Book 2 – Text Updates 033

[balder]

New One is up.

[davidbrawley]

Man Oh man oh man, I can not wait to see what's next!!

And it seems First!

Yay for checking my comics at lunch time!

[Direcoyote]

That one was well worth the wait.

[monkeymofo]

Interesting update. I think Slately is quite the character. Perhaps not as intriguing as Trem, but there are still some ins and outs to the old man.

Definitely ready to get to the action though, even if that action is just Parson and Term talking things out.

[ftl]

I'd get Frist P0st, but I always want to *read* the update before posting! And then actually have a substantive comment.

Awesome update. I'm loving the look at Tramennis's past. He plays to his strengths indeed.

Slately isn't an idiot. He feels uneasy about this whole business. Hope he intervenes in a right way when it matters!

But in a way, both Slately and Tramennis are just playing out their roles. They do the same thing they've always done. Tramennis negotiates because that's what he does. He's good at it - but he's not really thinking outside the box by doing it. Slately lets his sons lead because that's just the way Kingdoms are to be run - he's always done it like that, it's right and proper. But if Jetstone is going to win this battle, they're going to have to do something other than business as usual, because business as usual does not work against Parson. Either Tramennis is going to have to learn to shoot first and ask questions later, or Slately is going to have to actually exercise his authority and override his CW when the CW is missing the bigger picture outside of his usual strengths.

I love the list of past princes. Jetstone has had a lot. Tightass, Forthewin (who got lucky), Victor, Lustrious. I don't quite get Wonderloaf though.

The bit about natural signamancy is good too. Slately stops fighting, so he grows fat and white.

[effataigus]

Interesting... that line about sending Tramennis off somewhere distant and not caring much about the result (and the bit after that) certainly seem to imply that the Royals are happy to war amongst one another just for the lulz... which I guess we knew, but I didn't think it was true to the extent implied. I suppose that if random profiteering warfare were the norm, then it's no surprise that half of the world would gang up on Stanley. They actually have reasons to want him dead.

Delightfully written update!

After that exchange between Tram and his father, I want Tram to be right about allying with GK!! Though I suppose allying is still one of the best outcomes JS could hope for...

I'm imagining Parson holding Slately at Glamdring-point and Tram holding Wanda at rapier-point during the negotiation, but, hey, great friends have been made over worse...

[Markidactyl]

Interesting... that line about sending Tramennis off somewhere distant and not caring much about the result (and the bit after that) certainly seem to imply that the Royals are happy to war amongst one another just for the lulz... which I guess we knew, but I didn't think it was true to the extent implied. I suppose that if random profiteering warfare were the norm, then it's no surprise that half of the world would gang up on Stanley. They actually have reasons to want him dead.

Delightfully written update!

After that exchange between Tram and his father, I want Tram to be right about allying with GK!! Though I suppose allying is still one of the best outcomes JS could hope for...

I'm imagining Parson holding Slately at Glamdring-point and Tram holding Wanda at rapier-point during the negotiation, but, hey, great friends have been made over worse...

I think, especially if the rivalries that Jetstone and Don King have with a few other sides prove anything, that the big Royal sides are happy to war amongst themselves to a certain extent and limit. With Carpool, Jitteri, and Haggar, and their respective rivals, battles were fought for a long, long time, as little more than low-scale skirmishes. Haggar and Jetstone traded Pantstown, a little, petty level 1, back and forth. Neither made a supreme effort to hold it, neither committed large amounts of resources to continuing the fight after the other had taken it. It struck me as almost a pastime for the both of them. I wonder how many sides actually fight to the death? If that's how it generally goes it says a lot more about Jetstones attempt to completely wipe out stanly, and Gobwin Knob's coup de grace of Uniroyal and the attempted one of Jetstone.

[oslecamo2]

Ah, I really missed this kind of updates. Lots of crunch!
-Units aspect change depending on what they do.
-Jetstone is really bound by tradition.
-Erfworlders don't seem to care that much about their sons/daughters untill they've proven their worth somehow.
-One side can afford to have multiple campaigns on diferent places going at the same time, even if the side's ruler sits on his safe tower whitout actualy giving orders (Charlie has multiple campaigns, but he also has the arkendish to command all his archons at distance).

[BCCroaker]

So Signamancy changes you physically, so your body and appearance represent your character and usual behaviour (at least I think that's what Slately's saying about himself). I wonder if this is affecting Parson?

[zilfallon]

The stuff which is "normal" in our world is called "signamancy" in erf. if you only eat and do nothing but sit, you get fat. We think it is natural, erfworlders think it is magic.

Of course, this is just a part of natural signamancy, since we know that it isn't limited to that. (signamancy which happened to Jillian, for example)

[sleepymancer]

Slately, Slately, Slately. All your royal- and courtier-eggs in one tower top basket. I would say they are caught between a rock and a hard-place, but with decrypted 'bombs' falling from above and Parson behind. So more caught between a rock and a soft, flabby place...

Its good to see the signamancy in action, like the (quite charming) changes to Jillian. I have to point out these signamancy changes are quite apparent here in the furthest reaches of the 'magic kingdom' too - at least I think of my hunched shoulders from spending far-too-long in front of the computer as signamancy!

If Slately were confident that they would win I would know that they would lose. His astute appraisal and convincing lies, however, leave me weighing all the threads and saying. "who knows!" Apart form the fact that I love the anticipation as much as the reading, I can't wait!!

[Anias]

I'd say that it looks like, among other things, a great explanation for the changes that Parson's undergoing. We've caught both his notes/thoughts and the visual images of him improving in terms of physical fitness and capability - takes less effort to climb stairs, can fight (well, a little), etc. On Earth, we consider that sort of thing to be a natural consequence of the life you lead (don't fight, sit on a throne eating, get fat and white; fight, exercise, work, walk, get fit/capable), but on Erf it's attributed to Signamancy...interesting...

Also, loved the history of JS and the view into Slately's mind. It looks like he's actually pretty smart, contrary to popular opinion, and has ruled well for a long time. But things are going to have to change if JS is to survive, and his support of Tramennis in this case suggests that he just might not be willing (or able) to change...at least, not in time. We'll see.

[Cayne]

3000 turns!!! how long do Erfworlders even live!! Do they have natural death or is it combat only. If so ErfWorld has to stay at war constantly just to keep making room for newly popped units. How's that for a strange thought?

[Bloodsausage]

Tightass, Forthewin (who got lucky), Victor, Lustrious. I don't quite get Wonderloaf though.

Wonderloaf, as in Wonderbread. He got sliced through while he was still fresh.

I think of Signamancy more as symbolism. Your outer self reflects who you truly are. Slately isn't a warrior, so he doesn't look like a warrior. Slately is good at reading the Signamancy of other units and predicting how they will fare at their roles. That ties in nicely with the names, actually.

[fractal]

3000 turns!!! how long do Erfworlders even live!! Do they have natural death or is it combat only. If so ErfWorld has to stay at war constantly just to keep making room for newly popped units. How's that for a strange thought?

Well, if a turn is basically a day, then that means Slately has ruled for 8 years? Given that he doesn't see combat, that may not be that unusual.

It's typical in strategy games that you can produce units at a fixed rate, but then supporting them requires a continuous flow of resources; often this is reflected in a virtual population "cap". When a player gets close to that cap, he can either stop making units (generally wasteful of production capability), or else he can send them off to conquer and die. We know that Erfworld has a similar limitation for unit production, so they may operate under a similar motivation for war. If you're fortunate enough to be able to save up enough units to approach the cap, you should take advantage of that opportunity to expand.

[Oglokoog]

I hate Slately.

[gameboy1234]

Is that Mario in the bottom right of the picture? Parson is DOOOOOOMMMMMMMED, Mario is going to hammer everyone and rescue the princess too.

[ftl]

I hate Slately.

Huh. Each update that has Slately in it makes me like him more and more, as he's made out to be more competent and less of a bumbling fool. What makes you hate him so?

[Jay]

The signamancy bit needed a little more clarity, imho. By the end of the update I could infer what it was referring to, but not when it was actually mentioned. Another sentence in there about the meaning of "natural signamancy" would've been a great help (up at "Signamancy was a terrible curse.")

"His physical form reflected his nature, and the Titans knew his true nature." Something like that.

[fjolnir]

so now we see that Stanley and Slately really are different while both are petty, Slatley is short and slovenly due to his decadent nature, while Stanley is short due to his tiny temper and pettiness, it's also VERY telling as far as in game mechanics go that Tramennis the diplomat has done more to pay for himself than most of his brothers or sisters (which actually makes sense since by not croaking units in unnessacary battles he doesn't spend his side's schmuckers too heavily to arrive at the goal of "This side won't screw with us anymore" AND usually scores a tribute for his troubles. He is definitely the carrot to jetstone's stick.