Book 2 - Text Updates 004

[balder]

New One is up.

[the_tick_rules]

Nice. I was confused for a bit and I thought there was another hamster on another side for a second. Learned quite a bit about natural allies.

[Infidel]

And we are one step closer to Erfworld, the game. It's good to see Parson is still investigating the passing of King Saline IV.

His tribe was now very strong, because he had stayed with Lord Stanley, even until he was the only one left.

This on the other hand really brings home the difference in philosophical thinking some Erf people have. Will that guilt grow to the point it actually begins to affect Vurp's actions? Time will tell. Vurp also gives Parson his first vote of confidence in starting his own side. Interesting.

[Hobgobwin]

This on the other hand really brings home the difference in philosophical thinking some Erf people have. Will that guilt grow to the point it actually begins to affect Vurp's actions? Time will tell. Vurp also gives Parson his first vote of confidence in starting his own side. Interesting.

In the image, it appears that he is crossing his fingers.
Interesting.
Speculation:

Spoiler: show

Could he be planning a second coup? He's probably not too happy about Stanley's apathy towards his tribe, and he may have the troops to overthrow him (possibly conspiring with Wanda?).
"Natural Allies know the will of their tribe’s Chief or Chiefs by Natural Thinkamancy, even from other hexes." Are there any hobgobwins at the battle?
Is this the disarray?

EDIT: Oh, I mis-read the update... I thought he was lying about feeling guilty for the betrayal of Saline, not lying to Parson.

[Rogthnor01]

Wonder what the secret is? Perhaps the Hobgobwins killed Saline I.V. for their own or were they manipulated.

[warriortribble]

Tribes have no purse and keep no Schmuckers. When they are in an alliance, their allied side pops rations for them from its treasury. But a feral tribe must hunt or gather or farm or mine.

So it's possible for sides to survive independently without taking from other groups, and they can survive just by farming or hunting. Very interesting.

[mblackadder]

Hmm, this raises the question, can feral tribes go to war with each other? With a Gobwin tribe which encounters a marbit tribe while hunting around for things to mine attack them or avoid them? After all natural animosity can run both ways. It could be the Gobwin's attack the Marbits or it could be they Gobwins are competing for the same limited resources (Jewels) with the Marbits.

We can make some guesses now that wild Dwagon's hunt while wild Gobwins mine. Prehaps Hobgobwins mine, but I can see them gathering or farming instead. It starts to make sense why certain natural allies won't work with others if in the "wild" they are both competing or evening fighting over the same resources.

[technojunkie]

I find this info very intriguing. Parson's line of questioning has inspired trust in a natural ally. He's not just commanding duty and loyalty through the erfworld mechanics, he's inspiring trust. Trust is what makes soldiers willing to "follow him through the gates of hell". I'm loving where this is going!

[The Shadow]

This one was very interesting indeed.

I'd be curious to know what the 'more than one feeling' Vurp has toward Stanley are...

Also, Parson made a strong enough impression on an obviously very unsentimental Hobgobwin for him to feel guilty ten turns later about lying to him. I wonder why? Is it simply because he seems to actually care what people think, instead of just giving orders? But Parson isn't wholly unique in that - until recently, Transylvito seems to have had a much more relaxed leadership style.

I'm guessing that one of the questions Vurp lied about was whether Stanley and/or Wanda plotted Saline's demise.

[badninja]

Interesting, now why where is fingers crossed? This answered a few questions but only gave us more questions. I wish it had told us what actually happened but that is going to be on major plot revelation and it is not the time to be reviled yet.

[OneHugeTuck]

I'm already reviling it!

[Sinrus]

I don't think Vurp was lying or guilty about anything in the future. This update is certainly going to be vital later on and meanwhile gives us some useful info about natural allies, but all of the finger-crossing and such was related to the regicide of Saline.

[Hatu]

Well now. As Elan would say, "Dun dun DUNN!!"

I hope we learn more about this soon.

-H

[Roszlishan]

ARGH!

The crossed fingers are a reference to his lying to Lord Hamster. What he told Parson about Saline's fall was the lie - and so the common story about the Gobwins breaking alliance, overthrowing Saline only to realign with Stanley is clearly ... a lie.

Which of course just begs the question of what really happened!

Tease, tease, tease ...

Of course, that Parson Lord Hamster is capable of eliciting trust in natural allies is also an important and vital fact and likely yet another Chekhov's gun ... but from time to time it would be nice to clear up some of these longer-standing conundrums.

Happiness,
Roszlishan

[gameboy1234]

Vurp lied? And still feels guilty? Yeah, "dun Dun DUUUNN" for sure.

Also, Vurp talk like cheesy 50's movie Indian chief now. Why?

[joosy]

Fantastic! I love the text updates more than the art updates - so much more meat to mentally process.

I also like seeing Erfworld from inside the brain of other units - not just Parson.

So.. it sounds like Parson is still pursuing the Mystery of the Missing Gobwins and learning more about natural allies as he goes along. Watch out, Old Man Charlie - that rubber mask will be pulled off by Hamster and the gang of meddling kids soon enough!

We also learn that allied units can lie when its in their best interest (or if following orders from someone higher in command?); Loyalty and Duty be damned. I wonder what the lie was and more so what the truth entails. The most likely speculation is that Wanda was behind it, but we will see.

Its interesting to see how the world is interpreted from Vurp's perspective. He feels proud to be the new progenitor of his natural side and that he views allying with Gobwin as a good thing (despite nearly being wiped out), and he is confused that Parson is no longer Chief Warlord.

Great information on how natural sides ally/change allegiances works. Parson now probably has enough information figure out how Charlie is pulling off the Great Gobwin Heist. I look forward to figuring out how he plans on countering it if at all.

Its not who dies, its who lives and the outcome of the wars that seem to matter in Erfworld. Success is rewarded, failure usually ends in croaking.
The very concept of existing for reasons other than war seem so foreign. It will be interesting to see how Parson awakens the world to individualistic concepts of self-worth much less 'peace'. Be careful what you ask for Janis - you just may get it!

[Zeku]

Wow, you all missed it. That hobgobwin doesn't have the wit to even imagine a lie into existence. It's Wanda again. She even spelled it out at the end of Book 1, trusting Parson's naivete to not translate her admission of wanton destruction in the most negative possible light. It was an inoculating dosage of honesty, to keep him oblivious. Jillian is heavily implicated in all of this, as well. Wanda might be the predictamancer of the prophecy. Wanda might be the creator of the summoning spell.

And, Wanda is the Final Boss. Leaving Parson alive is a horrifying tactical blunder. I'm not saying I could have manufactured the victories that Wanda has so far, but I would have at least had the good sense to destroy the only threat to my supremacy at the earliest possible convenience.

[theseus2x]

Totally fucking awesome.

Observation :

We've finally seen a Knight-Twoll standing next to Parson, and can confirm he's bigger. The fact that Bogroll was his size was always confusing.

[Coriat]

Which of course just begs the question of what really happened!

I'm gonna go for a random and so far unsubstantiated speculation.

Stanley wasn't in on it. It was Wanda.

I may be just overindulging in my desire to ascribe bad things to her though, now that she's well over my personal moral event horizon.

[theseus2x]

Wow, you all missed it. That hobgobwin doesn't have the wit to even imagine a lie into existence. It's Wanda again. She even spelled it out at the end of Book 1, trusting Parson's naivete to not translate her admission of wanton destruction in the most negative possible light. It was an inoculating dosage of honesty, to keep him oblivious. Jillian is heavily implicated in all of this, as well. Wanda might be the predictamancer of the prophecy. Wanda might be the creator of the summoning spell.

And, Wanda is the Final Boss. Leaving Parson alive is a horrifying tactical blunder. I'm not saying I could have manufactured the victories that Wanda has so far, but I would have at least had the good sense to destroy the only threat to my supremacy at the earliest possible convenience.

Nice conspiracy theory. The only evidence I can find to the contrary is that if Wanda was that badass on her own, she would have found a more efficient solution at various points (like when she was incapacitated).

But yes - Its very plausible Wanda's death will be the climax of the entire story.