Book 2 – Page 86

[gameboy1234]

Is that creature pulling the wagon one of Unaroyal's hollas?

It vaguely resembles the hat Parson wears on his head.

[Hidden Sanity]

Captain Archer's outfit reminds me of Archer in Fate/stay Night (manga/anime): https://www.google.com/search?q=fate+st ... 0&bih=1075

He's a refrence to both Archer from Fate and Archer from Enterprise.

[joosy]

Not everything is a Nemesis..er. Charlie plot.
And not every magical action is a result of a linking.

And I now have a name for the constant heartache whenever Sylvia cheats death: Jeftichew - I am calling shenanigans on you!

[Saladman]

Is that creature pulling the wagon one of Unaroyal's hollas?

If it is...

Since Sylvia's in the wagon and not riding...

She's not a holla-back girl.

...YEAHHHHHH!

[Chit Rule Railroad]

Regarding Sylvia the "Royal" vs. Sylvia the stabber...Has it ever been established that only Commanders can be Royal? Perhaps any unit popped in a Royal Capital is Royal.

[Sixty]

Hah. Nice. And sorta not. Obviously I like this update, but it's a qualified, incomplete liking ->

I find your analysis to be quite spot on. I've said previously that one thing which made the not-quite-character so appealing in Book 1 was her refusal to stay down in the face of Parson's and/or the Titans' curve balls that were thrown at her. You knew that she was on the losing side in Book 1, however grim the situation was for GK. I even did two tongue-in-cheek sketches of the Titans tormenting Sylvia, one of which can be found on the deviantart fan-group for Erfworld.

Finding out that she's not the Titans' fav chew toy, but sort of an actual darling, is a bit of a surprise that's not entirely welcome.

Well, I'd take Sylvia's words with a grain of salt. It is very possible Jeffichew saved her that one time and because of that she thinks she is invincible when it was a one time trade to save her from croaking then. The reasoning beyond her overconfidence perhaps, but maybe not true necessarily.

[Fiendishrabbit]

I think everyone has had "that unit". The unit that pretty much couldn't lose.

In dwarf fortress. Urist McCrossbow. Went up against everything from goblins to Dragons and hydras. Won every time. Even soloing a Colossus.

[the_tick_rules]

maybe the carnymancer rigged her rules, like an emulation of luckamancy or something?

[Arky]

Sylvia takes Wanda's divine conviction in Fate and turns it up to 11. She's completely nuts.

[Xondoure]

My guess is the cost of her fate was her entire side.

Also, I'm joining the bandwagon suspecting Charlie's involvement.

[Morni]

The atrium is a portion of the courtyard... outside the atrium is also part of the courtyard. or the dragon would not be able to "sonic boom" Artemis.

[Ytaker]

That is... um... wow.

Carnymancers can do some FREAKY shit, man. Rigging the rules... and there are so many rules in Erfworld... so much potential for utter mayhem... all you need is imagination. Parson could use a carnymancer, methinks.

I wonder... are there rules that can't be rigged?

Also, nerf carnymancers! Seriously, what'd he do, make Sylvia immortal? (I know she died, but still). This is way better than any Luckamancy boost. It's a wicked crazy buff - especially considering it seems to be permanent, seeing how long ago that must have happened. Essential near immortality and people failing to kill you all the time.

I guess she died in GK that one time because Fate of GK winning was stronger than Jefftichew's rigging of fate.

He protected a single weak unit for ten turns, at a large enough cost in juice that the kingdom complained, and gave her a weak buff that protected her from a few ranged attacks.

Meanwhile, a healomancer can probably heal an entire hex worth of units. Really, what would you prefer, a caster that can do the odd trick on a single unit or a unit that can tip any battle to your favor?

[drachefly]

Sylvia, in the flashback is wearing a zero. She, apparently, has been paid for.

That's just the unaroyal crest. It's on the wall hangings and the shoulders of the unit standing at the foot of the bed

Yes, I'm aware of this. Note that her whole side has become... zero. Yet she remains. And she's still zeroed out.

[effataigus]

The atrium is a portion of the courtyard... outside the atrium is also part of the courtyard. or the dragon would not be able to "sonic boom" Artemis.

I am confused. When was Artemis ever outside of the Atrium or its surrounding walls? (after coming down from the tower and before going, presumably, to the City of Heroes.)

[Frosted]

Have you ever played D&D (or some derivative thereof) and one person in the group ruins the group dynamics because they refused to be sensible about the mortality of their character? Get's everyone TPKd because they're an actual idiot.

This is how I feel about Sylvia. Go home. Take your Mountain Dew with you.

[effataigus]

We already had more than enough female characters who became blessed/cursed by fate/luck because some caster found them attractive when we just had Wanda and Jillian.

Aye, Sylvia was a more interesting character for me before her battle with Artemis and this conversation, and you express my misgivings well. It seems her identity was also given to her by fate/Jeftichew because of a crush.

Perhaps she is being used as a foil for Wanda. She has some important role to play in fate, but, never having spoken to a predictamancer, she never cracked the code like Wanda did. As such, she doesn't know her destination, and therefore always chooses "the very hard way."

[effataigus]

Have you ever played D&D (or some derivative thereof) and one person in the group ruins the group dynamics because they refused to be sensible about the mortality of their character? Get's everyone TPKd because they're an actual idiot.

This is how I feel about Sylvia. Go home. Take your Mountain Dew with you.

Yes, definitely Though this can be a symptom of a poor GM too. GM's that are too heavy-handed with ramming the plot down the characters throats will often have their players start taking outrageous chances and trying to get their characters killed to prove the point that their character's choices don't matter.

... which is pretty relevant to Sylvia's situation, actually. Please note that I'm not accusing Rob of being a poor GM here... I'm praising him on realistically describing the unhealthy relationship between a Titan that is a poor GM and a character sensing her own lack of autonomy.

The guy in our group like that? Eulogizing his characters was like a mini-game once we learned it was okay to not follow him into the Dragon's lair at lvl 2.

[bladestorm]

Lotta lone survivors from sides. Wanda is the last remnent of her side. Jillian just rebuilt FAQ, but she fit the bill for a while. Sylvia outlasted her side, though she does have other decrypted from Unaroyal. The Plaid Tribe seems to just be Sizemore and Stanley, so one of those could be the lone survivor before too long. Maybe Charlie is also a lone survivor, and the only thing left that his city can pop is Archons? Sorta like how GK no longer pops Gobwins and can only pop Hobgobwins due to Vurp.

[Swodaems]

If Sylvia is wrong about the situation surronding her mortality, I have another idea for what the trade was.

Maybe Jeftichew wasn't actually a Unaroyal caster at the time she was burned. Maybe he was a temporary hireling from the magic kingdom. The price for Queen Bea to agree to pay for healing Sylvia and then promote her was for Jeftichew to agree to join Unaroyal's side more permanently.

[Kreistor]

Sorta like how GK no longer pops Gobwins and can only pop Hobgobwins due to Vurp.

The missing Gobwins is a larger problem than that. Normally, they could find a Gobwin wandering the environment and entice him to join up as a natural ally, since like dwagons they pop in the environment like Barbarians. GK's scouts aren't even finding those. Something is preventing GK from finding Gobwins.

Which suggests interference by a major player with an excess of units that have long movement ranges to hunt for Gobwins and then hide. Barbaians pop at beginning of Day, so the antagonist would need to have a Natural Turn Order before GK. The obvious culprit is Charlie, who fits all of those requirements. If GK intends to assault Charlescomm, with its mountainous terrain, then GK needs tunnel-capable units. For GK, that means Gobwins and Spidews. Keeping Gobwins out of GK's hands is in Charlie's direct interest. Further, it gives him units to occupy his own tunnels.

And now that we know Isaac wants Parson to remove Charlie, we know that Charlie is not being paranoid in coming up with such a plan.