Book 2 – Page 92

[0beron]

As much as I love this comic and the discussions that go with it, I think I am going to throw my laptop out the window if we get another 6 months of casters bickering at the portal and Hamster doing nothing. Alright already.

I agree to an extent. If the rest of the Great Minds who just appeared are there to make some quick point in the next page or 2, great. If they just slow it down more, I'm going to be seriously pissed. (And this is coming from someone who has been relatively content with "tunnel talk" so far)

[Oberon]

Given Jetstone's new goal, I dunno whether it would be in Parson's best interest to go through or not!

That is the elephant in the room that no one is discussing. Parson's plan was to take Jetstone, which would close the portal behind him. Charlie's plan is to have Slately move the capitol to Jetstone the city, which will close the portal behind Parson. So, Charlie is trying to do to Parson exactly what Parson would have done to himself... Odd, no?

The throne is where the King has to sit to change the Capital site, closing the portal, trapping Hamster.

But who is trapping whom?

a) Parson accepts "defeat" and retreats back to GK

I'm going.
Through.
The portal.
Issac.

Right now I'd love to see Parson and his stacked casters croak a few thinkamancers, if only to wipe the smug "We can drop you where you stand" right off of their faces... Seriously, who do I have to fuck to get some thinkamancers croaked?

[0beron]

Given Jetstone's new goal, I dunno whether it would be in Parson's best interest to go through or not!

That is the elephant in the room that no one is discussing. Parson's plan was to take Jetstone, which would close the portal behind him. Charlie's plan is to have Slately move the capitol to Jetstone the city, which will close the portal behind Parson. So, Charlie is trying to do to Parson exactly what Parson would have done to himself... Odd, no?

Yeah I've been thinking about that too. I can only conclude the following:

• For some really bizarre reason, Charlie wants to help Parson
• Charlie gains something from this deal, maybe Jetstone City being the capital again benefits him somehow
• He is going to do something that will make Parson WISH he could escape.

[Amado]

Whose "fan armor" is stronger, Sylvia's or Cubbins's?

Parson is going through that portal this turn. It has been Predicted. All that remains to be seen is: what occurrence --- that can reasonably be described as "Parson goes through that portal this turn" --- will actually transpire?

[the_tick_rules]

Aww, but they really should check the tower rubble.

[fehler]

Lets say Parson gets through sometime in the next year. And Slately manages to close the portal behind him.

Little does he know, he's standing next to someone who can take a razed capital site, and create a new side, reopening the portal. Problem solved.

[sheepfly]

I think that Slately is going to have a hissyfit when he finds out they broke his Holly keepsake.

Hey, we might even get a "You broke my sword!"/"Talky-man broke Thog's tusk!" moment.

[Goshen]

Marie's caveat on her prediction that Parson gets through the portal, maybe in one piece and maybe not, makes sense now.

The predictamancers and others may be physically stacked with Parson, but the Thinkamancers are all in think space with Parson and Maggie. I expect they could fry his brain if they wanted to, turning him into a warlord vegetable. They might regret it immediately afterward, though...

[joosy]

I wonder if this is all part of Parson's path to personally regaining the attributes of Leadership, Combat and Ruthlessness that the Sword of Ruthlessness gave him. He's been wishy washy on the whole idea of being in charge again because of the tough decisions he has to make.
I originally thought the underlying theme of this comic was the concept of free will but I am pleased to know there are lot of different concepts being fleshed out as well.

[TheTuna]

As much as I love this comic and the discussions that go with it, I think I am going to throw my laptop out the window if we get another 6 months of casters bickering at the portal and Hamster doing nothing. Alright already.

I agree to an extent. If the rest of the Great Minds who just appeared are there to make some quick point in the next page or 2, great. If they just slow it down more, I'm going to be seriously pissed. (And this is coming from someone who has been relatively content with "tunnel talk" so far)

Yeah, same. At least Sylvia is actually doing something now.
I read Erfworld to watch Parson screw with everyone with crazy plans, dammit!

Aww, but they really should check the tower rubble.

I get the impression that they don't have time because the Jetstone charge is forming up.

Whose "fan armor" is stronger, Sylvia's or Cubbins's?

Parson is going through that portal this turn. It has been Predicted. All that remains to be seen is: what occurrence --- that can reasonably be described as "Parson goes through that portal this turn" --- will actually transpire?

Cubbins is most likely dead either way, either they find him and kill him or the fire gets him and he dies. The question is what happens to everybody else.

[Whispri]

Sylvia is a nutcase because 1) she thinks she's special, 2) she has evidence to reinforce that belief, and 3) will gleefully destroy her own troops, but 4) only because she knows (believes?) she'll survive.

There's nothing worse or more dangerous than a leader who thinks they're special.

Is that close to Parson? To me, the difference is the enthusiasm and the motivation.

I couldn't disagree more, she's quite sane. Magic is real and she's had a very real spell cast upon her. Plus... her soldiers are doomed. Antium won't leave his post, which means piecemeal destruction is guaranteed. This way, there's a chance they'll live, that the fire will finish the enemy before it consumes them. Even if they all die, the Red Dwagons and maybe Sylvia holding the City is better than the entire army being destroyed and Jetstone chalking up a win.

And well, it's a plan. Any plan is better than no plan. Yeah, yeah, Archer has the right idea, but he had the right idea ten minutes too late.

Given Jetstone's new goal, I dunno whether it would be in Parson's best interest to go through or not!

That is the elephant in the room that no one is discussing. Parson's plan was to take Jetstone, which would close the portal behind him. Charlie's plan is to have Slately move the capitol to Jetstone the city, which will close the portal behind Parson. So, Charlie is trying to do to Parson exactly what Parson would have done to himself... Odd, no?

Yeah I've been thinking about that too. I can only conclude the following:

• For some really bizarre reason, Charlie wants to help Parson
• Charlie gains something from this deal, maybe Jetstone City being the capital again benefits him somehow
• He is going to do something that will make Parson WISH he could escape.

It could be that he's hurting Jetstone in order to gain a chance to Croak Parson. That is to say, he is eliminating the risk of the Garrison falling before Parson could reach it. Stage two then would be an attack in overwhelming force. If he has a band of Archons allied with a Side with a later slot in the Turn order, he may be able to do it today. It might be possible to do it with Haggard, their initiative slot is after Jetstone's.

Lets say Parson gets through sometime in the next year. And Slately manages to close the portal behind him.

Little does he know, he's standing next to someone who can take a razed capital site, and create a new side, reopening the portal. Problem solved.

And that's just the sort of thing Charlie might not know about too. Added bonus, Wanda could appoint her own Chief Warlord, someone like Artemis, a Level 8 Chief Warlord in the hex would be quite the spanner in Charlie's plan... well would it be 'E' at this point?

[Goshen]

Lets say Parson gets through sometime in the next year. And Slately manages to close the portal behind him.
Little does he know, he's standing next to someone who can take a razed capital site, and create a new side, reopening the portal. Problem solved.

And that's just the sort of thing Charlie might not know about too. Added bonus, Wanda could appoint her own Chief Warlord, someone like Artemis, a Level 8 Chief Warlord in the hex would be quite the spanner in Charlie's plan... well would it be 'E' at this point?

Stanley certainly wouldn't like that! What does it take for Wanda, or any other unit, to decide to split off without their overlord's permission?

[Shai_hulud]

"Gee I sure would like to set those people on fire over there, but I'm way to far away to get the job done. If only I had something that would throw flame on them."
http://youtu.be/V4nknAzQPHE

[Saladman]

As much as I love this comic and the discussions that go with it, I think I am going to throw my laptop out the window if we get another 6 months of casters bickering at the portal and Hamster doing nothing. Alright already.

Yeah... I've always previously been in the "it'll read better bound in one book" camp, but this page was absolutely aggravating. Parson and the thinkamancers are just repeating themselves now. Yes, we got it. We already knew the stakes and the positions. Get on with it!

Hopefully this one will still read better in print. But its still more frustrating than usual as a weekly update. At least we're getting some hot (literally! ha! I kill me) Scarlet-on-Archer action.

[Whispri]

Lets say Parson gets through sometime in the next year. And Slately manages to close the portal behind him.
Little does he know, he's standing next to someone who can take a razed capital site, and create a new side, reopening the portal. Problem solved.

And that's just the sort of thing Charlie might not know about too. Added bonus, Wanda could appoint her own Chief Warlord, someone like Artemis, a Level 8 Chief Warlord in the hex would be quite the spanner in Charlie's plan... well would it be 'E' at this point?

Stanley certainly wouldn't like that! What does it take for Wanda, or any other unit, to decide to split off without their overlord's permission?

Opportunity. Wanda has it in spades, as she has an army, a Capital Site within that army's grasp and is in fact the heir to Goodminton. Or the seed of Goodminton as it were, ready to sprout a new Side from this fertile soil. Oh and Parson has given her the highly dangerous order to stay alive at any cost, so she even has permission.

[drachefly]

Strategy #1: The Gnomes of Zurich
- GK is megarich. Hire any in the magic kingdom who stand against Parson. Order them throught he portal to SpaceRock. What is the mechanism for hiring from the MagicKingdom? I presume there is some sort of caster loyalty/alignment issue with hiring cost/success. Nothing smuckers could not solve.

Oh, like that wouldn't be violating MK neutrality.

[0beron]

Stanley certainly wouldn't like [Wanda splitting]! What does it take for Wanda, or any other unit, to decide to split off without their overlord's permission?

Opportunity. Wanda has it in spades, as she has an army, a Capital Site within that army's grasp and is in fact the heir to Goodminton. Or the seed of Goodminton as it were, ready to sprout a new Side from this fertile soil. Oh and Parson has given her the highly dangerous order to stay alive at any cost, so she even has permission.

Agreed. And as much as Stanley would hate it if he knew right away....he wouldn't. Wanda (and the Decrypted? assuming she could/would bring them with her) would just vanish from his Ruler Senses as if they had croaked, he wouldn't know they'd turned. And by the time he did, Maggie and Parson would have plenty of time to explain to him all the benefits. Better income, he gets to kick but with his Dwagons without Wanda getting in the way, the 2 Portals benefit, and the chance to pop even more casters on a new side that he could use.

[RichMan]

Strategy #1: The Gnomes of Zurich
- GK is megarich. Hire any in the magic kingdom who stand against Parson. Order them throught he portal to SpaceRock. What is the mechanism for hiring from the MagicKingdom? I presume there is some sort of caster loyalty/alignment issue with hiring cost/success. Nothing smuckers could not solve.

Oh, like that wouldn't be violating MK neutrality.

I thought that was standard practice. Unaligned casters retired to the Magic Kingdom until someother side hired them. So everything in the MK is a mercenary waiting for hire. If you had enough smuckers the whole place could be yours. The MK is the home to the elite caster units. The don't go barbarian, they retire to the MK and wait for rehire.

This is why JoJo exists now. He was freed to return to the MK by QueenB. But she made him swear not to hire out to a non-royal aligned side.

Hmmm. and if Parson counts as a caster and has Magic Kingdom access then is he a "mercenary" unit. He has no upkeep so won't auto-return if not paid for.

[BLANDCorporatio]

I won't wade into the "is Sylvia sane" debate yet (take a guess what my stance is, both guesses are plausible). But give the gal some credit, she's doing -something- that is immediate and plot-moving.

As opposed to the bloody thinkamancers who I'm beginning to wish were in the Courtyard with Sylvia. Where she'd teach them the benefits of brevity and concision, in the short span before flames turn everyone to cinder.

[ftl]

I thought that was standard practice. Unaligned casters retired to the Magic Kingdom until someother side hired them.

No, I think you're making too many assumptions there.

The MK is an area where casters hang out; that's all that's we know for certain about it. Some of those casters come from sides, and others are unaligned.

We know that SOME casters in the MK are willing to do work for hire, but that's it.

So everything in the MK is a mercenary waiting for hire.

This I think is completely unsupported by the text. The casters have their own reasons and motivations; some of them are for hire, but I don't think it's "all" of them by any stretch. I don't even know whether it's a majority - with all these conspiracies going around, casters might have better things to do than hire themselves out. I certainly can't see Isaac being particularly enthusiastic about leaving his studies to go do menial mercenary work.

Hmmm. and if Parson counts as a caster and has Magic Kingdom access then is he a "mercenary" unit. He has no upkeep so won't auto-return if not paid for.

No, I think this is quite wrong. Even if Parson is a caster and has MK access, that wouldn't mean he's a mercenary for hire.