Book 2 – Page 11

[OvaltinePatrol]

I wonder if Jack's affection for Jillian had anything to do with Wanda's desire to decrypt him.

[Firkraag]

Heh, well done, Tool!

Parson: "M'gonna run new numbers before she bugs me again." Respect +1
Maggie: "Why would she need it, Lord?" Respect +2
Stanley: "Say 'permission denied'." Respect +2

[DorianMode]

Does healamancy even work on the Decrypted/Uncroaked? One is, I assume, an elite subset of the other. In fact, is there maybe a "Revive Kills Zombie" rule in effect? (As a side note, Its interesting that Vampires don't seem to be considered undead/croaked as in other settings). Can croakamancers heal uncroaked/decrypted (just one? just the other?) the way dirtamancers can heal golems?

Decrypting Prince (will he keep the title? He was thrown into the situation in a confusing way for him, he didn't take to it like Ansom) Ossomer means that there is at least some leadership in the strike force not formerly in Love with Jillian. From Wanda's perspective, Jack is the biggest risk here, not being automatically loyal to her, having a former attachment to Jillian (does she necessarily know that?) AND he spent the past wad of turns studying tactics with the Warlord she defers to.

Parson is trimmer now, more fit, and knows more about Erfworld in general and combat in particular; is he higher level? He was, at the BfGK, "Warlord, Level 2, Special" as I recall; do his "special" characteristics allow for leveling outside of combat? Or is there another way to gain experience outside of combat everyone has access to: Sizemore told Janis he didn't want to have gained the two levels he did during tBfGK the way he did; that implies either a) there's another way, or b) he's just very nonviolent by nature, very unusual for a world based on combat mechanics.

[Pax]

Who the hell are you saving your healomancy scrolls for if not for your brilliant foolamancer? Wanda is getting a bit reckless with her new-found power.

No, she's not getting reckless.

She's saving those scrolls for a very particular, specific person: HERSELF.

She is the only person in the entire world who CANNOT be decrypted ... so, she is the only person in the entire world who, in her yes, MUST have Healing scrolls available.

I've been waiting to see what the disorder Janis predicts is ever since that update. That's what the big question is right now for me. I'm thinking that perhaps there will be a struggle of some sort amongst GKs leadership. What's your prediction?

I'm thinking, Wanda isn't and never has been loyal to Stanley, not really. All Stanley ever was to her, was a means to an end ... a route to an arkentool of her very own. So if she gets CAPTURED ... there's a very real chance that she'll Turn.

...

And the Queen of Faq is going to be present in the upcoming battle. A Queen who is receiving Charlie's aid and advice on the sly. Aid and advice which includes the SAME access (a limited number of times) to Parson's Bracer, as Wanda has!!

[Wii]

Hi, just signed up because I thought it's not been given enough attention:

in the previous page, Wanda learned that the Queen of FAQ was nearby, and thereafter she requests the decrypting of Jack. Even though Parson may assume it is an experiment, Parson isn't necessarily right─so to assume Wanda's intentions are 'conserving a healomancy scroll' or 'experimenting with decrypted casters' isn't precisely something that's uh, good!

I think there's a reasonable chance that there are equally twenty reasons to decrypt Jack. One of them would be certainty of his loyalties and ensure he won't turn because of whatever Jillian may do, or perhaps she does it precisely to ensure he will stay loyal to Wanda--and Wanda herself could turn to Faq. Afterall, did she not say she hadn't ever expected Stanley to actually win the battle with Faq?

Stating downright that the Tool made a good decision seems hasty. After all, there's no guarantee this won't bite him in the bum four pages from now.

[AllPurposeNerd]

I don't think Wanda's really evil per se. She's just making logical use of what's available to her, playing hard and playing to win. Realizing that while most things a warlord does has some sort of associated cost (move, hits, juice, scrolls), croaking and decrypting a unit costs nothing and yields an immediate reward; a loyal new unit with full hits. Decrypting Ossomer was both faster and more certain than trying to get him to turn willingly. Decrypting Jack will bring him back to full hits at no cost. Since the archons retain their magical specials, there's no reason to assume that a decrypted caster stops being a caster. Also, it's possible Wanda can 'heal' decrypted units using her own juice, which replenishes.

I like Jack, and I hope she does the right thing, but I'm not convinced the wrong thing is strictly evil. Just pragmatic. You know how it is; when all you have is a hammer gun, every problem looks like a nail that's over there.

[fractal]

We all know the real reason Wanda wanted to kill and decrypt Jack... she was hoping to level Scarlet again! Jack is a master foolamancer, so presumably high level - killing him could pay off in xp, even if he's already incapacitated and on your own team.

[Keldaria]

omg... wait ... did stanley actually ask parsons opinion about something???

[John Thacker]

Is it just me or does it seem a lot like the comic is going out of its way to answer speculation? "Can decrypted level?" "Can decrypted casters cast?" etc.

Not as far as the latter one goes. It's not answering the speculation of "can decrypted casters cast?" Instead, the comic is saying, "Good question, the main characters wonder that too and don't know."

Not all fan speculation is useful or relevant, but some of it is the same sort of things that Parson and others should worry about. Decryption is a new thing, but both fans and characters are right to speculate which of the world rules (that we only understand as well as Parson) no longer hold true.

[seans23]

I'd think that if you're going to try decrypting a caster, you'd try it on a level 1 caster, not a master class foolamancer.

[the_tick_rules]

Depending on how this battle goes they may get their opportunity to test it on casters. I think their desire to not give wanda all the power is much more of a primary motivator.

[DevilDan]

Can I say just how happy I am with Xin's art?

I can?

Ahem, here goes. It makes me happy.

[CelebrenIthil]

If that isn't the Tool starting to respect Parson's opinion/judgement some more, then I don't know what that is.

(Admitely he is a bit shaken in his confidence since the BfGK and Wanda's new grand Decrypted crusade going almost without him... but this is good. Gotta learn humbleness the harsher way so he starts heeding others and wisen up a bit...)

[badninja]

Oh that was nice. I see that Parson and the Tool are getting worried about Wanda. I enjoy the fact that they are worried about what could happen. Seeing the Tool show some growth as a being is nice. I think that still this is not looking good for our foolamancer.

Silly question why has GK not popped healmancers? I know they are casters but if they are going to risk two big league casters not having a healer is bad news. I play enough D&D to know not having a Cleric is asking for death real fast. I know this is not D&D but same principals seem to apply. The scrolls are only going to become harder to find because of MK or Charlie probably not letting GK get its hands on such scrolls.

[nerf-dweller]

Did parson just cuss a word that was previously booped out quite often before?

Yeah. Ever since the threw the Sword of Ruthlessness into the lava lake, he's been able to curse without being censored. Check the summer updates, he curses in those.

Surprisingly good calls by Stanley here. He seems a little more reserved and a little more confident.

With his increasing distrust of Wanda and therefore Ansom, Stanley is needing someone he can trust and therefore confide in. Parson's the perfect candidate. Parson still has to obey Stanely. And apparently their time together, while Wanda is on the front, has let Stanley get to know and trust Parson a bit more. It's going to be an interesting dynamic between the two of them going forward.

[Welf von Ehrwald]

I'd think that if you're going to try decrypting a caster, you'd try it on a level 1 caster, not a master class foolamancer.

There are 4 Jetstone casters they can try their little experiments, and there are some more kingdoms with some more casters. But they (and I mean Stanley) shouldn't try it if they don't have to. Having a number of living casters and the dwagons will increase his position of power compared to Wanda. His Toolship should issue an order regarding to that. Probably let Parson formulate it to avoid loopholes.

[multilis]

Stanley got paranoid at everyone after the donut of doom failure. IMO he was positively surprised when Parson gladly stepped down from top warlord... suggested that Parson not the power hungry sort he fears.

Parson agreeing on Wanda getting out of hand further boosts Stanley's trust. Ansom being decrypted obeying Wanda even when he disagrees helps reinforce distrust of Ansom. IMO a bit more of stage being set for Parson to become chief warlord.

[theseus2x]

Is it just me or does it seem a lot like the comic is going out of its way to answer speculation? "Can decrypted level?" "Can decrypted casters cast?" etc.

Not as far as the latter one goes. It's not answering the speculation of "can decrypted casters cast?" Instead, the comic is saying, "Good question, the main characters wonder that too and don't know."

Not all fan speculation is useful or relevant, but some of it is the same sort of things that Parson and others should worry about. Decryption is a new thing, but both fans and characters are right to speculate which of the world rules (that we only understand as well as Parson) no longer hold true.

Precisely. He's addressing the question, if not answering it. There were times in Book 1 where he seemed to shy away from defining things, and answering obvious technical questions that had come up. (Remember the dreaded "Regeneration" issue?) You do get the impression he's reading these forums.

[the_tick_rules]

Oh that was nice. I see that Parson and the Tool are getting worried about Wanda. I enjoy the fact that they are worried about what could happen. Seeing the Tool show some growth as a being is nice. I think that still this is not looking good for our foolamancer.

Silly question why has GK not popped healmancers? I know they are casters but if they are going to risk two big league casters not having a healer is bad news. I play enough D&D to know not having a Cleric is asking for death real fast. I know this is not D&D but same principals seem to apply. The scrolls are only going to become harder to find because of MK or Charlie probably not letting GK get its hands on such scrolls.

From what I read on the Wiki a caster is very selmdomly popped instead of a warlord when a side tries to make a warlord. That also the field of specialty is random as well so caster creation is uncontrollable. But it's also unclear, at least to me, to what extent this is canon and speculation.

[factotum]

Silly question why has GK not popped healmancers? I know they are casters but if they are going to risk two big league casters not having a healer is bad news.

It's been clear since early in the first book that a side doesn't get to pick and choose what kind of casters it gets. One of the Royal Coalition's biggest problems in the lead-up to the Battle for Gobwin Knob was that they had no Lookamancers and therefore couldn't get advance intelligence of what GK were doing--if they could just pop any kind of caster they wanted that clearly wouldn't have been an issue.