Book 2 – Page 23

[BLANDCorporatio]

Jack never had an opportunity to turn during the mountain pass thing. If you watch the sequence of events carefully, it's pretty clear that he'd already replaced himself and Stanley with Foolamancy by the time she swept in to make the offer (you can see the suspicious cloud of bats nearby) -- she was trying to turn one of his decoys, basically. Even if he wanted to say yes, all he could do was watch helplessly from Stanley's Dwagon in the wrong part of the hex.

No, it's not clear.

Carefully watching the same sequence of events it is clear that Jack, in his weirded out state, could not cast a veil. Or any spell. Which is why Stanley was pissed and trying to guess frantically at the right name, to bring Jack back.

The first person to get the name right was Jillian, and immediately after was the turning plea.

Then the crypsis thing.

So it's far from clear what exactly happened then and what was supposed to be what, but the one safe bet is that Jack heard Jillian's offer. And said no.

[Calemyr]

What interests me is that this looks to become a tale of three brothers. If Jillian pulls this off, that means there will be a Jetstone brother alligned with FAQ, GK, and Jetstone. Three brothers, three sides.

[mastigo]

Just took a look at 22 again and I noticed some phrasing that seems ominous: "Charlie ... freed me"'

Now if it were something like "ended the link" or "released the linkup" I wouldn't have any qualms, but "... freed" has several possible implications.

Including that he didn't have to release her, a unit from a different faction, from a link under her control. And that he didn't necessarily stop controlling her.

I suppose it could be that she had to be technically his captive to make the link, but I doubt it.

[badninja]

Meh, this was a little let down of an update. I know that we are only two pages plus an unknown number of text updates till chapter 1 of book 2 ends but I feel that this let me down because Jillian who I expect more out of just cut and run. For a fight loving person just cut and running seems to be well below her standards. Even if old Charlie is providing her with support it seems odd that she would not even get to croak somebody. I can only wonder what these last two pages are going to contain, maby GK loosing everybody but Wanda, Jack, and Ansom?

[Welf von Ehrwald]

Jillian isn't just running away. There are still the troops at the bridge with Ansom. And she has more than enough move to come back and do some more stuff.

[Zerohour]

I have to say, I've lost a little respect for Jillian. She's screwed over Wanda, but doesn't stay to fight her. She's trying to fight Stanley and save Wanda at the same time, and I doubt that it'll work. You can't have your cake and eat it after all (Well, maybe if you were a dittomancer...)

Wanda's not going to see it that way. It's another betrayal by the one she loves, and there's a thin line between love and hate. Eventually, Wanda's not going to care about Jillian anymore, and will just croak her on sight.

I am interested in seeing how the odds have changed since Jillian's forces are out of the picture, but things still don't look good for Wanda.

[Inst]

Wanda is either going after Ansom or going after Stanley immediately. I wouldn't be much surprised if Gobwin Knob managed a telefrag; the fight over Gobwin Knob is ferocious, but in the end, Jillian captures Gobwin Knob and Stanley is killed. Fortunately, Stanley designates an heir, possibly Ossomer, and Wanda takes Jetstone and moves the capital to Jetstone, the best-defended spot in Gobwin Knob's holdings. Book 3 then would be about retaking Gobwin Knob.

Personally I think that it'll turn out that Charlie is the main villain of the series. The fateamancer that set the entire chain of events in motion perhaps was mind-linked to Charlie's Arkendish, and the fates given for Wanda et al were rigged so that Gobwin Knob would take Faq, and Parson would get summoned.

[name lips]

I keep getting the feeling that more happened at Faq than we know about. Jack, Wanda, and Stanley aren't talking, and Jillian wasn't there. The Predictamancer is (suspiciously?) absent.

We also know that Wanda and Jack are surprisingly loyal to Stanley. Wanda has given her reason, or at least one of her reasons.

But I can't help feeling that there's something else that happened there, something that made Jack and Wanda trust Stanley, and believe in him, and give him their Loyalty without any sort of magic.

I think there's a Truth hiding in their story that will change everything when Jillian finds out about it. She'll realize she has no reason to hate Stanley, and that somebody else is the true enemy. (I predict Charlie, personally. We know Stanley hates Charlie, and we don't have a good reason why yet.)

[atalex]

Not at all what I expected. I figured either a fight or Wanda defects to Faq. I bet Charlie will be hoping mad, not to mention Transylvito and Jetstone.

I expect that:
a. Charlie is fine with this because whatever she does next is still part of Charlie's plan,
b. Transylvito (i.e. Don King) won't care as long as the outcome is a net positive, and
c. Jillian doesn't give a used fig for what Jetstone thinks now that she's saved the ass of the diminutive little douche-king even after he insulted her at every turn.

[fehler]

The missing actor, the one who could save Ansom's hide: Sizemore. If he's in the hex w/ Ansom, held back in case they needed to rebuild spacerock. of course. I doubt normal units could trash a bridge, but it should be old hat to a dirtamancer.

[atalex]

Charlie is still being surreptitious about his intent even though we all know what he wants: Schmuckers.

I do not accept that Charlie is so one-dimensional. Charlie needs schumukers because he has a huge overhead in maintaining a massive archon army. But if wealth is his only goal, there must be a more efficient gain it than to build an incredibly expensive army and then farm it out for global mercenary work. I think Charlie isn't greedy for schmukers, he just needs them to finance his real agenda. Schmukers are a mans to an end, and that end, like Charlie himself, has not yet been revealed to us.

[DoctorJest]

Just took a look at 22 again and I noticed some phrasing that seems ominous: "Charlie ... freed me"'

Now if it were something like "ended the link" or "released the linkup" I wouldn't have any qualms, but "... freed" has several possible implications.

Including that he didn't have to release her, a unit from a different faction, from a link under her control. And that he didn't necessarily stop controlling her.

I suppose it could be that she had to be technically his captive to make the link, but I doubt it.

It's already been implied that the Thinkamancer in the linkups is the one who can create and break the links. If Charlie was filling that role, then it's not really ominous.

I think you're just reading to much into one little word.

[Dr Pepper]

Meh, this was a little let down of an update. I know that we are only two pages plus an unknown number of text updates till chapter 1 of book 2 ends but I feel that this let me down because Jillian who I expect more out of just cut and run. For a fight loving person just cut and running seems to be well below her standards. Even if old Charlie is providing her with support it seems odd that she would not even get to croak somebody. I can only wonder what these last two pages are going to contain, maby GK loosing everybody but Wanda, Jack, and Ansom?

She's not running *from* a fight, she's running *to* one.

[DoctorJest]

Charlie is still being surreptitious about his intent even though we all know what he wants: Schmuckers.

I do not accept that Charlie is so one-dimensional. Charlie needs schumukers because he has a huge overhead in maintaining a massive archon army. But if wealth is his only goal, there must be a more efficient gain it than to build an incredibly expensive army and then farm it out for global mercenary work. I think Charlie isn't greedy for schmukers, he just needs them to finance his real agenda. Schmukers are a mans to an end, and that end, like Charlie himself, has not yet been revealed to us.

I am pretty sure Charlie, like Parson, is a Player. He wants to win. What exactly would entail victory conditions for Charlie is hard to say, but the reason why he sees GK as a big threat right now is that they stand a chance to conquer the world (i.e. win the game) and so he needs to encourage everyone else to gang up against them to knock them down.

[DoctorJest]

Did you notice the 8-ball on the top of Jack's pimp cane before he quoted its magic cousin?

Because I didn't.

http://www.erfworld.com/page/36/

Second to last panel.

And:

http://www.erfworld.com/page/53/

Picture at the bottom of the page as well as described in the text: "Jack wore a dark purple trench coat and a wide-brimmed white hat, and carried a thin straight cane, topped with an 8-ball."

[DoctorJest]

So then ... the offer was genuine and Jack will turn at some point. Certain debates are getting settled in-canon here (to the contrary position I'm taking, btw but hey why not), and other questions raised. Like why would Jack turn later, as opposed to now.

He's been given two very good opportunities. And each time he's pretty much burnt the bridge with a refusal (Jillian didn't hear that ask-again-later thing, no-one but Jack and us did). What's he waiting for? You get the feeling that if he wanted to turn he would have already.

I think it's pretty obvious that Jack is conflicted. Matters of the heart are not easy and cause many people some degree of conflict and turmoil. Jack's got Loyalty for Stanley but also is in love with Jillian. He's struggling with the conflict between his Loyalty and his Love. He hasn't made a final decision yet about that, but he's apparently suffering about it.

[Roketter]

She's going after TRamennis. SHe'll have him turned by the turnamancer and let everyone else have it out at each other while she gets a free tactician and full army stack along with casters.

[DoctorJest]

Jillian isn't just running away. There are still the troops at the bridge with Ansom. And she has more than enough move to come back and do some more stuff.

Or a chance to move some stacks up and lay siege to GK while their main force is bogged down slagging it out with Jetstone.
Her stack at Jetstone is all Megalogwiffs and Gwiffons who have high move. They might be able to reach GK in one turn and engage, possibly with other forces that are already moved nearby waiting to assault.

This is actually one strategy that Parson considered doing to Jetstone back in book 1 when they were throwing everything at GK: send forces around and attack the capitol in a decapitation strike.

Jillian only wants to kill Stanley. She doesn't care about much else. Stanley is right now uniquely in a vulnerable position. It's not going to be as easy as that (Stanley still has Parson, after all) but it's a good strategy.

[Trine]

My guess is that she turns Ansom - If she does this, the gobwin knob ground stacks lose their leadership bonus, and she can grind them up. When gobwin knob's turn comes again, they can take the tower with their fliers, but she can probably retake it from them on the next turn.

Other possibility: Sizemore. Would be an interesting twist, and she (assumedly) would also get all of his golems if she turned him.

[Flyer]

I fear for Jack - he may have just signed his own death warrant QQ

It now comes down to the final answer to two questions, both related to decisions made by the demonstratively erratic Jillian
Where is she going?
and
Who is she wanting to turn?

/set metaphor_mix = guava_jelly

I've asserted for awhile now my suspicions about the nature of these 2 answers and it would be foolish to change horses in midstream....
minus all the the potential turnees already stricken - poor dear Wanda.... didn't swing at the third strike because she thought it was the second, but there are no more second chances now..... my smuckers are still on the same number until the ball stops rolling and BINGO! 4 aces!
Ansom is the easy answer, IMHO too easy. Tramennis? or Haggar? IMHO not relevant enough yet.... It would have to be a very clever plan.. one of Charlie's plans.... it would have to bring the story around into itself, like a comet coming back in for a close approach to the sun. Using some sort of fancy dancy teleport, Charlie the wizard brings that max stack of superheavies Jillian just put together - backed by a goodly supply of archons - in a massive push against the one could safely assume lightly defended and unprepared Gobwin Knob. That fills the bill with both feet. How many of GK's archons are out scouting mountain hexes? How many dragons are posted on the fast travel system connecting the front? What's really left defending GK itself, right now, this turn? The second question you might wonder? Well, Charlie does have a real affection for Parson's watch....