Book 2 – Page 42

[paint]

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.

I'm fairly sure that the imagery Charlie showed Tramennis was recorded hereabouts, where you may notice that he's holding the book and has a bunch of Charlie's Archons looking down through the tower windows at him. It looks like the Archon second from the right in panel four might be doing the camera-hands thing, and I think (though I can't get to page 41 right now to confirm) that she even has the right angle to be the one recording that shot. Those same Archons are clearly shown later in the battle playing camera for various views of things happening in Gobwin Knob. Parson also uses the EyeBook to talk to Charlie during the part of the battle where the Archons are definitely shown playing camera... he's not directly shown doing it, but their IMs are shown.

And if Charlie could scry on remote locations without an Archon present to provide the remote camera, he wouldn't have any reason to risk his Archons, which he seems to value highly, on spying missions like the ones to watch Prince Sammy's person and capital. He does, so must be he has to.

ah you had time ot find it
second person notice it was a early fatter parson in the image
and Charlie's data may very well be out of date .

like giving trammy a windows 3..11 guide when he is trying to learn 7.

[Guppy]

The casters can't really shoot him. That will go over so badly for them when other sides find out. "The MK shot one of GK's casters, I guess those guys aren't all that neutral"

I think that's backwards -- stopping him is the only way MK can preserve their current privileged status. "Neutral" is not a really good descriptor for MK's status, which provides mage services and manufactured items (scrolls) to all sides, apparently at the discretion of the individual mage (or mage sub-faction, perhaps). "Non-aligned " might be better.

What Parson is about to do, will severely impact their ability to conduct business. It could possibly even lead to the shutdown of the Portal system (unless it's an integrated game mechanic where a city must have a portal). At the very least, following his action (once everyone figures out what he did), Portals will be heavily guarded or barricaded, with the assumption that any caster that steps out could be a hostile agent.

Anyone, I'm hoping Parson at least has the foresight and spells available to render himself invisible before he steps through (at least, I assume that's what transparent blue-outlined units we've seen previously in the comics are). Maybe it's possible his opponents will assume he's been present on the field and cloaked by Jack the whole time.

[Roupe]

My analysis.
They are not going into MK, their gate is guarded.

Like mentioned by some others, i agree with the scenario that
Parson instead is going to ask Sizemore to conjure up bombs, help create "food" (bombs & corpses) perhaps at the slaughterhouse

and as a infantry man he will deliver food through the slaughterhouse delivery system. Earning him a nickname of Butcherer.

parsons klog book2 02, cant seem to find the reference were its mentioned how food is delivered, but I am sure i read it.

[Lamech]

I think that's backwards -- stopping him is the only way MK can preserve their current privileged status.

Killing a mage entering the magic kingdom during a key battle? Because I highly doubt they will be able to keep such things secret, and no one will believe the claim: "He's totally a warlord." No one will ever send their valuable casters their again. The casters won't know Parson's purpose until he darts into the Jetstone portal. Plus, I assume the portals have some sort of mechanism to prevent abuse, so the casters there may not even realize the problem until they hear about it later.
[url]
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0013.html[/url] The portal lacks even a token guard on the GK side.

But if you believe Parson has another way to get their what could it possibly be? Also he said to Maggie "you know how", so what else could he possibly be refering too? Does GK have some sort of magic off-turn teleporter we don't know about?

[the_tick_rules]

Well they did try and grab him once, apparently they can do it.

[Smoker]

My analysis.
They are not going into MK, their gate is guarded.

Like mentioned by some others, i agree with the scenario that
Parson instead is going to ask Sizemore to conjure up bombs, help create "food" (bombs & corpses) perhaps at the slaughterhouse

and as a infantry man he will deliver food through the slaughterhouse delivery system. Earning him a nickname of Butcherer.

parsons klog book2 02, cant seem to find the reference were its mentioned how food is delivered, but I am sure i read it.

I'm not saying that popping rations off turn is impossible, but I am saying that more than one person has checked for evidence that it can be done, and come up with nothing.

So if thats your theory, I'm cool with that, but be aware its based on total speculation.

[joosy]

argh. You cannot cross hex BOUNDARIES when it is NOT your turn. Therefore please forget the dwagon relays - not possible.

Crossing the portal into MK? not a hex boundary. yes you are in another hex, but you did not cross a boundary. At the end of Book 1, all GK casters and Parson used the portal when it wasn't their turn. Therefore crossing the portal is NOT crossing a boundary. As such travel to other cities via their portal is possible off turn.

I am also willing to venture that the rules on the portals usage are done mostly on the honor system. I think the only limitation is that non-casters (how Parson is classified is another discussion entirely) cannot use them. You do not enter portals of sides your side is not aligned with or you are not working for as you risk capture, turning, croaking, etc.

I also believe that Duty prevents casters from discussing the portal mechanics with non-casters as breaking the honor code would create chaos in the Magic Kingdom. That would weaken all sides and could potentialy end their own. Evidence of this is in Parson's comment to Maggie "You KNOW how"; indicating that Maggie can easily guess but cannot comprehend someone even trying such an act. With the honor system compromised barbarian casters will be hard pressed to earn Schmuckers for upkeep resulting in some further acts of desperation.

i also believe that the portals only exist in capitol cities. Thus, Jetstone and GK could have two potential cities for their portal. I speculate that which ever city the side decides is their main capitol, the portal room is active at. Otherwise If there was a portal in every city, Portal Park could be come overcrowded quickly.

[the_tick_rules]

Or maybe pop so many rations their mounts become overloaded by them and they go to ground but don't "fall"? It would tie several plot points together. But the food bomb does work to. So many ideas.

[DoctorJest]

and as a infantry man he will deliver food through the slaughterhouse delivery system. Earning him a nickname of Butcherer.

Rations pop at dawn as part of upkeep. The slaughterhouse isn't actually a functional building and isn't a "delivery system" of any kind. Parson's visits to the various buildings, including a slaughterhouse, always showed them vacant and unused, but his peeking in them gives a bonus for upkeep. Like an RTS game, having the building is what is important. The building itself isn't actually doing anything except standing there, empty.

[Smoker]

Or maybe pop so many rations their mounts become overloaded by them and they go to ground but don't "fall"? It would tie several plot points together. But the food bomb does work to. So many ideas.

Why would you spend money popping rations (if that were actually possible) when we know you can overload a flyer by putting a heavy unit on it?

Dwagons are heavy fliers, so simply have them try to mount each other in midair

[gazes_also]

TMK exists interstitially to Erfworld or at 90 degrees to it, whatever. A caster can enter it and return to his point of origin without crossing a hex boundary because he leaves Erfworld and re-enters in the same place, so in the Erfworld frame of reference he hasn't gone anywhere. If a caster leaves Erfworld and enters TMK and then re-enters through a different portal from EW frame of reference he has moved into a different hex (distance and move permitted are not relevant). If he is attempting this off-turn the HEX - not the portal - will reject him. It's not a portal thing, its a hex physics thing, it doesn't care how you attempt to move from one hex to another just whether you can or not.

I see three possibilities:

1: enter portal and bounce back from the hex
2: can't enter the portal because the boundary and portal are integrated
3: smeared like an atoms-thick layer of strawberry jam at the hex boundary-portal interface ( this would happen in SG1 when bad guys would try to exit the gate when the iris was closed)

argh. You cannot cross hex BOUNDARIES when it is NOT your turn. Therefore please forget the dwagon relays - not possible.

Crossing the portal into MK? not a hex boundary. yes you are in another hex, but you did not cross a boundary. At the end of Book 1, all GK casters and Parson used the portal when it wasn't their turn. Therefore crossing the portal is NOT crossing a boundary. As such travel to other cities via their portal is possible off turn.

I am also willing to venture that the rules on the portals usage are done mostly on the honor system. I think the only limitation is that non-casters (how Parson is classified is another discussion entirely) cannot use them. You do not enter portals of sides your side is not aligned with or you are not working for as you risk capture, turning, croaking, etc.

I also believe that Duty prevents casters from discussing the portal mechanics with non-casters as breaking the honor code would create chaos in the Magic Kingdom. That would weaken all sides and could potentialy end their own. Evidence of this is in Parson's comment to Maggie "You KNOW how"; indicating that Maggie can easily guess but cannot comprehend someone even trying such an act. With the honor system compromised barbarian casters will be hard pressed to earn Schmuckers for upkeep resulting in some further acts of desperation.

i also believe that the portals only exist in capitol cities. Thus, Jetstone and GK could have two potential cities for their portal. I speculate that which ever city the side decides is their main capitol, the portal room is active at. Otherwise If there was a portal in every city, Portal Park could be come overcrowded quickly.

[CorrTerek]

If a caster leaves Erfworld and enters TMK and then re-enters through a different portal from EW frame of reference he has moved into a different hex (distance and move permitted are not relevant). If he is attempting this off-turn the HEX - not the portal - will reject him. It's not a portal thing, its a hex physics thing, it doesn't care how you attempt to move from one hex to another just whether you can or not.

Is this confirmed? Seems to me the only thing keeping you from crossing hexes when it's not your turn are the hex boundaries. If you manage to bypass the boundaries somehow, then you should be able to enter the hex.

[gazes_also]

I think that's backwards -- stopping him is the only way MK can preserve their current privileged status.

Killing a mage entering the magic kingdom during a key battle? Because I highly doubt they will be able to keep such things secret, and no one will believe the claim: "He's totally a warlord." No one will ever send their valuable casters their again. The casters won't know Parson's purpose until he darts into the Jetstone portal. Plus, I assume the portals have some sort of mechanism to prevent abuse, so the casters there may not even realize the problem until they hear about it later.
[url]
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0013.html[/url] The portal lacks even a token guard on the GK side.

But if you believe Parson has another way to get their what could it possibly be? Also he said to Maggie "you know how", so what else could he possibly be refering too? Does GK have some sort of magic off-turn teleporter we don't know about?

You mistake neutrality for passivity.
A fully armed warlord entering TMK in the middle of a battle with aggressive intent would be considered by every other side to has received what was coming to him if the casters zap him. Parson in armour 'darting' anywhere - seems unlikely.

I think it's some kind of exploit of the parley that causes JS to summon him to their location.
Either way the outcome looks like Parson appearing fully armed in to tower, to face Tremmenis and whatever toys Ace has cooked up for him - that could be interesting with surprises on both sides.

[MonteCristo]

I think that's backwards -- stopping him is the only way MK can preserve their current privileged status.

Killing a mage entering the magic kingdom during a key battle? Because I highly doubt they will be able to keep such things secret, and no one will believe the claim: "He's totally a warlord." No one will ever send their valuable casters their again. The casters won't know Parson's purpose until he darts into the Jetstone portal. Plus, I assume the portals have some sort of mechanism to prevent abuse, so the casters there may not even realize the problem until they hear about it later.
[url]
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0013.html[/url] The portal lacks even a token guard on the GK side.

First, by now the incident with Parson passing through the portal the first time has probably spread through the magic kingdom sparking rumors already... in a way he is effectively banned from the kingdom, as seen when they rushed him out of the kingdom when he woke up
Second, the only way other sides will find out is if there are witnesses, and those witness's will agree that Parson looks like a warlord and they CAN'T see his stats
Third, MK will likely give Parson warning before they shoot... if Parson wants to proceed he will have to FORCE his way through; witnesses will be able to see that he WILL NOT listen to reason and comes off as being a threat. As such they would not hold it against the casters for protecting the magic kingdom
Forth, if there are no witnesses, MK can make up any story they like
Fifth, there ARE guards outside GK's portal... they were placed there ever since Parson came through

[Lamech]

First, by now the incident with Parson passing through the portal the first time has probably spread through the magic kingdom sparking rumors already... in a way he is effectively banned from the kingdom, as seen when they rushed him out of the kingdom when he woke up

Maggie rushed him out of the magic kingdom, a fellow GK unit.

Second, the only way other sides will find out is if there are witnesses, and those witness's will agree that Parson looks like a warlord and they CAN'T see his stats

A bunch of unaligned people not talking to each other about a super-wierd thing? Secrets are hard to keep, especially if you got a bunch of people who aren't exactly working together. Especially if some of those witnesses are duty bound to tell their ruler what happened. If they all give different stories, the MK looks even worse and its obvious they are untrustworthy. If they say a warlord (whose stats we can't see) entered the magic kingdom people conclude either, "no way that could happen they are a bunch of liars" or even worse, "the portals are not secure; people could attack our capital using the portals, so we must seal them."

I suspect it will be best for them if they simply say a dangerous looking unit who somehow had his stats vieled entered the MK, and we concluded he was a threat so we croaked him. Also we need to note that they think he is a hippymancer and they don't know what he is planning. The MK casters all have to decide together that is worth it to risk their neutrality to croak a strange hippymancer. And do this before Parson strolls over to a portal and falls in.

Third, MK will likely give Parson warning before they shoot... if Parson wants to proceed he will have to FORCE his way through; witnesses will be able to see that he WILL NOT listen to reason and comes off as being a threat. As such they would not hold it against the casters for protecting the magic kingdom

First threats are NOT reason. They are the exact oppisite of reason. "Your, honor he wouldn't listen to reason when I threatened to shoot him if he didn't give me all his money, so I really just had to kill him." The MK is neutral gorund. Not controlled territory, its just a bunch of barbarian casters wandering around. Some of which are supporters of GK.

Forth, if there are no witnesses, MK can make up any story they like

Last time there were quite a few. All those random casters with their wands pointed at him? They all have to decide on the same story and NONE of them can talk. No way that happens. Besides, its the freaking transit hub of the MK. No witnesses isn't happening.

Fifth, there ARE guards outside GK's portal... they were placed there ever since Parson came through

Umm... it says this were?
And I was noting the lack of guards on the GK side. Not the MK side. This is important since no guards means that GK thought nothing was coming through the portal. So Jetstone will likely do the same.

A fully armed warlord entering TMK in the middle of a battle with aggressive intent would be considered by every other side to has received what was coming to him if the casters zap him. Parson in armour 'darting' anywhere - seems unlikely.

They think he is a hippymancer and they don't know his intent. So an armed hippymancer (and casters going into battle is SoP for GK) going for a stroll in the MK getting zapped, would seem to me that... the MK just got a little more risky. The only thing even slightly off is Parson carrying weapons. And Parson just needs to go far enough to get into the portal after walking by it; they won't know he is doing anything other than getting advice in the MK until he changes course a foot away from the portal. And that whole promoting himself will help him move just fine. And the casters need to conclude in the second it takes for Parson to walk/dart/trip into the portal that he is a) entering the Jetstone portal b) thats wierd c) he could survive somehow d) its worth the risk to stop him.

[zilfallon]

I wonder why he promoted himself to a field unit. We know that garrison units can enter MK portals. But maybe they can't enter a portal other than they used to get to MK, so that would be why he had to be a field unit.
Or he just didn't want to bother arguing with Maggie that being a garrison unit is not a problem, but this one's unlikely, i think.

[Chris Goodwin]

I wonder why he promoted himself to a field unit. We know that garrison units can enter MK portals. But maybe they can't enter a portal other than they used to get to MK, so that would be why he had to be a field unit.
Or he just didn't want to bother arguing with Maggie that being a garrison unit is not a problem, but this one's unlikely, i think.

I think he just wanted to see if he could, and what would happen.

Either way, it was Awesome.

[Unclever title]

I wonder why he promoted himself to a field unit. We know that garrison units can enter MK portals. But maybe they can't enter a portal other than they used to get to MK, so that would be why he had to be a field unit.
Or he just didn't want to bother arguing with Maggie that being a garrison unit is not a problem, but this one's unlikely, i think.

I think he just wanted to see if he could, and what would happen.

Either way, it was Awesome.

Personally I think he's just planning ahead. If he is indeed planning a Spacerock infiltration using the MK portals, he'll probably only be able to manage it one way (I highly doubt that the MK would allow him a return journey through Portal Park) he'll need move if he's ever going to get back to Gobwin Knob or to lead GK's forces anywhere outside of Spacerock the Hex.

[Chit Rule Railroad]

Dwagons are heavy fliers, so simply have them try to mount each other in midair

Maybe that's the purpose of sex in Erfworld, to foreshadow that maneuver

I suspect it will be best for them if they simply say a dangerous looking unit who somehow had his stats vieled entered the MK, and we concluded he was a threat so we croaked him. Also we need to note that they think he is a hippymancer and they don't know what he is planning. The MK casters all have to decide together that is worth it to risk their neutrality to croak a strange hippymancer. And do this before Parson strolls over to a portal and falls in.

They've had plenty of time to form a consensus as to whether he is unwelcome in the MK, and it seems that they may have already formed such a consensus about Wanda[*]. If (<--- the "if" is important) they have been assuming that Parson was the guy who endangered three casters and killed his own units by ordering a trimancer link to form and destroy the city over its own heads, forming a consensus about him might be easier. However, while the trimancer link was very public, we don't know if the MK casters attribute it to Parson. As far as they know it could have been GK's Ruler who ordered the link and/or the zombcano "dirtamancy trap" could have been the casters' own idea.

The MK is neutral gorund. Not controlled territory, its just a bunch of barbarian casters wandering around. Some of which are supporters of GK.

1. We are not aware of anyone enforcing neutrality. As depicted, Parson probably would have been croaked the first time if not for Janis's intervention.

2. We don't know of any supporters of GK in the MK. Janis only cares about individual units of GK (Parson for sure, hopefully Sizemore, possibly she really cares about every individual unit on Erf); she could protect Parson by arranging for his capture; and she has had plenty of time to prepare for that. In fact, Wanda's steamroller might have been preventing Parson from needing to "break war". We don't even know if Janis cares whether Parson remains with GK or is turned to another side.


[*] I don't mean to imply that Wanda would be croaked on sight in the MK, but she would probably be hounded by hostile questioners and it's quite possible the situation would escalate into a fight.

[Nihila]

Maybe that's the purpose of sex in Erfworld, to foreshadow that maneuver

I think that you have come up with the best wild speculation in the universe with that. Even for these forums, that's a little nuts. So, it is self-evidently the complete and total truth.

[*] I don't mean to imply that Wanda would be croaked on sight in the MK, but she would probably be hounded by hostile questioners and it's quite possible the situation would escalate into a fight.

Fighting? With Wanda, the most pugnacious Caster has ever seen? No way. She would never fight anyone. Like, she would never personally lead a charge on a Level 10 Warlord or anything. [/sarcasm] In all seriousness, yeah, it's not just "possible," the whole MK would become a battleground between newly decrypted casters and the casters fighting for their own survival within about 10 minutes. Here's how it would go:
Random MK Caster: "How can you do blah and blah and blah?"
Wanda: "We are Fated to conquer the world."
Random MK Caster, possibly a different one: "Does that include the Magic Kingdom?"
Wanda: "Yes."
*MK Casters try to attack Wanda pre-emptively*
*Wanda starts taking out MK Casters one by one and decrypting them*
Wanda+Dozens of MK Casters: "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHHHH!!!!! POWER!!! UNLIMITED POWER!!!"

Or something like that. But, Wanda hasn't really had that much reason or opportunity to enter the MK since getting the pliers, she's been out on campaign.