Inner Peace (Through Superior Firepower) – Episode 022

[balder]

New One is up.

[Neko]

Nice! We get to see both the source of Wanda's Fate-alistic philosophy as well as the introduction for futher discussion of Love's effects in-Erf.

It will be interesting to see how Wanda reacts to Clay, and Delphie to Wanda messing with "her man". (Whether Wanda actually does or not.) She must have predicted this...

[cheeseaholic]

And once again something odd that's been going on for quite a long time reaches the point where exactly how odd it is sticks out.

So is love under the power of Fate? Is Love under the power of Fate? Can a unit exude an aura of love? Connected to looks, commander rank, etc? It might just be really common in erfworld to make up for shorter lifespans.

[gameboy1234]

Wow.


That is all.

[gameboy1234]

OK, I have to add this. And this is an opinion of how it should be, not anything I've gleaned from reading the comic, nor is it likely Rob's opinion or anything that will likely show up in the future. But...

So is love under the power of Fate? Is Love under the power of Fate?

"Love conquers all."

[Zeku]

Love is being slightly overused, but then it always is. Jillian gets all the princes, Wanda gets all the peasants.

Will - 'whatever that means'
Fate - someone knows how the story ends
Luck - another word for karma

Coefficient, wavelength, amplitude. I'm wondering, as always, if there really is such a thing as fate in Erf. In the real world, it's a comforting lie we tell ourselves, so that we don't have to face the infinite branches of our own choices. At best, it's a goal that we set, and then pursue, a different way of saying 'faith.' Is the author teasing us with this fate thing, or is he just making it up as he goes?

[Whispri]

Well that's going to make dealing with Delphie extra awkward.

Looks like there weren't any Uncroakable Mounts, pity that.

[atalex]

Well that was unexpected. And yet perfectly set up by the fact the Predictamancer was openly jealous of Wanda before Wanda had even met Clay. Well played, Rob, well played indeed.

[PhantomFox]

Okay, this can't end well for either party. We know that. So the question now, I guess, is how much can Love affect things? Is it strong enough to override Fate? Or does it merely give bonuses?

[Mrtyuh]

Wanda stepped through into Goodminton's portal room shortly after the turn had begun, and found Clay waiting for her.

I really thought we'd follow Marie and Jack back to Faq and return to Goodminton later. So much for that idea.

Delphie had turned moody and uncooperative.

Given the revelation toward's the end, this is certainly understandable. I can see Clay praising how Wanda's plan saved the city for the last five turns exacerbating the situation. Wanda's relationship with Delphie has always been strained, but this give us a deeper understanding as to why. As Neko and atalex mentioned, it certainly looks like Delphie foresaw this eventuality if Wanda remained in Goodminton's service, hence her warning the turn Wanda popped. I echo atalex's sentiment.

"You know how when a unit falls, it can croak, or be incapacitated, or just be plain wounded and lose some hits?"

That was a nice allusion to the Battle of Spacerock. I wonder if this conversation passed through Wanda's mind on that occasion

"And I'm thinking f'we get into another airspace fight we can first cast against the enemy to make 'em more likely to croak in a fall."

I don't know why, but some of Clay's contractions remind me of Charlie's. One problem with a comic is you can't hear the dialogue. I wonder what dialect Rob has in mind for both of them.

"Because we don't use air mounts."

Looks like there weren't any Uncroakable Mounts, pity that.

That's one way to interpret what he said. On the other hand, he didn't say they didn't have any mounts. I think he may have meant that Goodminton does not pop mounts, therefore they don't use them habitually as part of their tactical doctrine; it is not their modus operandi. It may be like Tramennis stating that Jetstone's kind of fighting was mass infantry, bolstered by leadership. Jetstone had mounts, but they weren't central to Jetstone's military doctrine. It may be possible that Wanda did reanimate some mounts. I may be wrong, but I think the jury is still out.

They still had prisoners from the air battle who had survived the fall, and hadn't turned. Considering their strategic desperation, she would've preferred to have the uncroaked units on hand.

This tells us several things. It implies that some of the Frenemy units that survived the fall did turn to Goodminton. If any were commanders, that could provide some valuable intelligence. Also, Lord Firebaugh seems to still want to be a side that takes prisoners preferentially. I have to respect someone who sticks by their convictions when things are dire, but it will probably cost him. Also, Wanda fails to see the upside to keeping prisoners. Bodies, even if claimed as a boon, decay. Uncroaked decay as well. By having prisoners, Wanda has a reserve source for uncroaked.

After the air battle, she had relocated herself, Delphie and Clay to the tower, and told the other two casters they were not to travel to the Magic Kingdom without permission.

I can see why Wanda reaffirmed her order that Delphie should not enter the Magic Kingdom without orders, since Delphie did conspire with Olive, but her forcing them to move strikes me as a bit autocratic.

Delphie was taking it as if Wanda had ordered her summary execution.

I wonder if, when Delphie meets her end, it will be in her tower quarters. She seems to have foreseen it, so if she sees herself ordered towards it, I find this reaction quite understandable.

"Could you 'un-boost' me?"

For a moment, I thought Wanda had actually come up with an interesting idea. Due to Wanda's "Fate crap", she basically guaranteed good rolls. I thought she might have wanted to siphon those good results to other Goodminton units when she didn't need them. Alas, it was only part of her existential crisis.

"Love is its own thing," he said, shaking his head in helpless wonderment. "And it, uh, really messes with the dice."

I wonder if this relates to when Duncan tried to get a feel for fight between Jillian and Wanda, and it felt like the Titans were laughing. It also sheds some light on Charlie's desire to croak Ansom.

Nice! We get to see both the source of Wanda's Fate-alistic philosophy as well as the introduction for futher discussion of Love's effects in-Erf.

Another piece of Wanda's fatalism is put in place. Also, I remember how aloof Clay was with Wanda earlier. When Wanda commented that Delphie didn't know everything, Clay responded that she "[j]ust knew everything that matters." It makes me wonder if Delphie informed Clay of the feelings he would develop for Wanda.

It seems that Fate isn't Wanda's only problem. She wrestled with love at Kiloton, and she will still be wrestling with it at Faq.

So is love under the power of Fate? Is Love under the power of Fate? Can a unit exude an aura of love? Connected to looks, commander rank, etc? It might just be really common in erfworld to make up for shorter lifespans.

Perhaps we'll get to see the circle of casters debating it a Faq. It seems to be one of the many topics they discussed.

Love is being slightly overused, but then it always is. Jillian gets all the princes, Wanda gets all the peasants.

I agree completely. The inexplicable fixation characters have for Jillian is one of the reasons I so dislike her character. It seems Wanda may be surpassing Jillian in that regard, although, since I find Lady Wanda of Goodminton adorable, I can understand it more with her. Still, a big gripe I have with many stories is when a character becomes the focus of the romantic inclinations of a plethora of other characters. While I certainly think romance can add to a story and understand every archetype attracts somebody, it strains my credulity when a character becomes a nexus of affection.

Okay, this can't end well for either party. We know that. So the question now, I guess, is how much can Love affect things? Is it strong enough to override Fate? Or does it merely give bonuses?

Jack thinks love is something greater than magic. If he's right, it may be able to overcome Fate. I don't think we'll get an answer to that question for quite a long time, though.

[King Mir]

With the answers provided here, it seems that Rob is a Compatibalist. Or at least Clay is.

[Amado]

NOVICE-class predictamancy:

Clay and Delphie die in the tower before they can cast anything that helps in the next battle.

Marie's prediction from last time was along the lines of "this unit (Wanda) will bring about the fall of King Banhammer (or, the fall of FAQ)" and maybe something about Wanda uncroaking him. Along the lines of "keeping your friends close and your enemies closer," they acquire Wanda thinking that she wouldn't possibly bring about the end of her own side, as it would be suicidal (under conventional thinking). She's not there because she's "interesting," and in fact she's barely used in FAQ; she's sidelined, and bored.

That's some of what I think Rob may be foreshadowing. Keep up the good work, man.

[badninja]

Sad update, Clay is falling for Wanda and his ex is not happy about it. Why do I feel that Wanda has not yet payed the piper yet and when it comes calling she is going to get hit hard.

So free will has its part but you have fate dictating what you are going to do. So you can try and fight fate but in the end fate will always come calling and get what it wants. Nice update to get more knowledge on how Erfworld works.

[doran]

Adept-class predictamancy:

Clay and Delphie die in the tower before they can cast anything that helps in the next battle.

Marie's prediction from last time was along the lines of "this unit (Wanda) will bring about the fall of King Banhammer (or, the fall of FAQ)" and maybe something about Wanda uncroaking him. Along the lines of "keeping your friends close and your enemies closer," they acquire Wanda thinking that she wouldn't possibly bring about the end of her own side, as it would be suicidal (under conventional thinking). She's not there because she's "interesting," and in fact she's barely used in FAQ; she's sidelined, and bored.

That's some of what I think Rob may be foreshadowing. Keep up the good work, man.

"This unit will uncroak her former ruler"?

[Amado]

"this unit (Wanda) will bring about the fall of King Banhammer (or, the fall of FAQ)" and maybe something about Wanda uncroaking him.

"This unit will uncroak her former ruler"?

If I heard that prediction about a unit, I would work to never be that unit's ruler.

[doran]

Oh whoops sorry I misread your post somehow and thought you were talking about Delphie's predictions.

[0beron]

It may be a bit of a stretch....but I think Clay is somehow gonna cast that spell and make Wanda take the bad Luckamancy-karma. She becomes incapacitated when she "falls" in Spacerock...
Like I said, its a stretch, but Luckamancy has to steal the Numbers from SOMEWHERE, what's to say it can't be her future?

[splintermute]

It may be a bit of a stretch....but I think Clay is somehow gonna cast that spell and make Wanda take the bad Luckamancy-karma. She becomes incapacitated when she "falls" in Spacerock...
Like I said, its a stretch, but Luckamancy has to steal the Numbers from SOMEWHERE, what's to say it can't be her future?

It wasn't just Spacerock - she was also incapacitated by her fall in tBfGK. Perhaps she's been cursed to be incapacitated by every future fall.

[0beron]

oooooh, I had forgotten about that! That definitely makes me more convinced Clay is gonna cast that particular spell.

[drachefly]

it strains my credulity when a character becomes a nexus of affection.

Yes and no. I definitely know real people who qualify - having had several interested parties at once, if not everyone.