Book 2 – Page 58

[Atomic]

As kaylasdad99 noted, isn't the masked solider in Panel Three likely to be Vinnie, or at least from Transylvito? Red eyes, covered head to toe during the day (maybe not necessary, but thematically appropriate).

Unless Vinnie (/whomever) is somehow managing to trick Don King and Bunny and the rest of Transylvito? No. It isn't him. It was stated, like, a year ago(-ish) that the only unit Don King had contributed to the battle was a bat...and that was just to monitor everything from way up top. I can't imagine any plausible excuse as to why a Transylvito Warlord would have any reason to disguise him/herself as a Knight Class-unit, considering they're allies of Jetstone and would have useful Leadership bonuses... NOW CHARLIE? CHARLIE HAS A PLETHORA OF REASONS. I shall count them.

1.) Charlie has no units in the hex (OR DOES HE?!), so he needed a way to keep an eye (and ear) on what was being said by the Royals of the city. He chose to be a Knight because he knew they'd be used as an 'honor guard' for Slately (or Tramennis or Ossomer) if things went south.

2.) Charlie has no means of escape (OR DOES HE?!), so after breaking the link and realizing he wasn't gonna be able to sneak out through the Portal Room, he chose to disguise himself as a Knight and to hide amongst the strongest units in the city. The units who, also, will be the first out in the event of a retreat...which is exactly what's happening. All according to plan.

3.) Charlie is really, really, bored (OR IS HE?!), so he decided to indulge in his fantasy of dressing up like a Knight and playing hide-and-go-seek inside an enemy city. He, too, thought this would be a multiple-turn-battle and didn't even think about there being any Dwagons to attack the tower/city. The entire "Kingworld" spell/strategy was a giant boop-pull on his behalf, thought up on the spur of the moment. This would also explain why he was out of commission for a previous turn; this is day two of him playing dress up and he didn't want Archons bothering him.

4.) Charlie finally managed to 'fix' the Magic Kingdom portals (OR DID HE?!), and orchestrated this entire series of events just so that Parson would travel through the Magic Kingdom once more. Only this time, Parson will instantly disband upon walking through. Likewise for any other Gobwin Knob units who try to leave Spacerock. Charlie wanted to be present at the battle so he could watch their strategies fall apart...and to see the horror on Wanda and Jack's faces when they realize they can't escape through the Spacerock portal, either. Charlie plans to claim the pliers then dash into the Magic Kingdom.

[Vreejack]

1.) Charlie has no units in the hex (OR DOES HE?!)...

PLEASE DO NOT FEED THE TWOLL

[Vreejack]

Tramennis doesn't wear pants.

I have no particular reason for quoting this other than the fact that it made me laugh out loud.

[joosy]

Please. Hockey mask.. evil eyes.. He's not Charlie.. he is Jason Voorhees.

[Oberon]

I wonder if Sizemore piped in Muzak into his tunnel and if so.. would would the playlist be?

(With apologies to Pink Floyd...)

(Run, Run, Run, Run, Run, Run, Run, Run,
Run, Run, Run, Run, Run, Run, Run, Run.)

You better gear your hero in
Your favourite artifacts
Armed with cheesy exploits
and serious OMG HAX

Racing down the tunnel
to the Caster's Home
Carved by spell and shovel
out of rock and loam

With your foes in shambles
While your foolamancer rambles
Watch the Hamster hurdle
Through the door
He's gonna run...

And then, in classic Family Guy fat man style, Parson trips over a 6" high obstacle and goes down hugging his busted knee and crying like a little girl.

If you're taking your foe out, and it's not your turn
You'd better not trip over that tiny urn
'Cause if the GK casters catch you, running like hell
TGMTTA will shroud you with a tri-mancer spell
You'd better RUN!

[Oberon]

Turn the tide? Gobwin Knob is WINNING.

Winning, anyone? Rhymes with winning. Anyone? Yeah, that would be us. Sorry, man, didn’t make the rules. Oops! I’m tired of pretending I’m not a total bitchin’ rock star from Mars. Look what I’m dealing with, man, I’m dealing with fools and twolls. There’s a new sheriff in town. And he has an army of assassins. Jetstone picked a fight with a warlock. Wow. What does that mean? I’m bi-WINNING.

[fjolnir]

Turn the tide? Gobwin Knob is WINNING.

Winning, anyone? Rhymes with winning. Anyone? Yeah, that would be us. Sorry, man, didn’t make the rules. Oops! I’m tired of pretending I’m not a total bitchin’ rock star from Mars. Look what I’m dealing with, man, I’m dealing with fools and twolls. There’s a new sheriff in town. And he has an army of assassins. Jetstone picked a fight with a warlock. Wow. What does that mean? I’m bi-WINNING.

No bad, No Sheen references in relation to parson, he has it tough enough as it is.

[abb3w]

On the ground of intersecting highways, join hands with your allies.

Hah.
Looks like at least one of my guesses from that last text update was vaguely on-track.

[BakaGrappler]

That is... a heck of a lot of Jetstone infantry. Wow. That's got to be more than a thousand, maybe even more, in that first panel. Just how many units does GK have in the engagement right now? Never seemed to be anywhere near that number.

GK doesn't need numbers - it's all about force multipliers. All decrypted get Wanda's bonus, Parson's bonus, maybe a dance-fighting bonus, etc. etc. And as the weaker Jetstone units drop, they rise again as stronger GK units almost immediately.

There is also the abundance of Hobgobwin Heavies and Dwagons, living siege equipment. Or unliving...

Then there is the fact that as soon as the Tower is destroyed by the sonic breath of the purples (ramming effect to destroy the tower's structural integrity) GK will have secured all three of the zones needed to capture the city, and every single unit in it will have shackles placed upon them, including Tramennis and King Slately. If Tramennis does nothing, he will lose. If Slately is in the tower when it goes down, the Faction will end and every unit outside the city is disbanded, and Tramennis and every unit in the current city will be captured.

At this rate, Tramennis will only have one option, on pain of being disbanded should Slately continue to be an obstinate dork, and that will be to lead a charge on Wanda's strongly held position to try and buy time for whatever Slately is waiting for (Tram doesn't know) and plead with the Titans to make his old man do something intelligent for once. Needless to say, the best thing to do at the moment is what Tram said. Throw the king in a burlap sack and march him out of the city.

[wrecan]

There is only one 1980's horror villain that Charlie would appear as.

But I doubt that Charlie is a dollamancer or a golem.

[Infidel]

I'm betting they know what she meant, they're thinkamancers, knowing what people are thinking, especially one of their own, is kinda their thing.

G-strings normally carry intentions. That is why. But she coded this so her intention will be unclear. Maggie is assuming that the MtTA will read her message correctly. However, that is an assumption. And assumptions are prone to upsets.

That said, right now, Things will probably be alright. maybe.

[Deuce]

I'm almost thinking a total non-event in the MK, at least from the un-involved casters point of view. That many thinkomancers? If they are helping Parson, then every threat in the area will befinding something else they really need to be looking at, right as he's visible. If they're really good, someone who's fallen into the now-triggered trap, will still be able to rationalize a way to climb out and ignore it. I'm thinking full-on Douglas Adams type "no see um" stuff here.

[coyotenose]

As kaylasdad99 noted, isn't the masked solider in Panel Three likely to be Vinnie, or at least from Transylvito? Red eyes, covered head to toe during the day (maybe not necessary, but thematically appropriate).

Unless Vinnie (/whomever) is somehow managing to trick Don King and Bunny and the rest of Transylvito? No. It isn't him. It was stated, like, a year ago(-ish) that the only unit Don King had contributed to the battle was a bat...and that was just to monitor everything from way up top. I can't imagine any plausible excuse as to why a Transylvito Warlord would have any reason to disguise him/herself as a Knight Class-unit, considering they're allies of Jetstone and would have useful Leadership bonuses...

Admittedly I can't think of any good reasons a Transylvitian would be there, and I don't know the comic as well as most people here, but I also can't think of another In-Erf reason that guard would have red eyes, since we have no reason to think that Jetstone has ever assimilated Transylvito forces or that such forces would be loyal enough to stand directly with Tramennis.

Charlie... that's an extreme notion: out of character for him, difficult to pull off, dangerous to even consider because it represents a line of thinking that will get him killed in the future. In the interests of his own safety, he's smart enough to choke off any urges to be courageous or action-oriented.

If it was Charlie, even if he had an absolutely foolproof plan for escape, disguising himself as a guard is too dangerous, because it risks giving away information about himself. His height, while a trivial matter to other people, is as important as any other secret to him. He has to assume his mask may come off at some point, or that he may have to speak. Just getting into the city and joining the soldiery would involve giving away secrets to his archons. Is he going to risk someone who helped him execute his plan getting croaked and Decrypted? Even after he escapes?

And while we have no specific evidence of this, Charlie has shown knowledge that suggests he isn't from Erf, in which case putting on a mask isn't going to disguise that he's like ten feet tall. And whether he is or isn't a giant, the readers will grasp the implications, which unfortunately is a consideration. If Charlie is here, we suddenly know a lot more about him for no real good reason.

Probably we're all overthinking this and the guards in Panel Three just represent a theme, like the "Jasons" someone posited.

EDIT: removed my suggestion that Tramennis would know them all because they're individual enough to be minor warlords. Obviously they're knights and I'm an idiot.

[BakaGrappler]

I'm betting they know what she meant, they're thinkamancers, knowing what people are thinking, especially one of their own, is kinda their thing.

G-strings normally carry intentions. That is why. But she coded this so her intention will be unclear. Maggie is assuming that the MtTA will read her message correctly. However, that is an assumption. And assumptions are prone to upsets.

That said, right now, Things will probably be alright. maybe.

Except that you forgot that Isaac is the one that CREATED that cipher and is the one that received it. There is no chance of mis-communication here. The Thinkamancers are going to be protecting the underground dash.

[abb3w]

When Hamster "leaves" his post (as it would seem to the Tool) in order to enter the Magic Kingdom, that'll be one big natural Thinkamancy shock to the Tool's sensitive head.

...has anyone ever even bothered to tell Stanley that Parson can enter the Magic Kingdom?

[Infidel]

I'm betting they know what she meant, they're thinkamancers, knowing what people are thinking, especially one of their own, is kinda their thing.

G-strings normally carry intentions. That is why. But she coded this so her intention will be unclear. Maggie is assuming that the MtTA will read her message correctly. However, that is an assumption. And assumptions are prone to upsets.

That said, right now, Things will probably be alright. maybe.

Except that you forgot that Isaac is the one that CREATED that cipher and is the one that received it. There is no chance of mis-communication here. The Thinkamancers are going to be protecting the underground dash.

I forgot nothing. You misuse superlatives. The message was spelled out, therefore, there is every chance of a mis-communication when information is omitted. As I said before, I don't think that is going to happen. However, there is no support for an assumption of certainty. Saying there is "no chance" is supported by nothing but arrogance.

The message was "PGLH TO ENTER MK, PASS GK TO SR PORTAL, PROTECT"

Protect what? Protect Parson, or protect the MK from invasion? There is totally room for misunderstanding here.

[Smoker]

Protect what? Protect Parson, or protect the MK from invasion? There is totally room for misunderstanding here.

I agree. This doesn't mean that there will be a problem, but it is possible.

[Atomic]

Keep in mind, Great Minds Think Alike.

Maggie obviously Thinks (GET IT? CAPITAL 'T' FOR 'THINKS'...BWAHAHAHA) her Thoughts are the same as the Thoughts of Isaac and the rest of his buddies...as made obvious by the fact Isaac understands her code. Maggie didn't send Isaac a message saying, "Parson Gotti (Lord Hamster) is about to enter the Magic Kingdom. He's gonna travel from Gobwin Knob's portal to Spacerock's portal. Protect." -- No, Maggie used a code which we can only assume the duo had worked out before hand. I mean, this isn't like she's posting a 'Help Wanted'-ad; Maggie is calling for help from an individual (well, group of individuals) she feels as though she can trust...someone she can trust enough to risk their entire side.

That's where we're at right now, of course. If Parson were to die in the Magic Kingdom trying to travel from Gobwin Knob to Spacerock, that could very likely be the end of their side.

1.) Gobwin Knob would lose their Perfect Warlord.
2.) The Suggestion Spell on Stanley would end...with possible backlash.
3.) The 'Powers That Be' of the Magic Kingdom would have definite proof (Parson's corpse) that the Chief Warlord of Gobwin Knob planned to violate the...ehh...sanctity? Sure. The sanctity of the Magic Kingdom.
4.) Given that we don't know how much of Parson's hope for victory hinges on him making it to Spacerock...also that there wouldn't be anyone on Gobwin Knob's roster clever enough to out-maneuver Trammenis? I think it's likely Wanda/Jack (or, assuming the Magic Kingdom would even let them back in at this point), the rest of their Warlords/Dwagons/Archons would fall. At worst, they would lose the Arkenpliers. At best, they only lose all magic items present at the battle.

Lastly, unless Rob comes up with a way of explaining the twist in a manner we haven't seen, I think it would scream poor writing...something Rob hasn't succumbed to yet. An example might be comparable to reading Lord of the Rings (The Fellowship of the Ring)... Frodo/Aragorn/the other hobbits make it to Rivendell aaaand, WHOOPS. Elrond and the rest of his household are actually EVIL. Gandolf was just mistaken; they want the ring for themselves.

Actually, that sounds pretty sweet...

[BLANDCorporatio]

There is only one 1980's horror villain that Charlie would appear as.

But I doubt that Charlie is a dollamancer or a golem.

Good idea!

It also ties in nicely to an older tin-foil theory of mine that some Erfworld characters have more than a passing resemblance to characters from Requiem: Chevalier Vampir. Look it up, it is awesome. In particular, what would bear a passing resemblance to Charlie there actually looks a bit like Chucky.

Lastly, unless Rob comes up with a way of explaining the twist in a manner we haven't seen, I think it would scream poor writing...something Rob hasn't succumbed to yet. An example might be comparable to reading Lord of the Rings (The Fellowship of the Ring)... Frodo/Aragorn/the other hobbits make it to Rivendell aaaand, WHOOPS. Elrond and the rest of his household are actually EVIL. Gandolf was just mistaken; they want the ring for themselves.

Actually, that sounds pretty sweet...

Not to put too much in it, but Gandalf had just such a surprise when his BFF went over to the Dark Side.

[timh]

All this talk about the thinkamancers mindbending everyone into letting parson pass through. I'm actually looking forward to see what Janis will do. Will she use weird hippymancy skills to calm everyone down? I have no idea how exactly Hippymancy will work in battle.