Book 2 – Page 59

[fjolnir]

I'm sure he would normally be able to get someone from the magic kingdom but what if the Parson kerfluffle causes the magic kingdom to close its borders?

[badninja]

Sad day for all in Erfworld. Jetstone is going to fall at TV is about to have a coup. Don King now knows that his chief warlord has fully out lived his usefulness. Now I am certain that we will see a or some units get disbanded. Now I hope Tram can survive this battle as an uncroaked GK unit or this comic will loose an interesting persona. Who is Stately gonna call, he is out of options and time, Jetstone called for aid and it will never come. Nice update all around.

[The Pink Warlord]

EDIT: I mistakenly refer to Jetstone frequently where I mean Spacerock

Caesar is right

Jetstone has shown it can't stand by itself. Giving them money would be throwing good money after bad.

First off all they made a total hash of their defence of the city. From the the bridge to taking down Wanda to losing Ossomer to well, they've consistently been defeated and right now when they should have won or drawn. Right now they're losing in their own capital city and it's not even their turn. It'll take a miracle for them to make it out of this turn. So why trust them to pull it out? They've done nothing but boop up and lose since the Battle for Gobwin Knob. It's good money after bad.

Speaking of good money after bad my second point: Don wants this and has proven himself to have awful judgement. He emptied the treasury to back up Jillian and Jillian backed out and left when she could have easily ended Wanda and the decrypted forever. Don has already made his move in this game and he failed badly. Worse he's crippled his own side into doing so: Trasilvito has lost three cities and seven warlords (And remember how the warlords dealt with all those Dwagons and Stanley? Those were some damn powerful units) and has Carpool breathing down their neck. If they empty their treasury, even if Trammenis does escape Carpool will wipe them out. And Don is hardly helping. He seems to be trying to kill his best commander and has made a loyal Chief Warlord hate and fear him. In my opinion Caesar is the best Warlord on Erfworld other than Parson but while Transilvito is getting whomped Don is throwing him and other men and units and money away. Casesar doesn't trust his judgement and neither do I.

And thirdly, Jetstone has already lost, even if Trammenis becomes King and escapes. Their treasury is empty. They lost the bulk of their forces at Gobwin Knob and then have lost the rebuilt army just now. They're about to lose their capital city, the keystone of their defences and the expensive heir they were popping. King Trammenis won't have anything to fight with while GN will have an army in their territory and a full treasury to support it. His defeat will just take a little longer. Also how big a damn screwup is it Jetstone has an empty treasury right now? Even Stanley kept half a million in reserve and he had one city. Jestone has at least five level fives. Another reason not to bet on them.

Lets look at the possible outcomes from Caesar's point of view: If they don't give the loan then Jetstone is screwed. But even if they do they're probably screwed anyway. GN has way more resources to continue the war than Jetstone. And if they do give the loan Transilvito is probably finished anyway. Carpool is giving them a pasting and with an empty treasury they're probably booped. Meanwhile GN has already offered peace terms and alliances. I'd rather risk them lying and maybe lose to GN coming after me lately than definitely lose by having Carpool kill me now.

If they give the money Transilvito is doomed no matter what. If they keep it guard their own backyard they might pull through.

Disclaimer: I love Caesar

[effataigus]

Caesar is right

I think Caesar is right because he's acting under the same set of assumptions that The Pink Warlord is. I think Don is right because he knows that Jetstone's incompetence could die with Slately. Somehow, I'm not seeing Don try to convince Caesar of the most pertinent point... that they are paying for a *change* of leadership.

JS may be lost, but that doesn't mean that every JS unit has to become a GK unit. A wiser king could delay the invaders longer and bleed them more before giving up the ghost... if it came to that.

Several people have already pointed out that the Spacerock tower is surrounded by floating bags of money. They'd only have to drop (5?) of them to have enough for the promotion?

What I'm curious about is why Slately is choosing between Tramennis and himself when there is nothing stopping them from both walking out. If they think the fight is winnable, win it. If not, why add to GK's forces with suicide stands?

Regarding the last text update. By saying she'll stay in the portal room, Wanda has just sworn off her two biggest tactical advantages... bonuses to decrypted led by her and the ability to decrypt fallen units. Not that JS knows this or that Parson would let her stick to it once the MK explodes behind him, but I'm thinking JS might be able to take them straight up if they kept the fighting in the atrium and Wanda stayed out of it.

[The Pink Warlord]

Caesar is right

I think Caesar is right because he's acting under the same set of assumptions that The Pink Warlord is. I think Don is right because he knows that Jetstone's incompetence could die with Slately. Somehow, I'm not seeing Don try to convince Caesar of the most pertinent point... that they are paying for a *change* of leadership.

A change of leadership will make little difference. Trammenis would be fighting a war with an empty treasury and GN right in the heart of his Kingdom against much better leadership. He'll be overhwlemed in every field

Anyway, that's not Transilvito's concern.

[opal]

Is it just me, or has Caesar shrunk?

[Ansan Gotti]

I still think Slately might be able to raise the funds he needs by razing some of his own cities. That or the Charlie option seem like the most likely, in light of a refusal by TV.

[BCCroaker]

Please identify the Transyvito warlords for me - they're bound to be from TV/films/games/comics.

[Aquillion]

Too much character development has gone into Tramennis for him to fall in this story arc. I believe that we're going to see a save from Charlie, here, that will give Slately the loan he needs, in order for Slately to go out like he wants and to save Tramennis.

He could theoretically become Decrypted, like Ansom did. But yeah, I doubt it, since three Jetstone princes on their side would be overkill. (Assuming none defect, of course.)

[gameboy1234]

Too much character development has gone into Tramennis for him to fall in this story arc. I believe that we're going to see a save from Charlie, here, that will give Slately the loan he needs, in order for Slately to go out like he wants and to save Tramennis.

Or possibly Tramennis's plan to grab Slately and haul him bodily from the tower will work. Might rush out in the nick of time with the tower falling around them, but as long as they both make it out then Jetstone, and Tramennis, will live to fight another day.

Other possibly: Jillian just got 40k schmuckers from razing that city of GK, and could make a loan too. I'm going with Tramennis saves the day however.

[wrecan]

@ BCCroaker: They don't appear to be. The only Transylvitians we know of are:

• Don King (name based on boxing promoter, appearance based on Godfather's Don Corleone).
• Caesar Borgata (came based on Caesar Borgia, and some Las Vegas hotels; appearance appears to be Spike from Buffy)
• Benjamin (name and appearance based on Benjamin Franklin)
• Al Frappucino (name based on Al Pacino and a coffee drink; appearance...I have no idea.)
• Bunny (name based on a television's rabbit ears and Playboy Bunnies; appearance seems to be My Cousin Vinny's Marisa Tomei
• Vinny Doombats (name based on My Cousin Vinny; appearance? no idea)
• Dewy Tulips (name is a pun; appearance? no idea.)
• Leather Valese (name is a pun for a money bag, appearance is a generic Italian)

The remaining folks have not received names and are known informally as "Muscles", "Red" (due to color of blouse), "Baldy", and "Blondie".

Oh, and the three known croaked Transylvitians are "Broadway Tony" (not based on anybody in particular, except that Broadway is indeed dead), King County (Don King's predecessor, and also the name of the New York County where Brooklyn is located), and a warlord who looked like Mario from the videogames.

[Guppy]

Don is going to say goodbye, but not because Slately is going to croak.
He's about to find some way to transfer the funds anyway, which will pretty much mean the end for Don.

Maybe, but I'm pretty sure the Transylvito side will survive. They're the only side that has a unique mechanic vs. GK -- their troops are already undead, and therefore most likely cannot be decrypted (so no snowball effect). I don't think that mechanic is a coincidence, I believe Transylvito has a unique part to play in the storyline ahead.

[CelebrenIthil]

@ BCCroaker:
[*]Leather Valese (name is a pun for a money bag, appearance is a generic Italian)[/list]

I think more accurately it's a pun for a suitcase (full of money).

EDIT: The blonde lady Transylvitian has the exact same haircut as Princess Peach.

[Utoryo]

So what are the possible scenarios at this point?
A) Slately sacrifices himself but Jetstone lives on.
A1) Don contacts a moneymancer in the Magic Kingdom to make the gem for him, knowing Caesar and the warlords will have his head for it. Bunny agrees to help him do it because she knows Don's feelings for Bea and the discussion with Slately, and believes Caesar will forgive her for obeying Don's orders.
A2) The money comes from Charlie, either as a bounty for the Archons (dedicating archers plus air units to eradicating them) or as a loan.
A3) Ossomer turns back to Jetstone, and his heir status is automatically restored. Slately agrees to let him become King if he makes Tramennis his Chief Warlord.
B) Both Slately and Tramennis escape and survive.
C) Some plot twist with Parson's hippiemancy.
D) Jetstone ends here.

Personally, I still think A3 is both the most likely and the most interesting option. It would also make Jillian's capture of Ansom more interesting. You just need a Text Update very-soon-now on Ossomer's thought process to make it work. And Wanda's reaction alone would make it awesome!

[nth]

Unlikely. There's too much momentum behind the battle for Parson and Trem to stop on a "whim".

I'm not sure on that. It seems like, given what we know of natural thinkamancy from commanders, all it would take would be Tram shouting "we surrender unconditionally" and Parson thinking that sounded good. Maybe not even having to consciously think about it, just feeling relieved.

[DoctorJest]

I'm gonna side with Caesar on this one. Jetstone is royally booped (pun intended). TV is almost royally booped. Putting all of TV's eggs in Jetstone's Royally Booped Basket is a really really risky move with a really good likelihood of spelling doom for TV and a very slim chance of doing anything but delaying Jetstone's imminent demise.

While the loan is the best possible move for Jetstone, it's not really the best move for TV. While GK is a juggernaut, and once Jetstone is finished they may well be next, the fact is if they give their cash to Jetstone, then they may not even need to wait until Jetstone is done for to see their own side fall. Without cash to pay upkeep, TV can see themselves dismantled by Carpool, they don't even need to wait for the GK Express to barrel down their door.

TV is in a tight spot either way, but the best option they have right now is to act conservatively. They might still fall, but if they do, then it's because they're already past the point of no return, not because they didn't make a loan to Slately.

If I were playing TV, I'd have to decline on that loan too. In fact, thinking of this as a TBS game, If I were in charge of TV, I would probably start eyeballing some of Jetstone's nearby cities for annexing or razing to get some quick cash and build up defenses.

[abb3w]

[*]Vinny Doombats (name based on My Cousin Vinny; appearance? no idea)

At a guess, a mix between the trenchcoated "Spike" from Buffy , and the Fonz from Happy Days.

[Roketter]

I think Tramennis will get his archers to help him kill the archons and get the flying artifact to go capture the last one himself... wich will mean he'll have an air fight with his own brother and his dwagon over it -Dont you think it's strange no one ordered him to slay his dwagon to gain leadership for the battle downstairs after negotiations or got killed by jetstone ? the only reason that didn't happen is the PLOT!-. Slately will charge with most of the infantery to gain time, while the casters get off the city trough the back door, and aid TRameniss with his epic duel.

Ossomer's the first decrypted we've seen experiencing serious loyalty issues, so we might get an update on that while he and Tramenis fight.

Parson will arrive and Slately's momentum against GK will turn backwards and he'll start loosing in a very ugly way. If Tramennis succeeds he'll become a heir and leave the hex along with the casters. If either he or Slately fall before Charlie pays for the bounty, Jetstone is done for.

Either way, i think chances are both Ossomer and Slately will be toast by the end of the turn.

Big question is...

Will Slately become decrypted ?

I think it'll be Charlie who'll pay the bounty and TV will stay out of it, mainly because if both kingdoms were weakened it would clearly be game over for the coalition, and Charlie would have to dirty his own hands to join the fight or see all of erfworld decrypted.

[joosy]

@ BCCroaker: They don't appear to be. The only Transylvitians we know of are:

[list][[*]Vinny Doombats (name based on My Cousin Vinny; appearance? no idea).

Actually I believe a better answer would be Dr. Vinny Boombatz from Rodney Dangerfield's comedy routines.

[Tanuki]

Okay, long time lurker, first time poster.

Perhaps the main reason that Charlie wasn't asked to have his credit cashed in was because he can't offer a gem off turn. Charlescomm takes it's turn first, before GK, and can only do so much off turn. I have I hypothesis that I'd like to throw out there.

Charlie can't be used as a source of funds, because he doesn't have a linkage into things set up between Don King and Slately, and possibly Bea, previously, by way of Cubbins and Ace/Holly. Namely, the crowns, being Hatamancy rainment, allow for off-turn transfer of gems and other objects.

Charlie may only be able to provide credit, since he may not already have a hat that offers a linkage to Slately's crown.

It is possible that the only person Slately could ask for Schmuckers from is Don King, who has the Hatamancy linkage and the Moneymancer/Dirtamancer needed to make the gem. Sacking a city may also be an option to get Schmuckers, though, but the mechanics of sacking haven't been clearly explained. For example, could Duncan have sacked Progrock without Queen Jillian Zamussels there, and would the Schmuckers have gone straight into the treasury the way they did with her there? Let's say if we take a non-Chief Warlord, can they sack a city? As we saw at Progrock, cities can be left unlead, without a warlord, but still defended, if poorly so, so maybe there are no warlords out at the other Jetstone cities right now to sack them for Schmuckers.

This may very well be game for promoting Trammenis at the Battle of Spacerock.