Book 2 – Text Updates 056

[shamelessmerc]

I just want to say how much I love these peeks into the heads of the rank and file. Wrigley the Spearman, Mary Sagittari the Archer and now Pheobe the Archon. It puts a very "human" face on the totally-not-a-game.

That said, I want more time inside the hobgobwin's heads

[0beron]

Hmmmmm I have to wonder what's going to happen to her. I'm seeing a few possibilities:

• She stays hidden and thus prevents Jetstone promoting Trem
• She breaks cover to croak a high value target that is escaping (Trem, a caster, or Slately)
• Something hilarious and parody-esque that we wouldn't see coming

[drachefly]

Or Charlie calls her and she turns.

[0beron]

*presses imaginary LIKE button*

All kidding aside though, I find that a bit unlikely just because we already had that theme addressed with Ossomer. But it's possible.

[TheTuna]

That's an excellent point, actually. I guess she isn't counting Gobwin Knob erupting as a battle?

Well I woudnt count it as a battle either. They were winning the actual battle. Very easely in fact. And then the Volcano blow everyone up. You cant exactly blame Charlie for not seeing that coming.

Well, I dunno. If someone's winning a battle convincingly and then their opponent drops a tactical nuclear warhead on the battlezone, I'd still count that as part of the battle.

The volcano, while a last-ditch strategem, was still a strategy executed by Gobwin Knob forces to destroy their opponents; ergo, it is part of the battle.

I chalk this more so up to the Archons' inability to find any fault with Charlie. He is the master of Thinkamancy and one of the smartest people in Erfworld; if anyone could have seen the eruption coming, it is him.

[drachefly]

*presses imaginary LIKE button*

All kidding aside though, I find that a bit unlikely just because we already had that theme addressed with Ossomer. But it's possible.

If he was just the start, she could be the second. I'm not saying it will be, but there are ways this can work.

[effataigus]

What caught my eye on this update was the last two lines... especially for how much setup there was for them:

Yes, this engagement was a mistake. And this war was a mistake. Maybe all wars were a mistake. Maybe war itself was antithetical.

But without it, how would anybody do business?

To me, the emphasis placed on this lends credence to the theory that Charlie is responsible for orchestrating the failure of peace on Erfworld.

[0beron]

Agreed Drache

[Mizzle]

Well I woudnt count it as a battle either. They were winning the actual battle. Very easely in fact. And then the Volcano blow everyone up. You cant exactly blame Charlie for not seeing that coming.

Well I wouldn't count this as a battle. They were winning the actual battle. Very easily in fact. And then the turn ended. You can't exactly blame Parson for not seeing that coming.

Jetstone's crazy unprecedented spell is just taking slightly longer to do the killing.

[0beron]

Jetstone's crazy unprecedented spell is just taking slightly longer to do the killing.

Eh...I wouldn't be so sure. If Ossomer's turning was just the first snowball in the avalanche as Drache suggests, then GK could very quickly lose this battle. Or if they lose a key unit like Wanda, which also looks possible.

[Mizzle]

Jetstone's crazy unprecedented spell is just taking slightly longer to do the killing.

Eh...I wouldn't be so sure. If Ossomer's turning was just the first snowball in the avalanche as Drache suggests, then GK could very quickly lose this battle. Or if they lose a key unit like Wanda, which also looks possible.

I'm not making predictions about who'll win. I'm just saying Jetstone's time stop spell was as impressive as the volcano spell and completely turned the tide in an unforeseeable fashion by stopping GK movement across zones, letting them bring in reinforcements etc.
It's not as instant and GK still have a chance to turn it back around again and win but you can't say that the volcano spell doesn't count because Charlie couldn't see it coming and then count this battle. GK would have won this battle easily without Jetstone's crazy spell just like the coalition would have won the battle of Gobwin Knob easily without the volcano spell.

[raphfrk]

Or Charlie calls her and she turns.

That's what I thought was going to happen at the end. She called out to him, and it is established that the dish notifies him/his staff if someone wants to connect.

[0beron]

...it is established that the dish notifies him/his staff if someone wants to connect.

This is true, but concentration also seems to be required. So it would be a question of whether her "call" actually carried intent.

[MonteCristo]

This update does help explain why archon's in the past seem more effective than they do right now. At the battle of GK, the archons didn't just have their own leadship to work with, they would receive support from charlie getting boosted by his dish of 5; plus once they allied with jetstone they might receive Ansom's chief warlord bonus aswell. During this battle however, the archons are completely on their own and left to their own devices... The only bonuses they have to work with is the bonus of their own leaders which is no more than 3 and wanda's meager side-wide bonus of 1. This is against the bonus that Slately's stack which would benefit from as well as Trem's hex wide chief warlord bonus.


Though one thing i find odd about this update would be that i thought the captured archon was Monica... This either means that Xin made two archons that happen to look alike, there is a bit of inconsistency, or that pheobe hasn't been paying close enough attention to the battle to know that Monica was captured instead of dusted like Rachel.

[Lamech]

Hmmmmm I have to wonder what's going to happen to her. I'm seeing a few possibilities:

• She stays hidden and thus prevents Jetstone promoting Trem

If Jetstone needs to win to promote Tram this plan is even more of a screw up than I thought.

She breaks cover to croak a high value target that is escaping (Trem, a caster, or Slately)

That would be funny. Especially if it handed the kingdom to Ansom by getting rid of Slately.

Something hilarious and parody-esque that we wouldn't see coming

Misfired arrow.

I also like the possibility that this becomes the start of the avalanche. Decryption would still be powerful. Uber-Turnamancy and your guys get two lives. Although it would show the world the decrypted aren't puppets. That might actually work in GK's favor. In fact, it opens a new service: "Please resurrect my fallen caster/warlord/lover." In fact, if GK did it free for allies... that would be the start of the new world alliance.

[0beron]

She stays hidden and thus prevents Jetstone promoting Trem

If Jetstone needs to win to promote Tram this plan is even more of a screw up than I thought.

Well it was implied that Jetstone needed to dust every Archon in the airspace to have enough for making Trem Heir. However, they have now captured one alive, which was worth a lot more. On the flip side, this requires that Charlie deliver the bounty for a captured one without first having it in his custody, which doesn't seem like him. Also, his use of the word "credit" in explaining this whole deal to Trem is suspicious...he may not deliver ANY schmuckers to them this turn.

[HalfTangible]

Someday, Mistress and Charlie would come together and be on the same side.

Just wishful thinking of a unit who loves both Wanda and Charlie? Or foreshadowing?

I really liked this update. I love when we get to peek inside the mind of the Decrypted. At this point I'm fairly certain that Charlie will be able to turn at least one Decrypted Archon back to his side (probably more). Perhaps Phoebe will be captured by Jetstone and given to Charlie?

Wanda has been very adamant that it is the destiny of the Arkentools to be brought together. I assume she's told her decrypted this when prompted - and the Archons have plenty of reason to prompt about Charlie.

This update does help explain why archon's in the past seem more effective than they do right now. At the battle of GK, the archons didn't just have their own leadship to work with, they would receive support from charlie getting boosted by his dish of 5; plus once they allied with jetstone they might receive Ansom's chief warlord bonus aswell. During this battle however, the archons are completely on their own and left to their own devices... The only bonuses they have to work with is the bonus of their own leaders which is no more than 3 and wanda's meager side-wide bonus of 1. This is against the bonus that Slately's stack which would benefit from as well as Trem's hex wide chief warlord bonus.


Though one thing i find odd about this update would be that i thought the captured archon was Monica... This either means that Xin made two archons that happen to look alike, there is a bit of inconsistency, or that pheobe hasn't been paying close enough attention to the battle to know that Monica was captured instead of dusted like Rachel.

She said 'Tagged out'. That doesn't neccesarily mean 'dusted'.

[Salem]

A game like this would never have happened to Charlescomm. It never had happened. To lose this many in a single battle? Impossible.

Irony! So much delicious irony. Charlie would lose this many archons to a single spell. And give them to the enemy. And then lose some more because a few of the archons will survive here.

Hey, at least he didn't abandon them.

To be fair he only has never abandoned them because he was never there for them. he always led from afar which to be fair with his dish is probably most effective. But Wanda is there in the thick of battle even risking her life on falling into the atrium. Granted Phoebe probably doesn't know why she disapeared so she doesn't realize it's to further the battle. I just think it goes to show how powerful Charlie's "thought control?" is, whatever he uses. Either that or perhaps he's actively trying something on all the decrypted archons to try and turn them back.

Also I doubt Ossomer will be the last to turn, just in general it would seem weird, maybe fitting because he is definetly ossomer than the rest. But it seems like it's pointing out a flaw in wanda, she treats the decrypted like uncroaked. Even though they're sentient. Which I think is something that is going to pull her around to be more like she originally was less cold.

I don't think they need all the Archons caught, I imagine she'll survive and they'll still promote Trem. I also think that Charlie WILL pay up front for the archons as much as he's in a position to not pay a dying side that would also mean not getting the captured archon. Getting that Archon is probably worth it to him.

Finally, I think she is the captured one but to Phoebe being captured is probably as good as dead.

[Amado]

The thing that struck me was how much Phoebe (and, if it's safe to generalize, all Archons) are indoctrinated to think of battles as games. This, to me, hints that Charlie may know that the mechanics of Erfworld are strangely wargame-like. This, in turn, lends a bit of evidence to the theory that he was summoned from beyond Erfworld.

Evidence inconclusive, but Charlie is a gamer fo' life, yo.

[Nnelg]

She stays hidden and thus prevents Jetstone promoting Trem

If Jetstone needs to win to promote Tram this plan is even more of a screw up than I thought.

Well it was implied that Jetstone needed to dust every Archon in the airspace to have enough for making Trem Heir. However, they have now captured one alive, which was worth a lot more. On the flip side, this requires that Charlie deliver the bounty for a captured one without first having it in his custody, which doesn't seem like him. Also, his use of the word "credit" in explaining this whole deal to Trem is suspicious...he may not deliver ANY schmuckers to them this turn.

I don't think that there was that little margin for error. 165k schmuckers was the total bounty, (IIRC) so if the cost of promoting an heir was 150k then up to 3 archons could be safely missed (1 or 2 more, if you consider how much money Jetstone might have left in treasury).

Also, seeing as Charlie's being generous already in an attempt to gain an ally, I doubt he'd pull a fast one.

Hey, at least he didn't abandon them.

To be fair he only has never abandoned them because he was never there for them. he always led from afar which to be fair with his dish is probably most effective.

I meant he didn't forget about them and leave them to their fate. He kept in constant contact to the very end, an end which he was powerless to stop.