Book 2 – Page 58

[sleepymancer]

They will, of course, call themselves the Underground Movement. And they will have a railroad.

was about my first thought...

Then I realised they'd either have a dollamancer and be the velvet underground or just be led by Cthulhu :p

[drachefly]

They will, of course, call themselves the Underground Movement. And they will have a railroad.

Will they have weather control?

[splexis]

I would like to remind all of you that Isaac appeared one more time previously.

http://www.erfworld.com/book-1-archive/?px=%2F140.jpg

His intentions are not in question. He is there to protect Lord Hamster. There is no 'great twist.'

I am confused. I think you are referring to Carl Sagan? Why do we think Headmaster Isaac looks like Carl Sagan?

[Chit Rule Railroad]

I am confused. I think you are referring to Carl Sagan? Why do we think Headmaster Isaac looks like Carl Sagan?

Maybe because the guy who looks like Carl Sagan is in the foreground of the illustration for this update, which is told from Isaac's perspective.

It's unfortunate that the archive has that illustration at the top of the page instead of the bottom. It alters the humor.

[fjolnir]

Because in this comic Issac is sending the thinkagram and the only communicating Thinkamancer is Sagan.

[splexis]

I am confused. I think you are referring to Carl Sagan? Why do we think Headmaster Isaac looks like Carl Sagan?

Maybe because the guy who looks like Carl Sagan is in the foreground of the illustration for this update, which is told from Isaac's perspective.

Because in this comic Issac is sending the thinkagram and the only communicating Thinkamancer is Sagan.

Except in the text update you both indicate, the text actually describes Isaac as riding the slide (which is itself behind the swing and the pair of thinkamancers thereon who are already very much in the background to Carl Sagan).

Is there any other evidence to suggest that Headmaster Isaac is Carl Sagan?

[abb3w]

They will, of course, call themselves the Underground Movement. And they will have a railroad.

Will they have weather control?

...my impression is "Not Yet."

However, if Sizemore expands on the metaphor of Erf-as-body to grasp the Master-class notion that the winds are merely the breath of Erf, and has a Healomancer to link with....

[No one in particular]

Except in the text update you both indicate, the text actually describes Isaac as riding the slide (which is itself behind the swing and the pair of thinkamancers thereon who are already very much in the background to Carl Sagan).

Is there any other evidence to suggest that Headmaster Isaac is Carl Sagan?

To be fair, the text describes Isaac as doing a lot of things.

Headmaster Isaac puttered around in his little park, adjusting and measuring.

[...] He dropped at once to the ground and sat on dry grass, cross-legged. For a number of minutes, he simply sat there beside a springmount and tried to work out how he could prove (or more likely disprove) such a thing.

[...] He found himself staring up at the springmount, wondering if he should get up and tune it again.

[...] He stood up, glancing up the hill to the great Temple.

[...] Isaac sighed wistfully, and walked toward the chute-and-ladder.

[...] Isaac climbed the ladder

[...] Isaac put his arms up and slid.

[...] As he ran, he considered whether this was his "action" or its "reaction." [...] His feet pounded the grass, then the gravel path.

At a guess, I would say that the image is a snapshot from when he's glancing up at the temple.

As for other evidence, we've got him taking control of the situation shortly after Parson first burst into the MK and the Sizemore-Wanda-Maggie link-up needed to be dismantled, and as Fjolnir said, the latest page has him leading the Thinkamancers to Portal Park and in communication with Maggie.

[timh]

Reading some of the older pages, it got me wondering.

Even if Slately/tramennis manages to leave the city, next up will be GK's turn? With so much dwagons plus the dwagon relay system it cannot be hard to track Slately down as the dwagons have a lot of move (56 if I remember correctly) So how exactly does Trammenis think they can win this? hope Slately makes it somewhere were they can't find him? (Maybe hire a findamancer?)

[mortissimus]

Reading some of the older pages, it got me wondering.

Even if Slately/tramennis manages to leave the city, next up will be GK's turn? With so much dwagons plus the dwagon relay system it cannot be hard to track Slately down as the dwagons have a lot of move (56 if I remember correctly) So how exactly does Trammenis think they can win this? hope Slately makes it somewhere were they can't find him? (Maybe hire a findamancer?)

A unipegataur with high move perhaps?

[justamessenger]

Reading some of the older pages, it got me wondering.

Even if Slately/tramennis manages to leave the city, next up will be GK's turn? With so much dwagons plus the dwagon relay system it cannot be hard to track Slately down as the dwagons have a lot of move (56 if I remember correctly) So how exactly does Trammenis think they can win this? hope Slately makes it somewhere were they can't find him? (Maybe hire a findamancer?)

A unipegataur with high move perhaps?

And perhaps the added move of a jetpack on top of that?

[Lamech]

Maybe they are hoping that GK will hit a weaker target than the max stack the king has. For example, Jillian. Or Haggar. And indeed Parson is planning on hitting Jill.

[justamessenger]

Maybe they are hoping that GK will hit a weaker target than the max stack the king has. For example, Jillian. Or Haggar. And indeed Parson is planning on hitting Jill.

If I were Parson, I would also consider Jillian/FAQ the most immediate threat to GK. First and foremost, she has shown herself to be highly unpredictable. Second, she has a tremendous amount of influence on Wanda, and has shown an ability to use that to screw with his plans. Third, she has now taken to directly attacking GK's smaller cities with impunity.

JS/Transylvito do not appear to be poised to launch any offensives against GK, so destroying FAQ makes the most sense overall, as either of the former would likely have to rely upon support from Jillian to make any moves.

Having said all that, though, if Parson thinks he can take a smaller force and dispatch Slately or Tremennis (depending on who stays vs. who flees), while still being able to deal with Jillian/FAQ directly, that would be the best option overall. Taking out both sides simultaneously would likely make Transylvito far more tractable than they are right now.

[Jinren]

Is it even in their medium-term interest to cut off all the escape routes and decapitate Jetstone?

Jetstone seems to have a great deal more territory beyond Spacerock, including their original capital. If they end the side now, all that territory will become barbarian and easy pickings for Transylvito, Haggar, etc. (whoever actually borders Jetstone currently), leaving fewer, richer, bigger sides for Gobwin Knob to face. If they let the ruler retreat for the immediate moment, the territory ahead will continue to be divided between smaller, poorer sides.

Not that I imagine this would keep most units from taking the opportunity to croak the ruler if it comes up, but once he's escaped (whichever one it ends up being), Parson might want to slow down the advance and let that region of the world stay thoroughly dominated for a few turns while they take care of Faq.

[nth]

Even if Slately/tramennis manages to leave the city, next up will be GK's turn?

I don't know where you're getting that. GK already had their turn, it was just curtailed abruptly.

While it's possible the turn order was merely reshuffled by The Trimancer Spell of Much Contention, all indications are that is not the case. And I think the narrative doesn't require that.

[justamessenger]

Even if Slately/tramennis manages to leave the city, next up will be GK's turn?

I don't know where you're getting that. GK already had their turn, it was just curtailed abruptly.

While it's possible the turn order was merely reshuffled by The Trimancer Spell of Much Contention, all indications are that is not the case. And I think the narrative doesn't require that.

That is a valid point, however GK's turn should still arrive prior to JS's next available turn, I don't think the Spell That Shan't Be Named is powerful enough to change the turn hierarchy permanently. I hope...

[davesnothere]

Yes, GK's turn is (was?) before Jetstone's, but Charlie's turn is before both.
We don't know if Charlie would intervene before GK could snuff JS out.

[Sieggy]

The question is then whether the KW spell endedGKs turn, or was theirs and JSs turns switched? That wasn't clear, though Stanley thought that their turn had ended; it might simply have been his perception of the event. If it was a switch, then does GK get their turn today, and then theirs again in the morning?

I really doubt even a trimancer spell could fundamentally change the natural order of sides (change not that which the Titans hath wrought). I also think that peremptorily ending a sides turn is seriously overpowered - which, of course, was the basis for the controversy regarding the spell . . . But changing the turn order for a day would seem far more balanced in gaming terms.

[Ditto]

I fail to see how switching turns is less potent than ending a turn that already started. Let's say GK cast Kingworld when they arrived at Jetsone's capital. Now Jetstone doesn't get a turn today, because it 'happened' before GK's did! No chance to recharge juice, no chance to pop a unit...

No, ending a turn that's already begun (again, subject to definite reasons such as 'must have multiple turns worth of juice saved up' and hypothetical reasons such as 'must have caster in space with target side's unit' or 'target side must have a unit in your city (or even capital)') is definitely the less potent of the two options. GK had the opportunity to wreak plenty of havoc before they got caught with their pants down. If they hadn't stopped to chat with Jillian, they could have flown right past and started to blitz the tower.

[No one in particular]

I fail to see how it's important whether the turn was ended or swapped. The caster responsible for it left with Jillian. Jetstone has a limited amount of Move. They can only get so far before they have to end Turn, and then... it'll either be GK's turn, or it's night and everyone heals, quickly followed by GK's turn. Whichever it is, GK is going to get to act before Jetstone can act again.

Unless something really pressing pops up, Parson is going to spend a turn or two making sure Jetstone is wiped out. You don't stop when you've got your enemy on the ropes and let him rally for a comeback. As long as Jetstone continues, their cities will pop more units and prolong the fighting. If Slately is taken out before Tramennis is named heir, all those cities become neutral, and production ceases. If Jetstone's neighbors want to claim them, they'll have to fight for them, which will take attention and resources. GK was going to do it anyway, so no change for them, but for the neighbors that's Turns and Shmuckers that won't be recouped before GK shows up.

Not being a genius, or knowing the resources available to Jetstone, I'm going to guess that Tramennis plans to have Slately run for it in one stack, while a bunch of other stacks go running in other directions, and hope like hell that luckamancy is with them and GK goes chasing after the wrong stack. Or maybe a unipegataur has higher move than any of the dwagons that Wanda brought with her. I dunno.