Book 2 – Text Updates 045

[yuffiek]

Obviously, she's a Florist!
(it is not obvious, she may not be a Florist... etc. etc.)

No, but... <equip tinfoilhat> Flower Power discipline can "crumble time perception". Haste, Slow and Stop spells are standard FF magic fare. We're still unsure if there was a third party in the linkup for the KW spell, and Vanna + Charlie + a Florist (Aeris?) sure sounds like they could pull that off. (Janis wouldn't have been involved in the link, unless she's playing both sides... which would be a Xanatos Gambit of epic scale) <unequip tinfoilhat>

[Sieggy]

At this point, I strongly suspect that Janis & Marie will accompany Parson through the Portal, if only because that will be their only opportunity to talk to him - I mean, he's not going to stand in front of the JS Portal chatting. Also, think about it - he's only going to be visible for maybe a couple of seconds at each end of the tunnel (as long as he doesn't trip over his cloak); I'm assuming that Sizemore put in some kind of mechanism to trigger the trap when needed, and repairing the turf so no evidence remains would be a trivial exercise for him. If both casters cover for Parson, he might well go unnoticed. All it would take is a couple of seconds of misdirection to get him through unseen.

As far as anyone on the JS end of it knows, dead units tell no tales. Remember, we as readers know far more than the characters. When Parson suddenly shows up in JS, both Trem & Slately will be going WHAT THE BOOP?!?!, but neither of them will know that Parson came through the Portal, as much as they may suspect it, and will be in no position to prove it. After all, he's a Warlord, not a Caster, so that's OBVIOUSLY impossible, right? And even if either figures it out, who are they going to tell, and who would believe them? (Yeah, sure, you got your butts whipped and now you're blaming it on the MK . . . uh huh . . .) But this does seem to be the day for impossibilities to occur . . .

I'm really looking forward to Caesar and the Don's reaction to how the battle will progress, and just how much information they can get out of that table. If it's like overhead imagery, they can get numbers & movement of visible units, but no idea of what's actually going on out of visual range and inside the buildings. So even if Parson suddenly appears on their board, will it be when he steps through the Portal, or when he steps out into the open? But in either case, it ought to be priceless . . .

I think Sizemore's impending promotion to Master Class bodes ill for Charlie - his lair is unassailable by ground units, and has awesome air defenses, but against having his mountain rise up against him or a tunnel into his basement? He's scwewed.

And . . . given what we now know about what a Master Class is and how it's achieved, how long until Parson becomes a Master Class Warlord? Talk about BONUSES!

[fjolnir]

The only possessor of an Arkentool I can not link to a tool manufacturer is Charlie... but then I don't know what his last name is.

Someone named Charlie owns a television channel, that's the reference, check the wiki.

Charlie is a reference to Charles Ergan who is the founder and CEO of Dish Network, a satellite tv company. He frequently appears in commercials promoting the service and has a show called "Charlie Chat" on their customer service and support channel.

[GKBeetle]

Sorry, but I had to post. The Final Fantasy nerd in me was raging.
The girl with the flower basket is named Aerith, not Aeris. Aerith Gainsborough to be exact.
Okay, carry on.

[oslecamo2_temp]

Important detail: Casters can level up whitout actual battle! So keeping your mancers at your capital doing support stuff isn't that bad of an idea after all.

This update makes me sad. All the storytelling signamancy is there for Sizemore: deep, unresolved doubts about the events he's enabling, his closest friends in awe of how horrible are the things he's doing, and to top it off, a feeling he's never had before that he's really going to be great someday.

Sizemore is going to die. Sizemore is the loss foretold by Wanda in the beginning of Book 2, and it will almost certainly come as a direct result of Parson's actions. The same way Bogroll croaked.

I don't know how it will happen. Maybe Parson will be forced to order him to do something he simply can't bear, like going through the JS portal, and he will disband from disobeying an order. Maybe Janis' hippiemancy will not be sufficient to prevent the MK from croaking Sizemore for what he's done. I don't know.

But Book 3 won't have Sizemore in it.

Nah, Sizemore will surely be one of the characters that will last untill the end:
1-Sizemore may be one of the few characters around that actually dislikes combat, but he has a strong sense of duty. Plus the supreme hippiemancer herself telling him he must help Hamster no matter what.
2-On the same vein, he provides an unique character that nobody else so far could replace. Somebody in Erfworld who isn't all fine and dandy with war for war's sake and would just rather sit making stuff instead of razing it down.
3-He's a tough dude. So what if the MK tries to gank on him? He can easily escape underground. And after helping barbecue the coaliton, Hamster would need to be feeling particularly creative to give Sizemore an order he would refuse.
4-In the end, when Erfworld is razed and turned into a wasteland from ever scaling warfare, it will be Sizemore the one asking everybody else "Was it really worth it?"

[Wayne]

Sorry, but I had to post. The Final Fantasy nerd in me was raging.
The girl with the flower basket is named Aerith, not Aeris. Aerith Gainsborough to be exact.

It probably depends on which version of FF the posters last played. Per Wikipedia, the character has multiple names, depending on release location (and version?). I would argue that the Japanese name is probably the most "correct" spelling and is the one that hasn't changed.

Not a FF player, just copying from the wiki. See Wiki link for a sound file pronouncing her name.

Aerith Gainsborough (エアリス・ゲインズブール, Earisu Geinzubūru?) — spelled Aeris Gainsborough in the English releases of Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy Tactics — is a player character in Square's (now Square Enix) console role-playing game Final Fantasy VII.

Aerith's original Japanese name is エアリス Earisu, pronounced [eaɽisu̥] ( listen). This has been transliterated to "Aeris" in Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy Tactics, but later as "Aerith". Both transliterations have basis, as the Japanese "su" (ス) is used when transcribing "s" (/s/) and "th" (/θ/) to Japanese. However, official Japanese material uses the spelling "Aerith", and developers have stated that "Aerith" is a near-anagram of "Earth".

[No one in particular]

I hope that if her name is ever said by anyone, it's only by a character with a lisp, just to keep everyone guessing.

"Aerith thayth she'll be down in a thecond."

[badninja]

So even they are blindsided by the idea of Parson using the MK for a short cut. Janis has just come to the conclusion that this could be bad for her as if she where to allow it she could be in jeopardy. The MK has played its neutrality for so long that when Parson completes this they will be in some serious trouble. I feel that this update showed that the MK is only allowed because of its neutrality and once it gets used for an act of war any caster that is still on a side will no longer be able to go there because of the possible defection risk. Any ruler watching this battle Sofaking, TV, or Haggar should begin to immediately question what the heck is and was going on in the MK after this battle. Marie is right this battle will change everything for the better or is it going to get a lot worse and descend into a dark night? Nice update took a few readings to get the full scope of what was happening.

[splexis]

The only possessor of an Arkentool I can not link to a tool manufacturer is Charlie.

Charlie Ergen was the president of the Dish Network (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Ergen).

[Jinren]

I think Sizemore's impending promotion to Master Class bodes ill for Charlie - his lair is unassailable by ground units, and has awesome air defenses, but against having his mountain rise up against him or a tunnel into his basement? He's scwewed.

Now you've said that, I suddenly like the idea that Sizemore will get an Arkentool.

Conisder: Some terrain types are impassable (although whether this is a physical law of reality or Parson could find a way to pass them is untested... whatever). Sizemore wants to be a pacifist. He could turtle entire kingdoms and simply make wars end without anyone getting hurt! Or... that's what he thinks. I doubt it would be so easy.

[splexis]

I don't think Janis an Marie can really let Parson pass through TMK without stopping him for a chat.

And that should only take . . . oh . . . say, three months.

[No one in particular]

Conisder: Some terrain types are impassable (although whether this is a physical law of reality or Parson could find a way to pass them is untested... whatever). Sizemore wants to be a pacifist. He could turtle entire kingdoms and simply make wars end without anyone getting hurt! Or... that's what he thinks. I doubt it would be so easy.

As Lex Luthor once said... "Why don't you put the whole world in a bottle, Superman?"

[M.A.D]

I think Sizemore's impending promotion to Master Class bodes ill for Charlie - his lair is unassailable by ground units, and has awesome air defenses, but against having his mountain rise up against him or a tunnel into his basement? He's scwewed.

Now you've said that, I suddenly like the idea that Sizemore will get an Arkentool.

Conisder: Some terrain types are impassable (although whether this is a physical law of reality or Parson could find a way to pass them is untested... whatever). Sizemore wants to be a pacifist. He could turtle entire kingdoms and simply make wars end without anyone getting hurt! Or... that's what he thinks. I doubt it would be so easy.

But then those kingdoms would become bubble sides, and they would starve if they couldn't manage themselves properly.

On another note, Charlie's been tampering with GK's supply of Gobwin, right? And Gobwins are tunnel-dwelling units. I think it's suffice to say that Charlie has had his tunnels well covered

[Decorus]

Holy crap Dwagon relay + Sizemore = Super high level Dirtmancer.

If Parson understood that Sizemore lvled up from rebuilding GK's capitol he would have been sending him by relay to rebuild any city they conquered just for the xp and Sizemore probably would have gained another 5 or 6 levels.

Its unlikely that MK will become a threat its more likely that people will realize that Parson is a Caster and a Warlord from this stunt something that has never existed before.

[fractal]

Holy crap Dwagon relay + Sizemore = Super high level Dirtmancer.

If Parson understood that Sizemore lvled up from rebuilding GK's capitol he would have been sending him by relay to rebuild any city they conquered just for the xp and Sizemore probably would have gained another 5 or 6 levels.

Stanley has already been having Sizemore do that. Whenever they capture a city that doesn't produce units as cool as Twolls, Spidews, and Dwagons, Stanley sends Sizemore out to raze and rebuild it in his own image. This activity is presumably what got Sizemore the level (in combination with also rebuilding GK to level 5).

[No one in particular]

Ooh, here's a crazy idea: Sizemore never gets an arkentool... but it doesn't matter, as he manages to keep up with all the heavy hitters anyway, through truly epic Master-class Dirtamancy. Whether this is by making titan-sized golems who look like Mt Rushmore, or using regular sized ones made from previously unconsidered things, (like plutonium, cesium, or titanium) or even just opening up canyons underneath everyone...

He's gonna be big, man. The whole world's gonna revolve around him.

[Aquillion]

Can someone explain what is so remarkable about Parson suddenly showing up in Jetstone?

Well as they said it will change things... as it is casters NEVER take advantage of the fact that the portals to the other sides is easily accessible from the magic kingdom.
After Parson does it you can be sure other rulers will want to use the same advantage... rules will change.

I'm not so sure.

Remember, before Parson could go through, they had to capture the portal on the other side. Why? Is that obligatory? It's possible that a caster who walked into a portal to a zone their side didn't control would instantly be considered 'captured' or something, getting manacles popped on their wrists or something -- it's not so different from being in a city whose garrison falls, after all.

[No one in particular]

Remember, before Parson could go through, they had to capture the portal on the other side. Why?

For the same reason you don't just land a plane in an enemy airfield: it will be dangerous and you'll be surrounded my enemies. There doesn't have to be any special Erfworld mechanics behind it, you'll just be in a lot of danger. By securing the portal room first, Parson has guaranteed that he won't just be walking into a sword point-first.

[Aquillion]

Remember, before Parson could go through, they had to capture the portal on the other side. Why?

For the same reason you don't just land a plane in an enemy airfield: it will be dangerous and you'll be surrounded my enemies. There doesn't have to be any special Erfworld mechanics behind it, you'll just be in a lot of danger. By securing the portal room first, Parson has guaranteed that he won't just be walking into a sword point-first.

Maaaybe, yes. But we don't know whether that's a "there might be physical swords that could physically stab you and kill you there" or "the game mechanics will say that you're in an area controlled by enemies, and therefore you are automatically considered captured with no chance to fight back."

It hasn't been tested before, so he can't know. And it could be the latter just as easily as the former -- it's very likely he's not "attacking" the place he's portaling to, just suddenly appearing there. What happens when you suddenly appear in a hostile area? The game might classify you as an attacker or something, sure. But it could just as easily classify you as a prisoner. When a zone changes control under you, at least, we know it causes you to become a prisoner automatically. No reason why stepping into a portal to a zone you don't control couldn't have the same effect.

[drachefly]

That would be a colossal stretch. The closer parallel to me would seem to be entering a city that you're attacking. They aren't auto-captured.

Still, there may be something about portals, that keeps there from being any foolamancer-shockamancer assassin teams (as opposed to it being something about casters).