Book 2 – Text Updates 018

[balder]

New One is up.

[Ninjaguineapig]

Charlie is good. GK doesn't stand a chance against both Jetstone and Haggar.
I guess this was the situation for which he broke his conversation with Jillian.

[MuthSera]

>:c Whee. Nice archon lady gets to survive another day.

[Justyn]

>:c Whee. Nice archon lady gets to survive another day.

And if Wanda can get to them before Charlescomm starts turn again, Gobwin Knob will get three new Decrypted Archons.

Also, I wonder if the fact Haggar units have dome-shaped helmets, rather than the usual cone-shaped helmets means anything... beyond the difference of the shape of their helmets.

[BLANDCorporatio]

>:c Whee. Nice archon lady gets to survive another day.

Hillary ... as in Clinton?

Anyway, nice to see Charlie being an intelligence overlord and using that smartly.

Kinda interesting though to see him (so far, I'll stick to what the story says before I revert to the theory that Charlie is David Bowie) so invested in this little campaign here. Makes you wonder just how big Erfworld is.

Charlie told Jillian (approximately) that the RCC shunning him is hurting his profits. That makes sense in any case, but if Erfworld were huge, much larger than the area we've seen so far, meh. Let 'em cool off for a while, they'll start wanting their limitless thinkagrams again eventually.

If the area we've seen so far is a siginificant fraction of Erfworld (and only if?), then it makes sense to commit various scouting stacks, ambush stacks, and whatever else. Pretty much for free.

[Tom90deg]

Hilary as in Duff, all pop singers, save Paris

Very interesting...I think Charlie may be taking the torture of one of his Archon rather personally, and this one seemed to have a greater connection to him than the others, even if it's a one-way crush. Naturally, with someone like Charlie, it's a bad idea for him to take a personal dislike. I will say it was very nice to see Sammy realize that he just tried to play a bit of a Xanatos gambit with Batman, David Xanatos and Indiana Jones on the opposing side. It's always nice to see someone who thinks they've won a game realize they lost 10 minutes ago.

[MarbitChow]

Very interesting...I think Charlie may be taking the torture of one of his Archon rather personally, and this one seemed to have a greater connection to him than the others, even if it's a one-way crush.

I think they all have the same connection. The Arkendish probably inspires as much fanatical devotion to Charlie in the Archons as the 'Pliers inspire in the Decrypted.
And since Charlie can do unlimited Thinkagrams, there's nothing to prevent him from wishing each of his Archons a short personal greeting each day to reinforce that devotion.
He might even be able to spam a single message to all of them, phrased so that it sounds like it's just for them.
For example: "Don't ever tell the others, but you've always been my favorite."

[Lord Kasavin]

I wonder if the "blackout" was because the Arkendish was used to make a Caster link? The timing fits. Ditto with "situation." The situation was his Archons being croaked in the field because their veils were blown.

Now, if Sammy were Parson, he'd call that bluff. After all, Charlie is notoriously cost conscious, and it requires fewer veiled Archons to scout out a city versus having enough to take it outright. And even if he did, it would prove that Charlie was anti-Royal, which Charlie doesn't want. Finally, Sammy isn't a fan of his father, so nothing lost there, and if the capital does fall, he goes Barbarian... but a shot to take Jetstone outright and found a new side.

[Justyn]

He might even be able to spam a single message to all of them, phrased so that it sounds like it's just for them.
For example: "Don't ever tell the others, but you've always been my favorite."

I... could actually see Charlie doing that...

[Oglokoog]

Charlie is and always will be my favorite in any confrontation, save for those with Parson... and sometimes even then. He's smart and never overconfident, so if he is confident, you just KNOW he has the upper hand

[CnSvnc]

Nice to see Charlie in charge. Also nice to see inside of an archon head. This does reinforce the idea that all artifact units are completely loyal by default. Or maybe it's just this one archon. Anyway, this also confirms there's naval units in Erf.

[Welf von Ehrwald]

Now, if Sammy were Parson, he'd call that bluff. After all, Charlie is notoriously cost conscious, and it requires fewer veiled Archons to scout out a city versus having enough to take it outright. And even if he did, it would prove that Charlie was anti-Royal, which Charlie doesn't want. Finally, Sammy isn't a fan of his father, so nothing lost there, and if the capital does fall, he goes Barbarian... but a shot to take Jetstone outright and found a new side.

If Sammy becomes barabarian, he has to pay upkeep for his units from his personal purse, and he can't pay it for all of his troops. He also can't stack with the units from the other 6 hexes.

"Shut up," he said, partly for the benefit of the warlords standing at his back, but mostly for the pleasure of telling the dude to shut up.

Hehe. Sammy has the spirit of a true rocker.

[BLANDCorporatio]

Hilary as in Duff, all pop singers, save Paris

Oh, her. Yeah that makes sense. Still I think my suggestion would be lulzier. Ok, it's funnier for me.

He might even be able to spam a single message to all of them, phrased so that it sounds like it's just for them.
For example: "Don't ever tell the others, but you've always been my favorite."

Thirded, that sounds exactly like Charlie.

Charlie is notoriously cost conscious

Exactly.

And now we see him send Archons with abandon on what are NOT mercenary missions: helping Jillian, spying on Sammy, spying on Haggar, maybe some other Archons near Haggar to give them grief ... It's nice to see Charlie, an established character that's a chessmaster in control, strain a little; it adds some feeling to us that important things are happening.

OTOH The Archons missing Charlie's voice ... boo-fudging-hoo. Not reason enough to care about that just yet. So if, hypothetically speaking of course, Charlie were to cast some powerful spell while being linked. Archon unease would not be some significant sacrifice on his part.

Charlie is and always will be my favorite in any confrontation, save for those with Parson... and sometimes even then. He's smart and never overconfident, so if he is confident, you just KNOW he has the upper hand

Never just know, and never say never. Charlie can bluff, and has been overconfident in the past. Even Parson saw that.

I for one am hoping for a big battle royale at some point between Charlie and ... to be honest, everyone else, so that fei-nuh-lee Charlie can be gotten rid of.

[BCCroaker]

Rob is a Tarantino fan. Fox Force Five from Pulp Fiction.

[BLANDCorporatio]

Rob is a Tarantino fan. Fox Force Five from Pulp Fiction.

Even I saw (and enjoyed!) Pulp Fiction.

And I hate Tarantino.

And David Lynch, now that I'm at it.

No, I don't plan on becoming a movie reviewer so I can say all I want.

[Taznak]

I have a distinct feeling these Archons are immensely weaker than the ones Parson had to fight with his Dwagons. I would have imagined six Archons could've easily wiped out Sammy's column from what I'd seen of them previously.

[derfy]

*looks around*

Really? I'm going to have to be the one to say it? *sigh* Fine.

IT'S OVER NINE THOUSAND!

[Magothys]

"Over nine thousand," she said.

What? 9000? There's no way that can be right...

[Tensor]

Good update, but I was a little underwhelmed by being hit over the head with all the obvious pop Diva names. A little more subtlety would have been more effective imho.

[GrateGato]

Am I the only one who found Hilary's creepy emotional dependence on Charlie just a bit disturbing? It's humanizing and dehumanizing at the same time.