Book 2 – Page 42

[spriteless]

It's entirely possible that Parson is not planning to go through the portal, but to go through the food fight cut up and get decrypted route. Then Maggie would know because she was there when he explained it to Wanda. *gulp*

[Sieggy]

Page 100, to be exact!

It's the general consensus, based on the heavy implications we've seen so far, that Charlie can hack Thinkagrams as well.

I wonder . . . can he actually hack thinkagrams, or is it that he still has the ability to intercept Archon communications? I've noticed that sometimes Maggie handles communications, and sometimes the Archons do. If he's still keyed to the Archons, being able to monitor their thinkagrams would give him enough to build a picture of what Parson is up to . . .

[Spork]

Methinks the food fight is references a carpet bombing before the actual para trooper drop, because they can pop rations off turn and just let go just tons of ration fruit, meat, whatever, don't have to be accurate.

[the_tick_rules]

Hmm what a strange idea.

[Magothys]

I know how Parson will get past the Magic Kingdom!

[the_tick_rules]

I still say fighting is a bad idea. He's going native on us I guess.

[paint]

i cna say one thing to this SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i so 'ceted .... i sooo 'ceited ..

[paint]

Wasn't he going to the armory in page 40? Now he's just asking if there's a twoll there. Either it's an extension of page 40's conversation or he's trying to save time?

time works different .
we sw little into the future with sizemore , this is just before sizemore was summonded

[Lord Kasavin]

Heh, Parson still trying to figure out how to be a good person when you cannot skate by on apathy and snark?

I hope when he gets to Jetstone he is quickly knocked out and captured, driving home the necessity of him to demand sacrifices from others hypocritically.

As for how he gets to Jetstone, the easiest explanation would be a walk through Portal Park. This is all kinds of stupid, though. The native casters do not want him there, and even if he got through it would just be him and maybe Maggie and Sizemore. A few dozen infantry could wipe them out.

Or, maybe his plan is to sap the tower from within. Use whatever drastic measures are necessary to empty out the garrison, send in Sizemore (with himself as a guard), set charges (or knockdown walls, or whatever) to start the collapse, run back in to Portal Park, face the wrath of the casters again, let the tower fall, hop Slately croaks, and the cheer as the side disbands.

[sleepymancer]

knowing that Sizemore can create golems off-turn, and assuming that the MK route is used, how rapidly would sizemore be able to produce golems once they arrive - if he was in a (relatively safe) two person link with Maggie guiding the process? I'm guessing she could greatly improve the speed of their construction, the base stats of the golems and the materials that are used. I'm also wondering if materials straight from the walls, floors, etc of Spacerock could be turned directly into golems, so that their defences are reduced from the inside at the same time as Parsons (i mean Stanley's ) are increased. sort of Croakamancy on the castle. (The parallels between croakamancy and dirtamancy having already been very powerfully drawn).

As almost everybody in Spacerock is looking outwards to the battle, i see little trouble in arriving in the middle of the castle. Barring, of course, the odd gadget or thing pulled from a hat. The biggest problem that i can imagine at the moment might be that with Sizemore and Maggie in a link, somebody's recent roll in a haystack might cause some emotional friction between a couple that seemed to have an intense emotional bond and something special going on??

Love is, after all, a battlefield

[Geordy]

For all the guys so caught up in numbers, XP!, LOOTZ!! - this is not why Parson wants to be on the field. It is about what he came to realize at the end of book one: the little people around him are no longer game pieces they are real persons. So the only way he can justify to continue putting them into danger is to share their fate! Only through this he can continue the war.

BTW Parson isnt level 2. He might be no level at all. What you guys keep misinterpreting is that he is giving a bonus of 2!

[MarbitChow]

As for how he gets to Jetstone, the easiest explanation would be a walk through Portal Park. This is all kinds of stupid, though. The native casters do not want him there, and even if he got through it would just be him and maybe Maggie and Sizemore. A few dozen infantry could wipe them out.

Sizemore did pretty well in the tunnels under GK w/ a team of Golems, so I wouldn't assume it would be just three casters.
Also, I could easily see Parson standing at the portal, offering 5 turns worth of salary for 1 turn of action from any Shockamancers willing to take the deal - that could be a lot of quick concentrated firepower.
Hire some Croakamancers to immediately uncroak those who fall by the Shockamancers' blasts, and you can tip the scales pretty quickly.

[Magothys]

BTW Parson isnt level 2. He might be no level at all. What you guys keep misinterpreting is that he is giving a bonus of 2!

He is level 2.

http://www.erfworld.com/book-1-archive/?px=%2F077a.jpg
http://www.erfworld.com/book-2-archive/?px=%2F2010-08-12.png

[slayn82]

I don't think Parson will strike directly from the portals. My guess is that Capital class cities have portals to the Magic Kingdom, and GK should have one near Jetstone, maybe the place Jillian was headed? So, Parson will use the portals to cross to this other Capital, while maybe hiring a couple casters to help in the battle. Then

Spoiler: show

he will garrisson a tower from the city full of golems and infantry and whatever else, and use a link of Maggie+Sizemore to shape the terrain under the tower, moving the building with the land. Sizemore maybe could only affect a couple hexes at once, but being linked could give him enought juice or reduce the costs enought for him to pull it until Jetstone.

It would fit nicelly with Parson's simulations of "land ships", would be an inventive use of dirtamancy traps, and if that hex with the tower would end up being considered GK's area, maybe even block arrows, or at least provide physical cover to units. And since its Sizemore, having an entire tower sneaking underground only to rise suddenly in the middle of the enemy Capital is on the table.

[cheeseaholic]

Throw one of those gas dirtamancy bombs into the atrium. Then all you have to do is get Wanda into the giant building full of all of the melee infantry and watch as all the archers are annihilated by their former brothers in arms. There has to be some spell that shields from damage. I think Wanda used one already.

Or try to assassinate the king. Or just go through killing random thinly spread out guys to gain levels. Level 3 should give a bigger boost, and Parson needs to do something with his own hands. Or throw dirtamancy traps from the windows if you want to target archers, but I don't think that would do enough damage. I like the idea of gassing the enclosed room. Or burning it maybe. Make some more oil, Sizemore.

[Welf von Ehrwald]

Great update, with wonderful art.

If Parson is indeed traveling via the MK to Spacerock, there are two downsides: It is a one way trip, because MK's casters won't allow this to happen again, especially after he affected their neutrality, and the MK casters are more likely to hire out to Jetstone in this battle.

Oh, and there is a way to change between a side's cities outside turn via MK: A side can change its capital, so casters (or Parson) can go to the Mk, wait till the capital is changed and then go to the new capital. Although it's probably costly, and apparently not all cities can become a capital, only "capital sites".

[Undead Prince]

Something which has not been mentioned yet, I believe.

On page 41, Charlie shows Tramennis an image of Parson reading a book (is this his eyebook, or another book?).

On page 42 we see Parson holding the same book, which he was presumably just reading. So the image Charlie shows to Tramennis is, apparently, not a prior recording, but an accurate depiction of actual concurrent events in the enemy's capital.

Apparently, Charlie can not only hack thinkagrams, but actually scry on the enemy chief warlord.

That's a whole new level of omniscience, IMO.

[Jack Payback]

Methinks the food fight is references a carpet bombing before the actual para trooper drop, because they can pop rations off turn and just let go just tons of ration fruit, meat, whatever, don't have to be accurate.

Huh, very interesting. Its like the whole "if I throw this brick from up here..." thing he was talking about earlier except with rations. Could food items count as projectiles and do damage? That would be a very strange rule hack. It would harm both sides.

[Decorus]

He is highly unlikely to use MK's portal

1. Its guarded to prevent him from using it.
2. Since it isn't his turn he won't be able to move once he arrives which would prevent him from joining the battle.
3. He is having Sizemore meet them in GK rather then in MK.
4. Sizemore can tunnel using magic so its entirely possible with the right link up that Sizemore will be able to transport Parson to the battle.

[MonteCristo]

He is highly unlikely to use MK's portal

1. Its guarded to prevent him from using it.
2. Since it isn't his turn he won't be able to move once he arrives which would prevent him from joining the battle.
3. He is having Sizemore meet them in GK rather then in MK.
4. Sizemore can tunnel using magic so its entirely possible with the right link up that Sizemore will be able to transport Parson to the battle.

1. it was guarded 70 turns ago... can't say the guards have not let up since then, and there are likely ways to force their way past guards; like sending maggie in and doing a jedi mind tick, or having Sizemore go and bind the guards with dirt and stone
2. He can move, he just can change zones or hexes... though he may not need to since being in the tower may be where he wants to be
3. well he might want to have time to tell him the battle plan; only other way would be to use maggie but that would be a waste of juice
4. i really, really, really doubt that sizemore would be able to, in one turn, create a tunnel that could connect GK to Spacerock which is hundreds of hex's away AND be able to teleport Parson in such a way that he completely ignores the fact that it's not their turn and thus can move between hexes