in 'removing the crypt/tomb/death'. This is a new mechanism. The writers used the inspection of decrypted Prince Ansom as an expository. The decrypted units do not decay and do not require upkeep AND appear to have the same leadership, abilities, levels as before.

[Cmdr I. Heartly Noah]

Something else to consider.

The Arkentool was being used to decrypt things.... Are they actually being decrypted? Or are the units being brought back to life with new loyalties.

Ansom looked awfully "fleshy" The other decypted units were rather greyish and not nearly as "pink", if that makes any sense.

To quote Wanda when she answered Ansom's question of "What am I"

"I don't know....Something new....Something glorious"

A way to tell is if they start to deteriorate(ref p27) which is what normal decrypted units do after time. (so far) Wanda raised an entire "decrypted" army with the Arkenpliers, go Titans!

thoughts?

You are thinking of Uncroaked. We don't know yet what normal decrypted units do. And since Ansom was the first, it's not unrealistic to believe that "I don't know....Something new....Something glorious" was just referring to decryption, and not indicating that he is different from the other decrypted. (Since they didn't exist yet). (He IS different, of course, in that he's a high-level warlord).

[jioan]

Lol! I loved the last line it sounded just like something Stanley would say.

[nony2klerch]

You are thinking of Uncroaked. We don't know yet what normal decrypted units do. And since Ansom was the first, it's not unrealistic to believe that "I don't know....Something new....Something glorious" was just referring to decryption, and not indicating that he is different from the other decrypted. (Since they didn't exist yet). (He IS different, of course, in that he's a high-level warlord).

Good point. I guess it's the difference between Animate Dead and Raise Dead.

[BarGamer]

Wanda won't turn on Stanley. She needs him to pay her own Upkeep, if not her army's. Furthermore, Parson is under Stanley's orders. An army without Upkeep, a home base, or strategy is only a mob. Wanda still needs Stanley, but the scales have evened out. The best thing for Stanley to do is give Parson and Wanda free rein, and stay home and pop out bab-I mean, dwagons.

GODS, I wish Parson would find his own ArkenTool. As someone with an idiot for a boss, I sympathize with him in the worst way.

[kreszantas]

I get the feeling from the Wanda & Stanley exchange that Stanley was 'playing' dumb and letting Wanda explain the attunement to him. Stanley can be extremely daft but he has been attempting to care, Vurp from the last update being an example. Stanley would have NO CLUE that the pliers did the army. Wanda is a croakamancer and would be common knowledge that she would raise a whole army. Stanley is not getting it yet, but as we all have said before there is alot to take in and the subtle changes in Stanley are starting to change his overall view of things. So I think he last line could have ended with an ! to make it seem like he was more enthusatic to what the pliers had done. Jealousy could be creeping in as well between them, but if it is all apart of the divine plan, which Stanley 'seems' to have the most knowledge of this makes it an interesting twist.

[Feyrauth2]

Honestly though, Parson is potentially a greater power than either Wanda or Stanley. He is a better tactician than either of them. Possibly the best in Erfworld.

Well, Wanda and Stanley mentioned "the Perfect Warlord" prior to the summoning. See p. 6 and p. 35.

Where the hell does that leave Parson, if he needs to take Gobwin Knob from the outside?

Nice idea, since Gobwin Knob is repeatedly referred to as "the strongest defensive position in the world"!

[HandofShadows]

I wonder if that buzzing noise is the result of an thinkamany spell. Maybe Wanda once put Stanley under a loyalty spell, and not the other way.

I don't think so. Wanda doesn't seem to be doing anything that would indicate a spell being in place and is rather flumuxed by Stanley's reaction. I'm thinking of someone with an Arkendish.

[MarbitChow]

I think that buzzing sound in Stanley's head is simply that he's attempting to think.

He's really, really not used to doing it, and so the sensation is unfamiliar to him.

[Darkside007]

I suspect the buzzing is mild panic. He pretty clearly expected the Arkentools only to attune to Warlords, so Wanda getting them is a major shock. Not only that, but the army he's surrounded by is his-with-Wanda's-emblem. What does that mean? We don't know, and neither does Stanley, but it could easily mean that Stanley is about to get his face kicked in, given how he treated them before he left, the fact that he did leave, and the realization that he needs to treat his subordinates better.

[Alcazabedabra]

Honestly though, Parson is potentially a greater power than either Wanda or Stanley. He is a better tactician than either of them. Possibly the best in Erfworld.

Well, Wanda and Stanley mentioned "the Perfect Warlord" prior to the summoning. See p. 6 and p. 35.

Where the hell does that leave Parson, if he needs to take Gobwin Knob from the outside?

Nice idea, since Gobwin Knob is repeatedly referred to as "the strongest defensive position in the world"!

It's how I would write it.

It's the old problem of what happens when an unstoppable force meets and immovable object. Parson is an unstoppable commander, and Gobwin Knob is an unassailable defensive position. How would you write it?

Somehow, maybe at the climax of Book 3, Parson is going to have to take Gobwin Knob.