Book 2 - Text Updates 016

[Ambug666]

Probably. It's all about the Benjamins after all.

And I guess Benjamin looks like Bennie Frank.

There may even be more of them.

[Raza]

Liking Don King less in this update. Using power or authority to 'win' conversations is pretty much prohibitive to personal charm.

[splintermute]

This update makes me even more sure that Don King tried to have Caesar killed at Chocula - he talks about the effect of disbanding a popular warlord, but doesn't mention the effect of having one croak in battle - maybe he would get more sympathy from the other warlords.

Also, just how many cities does TV have? Most of them are going unmanaged, but as we've seen from GK, even one lvl 2 warlord is enough to manage a city, and TV has tons of warlords.

[Davre]

This update makes me even more sure that Don King tried to have Caesar killed at Chocula - he talks about the effect of disbanding a popular warlord, but doesn't mention the effect of having one croak in battle - maybe he would get more sympathy from the other warlords.

Also, just how many cities does TV have? Most of them are going unmanaged, but as we've seen from GK, even one lvl 2 warlord is enough to manage a city, and TV has tons of warlords.

Had tons of warlords. I don't have time to dig up the first mention of their dwindling numbers, but it comes again in this update:

For one thing, most of Transylvito's cities were going unmanaged, because the warlords were now in shorter supply.

[gazes_also]

kind of marking time update, but that's ok.
So Don knew nothing of Jillian's plan - will he be upset at her putting the turnamancer he paid for to speed up an heir into the front line?

Benny could be an allusion to Benjamin 'Bugsy' Siegel, pioneer of the Las vegas gambling industry which seems appropriate for a moneymancer.

Important point that's slipped in here = Transylvito has a coastline

[Silophant]

Important point that's slipped in here = Transylvito has a coastline

We knew that.

[atalex]

Two random observations and a pet theory:

1. A royal cannot even predict the gender of an heir-to-be.

2. While Don King is obviously distrustful of Caesar, he may seriously underestimate Caesar's position if "a large number" of his warlords have to be sent out of the room to prevent Caesar from intriguing with them against him.

3. I still think Bunny is Loyal to Don King and is playing Caesar for her ruler's benefit.

Of DK and Caesar, I think one is seriously underestimating the other, but I'm still not sure who. It's possible that both are underestimating each other. I don't know what outcome is most likely to end in tears. Possibly every likely outcome at this point. Whatever happens to DK, I think in the end, things will end badly for Caesar -- I assume his name is a reference to Little Caesar, a gangster character best known for his death scene.

[atalex]

So Don knew nothing of Jillian's plan - will he be upset at her putting the turnamancer he paid for to speed up an heir into the front line?

I doubt it -- DK may have helped pay for Vanna, but she wasn't his caster. Anyway, I can't think that DK would be anything but thrilled by Jillian's creative use of Turnamancy to (so far) snatch victory from an almost certain defeat.

[DoctorJest]

Benny could be an allusion to Benjamin 'Bugsy' Siegel, pioneer of the Las vegas gambling industry which seems appropriate for a moneymancer.

If he's a moneymancer, it's probably a reference to $100 bills being called "Benjamins"

[badninja]

I have a nasty feeling that Don King is still going to croak his chief warlord because he will attempt a coup. I like what he said about messing with someone who is popular it could end up biting them in in ass. I wonder if this will happen for GK, I hope not. Nice to see that Don King did not know about Charlie, however I think he would approve this showed thinking and it was sure suitable. Over all good update I feel that Jillian will have several more tricks up her sleeve that Don King is going to love.

[splintermute]

Had tons of warlords. I don't have time to dig up the first mention of their dwindling numbers, but it comes again in this update:

For one thing, most of Transylvito's cities were going unmanaged, because the warlords were now in shorter supply.

He has 19 remaining warlords (according to update 3 - and I don't think any of them died between the beginning of the party and this point), 8 of whom were at the party, which leaves 11 who couldn't attend, as well as two casters - Benjamin (presumably a moneymancer) and the TV dollamancer. The only plausible reason I can see for a warlord missing the party is that they're not in the city, which suggests they're either attacking Carpool, or managing another TV city. The Chocula ambush suggests TV doesn't have the resources to keep attacking Carpool.

Assuming casters can't manage cities (otherwise I think Sizemore would be an ideal city manager), TV could have as many as 12 managed cities (the 11 absent warlords + the capital), in which case, if "most" of the cities are unmanaged, TV would have at least 25 cities. Of course, if Don has more than one warlord per city, there would be fewer cities, but if he has cities going unmanaged, you'd expect him to spread his warlords out as thinly as possible to get the maximum city-management bonuses. However, that just begs the question of why he's keeping eight of them at his capital - perhaps these are the warlords who haven't "retired" yet.

Also, he's offering the prospect of "a" nice level 2 on the coast - is there more than one nice level 2 on the coast? Does he have so many cities that he can just hand them out to his warlords like gold watches at a retirement party?

[chpicker]

So Don knew nothing of Jillian's plan - will he be upset at her putting the turnamancer he paid for to speed up an heir into the front line?

Don didn't pay for the turnamancer. From Summer Update 049:

Vanna had been the perfect solution. Having a Turnamancer reduced the production of an heir by twenty turns, and with funds coming in from Transylvito, Vanna was able to boost Otoh and Kibo's production drastically. Don King was very happy, though he would not be if he ever found out it was Charlie who had funded Vanna's contract. Even Vinny didn't know about that.

[Joe Falco]

Also, he's offering the prospect of "a" nice level 2 on the coast - is there more than one nice level 2 on the coast? Does he have so many cities that he can just hand them out to his warlords like gold watches at a retirement party?

From the way Don King talks about it, it's more of a matter of if a warlord is lucky enough to survive so long and is worthy of such a retirement package. I doubt too many warlords of his ever does fit that criteria. Al Frappacino is probably one such lucky warlord though. He has control over Aqua Velva, a bayside city that's level 2, and with his sizable girth, he probably hasn't done too much fighting in a while.

[Dr Pepper]

I think in the end, things will end badly for Caesar -- I assume his name is a reference to Little Caesar, a gangster character best known for his death scene.

Actually, his name references two casinos and a medieval power player.

[Dr Pepper]

I think "courtesans" should be "courtiers", there.

Yeah you were right. Fixed.

Still need to fix "assignation", though.

[Flyer]

Nice update - it comes all down to what the ????? Jillian is going to do next... Imagine what the scene would have been she'd split off on her own side hooked up with Wanda..... Caesar would have been livid...

As for the mysterious moneymancer... In keeping with the whole "mob mentality" of Transylvito - my guess would be Benjamin Tannenbaum... accountant for Louis "Lepke" Buchalter who started the outfit later dubbed "Murder Inc." by the newspapers. Benjamin was shot in 1941 for knowing too much about the hit on Dutch Schultz - Buchalter was executed for murder in New York in 1944. Nice bunch :/

[Cyanshine]

Hehe, sneaky Don

[Jeivar]

Refresh my memory please: Have we ever been told WHY Don King decided to throw everything into rebuilding Faq and placing the whole war effort into the hands of a chaotic freelancer, rather than use the resources to strengthen his own army?

[Sonic Screwdriver]

He wants more sides ruled by nobility, making his funding of Jillian a matter of pride rather than tactics, especially since it's a noble that was supposedly wiped out by Stanley which would give extra proof that his non-noble ways are futile. Also, from the sounds of it, there's actually a matter of diminishing returns with owned cities on a single side that Parson mentioned; so there's an overall benefit of efficiency in having allied sides rather than a single mega-side.

[BCCroaker]

I think in the end, things will end badly for Caesar -- I assume his name is a reference to Little Caesar, a gangster character best known for his death scene.

Actually, his name references two casinos and a medieval power player.

If you mean Julius Caesar, he was Roman republic not medieval, so you are at least a thousand years out. But having said that, after him all the Roman and Byzantine emperors were called Caesar and that idea carried on long after. The Holy Roman Emperor etc and Kaiser, Tsar, Czar all derive from that. There was Caesari Borgia, he was medieval.
He was named after a salad Rob was eating at the time he named him is my guess.