ErfWiki - User contributions [en]

Template:Subpage/doc

2011-01-01T11:33:03Z

Ichthus: Undo revision 40097 by 92.241.191.30 (Talk) Reason: Vandalism.

<includeonly>{{doc}}</includeonly>
==Usage==
Include in any sub-page that is being used purely as a reference blurb. Be sure to put the <nowiki><noinclude></nowiki> tags around it.
<pre><noinclude>{{subpage}}</noinclude></pre>

==Example==
Due to the nature of this template, the example can't actually work unless you're in the [[Template:Subpage/doc|/doc]] page of the template. If you cannot go up another level, the template will display nothing.
<pre><noinclude>{{subpage}}</noinclude></pre>
{{subpage}}
[[Category:Function Templates]]

User talk:AJ Impy

2009-10-18T22:30:53Z

Ichthus: Created page with '{{Welcome Notice|Ichthus|~~~~}}'

{{Welcome Notice|Ichthus|[[User:Ichthus|Ichthus]] ([[User talk:Ichthus|eyeBook]]) 22:30, 18 October 2009 (UTC)}}

Template:Welcome Notice

2009-10-18T22:14:32Z

Ichthus:

<includeonly>==Welcome!==
{| style="border: solid 1px turquoise; background-color: #e0ffff; padding: 10px; width: 100%; color: black;"
|
[[File:Dwagon_Pink_SpecialAttack.png|120px|right]]
Hello, {{BASEPAGENAME}}, and welcome to the ''ErfWiki''!

Thank you for [[Special:Contributions/{{BASEPAGENAME}}|taking an interest in our wiki]]. If you have any trouble or need help, feel free to ask questions on {{#if:{{{1|}}}|[[User talk:{{{1}}}|my talk page]] or any other|any}} editor's talk page. Also, you could look at a [[Help:Contents|help page]]. We hope you like it here and decide to stay!

You may wish to take a look at certain parts of the Wiki, most notably:
*[[ErfWiki:Style Guide|The Style Guide]] which provides important information in regards to article edits.

Please sign your name on talk pages by using four tildes (~~~~). This will automatically produce your name and the date. Signing your comments is important, as it lets other editors know who has posted which comments.

Again, welcome!

{{{2|}}}
|}</includeonly><noinclude>{{{{PAGENAME}}/doc}}</noinclude>

Template:Welcome Notice

2009-10-18T22:13:55Z

Ichthus:

<includeonly>==Welcome!==
{| style="border: solid 1px turquoise; background-color: #e0ffff; padding: 10px; width: 100%; color: black;"
|
[[File:Dwagon_Pink_SpecialAttack.png|120px|right]]
Hello, {{BASEPAGENAME}}, and welcome to the ''ErfWiki''!

Thank you for [[Special:Contributions/{{BASEPAGENAME}}|taking an interest in our wiki]]. If you have any trouble or need help, feel free to ask questions on {{#if:{{{1|}}}|[[User talk:{{{1}}}|my talk page]] or any other|any}} editor's talk page. Also, you could look at a [[Help:Contents|help page]]. We hope you like it here and decide to stay!

You may wish to take a look at certain parts of the Wiki, most notably:
*[[ErfWiki:Style Guide|The Style Guide]] which provides important information in regards to article edits.

Please sign your name on talk pages by using four tildes (~~~~). This will automatically produce your name and the date. Signing your comments is important, as it lets other editors know who has posted which comments.

Again, welcome!
{{{2|}}}
|}</includeonly><noinclude>{{{{PAGENAME}}/doc}}</noinclude>

Template:Welcome Notice/doc

2009-10-18T22:12:16Z

Ichthus: actually using the template in the example of the template.

<includeonly>{{doc}}</includeonly>

This is used as a simple welcome message to post on the talk page of a new member.

==Usage==
<pre>{{Welcome Notice
|Username (optional)
|~~~~}} (optional)</pre>

==Example==
<pre>{{Welcome Notice|Ichthus|~~~~}}</pre>

would display

{{Welcome Notice|Ichthus|[[User:Ichthus|Ichthus]] ([[User talk:Ichthus|eyeBook]]) 22:12, 18 October 2009 (UTC)}}
[[Category:Message templates]]

Category:Message templates

2009-10-17T05:45:28Z

Ichthus: Created page with 'These are used for quick form messages and announcements. Category:Templates'

These are used for quick form messages and announcements.
[[Category:Templates]]

Template:Welcome Notice/doc

2009-10-17T05:44:23Z

Ichthus:

<includeonly>{{doc}}</includeonly>

This is used as a simple welcome message to post on the talk page of a new member.

==Usage==
<pre>{{Welcome Notice}}</pre>

==Example==
<pre>{{Welcome Notice}}</pre>

would display

{{Welcome Notice}}

[[Category:Message templates]]

Template:Welcome Notice

2009-10-17T05:41:10Z

Ichthus:

<includeonly>==Welcome!==
{| style="border: solid 1px turquoise; background-color: #e0ffff; padding: 10px; width: 100%; color: black;"
|
[[File:Dwagon_Pink_SpecialAttack.png|120px|right]]
Hello, {{BASEPAGENAME}}, and welcome to the ''ErfWiki''!

Thank you for [[Special:Contributions/{{BASEPAGENAME}}|taking an interest in our wiki]]. If you have any trouble or need help, feel free to ask questions on {{#if:{{{1|}}}|[[User talk:{{{1}}}|my talk page]] or any other|any}} editor's talk page. Also, you could look at a [[Help:Contents|help page]]. We hope you like it here and decide to stay!

You may wish to take a look at certain parts of the Wiki, most notably:
*[[ErfWiki:Style Guide|The Style Guide]] which provides important information in regards to article edits.

Please sign your name on talk pages by using four tildes (~~~~). This will automatically produce your name and the date. Signing your comments is important, as it lets other editors know who has posted which comments.

Again, welcome! {{{2|}}}
|}</includeonly><noinclude>{{{{PAGENAME}}/doc}}</noinclude>

Template:Welcome Notice/doc

2009-10-17T05:38:18Z

Ichthus: Created page with '<includeonly>{{doc}}</includeonly> This is used as a simple welcome message to post on the talk page of a new member. ==Usage== <pre>{{Welcome Notice}}</pre> ==Example== <pre>...'

Template:Welcome Notice

2009-10-17T05:33:13Z

Ichthus: changing to normal documentation layout

<includeonly>==Welcome!==
{| style="border: solid 1px turquoise; background-color: #e0ffff; padding: 10px; width: 100%; color: black;"
|
[[File:Dwagon_Pink_SpecialAttack.png|120px|right]]
Hello, {{BASEPAGENAME}}, and welcome to the ''ErfWiki''!

Thank you for [[Special:Contributions/{{BASEPAGENAME}}|taking an interest in our wiki]]. If you have any trouble or need help, feel free to ask questions on {{#if:{{{1|}}}|[[User talk:{{{1}}}|my talk page]] or any other|any}} editor's talk page. Also, you could look at a [[Help:Contents|help page]]. We hope you like it here and decide to stay!

You may wish to take a look at certain parts of the Wiki, most notably:
*[[ErfWiki:Style Guide|The Style Guide]] which provides important information in regards to article edits.

Please sign your name on talk pages by using four tildes (<nowiki>[[User:Ichthus|Ichthus]] ([[User talk:Ichthus|eyeBook]]) 05:33, 17 October 2009 (UTC)</nowiki>). This will automatically produce your name and the date. Signing your comments is important, as it lets other editors know who has posted which comments.

Again, welcome! {{{2|}}}
|}</includeonly><noinclude>{{{{PAGENAME}}/doc}}</noinclude>

Talk:Glossary

2009-09-26T11:04:24Z

Ichthus:

Is this a good idea? I mean, a Glossary page is just asking to contain the basic contents of most of the rest of this Wiki...

Anyway, it would be a good idea to order the entries in the Glossary alphabetically.

:Agree with whomever put the previous statement. The wiki is an interactive glossary. --[[User:Ichthus|Ichthus]] ([[User talk:Ichthus|eyeBook]]) 11:04, 26 September 2009 (UTC)

Retconjuration

2009-09-01T22:21:28Z

Ichthus: /* Speculation */ lots of capitalization, a half dozen links, and changing the word 'mancy' to 'magic'

==Canon==
{{MagicSchool
|Naughtymancy
}}

=Proposed Canon=
Retconjuration is a theoretical school of magic and one of the three disciplines of the [[Magic]] class [[Naughtymancy]]; it is aligned with the axis of [[Numbers]].{{erf|1|038a|Parson's Klog #2}}

This school of magic allows past events to be changed to mesh with current needs. It is theorized that only the Titans have access to the powers of Retconjuration as it is too powerful for a mere mortal to comprehend even its smallest of ramifications. Being a very volatile subject, it is usually avoided in most public forums and viewpoints on the subject differ greatly.

The school of Retconjuration is notable for being an example of ''itself''; the [[Numbers]] axis of [[Naughtymancy]] was an entirely different school called "Deletionism" until the Titans realized that Retconjuration would be necessary for them to properly maintain Erfworld.

Mortal users of Retconjuration would be in position to engage each other in a war of existential reconstruction, up to the point that only a timeline where they were all erased would be stable. Of course, as there have been no mortal Retconjurers, this is not possible.

==Known Retconjurers==
The Titans.

=Speculation=

One line of fan speculation postulates that there could be a Retconjuration war going on between the [[Titans]], with one faction backing [[Stanley the Tool|Stanley the Tool's]] bid to overthrow royalty and unite the [[Arkentool]]s, and the other opposing it. So far, the side opposing Stanley has left an extra gem in a [[Marbit]] mine, leading to Stanley's defeat at the [[Battle of Warchalking]], and the other has caused [[Lookamancer]]s and [[Findamancer]]s to research the "Summon Perfect Warlord" spell, or possibly provided [[Parson]]'s glasses, bracer and sword, leading to the defeat of the [[RCC]].

==Real-World References==
The name refers to "retcon", short for "retroactive continuity", in which the history of a fictional setting is be changed after publishing to mesh better with the current desires of the author. This is ironic because this form of magic is itself a retcon.

[[Category:Proposed Canon]]
[[Category:Magic]]

Healomancy

2009-08-27T06:55:17Z

Ichthus: /* Natural Healomancy */ tossed in the panel number to the erf link.

==Canon==
{{MagicSchool
|Clevermancy
}}

=Proposed Canon=
Healomancy is one of the three disciplines of the [[Magic]] class [[Clevermancy]]; it is aligned with the axis of [[Fate]].{{erf|1|038a|Parson's Klog #2}}

==Abilities==
*[[Healing]] spells.

==Known Healomancers==
As of yet, no known Healomancers have been introduced.

=Speculation=
==Natural Healomancy==

It seems that [[Lofty Elves|Lofty]] and [[Altruist Elves|Altruist]] [[Elves]] have some form of natural [[healing]] abilities.{{erf|1|022|1}}

[[Category:Magic]]
[[Category:Proposed Canon]]
[[Category:Speculation]]

Talk:Retconjuration

2009-08-27T06:11:59Z

Ichthus: bored moment

==Retconjuration==
Per Rob on August 19th, 2009:

I am going to make a more drastic change. A change to the magic table. If you now look at Klog 2, you will see that the branch of magic I called "Deletionism" is no longer there. It has been deleted.

In its place is a new branch of magic: "Retconjuration." (The name was also Rich's idea.) This is a theoretical branch of magic, like an undiscovered element on the periodical table. No ordinary caster can practice it; there are no Retconjurers in Erfworld. It is reserved for the Titans. And I can tell you, they don't like it much and use it as seldom as possible. I apologize for invoking it now, especially to the wiki editors.

So, any differences you notice between the printed book and the old archives you can chalk up to Retconjuration, the ultimate form of Naughtymancy.{{WoT|8/19/2009}}

==Silliness==
"A deja vu is a glitch in Erfworld... it happens when the Titans Retconjure something." Just randomly thought of Parson having a Matrix moment. --[[User:Ichthus|Ichthus]] ([[User talk:Ichthus|eyeBook]]) 06:11, 27 August 2009 (UTC)

==Speculation from the page==
*May be a reference to "Chainfire," from the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind. "Chainfire" is a mental magic that changes people's memories to accommodate for the fact that Main Female Character Who Is a Major Political Figure's actions never happened, as that person never existed, even to themselves. Of course, this has the unfortunate effect of wiping out various sections of memory for varying people, bringing about The End of the World, unless Main Male Character does something. Also, balefire from the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan.--[[User:BarGamer|BarGamer]] 18:37, 20 August 2009 (UTC)
:*'''Retcon''' stands for '''Ret'''roactive '''Con'''tinuity. It's used to fix continuity screwups that have already been published or aired (Soap Operas are notorious for this and have been for decades). Of late, it's been used in various games to fix old lore to match wanted game mechanics. Anytime something doesn't line up with original backstory and the author writes something to dismiss why the old stuff might have been a fact. One example I can think of is the 2nd Jurassic Park book where the paleontologist in it refers to something a paleontologist in the first book said as fact and dismissed it as bad science. It's also an amnesia pill in the BBC series Torchwood which is named after the whole Retroactive Continuity thing as a joke. --[[User:Ichthus|Ichthus]] ([[User talk:Ichthus|eyeBook]]) 21:27, 20 August 2009 (UTC)

==Element and Axis==
Deletionism is Naughtymancy, the magic of Motion and Matter, and the abscence of Life. It is aligned to the axis of Numbers. How Deletionism manifests is as yet unclear, but it could be the Deletion of Life, or of Numbers, or the use of moving matter to "delete" life. [[User:Commander I. Heartly Noah|Commander I. Heartly Noah]] June 3 2009

Template:Blog/doc

2009-08-27T06:04:53Z

Ichthus: basic documentation.

<includeonly>{{doc}}</includeonly>
For references to the Erfworld Blog.
==Usage==
<pre>{{blog|year|month|title}}</pre>
==Example==
<pre>{{blog|2009|08|summer-updates-025}}</pre> would display {{blog|2009|08|summer-updates-025}}.

[[Category:Reference templates]]

Tchotchke

2009-08-27T05:55:21Z

Ichthus: /* Real World Reference */ removing someone's signature from inside the article itself.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; width:210px; height:150px" border="1" align="right"
|-
|{{crop|150|120|350|240|TBFGK_10-13.jpg}}
|-
|A Tchotchke unicorn (left) and cat (right) preparing for a mission with [[Sir Webinar]] (center).
|}

{{Stats
|name= Tchotchke
|class= [[Heavy Unit]]
|move=
|hits=
|combat=
|defense=
|special= [[Mount]]
}}

==Proposed Canon==
Tchotchke is a [[non-humanoid]] [[unit]] resembling a transparent glass animal.{{erf|1|009}}{{erf|1|010}}

Known varieties include unicorns, cats{{erf|1|010}}{{erf|1|025}}, and giraffes{{erf|1|097}}.

Tchotchkes (at least of unicorn variety) can be used as a [[mount]].{{erf|1|025}}

Tchotchkes are heavy units {{erf|1|009}}, but can still enter tunnels {{erf|1|097}}.

==Speculation==
===Known Users===

[[Royal Crown Coalition]] - probably [[Jetstone]] since tchotchkes are present in the attack on the [[Gobwin Knob]] tunnels, in which only [[Jetstone]] and [[Marbit]] forces were supposed to take part.{{erf|1|097}}. A tchotchke was also used as a [[mount]] by [[Webinar]] on one occasion.{{erf|1|025}}

==Real World Reference==
A glass unicorn may be a reference to the play "The Glass Menagerie."

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tcotchke Tcotchke] is a word in Yiddish (of Slavic origin) meaning "trinket" or "toy".

[[Category:Unit]]
[[Category:Mount]]
[[Category:Proposed Canon]]
[[Category:Speculation]]

Talk:Quotes: Erfworld

2009-08-25T01:16:08Z

Ichthus:

Uhh - I was just trying to eliminate "orphaned" pages, and I basically just made a page that does what the category does... xp

so, I dunno, delete this? unless someone wants to use it...

[[User:Commander I. Heartly Noah|Commander I. Heartly Noah]]

==Delete Request==
This page should be deleted. The Category of "Quotes" does the same thing.--[[User:Wrecan|Wrecan]] 23:14, 24 August 2009 (UTC)
:Just redirect it to the quotes category then. Viola, old links to this page still work. --[[User:Ichthus|Ichthus]] ([[User talk:Ichthus|eyeBook]]) 01:16, 25 August 2009 (UTC)

Talk:Dirtamancy

2009-08-24T19:28:37Z

Ichthus: /* Improvement of a city level */

==Element and Axis==
Dirtamancy is Stuffamancy, the magic of Matter. It is aligned to the axis of Erf. So, Dirtamancy is concerned with Stuff on Erf; specifically, rock, dirt, and crap. [[User:Commander I. Heartly Noah|Commander I. Heartly Noah]] June 3 2009

=="Unusual" bonus==
The page mentions that a bonus to mineral golems led by a dirtamancer is "unusual"... but for all we know any caster that can create units (like a dollamancer) also gives them a bonus. We know that this is true for croakamancers and uncroaked.

== Improvement of a city level ==

Isn't the improvement of the city level done automatically? That item needs a more detailed explanation, as it seems thoroughly misleading.
:Not sure, it was already up there and said that it required a caster-linkup. That part is pure speculation... not sure about the rest of it, because I wasn't willing to go through the comic again to disprove that part. --[[User:Ichthus|Ichthus]] ([[User talk:Ichthus|eyeBook]]) 19:28, 24 August 2009 (UTC)

Rand

2009-08-24T03:46:50Z

Ichthus: /* Speculation */ added real world references group to speculation, did a bulleted list of all of the various possiblities.

==Canon==
The Rand is a unit of currency used in the [[Magic Kingdom]]. It is not a physical coin or treasure, but a barter credit. Casters in the Magic Kingdom can offer their services or created [[scroll|scrolls]] to other casters in exchange for [[Shmucker|Shmuckers]], but more often it is done for Rands.

==Speculation==
Does not appear to be used outside the Magic Kingdom.

Rands may be used as a way to limit the power of [[Moneymancy|Moneymancers]] in the Magic Kingdom by existing outside their sphere of influence, but this will not be able to be confirmed until more is known about them.

==Real-World References==
*Possible reference to [[wikipedia:Ayn Rand|Ayn Rand]].
*May also be a reference to the [[wikipedia:South African rand|real-world currency]] of the same name.
*Could also be tied into a Janice Rand[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janice_Rand] (from Star Trek) reference, since the first use of the currency was when [[Sizemore Rockwell|Sizemore]] paid Janis for hippiemancy lessons.
*May also be a reference to the leading character of Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series, Rand[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rand_Al%27Thor]al'Thor.
[[Category:Canon]]
[[Category:Currency]]
[[Category:Speculation]]

Fabrication

2009-08-24T03:43:26Z

Ichthus: /* Known Users */

=Proposed Canon=
Fabrication is a [[Unit#Natural_Abilities|Special Ability]] using Natural [[Dollamancy]] that allows a [[Unit]] to create [[coin]]s and other non-magical items.

==Known Users==
*[[Bogroll]]
*[[Zhopa]]
*Fabrication is a natural ability for the [[Twoll]] race.

==Information==
Fabrication allows only the creation of [[Magic_Item|Non-Magical]] items. Magic items have to be created by [[caster|caster(s)]] of the appropriate [[Magic|discipline(s)]].

Forging of weapons and armor that doesn't [[pop]] with units is covered by this ability.

[[Category:Currency]]
[[Category:Proposed Canon]]

Fabrication

2009-08-24T03:43:05Z

Ichthus: Post reorganization. information from speculation moved to proposed canon. removed speculation category. added natural dollamancy info

=Proposed Canon=
Fabrication is a [[Unit#Natural_Abilities|Special Ability]] using Natural [[Dollamancy]] that allows a [[Unit]] to create [[coin]]s and other non-magical items.

==Known Users==
*[[Bogroll]]
*[[Zhopa]]
*Fabrication is a natural ability for the [[Twoll]] race.

Fabrication allows only the creation of [[Magic_Item|Non-Magical]] items. Magic items have to be created by [[caster|caster(s)]] of the appropriate [[Magic|discipline(s)]].

Forging of weapons and armor that doesn't [[pop]] with units is covered by this ability.

[[Category:Currency]]
[[Category:Proposed Canon]]

Dirtamancy

2009-08-24T03:37:05Z

Ichthus: /* Abilities */ Removed the requirement of a link to the Improvement of City Level as that part is purely speculation. The improvement of city level is not speculation.

=Canon=
{{MagicSchool
|Stuffamancy
}}

=Proposed Canon=
==Information==
Dirtamancy is one of the three disciplines of the [[magic]] class [[Stuffamancy]]; it is aligned with the axis of Erf.{{erf|1|038a|Parson's Klog #2}}

==Abilities==
*Creation of: 
:[[Acid Rock Golems]] 
:[[Crap Golems]] 
:[[Hard Rock Golems]] 
:[[Metal Golems]] 
:[[Soft Rock Golems]] 

*Moving and digging through solid stone. 
*Creating and healing golems. 
*Creation of booby traps. (Could be solely the application of enhanced digging or tunneling abilities.) 
*Construction and demolition of buildings and similar battlefield engineering tasks. (Could be solely the application of enhanced digging or tunneling abilities.)
*Alteration of terrain type. (Accomplished by a Dirtamancer linked by a Thinkamancer to a Croakamancer.)
*Improvement of city level.

==Known Dirtamancers==
[[Sizemore Rockwell]] in the service of the [[Plaid Tribe]].

==Dirtamancer Bonuses==
A dirtamancer is also known to give a substantial combat bonus to Dirtamancy [[golems]] under his or her command - unusual in that there are few other cases in which a caster can provide a [[leadership]] bonus.

A dirtamancer present in the city at the time of an upgrade also substantially reduces the cost.
[[Category:Magic]][[Category:Proposed Canon]]

Dollamancy

2009-08-24T03:34:50Z

Ichthus: /* Known Dollamancers */ Reorganized the 'Known Dollamancers'

=Canon=
{{MagicSchool
|Spookism
}}

==Proposed Canon==
Dollamancy is one of the three disciplines of the [[Magic]] class [[Spookism]]; it is aligned with the axis of [[Fate]].{{erf|1|038a|Parson's Klog #2}}

===Abilities===
*Can create non-living [[Unit]]s, including:
**[[Scarecrow]]
**[[Doll]]s
**[[Moll]]s

*Can create new outfits, called raiments, for units.

==Known Dollamancers==
*Ken of the Magic Kingdom (referenced, but not yet introduced){{ref|[[First Intermission 25]]}}
*Transylvito Dollamancer (not yet introduced, though [[Jillian Zamussels|Jillian]] speculates that [[Transylvito]] likely employs one to create its [[Scarecrow]], [[Doll]], and [[Moll]] units.) {{ref|[[First Intermission 13]]}}

==Speculation==
*A style of magic that specializes in a 'Voodoo Doll' type of control that forces a unit to act against its own will.
*Possibly involved in the creation of [[Golem#Cloth_Golem|Cloth Golems]]
[[Category:Proposed Canon]]
[[Category:Speculation]]
[[Category:Magic]]

Talk:Retconjuration

2009-08-20T21:27:41Z

Ichthus: /* Speculation from the page */ forgot to login before signing... *sigh*

==Retconjuration==
Per Rob on August 19th, 2009:

I am going to make a more drastic change. A change to the magic table. If you now look at Klog 2, you will see that the branch of magic I called "Deletionism" is no longer there. It has been deleted.

In its place is a new branch of magic: "Retconjuration." (The name was also Rich's idea.) This is a theoretical branch of magic, like an undiscovered element on the periodical table. No ordinary caster can practice it; there are no Retconjurers in Erfworld. It is reserved for the Titans. And I can tell you, they don't like it much and use it as seldom as possible. I apologize for invoking it now, especially to the wiki editors.

So, any differences you notice between the printed book and the old archives you can chalk up to Retconjuration, the ultimate form of Naughtymancy.{{WoT|8/19/2009}}

==Speculation from the page==
*May be a reference to "Chainfire," from the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind. "Chainfire" is a mental magic that changes people's memories to accommodate for the fact that Main Female Character Who Is a Major Political Figure's actions never happened, as that person never existed, even to themselves. Of course, this has the unfortunate effect of wiping out various sections of memory for varying people, bringing about The End of the World, unless Main Male Character does something. Also, balefire from the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan.--[[User:BarGamer|BarGamer]] 18:37, 20 August 2009 (UTC)
:*'''Retcon''' stands for '''Ret'''roactive '''Con'''tinuity. It's used to fix continuity screwups that have already been published or aired (Soap Operas are notorious for this and have been for decades). Of late, it's been used in various games to fix old lore to match wanted game mechanics. Anytime something doesn't line up with original backstory and the author writes something to dismiss why the old stuff might have been a fact. One example I can think of is the 2nd Jurassic Park book where the paleontologist in it refers to something a paleontologist in the first book said as fact and dismissed it as bad science. It's also an amnesia pill in the BBC series Torchwood which is named after the whole Retroactive Continuity thing as a joke. --[[User:Ichthus|Ichthus]] ([[User talk:Ichthus|eyeBook]]) 21:27, 20 August 2009 (UTC)

==Element and Axis==
Deletionism is Naughtymancy, the magic of Motion and Matter, and the abscence of Life. It is aligned to the axis of Numbers. How Deletionism manifests is as yet unclear, but it could be the Deletion of Life, or of Numbers, or the use of moving matter to "delete" life. [[User:Commander I. Heartly Noah|Commander I. Heartly Noah]] June 3 2009

Retconjuration

2009-08-20T17:12:48Z

Ichthus: Moved the speculation to Proposed Canon, because it's good stuff...

Retconjuration

2009-08-20T17:08:42Z

Ichthus: /* Proposed Canon */ wording change. and yes, that is the correct version of 'its'

Twoll

2009-08-20T17:04:42Z

Ichthus: moved references.

[[Image:TBFGK 10-4.jpg|right|thumb|An unnamed twoll practicing what appears to be very elementary [[Mathamancy]].{{erf|1|010}}]]

__TOC__

=Proposed Canon=
A Twoll is a [[humanoid]] [[unit]]. Twolls share the same articulation problem as [[dwagon]]s, [[gobwin]]s, and [[spidew]]s.

One notable twoll is [[Bogroll]].

Twolls appear to come in one eyed (like Bogroll) and two eyed (unnamed twoll, as depicted) varieties.

=Speculation=
Apparently personal hygiene is a weak point of twolls.{{erf|1|037}}

[[Fabrication]] appears to be a [[Unit#Natural_Ability|Natural Ability]] of all Twolls. Other possibility is that [[Fabrication]] is an ability of Henchmen/Lackeys.

Bogroll created a breastplate for Parson. {{erf|1|036|4|Bogroll crafing the armor at the forge.}} {{erf|1|037|3|Bogroll presenting the armor to Parson}} Indeed, it seems that equipping others (just [[Warlord|Warlords]] or others also?) is part of his job as henchman.{{erf|1|037}} Later, Zhopa created a picnic basket out of an ordinary basket for Parson, and he implied that he could create more than that (e.g. chairs).[http://www.erfworld.com/2009/08/summer-updates-%E2%80%93-023/]

Bogroll also cooked{{erf|1|037|8|Pigeon and walnut pie}} and created a Parson-disguise that included a wig and a second eye.{{erf|1|074|11}} It's unclear whether these are examples of Fabrication.

So far the only [[side]] seen using twolls is [[Gobwin Knob]].{{erf|1|077a}}

[[Category: Unit]]
[[Category: Humanoid]]
[[Category: Proposed Canon]]
[[Category: Speculation]]

Twoll

2009-08-20T17:02:52Z

Ichthus: /* Speculation */ added the breastplate Bogroll crafted back in since someone deleted it as well as {{erf}} references to various crafting stuff.

[[Image:TBFGK 10-4.jpg|right|thumb|An unnamed twoll practicing what appears to be very elementary [[Mathamancy]].{{erf|1|010}}]]

__TOC__

=Proposed Canon=
A Twoll is a [[humanoid]] [[unit]]. Twolls share the same articulation problem as [[dwagon]]s, [[gobwin]]s, and [[spidew]]s.

One notable twoll is [[Bogroll]].

Twolls appear to come in one eyed (like Bogroll) and two eyed (unnamed twoll, as depicted) varieties.

=Speculation=
Apparently personal hygiene is a weak point of twolls.{{erf|1|037}}

[[Fabrication]] appears to be a [[Unit#Natural_Ability|Natural Ability]] of all Twolls. Other possibility is that [[Fabrication]] is an ability of Henchmen/Lackeys.

Bogroll created armor for Parson. Indeed, it seems that equipping others (just [[Warlord|Warlords]] or others also?) is part of his job as henchman.{{erf|1|037}} Later, Zhopa created a picnic basket out of an ordinary basket for Parson, and he implied that he could create more than that (e.g. chairs).[http://www.erfworld.com/2009/08/summer-updates-%E2%80%93-023/]

Bogroll also cooked{{erf|1|037|8|Pigeon and walnut pie}}, crafted a breastplate{{erf|1|036|4|Bogroll crafing the armor at the forge.}} {{erf|1|037|3|Bogroll presenting the armor to Parson}}, and created a Parson-disguise that included a wig and a second eye.{{erf|1|074|11}} It's unclear whether these are examples of Fabrication.

So far the only [[side]] seen using twolls is [[Gobwin Knob]].{{erf|1|077a}}

[[Category: Unit]]
[[Category: Humanoid]]
[[Category: Proposed Canon]]
[[Category: Speculation]]

Twoll

2009-08-19T21:23:57Z

Ichthus: /* Speculation */ added the breastplate Bogroll crafted.

[[Image:TBFGK 10-4.jpg|right|thumb|An unnamed twoll practicing what appears to be very elementary [[Mathamancy]].{{erf|1|010}}]]

__TOC__

=Proposed Canon=
A Twoll is a [[humanoid]] [[unit]]. Twolls share the same articulation problem as [[dwagon]]s, [[gobwin]]s, and [[spidew]]s.

One notable twoll is [[Bogroll]].

=Speculation=
Apparently personal hygiene is a weak point of twolls.{{erf|1|037}}

[[Fabrication]] appears to be a [[Unit#Natural_Ability|Natural Ability]] of all Twolls. Bogroll created armor for Parson. Indeed, it seems that equipping others (just [[Warlord|Warlords]] or others also?) is part of his job as henchman.{{erf|1|037}} Later, Zhopa created a picnic basket out of an ordinary basket for Parson, and he implied that he could create more than that (e.g. chairs).[http://www.erfworld.com/2009/08/summer-updates-%E2%80%93-023/]

Bogroll also cooked for Parson, created a breastplate, and created a Parson-disguise that included a wig and a second eye. It's unclear whether these are examples of Fabrication.

So far the only [[side]] seen using twolls is [[Gobwin Knob]].{{erf|1|077a}}

[[Category: Unit]]
[[Category: Humanoid]]
[[Category: Proposed Canon]]
[[Category: Speculation]]

Wikipedia

2009-08-19T19:10:13Z

Ichthus:

Below is the latest edition Erfworld article from Wikipedia (retrieved on 2009-04-27) + 2 earlier versions of plot summaries taken out of revision history. 
The three versions of the plot summary were combined and copied to [[Plot Summary]]. You are very welcome to further improve that article.

Still to do here:
*clean up the formatting

'''''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob''''' is a story-driven fantasy/comedy webcomic about a master strategy gamer stuck in a wargame. It is written by Rob Balder (the author of ''PartiallyClips'') and illustrated by Jamie Noguchi. The comic is hosted on Giant in the Playground Games,[http://www.giantitp.com/index.html] along with Rich Burlew's ''The Order of the Stick''. It was recognized as one of the top 10 graphic novels of 2007 by Time Magazine.[http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/top10/article/0,30583,1686204_1686244_1692143,00.html]

''Erfworld'' follows a graphic novel format, with a new page added with each update. The setting is ''Erfworld'', a fantasy world that adheres to the rules of a turn-based strategy wargame. The narrative focuses on a complex story of battles and heroism within this world, but most installments also contain humor about strategy-fantasy video games, role-playing games, and references to history or popular culture. There are frequent puns and side-gags, as well as letter changes in frequently used names (spidews, dwagons and twolls instead of spiders, dragons and trolls ).

''Erfworld's'' plot, setting, and characters are released under a Creative Commons Attribution, Noncommercial, ShareAlike license.[http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29092]

==Plot synopsis==
''Erfworld's'' premise is that overlord '''Stanley the Plaid''' is conducting a military campaign to quest for the Archentools - artifacts of ancient power left behind by the Titans who created the Erfworld. Stanley controls one of these tools, the '''Arkenhammer''', but his quest for the others seems to have been costly and unsucessful; the story opens as his final living warlord is killed in battle. Stanley's chief adviser '''Wanda Firebaugh''' convinces him to purchase a "Summon Perfect Warlord" spell as a final attempt to prevent defeat. The spell summons Earth gamer '''Parson Gotti''' into the Erfworld, where he is to serve as chief warlord under Stanley.

Meanwhile, '''Prince Ansom of Jetstone''' is leading a massive coalition toward Stanley's capital, Gobwin Knob, hoping to destroy Stanley's side forever. Ansom's coalition has many members, but it's most prominent members are Jetstone (Ansom's own kingdom), the forces of Transylvito (a vampire-like people) and Archons (hovering female fighters) he has hired from '''Charlie''', a powerful overlord and mercenary. Early in the comic, one of Ansom's officers, '''Jillian Zamussels''' (who seems to also be his love interest) flies on a scouting mission, but is captured by Stanley's forces and taken to Gobwin Knob. Wanda interrogates Jillian and, having gained magical or emotional control of her actions, releases her back to Ansom's control, hopefully to become an unwitting double agent.

During this time, Parson has been learning the battle mechanics of Erfworld and has planned an attack on Ansom's coalition. He sends a force of dwagons to make hit-and-run raids on the coalition forces: destroying heavy-siege units then retreating. Ansom and his forces are led into various traps by Parson as they pursue the wounded dwagons, but eventually Jillian locates them. She seems unwilling to attack because she is under Wanda's mind-control spell, but the spell ultimately fails and Jillian leads her force in an attack. Parson fights back, but, when Prince Ansom flies to Jillian's aid, the dwagons are routed and destroyed.

Stanley is enraged about Parson and Wanda's unsuccessful plans and decides to take his last stand back into his own hands. He takes the surviving dwagons, his Foolamancer, and the best of his Knights in Stanley's Service, then - apparently believing defense to be a lost cause - departs his capital to start his side afresh on the uninhabited site of another capital he sacked some years ago. In response, Ansom dispatches a force of air units, led by Jillian, to hunt down Stanley. They are to join up with a force from Transylvito and head Stanley off at a narrow pass. Stanley's departure is a major turning point in the story, as these events leave Parson in sole command of the limited forces remaining at Gobwin Knob, which he must rally in a final stand against Ansom's much larger coalition.

Parson quickly puts some defensive plans and tricks into action. Parson contacts Charlie, and asks him to switch sides. Charlie declines (stating that it would harm his reputation) but seems impressed with Parson and agrees to sit the fight out. Also, as Ansom's forces scout out the mining tunnels under Gobwin Knob to find weak points, Parson orders '''Sizemore''', Stanley's dirtmancer, to ignore all but the scouts closest to the city, but to strike those with overwhelming force; this ploy leads Ansom to believe that the tunnels under the city are mostly unguarded. Ansom sends a force of Jetstone units into the tunnels, apparently believing that he has found an undefended path to the main city garrison.

Elsewhere, Stanley and his flight of dwagons arrive at the choke point where Jillian and the Transylvito forces plan to engage him. An intense fight leaves Stanley with heavy losses, but he escapes under a veil cast by his foolmancer. Beaten but alive, Stanley flies slowly back toward Gobwin knob.

Meanwhile the final battle for Gobwin Knob begins in earnest. Parson sends a large force led by Sizemore into the mining tunnels under Gobwin Knob to repel Ansom's underground attack. Hidden traps are activated that badly damage the Jetstone units, and Sizemore kills the commanding warlords with a rock golem. After sustaining these losses, the invaders are soon routed. Sizemore seals the tunnels against further incursion and Wanda resurrects the fallen enemies from this underground conflict to make an army of uncroaked soldiers, which Parson will use to protect the outer walls of Gobwin Knob.

The sight of uncroaked former Jetstones defending the walls of Gobwin Knob appears to exacerbate tensions within Ansom's coalition and outrages Ansom himself to the point of launching a one-man assault on the walls. He cuts a swath through the uncroaked horde with the '''Arkenpliers''' (his own archentool) and appears successful until a counterattack by Wanda damages him badly enough that he must engage Charlie's help again, presumably at a very high cost. With Charlie's help, Ansom breaches the outer wall of Gobwin Knob and Parson has his units stage a fighting retreat into the city proper. Ansom pours his units into the city in pursuit and does a Dance Dance Revolution-style dance led by Charlie's Archons, which gives his forces a massive bonus and leads them to victory.

Parson asks to personally surrender to the victorious Ansom atop Gobwin Knob's parapet. Instead of surrendering, however, Parson orders his twoll lackey, '''Bogroll''', to be magically disguised as himself and sends the twoll to surrender in his place. Ansom realizes the trick too late and the twoll tackles the prince off his flying carpet; Ansom and the twoll fall from the height of the parapet, and are both killed in front of the entire coalition army as they hit the floor below. Parson follows his assassination of Ansom by ordering Sizemore to collapse all the mining tunnels beneath the city, completely destroying Gobwin Knob and most of the coalition forces within its walls. This rack and ruin is insufficient for victory though; too many coalition forces remain alive. Parson retreats with the casters into the more isolated portal room to plan the desperate final attack that will be the story's climax. Gobwin Knob is built atop an extinct volcano, so Parson orders the casters to make it erupt. The casters use magic to link the minds of Wanda the croakmancer and Sizemore the dirtmancer, so that with their combined skill they can uncroak the volcano.

Parson and the casters flee though a portal to escape the resulting eruption, and return to find a scene of utter ruin. The coalition is erased and the terrain itself changed. Sizemore shows Parson that he has discovered a fortune in gems exposed by the volcano, while Wanda finds the Archenpliers, Ansom's archentool, and attunes to them.

====Earlier Version====

Overlord Stanley the Plaid is conducting a military campaign to quest for the Archentools - artifacts of ancient power left behind by the Titans who created the Erfworld. Stanley controls one of these tools, the Archenhammer, but he has not led his fight successfully and the story opens as his final living warlord is killed in battle. Stanley's chief adviser Wanda Firebaugh convinces him to purchase an expensive "Summon Perfect Warlord" spell as a last-ditch hope of staving off defeat. The spell summons Earth gamer Parson Gotti into the Erfworld, where he is to serve as chief warlord under Stanley.

Meanwhile, '''Prince Ansom of Jetstone''' is leading a massive coalition toward Stanley's capital, Gobwin Knob, hoping to destroy Stanley's side forever. Ansom's coalition has many members, but it's most prominent members are Jetstone (Ansom's own kingdom), the forces of Transylvito (a vampire-like people) and Archons (hovering, female warriors) he has hired from the powerful caster and mercenary '''Charlie'''. '''Jillian Zamussels''', both one of the coalition's officers and Ansom's love interest, flies on a scouting mission, but is captured by Stanley's forces and taken to Gobwin Knob. Wanda interrogates Jillian and, confident of her emotional domination of the prisoner, releases her back to Ansom's control to become an unwitting double agent.

During this time, Parson has been learning the battle mechanics of Erfworld and has planned an attack on the coalition. He sends a force of dwagons to make hit-and-run raids on the coalition forces: destroying heavy-siege units then retreating. Ansom and his forces are led into various traps by Parson as they pursue the wounded dwagons, but eventually Jillian locates them over a lake. Jillian is unwilling to attack because she is under Wanda's mind-control spell and flounders for a reason to avoid doing so. '''Jaclyn''', one of the Archons, presses her for a decision to either attack, switch sides, or quit. Unable to accept any of those options, Jillian overcomes Wanda's spell and leads her force in an attack. Parson directs a counterattack, but Prince Ansom flies to Jillian's aid and the dwagons are routed and destroyed. Stanley is enraged about Parson and Wanda's unsuccessful plans and decides to take his last stand back into his own hands.

Stanley takes the surviving dwagons, his Foolamancer, and the elite of his Knights in Stanley's Service, then departs his - probably doomed - capital to start his side afresh on the uninhabited site of another capital he sacked some years ago. This leaves Parson in sole command of the limited forces remaining at Gobwin Knob, which he must rally in a final stand against Ansom's vast coalition.

While examining the tunnels under Gobwin Knob, Parson learns from '''Sizemore''', Stanley's dirtmancer, that they were designed for mining rather than defense, and can only be collapsed to a limited extent before bringing down the entire city. During this conversation, Sizemore describes Stanley's rise to power. Originally a common pikeman, Stanley was promoted to warlord. He then found and was attuned to the Arkenhammer, enabling him to tame dwagons. The battles he won as a result impressed then-ruler King Saline IV, who made Stanley his Chief Warlord and Heir Designate. After a gobwin rebellion against Saline while Stanley was out on a mission, Stanley returned and took control of the realm.

As Ansom's forces approach Gobwin Knob, Jillian surmises that Stanley has fled and requests permission to pursue, but refuses to explain where he went or how she knows. After her request is denied, she tells her story to Ansom in person. Jillian had been the heir to Faq, a small hidden kingdom. Unhappy with life at home, she led mercenary expeditions to supplement Faq's treasury. While on a mission, she got a message describing a massive dwagon flight over Faq, and then found her status changed to barbarian. Continuing to take mercenary jobs to support herself, she learned that Stanley was a likely suspect in the attack. This was confirmed the first time she was captured by Stanley's forces, and encountered a spellcaster from Faq working for Stanley. (A flashback panel reveals to the reader that she is referring to Wanda Firebaugh.) After this explanation, Ansom agrees with Jillian's conclusion that Stanley is headed to the ruins of Faq with the intent of making a new start there.

Parson then begins putting his new plan into motion. He directs Sizemore to lead his golems in an overwhelmingly strong attack against the furthest-advanced Marbit scouts in the tunnels, ignoring all other forces. He then consults '''Maggie''', the Thinkamancer, who tells him that Wanda will probably recover eventually, but not yet.

Parson then has Maggie put him in direct contact with Charlie, and offers him a deal. Charlie takes a friendly tone, but declines to damage his reputation by changing sides in mid-conflict. After Maggie tells him that she has the stamina to send only one more Thinkagram this turn, Parson contacts Ansom and deliberately goads him, scoffing at royalty and declaring that Stanley's attunement to the Arkenhammer shows him to be Ansom's "superior".

However, this goading is unknowingly interrupted by Stanley. The Foolamancer was mentally damaged by the severing of the link, and has been unable to cast a proper veiling spell to help Stanley evade pursuit. Stanley contacted Maggie to see if she can help with the problem. She suggests addressing the Foolamancer by his proper name to restore his sense of self; unfortunately, neither she nor Stanley knows what his name is.

Ansom dispatches a force of air units, led by Jillian, to hunt down Stanley. They are instructed to break alliance with Jetstone at the end of the day and re-ally with the Translyvito (another member of the coalition). This will give them a late-afternoon turn now and an early-morning turn tomorrow, thus giving them a double move before Stanley can get any further. Ansom then sends a force of Jetstone units led by Webinar and Dora into the tunnels, believing (thanks to Parson's earlier ruse) that he has found an undefended path to the main city garrison.

Jillian leads her forces directly over Gobwin Knob, buzzing the Tower of Efdup. She confronts Wanda, who has partially recovered from her collapse. After Jillian declares her intention of hunting down Stanley and freeing Wanda from his service, Wanda activates the tower's anti-air defenses. This strikes down several Unipegataurs and Jaclyn the Archon, but spares Jillian herself. The intruders retreat, and Wanda heads down to the courtyard to uncroak the fallen enemy units, providing Gobwin Knob with a small air force.

That night, Parson discusses plans with Sizemore and Wanda. Sizemore is very unhappy about fighting, not because he fears death but because he does not wish to kill. However, he accepts that he has no real choice. Wanda intends to go after Stanley and rescue him, but is dissuaded when Parson explains that he has made a deal with Charlie. Freed of his Jetstone alliance by Ansom's turn-order exploit, Charlie is bowing out, avoiding a new alliance with Transylvito by making them an unacceptably expensive offer. Without the Archons reinforcing the enemy, Stanley will be able to survive on his own.

The next day, Parson's turn does not begin at dawn as usual. Instead, a large number of Archons arrive in Gobwin Knob airspace, and Charlie offers to hire Parson and extricate him from the siege. Parson declines, and convinces Charlie to stand by and await the outcome of the battle with Ansom's forces.

When Parson's turn does begin, a box of "Luckmancy Charms" appears, along with the final piece of a sword. The back of the box indicates that the items that have been appearing in his meals to date (a pair of glasses that let him see unit stats, a bracelet that interfaces with his calculator watch to compute battle odds, and the previous pieces of the sword) are there to correct flaws in the summoning spell and make Parson the "Perfect Warlord" he was originally supposed to be.

Parson learns from Wanda that the Foolamancer's name is "Jack", and has Maggie contact him in an attempt to get him to convince Stanley to return to Gobwin Knob with the dwagons. However, Jack does not seem to understand. Stanley, Jack, and the rest of the group continue on until they reach a choke point, where Jillian, Vinny, and a force of Transylvito warlords and bats wait in ambush. Transylvito warlord '''Caesar Borgata''' leads the assault, planning to make up for the departure of the Archons with a large quantity of bats reinforced by warlord bonuses.

Stanley fights his way through, and heads for Jillian, who has been left in the rear as a last-ditch backup. Jillian and Jack recognize each other, and Jack snaps out of his derangement. He uses his illusions to help Stanley escape.

Finding himself with only a half dozen of his original dwagons and still on the wrong side of the choke point, Stanley is convinced to abandon his plan and head back toward Gobwin Knob.

Back at the city, Parson sends a large force led by Sizemore into the tunnels. Traps (disabled earlier to conceal their presence) are activated, and Sizemore himself is confronted by Webinar and Dora. He re-animates one of his defeated golems, who then squashes the two Jetstone leaders. With the loss of their leaders, the invaders are routed. Sizemore then seals the tunnels against further incursion, and Wanda mass-uncroaks the fallen enemies.

The sight of uncroaked former Jetstones defending the walls of Gobwin Knob exacerbates tensions within Ansom's coalition and outrages Ansom himself to the point of launching a one-man assault on the walls. He cuts a swath through the uncroaked horde with the Arkenpliers, until Wanda leads her flying uncroaked units against him. Ansom loses the Arkenpliers and is knocked from his flying carpet, falling to the city walls. He desperately offers Charlie a new alliance, and one of the Archons presents him with a set of "amended" terms, which he grudgingly accepts.

The Archons then disintegrate Wanda's flying uncroaked forces, including the unipegataur she was riding. Ansom recovers the Arkenpliers and confronts Wanda, but she is rescued by Sizemore and his golems. As the attackers breach the walls, Parson has his units stage a fighting retreat into the city proper, and moves his headquarters to the dungeon beneath the city.

Ansom seizes the courtyard and Parson relays a desire to personally surrender to Ansom through Charlie. However, the surrendering Parson is revealed to be Bogroll wearing his guise and the twoll tackles an unprepared Ansom off of his flying carpet in front of the entire coalition army. Both are apparently croaked - Ansom by the fall and Bogroll by the enraged coalition forces immediately after.

As the coalition regroups and prepares to storm the dungeons, Parson formulates a desperate plan to uncroak the volcano using the skills of Maggie, Wanda and Sizemore. The plan succeeds and devastates the coalition, apparently annihilating all of the besiegers who entered the city and those in the surrounding hexes. Charlie attempts to treat with Parson but he refuses and escapes into the portal with the casters.

====Yet Earlier Version====

After a brief description of the origins of Erfworld, the comic begins with the Battle of Warchalking, a conflict between the forces of '''Stanley the Plaid''' and Marbit (and possibly other) forces. The battle ends in defeat for the Plaid, when Stanley's last living warlord is slain. Stanley's chief adviser '''Wanda Firebaugh''' convinces him to purchase a powerful and expensive "Summon Perfect Warlord" spell as a last-ditch hope of staving off defeat.

However, Stanley insists that Wanda cast the spell herself (ignoring her attempts to explain that she specializes in '''croakamancy''' and the spell requires a '''findamancer''') and he insists that this "perfect warlord" be "BIG" (he also asks for other skills, which are inadvertently met e.g. eats marbits for breakfast). The spell summons '''Parson Gotti''' from a gaming session in his apartment. It appears at first glance that, although Parson is big compared to the Erfworld inhabitants, he is not exactly the "perfect" warlord, and the spell may have failed.

Meanwhile, '''Prince Ansom of Jetstone''', the leader of a coalition against Stanley, and '''Jillian Zamussels''', a female barbarian officer in his forces, plan their final assault on Stanley's capital city, Gobwin Knob. Jillian flies a scouting mission; as soon as she leaves, Ansom sends a squad of heavy ground units led by '''Sir Webinar''' and '''Dora''' to follow her as emergency backup. Jillian is captured by a dwagon squadron and taken to Gobwin Knob, where Wanda interrogates her. Their interactions suggest that they are romantically or otherwise intimate.

After concluding the interrogation, Wanda, confident of her emotional domination of the prisoner, plans to deliberately release her to be found by Webinar's squad. Expecting Ansom to personally lead a rescue expedition, Wanda, Stanley, and Parson plot an ambush. The trap fails when '''Vinny Doombats''', one of Ansom's warlords, persuades him to remain with the main column. Instead, Ansom sends most of his flying forces. In addition, he contacts '''Charlie''' and hires three of '''Charlie's Archons''' from him to reinforce Webinar's group.

Taking advantage of the enemy column's lack of air cover, Parson sends a force of dwagons to make hit-and-run raids. They surgically target heavy siege units, which are critical to Ansom's attack plans, and then retreat. After the raids, Vinny's scout bats discover a ring of dwagons in the forest near the column. Inferring that this formation has been deployed to protect the attacking dwagons until they heal, Ansom assembles a force to punch through the far side of the ring (its weakest point) and finish them off while they are still wounded and vulnerable.

Ansom's force fights its way into the circle, and finds nothing inside. The ring formation is a trick (in fact, the wounded dwagons are hovering over a nearby lake, out of reach of enemy ground units). Ansom considers his options for salvaging the situation. In the hope of saving the remaining siege units, he orders Jillian to lead the air units in a hunt for the wounded dwagons.

Jillian begins to carry out the search as ordered. However, she deliberately sends Webinar, Dora, and most of the slower flying units on wild-goose chases and leaves them behind. Then, she declares that she is abandoning the mission in favor of heading directly back to Ansom's position to help him escape from the dwagon ring. One of the Archons confronts her with the question of whether her actions are the result of being under a spell... just as they find the group of wounded dwagons.

Meanwhile, Stanley and his advisers monitor the situation from the situation room at Gobwin Knob, using a battlefield command-and-control display generated by three mentally linked spellcasters: a '''Lookamancer''', a '''Thinkamancer''', and a '''Foolamancer'''. Parson worries that Jillian's group is getting too close to the wounded dwagons; however, Wanda insists that Jillian will not attack. '''Sizemore Rockwell''', another of Stanley's casters, warns that the suggestion spell on Jillian might break if it requires actions (such as ignoring enemy units) that are too difficult to rationalize away; Wanda angrily dismisses his concern.

Face to face with the wounded dwagons, Jillian is unwilling to attack, and flounders for a reason to avoid doing so. '''Jaclyn''', one of the Archons, presses her for a decision to either attack, switch sides, or quit. Unable to accept any of those options, Jillian collapses... and then recovers, sending a message to Ansom declaring her hatred for Stanley and love for Ansom. She then leads her force in an attack.

Parson directs a focused counterattack, ordering his forces to "croak, not capture" the enemy warlord. Wanda objects, but Parson and Stanley are unswayed. However, Ansom comes to Jillian's rescue just in time, with Vinny in tow. With these reinforcements, the dwagons are routed and destroyed. Stanley will not listen to Parson's attempt to suggest a new plan of attack, and orders Parson, Wanda, and Sizemore out of his sight. As they leave (with Parson carrying Wanda, who is in a state of shock), he sends a command to recall all of his surviving forces to Gobwin Knob, and orders the three casters to break their link.

Parson decides that he has to risk Stanley's wrath and convince him to attack the enemy leaders. Before he can do so, he finds that the surviving dwagons (from the decoy ring) have returned to Gobwin Knob. Stanley takes them, along with the Foolamancer and the top three units of the Knights in Stanley's Service, and departs the city. Parson goes to the situation room and finds that '''Misty''', the Lookamancer, was killed by the severing of the link. He reviews the very limited resources left to him to defend the city.

While examining the tunnels under Gobwin Knob, he learns from Sizemore that they were designed for mining rather than defense, and can only be collapsed to a limited extent before bringing down the entire city. During this conversation, Sizemore describes Stanley's rise to power. Originally a common pikeman, Stanley was promoted to warlord. He then found and was attuned to the Arkenhammer, enabling him to tame dwagons. The battles he won as a result impressed then-ruler King Saline IV, who made Stanley his Chief Warlord and Heir Designate. After a gobwin rebellion against Saline while Stanley was out on a mission, Stanley returned and took control of the realm.

As Ansom's forces approach Gobwin Knob, Jillian surmises that Stanley has fled and requests permission to pursue, but refuses to explain where he went or how she knows. After her request is denied, she tells her story to Ansom in person. Jillian had been the heir to Faq, a small hidden kingdom. Unhappy with life at home, she led mercenary expeditions to supplement Faq's treasury. While on a mission, she got a message describing a massive dwagon flight over Faq, and then found her status changed to barbarian. Continuing to take mercenary jobs to support herself, she learned that Stanley was a likely suspect in the attack. This was confirmed the first time she was captured by Stanley's forces, and encountered a spellcaster from Faq working for Stanley. (A flashback panel reveals to the reader that she is referring to Wanda Firebaugh.) After this explanation, Ansom agrees with Jillian's conclusion that Stanley is headed to the ruins of Faq with the intent of making a new start there.

==Characters==
* '''Stanley the Tool''', formerly '''Lord Stanley The Plaid''': Overlord of the city of Gobwin Knob and of the nearly lost Plaid tribe.[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erfcast.html] He started off as a piker unit under King Saline IV and eventually rose to the position of warlord.[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0087.html King Saline IV later paid to have Stanley promoted to Heir Designate. Thus, when King Saline IV was killed in an attack while Stanley was away, Stanley and his unit were not dissolved and retook the city. He possesses the Arkenhammer, a mysterious tool of divine origin.[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0004.html][http://web.archive.org/web/20041225030750/http://www.supercoolstuff.com/items/misc/nv680.htm] Lord Stanley is involved in an ongoing war in an effort to find the other Arkentools, believing it is the will of the Titans he control them. Unfortunately for him, this war has reduced his realm from eleven cities to only Gobwin Knob itself.[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0005.html] He had Wanda summon "the perfect warlord" in an attempt to win the battle for Gobwin Knob, which yielded Parson Gotti.<ref name=erf0016>Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0016.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 16)]</ref><ref name=erf0017>'''Wanda:''' I thought we agreed I was looking for the perfect military mind. [...] / '''Stanley:''' I want that too! Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0017.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 17)]</ref> In Stanley's first meeting with Parson, Parson convinced him that "tool" was a term of honor. Drawing a connection between this title and his search for the Arkentools, Stanley declared that he should henceforth be addressed as "Tool".<ref name=erf0020>'''Stanley:''' I have a higher calling! I am a Tool! / '''Wanda:''' I see, Lord. / '''Stanley:''' ''Not'' Lord. Tool. From now on, everyone addresses me as "Tool!" Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0020.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 20)]</ref> Stanley objects strongly to being called a "bad guy,"<ref name=erf0031>'''Parson:''' [...] I always did like playing the bad guys, which we obviously are. [...] / '''Stanley:''' (menacingly) I'm curious, Hamster... What makes you think we're the "bad guys?" Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0031.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 31)]</ref> and considers himself to be divinely favored by the Titans.<ref name=erf0032>'''Stanley:''' The Titans left [The Arkenhammer] here for a ''reason''. It chose ''me'' for a divine ''reason.'' Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0032.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 32)]</ref> Stanley's underlings often suffer from his unchecked ego and limited patience, as well as his limited intelligence.

* '''Wanda Firebaugh''': Chief Croakamancer serving Lord Stanley, and a member of the lost Croatan tribe.<ref name=erf0002>'''Narrator:''' [...] And that made a bad day considerably worse...for Lord Stanley's Chief Croakamancer: Wanda Firebaugh. Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0002.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 2)]</ref> She is a patient and skilled manager,<ref name=erfcast/> though she is ruthless in battle and not above using seduction as a means of manipulating others.<ref name=erf0054>Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0054.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 54)]</ref> She is skilled at many types of magic, but has stated that only Croakamancy (which she uses to animate fighters "croaked" in battle as uncroaked<ref name=erf0027>'''Stanley:''' Uncroaked. They each fell in battle and Wanda... whatchacallit... / '''Parson:''' Animated them? / '''Stanley:''' Animated them. Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0027.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 27)]</ref>) holds any interest for her.<ref name=erf0013>'''Sizemore:''' [...] I'm good at nothing beyond my specialty. But I do love to study everything. / '''Wanda:''' [...] I can manage quite a number of magicks outside Croakamancy, but I have little interest in them. Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0013.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 13)]</ref> At croakmancy she is very powerful, showing in the battle for Gobwin Knob that she is able to mass-uncroak thousands of dead infantry at once. As of the end of the battle for Gobwin Knob, she wields and is attuned to the Archenpliers. Before serving Stanley, Wanda was a caster at Faq, the same kingdom that Jillian originates from. Her name is an approximation of the phrase "wand of fireball," a fairly common magic item in "Dungeons & Dragons" and other fantasy games.

* '''Parson Gotti''' aka '''Lord Hamster''': Depicted as the author of the webcomic [http://www.hamstard.com Hamstard]<ref name=erf0014>Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0014.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 14)]</ref> (actually created by the authors of Erfworld as a meta-background for Parson's character and as an "easter egg"). Parson spends months at a time designing strategy games for his own amusement as an escape from an unsatisfying job and life.<ref name=erf0016/> He was summoned to Erfworld by Wanda on Lord Stanley's orders, called by a spell meant to summon "the ultimate warlord". Parson comes across as intellectual and somewhat detached in his klog where he asks the philosophical questions of whether erfworld is real or just a coma dream of his, if his action truly are his own (the summoning is supposed to put him under Stanley's command) and the ethics of his situation (his actions makes him responsible for thousands of deaths and he is serving what appears to be the evil side). Still he chooses to tentatively accept the reality of the situation and the role he has been given. Parson has a dry sense of humor and some of the comic's jokes consist of his reflections over the weird world he finds himself in. Parson is large by Erfworld standards, standing roughly twice as tall as Wanda Firebaugh.<ref name=erf0020/> He does not conform to all the rules of the universe, for example, he doesn't have visible "stats" like the in-world characters. His name is an anagram for "Protagonist".

* '''Prince Ansom''': Formally Chief Warlord to King Slately of the Jetstone<ref name=erfcast/> and the leader of the Royal Crown Coalition fighting against Stanley.<ref name=erf0021>Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0021.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 21)]</ref> He was a skilled leader, warrior and tactician but lacked modesty and was prone to reckless behavior when his pride was at stake. His crest was a radish. He carried the Arkenpliers, though he was not attuned to them, and thus could not use their full abilities.<ref name=erf0022>'''Ansom:''' I wield the Arkenpliers. But I am not attuned to them, as Stanley is to his artifact. Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0022.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 22)]</ref> He had a history of personally riding to Jillian's rescue,<ref name=erf0045>'''Wanda:''' [...] "Ansom, with his long history of personally riding to [Jillian's] rescue, flies his air units out to escort her back to the column." Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0045 ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 45)]</ref> and Wanda believes he was in love with her.<ref name=erf0043>'''Wanda:''' I know [Ansom's] entire battle plan. [...] As for his weaknesses, he is in love with our prisoner. And I control her mind. Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0043.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 43)]</ref> While he apparently looked down on those not of royal or noble houses---Vinny correctly guesses that he despised Stanley not so much for his attacks on other peoples as on the fact he came to rule by regicide---he did, according to Jillian, honestly believe in the concept of noblesse oblige, and as a result often put himself in unnecessary danger to protect his troops. He has been croaked by Bogroll.<ref>http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0145.html</ref>

* '''Jillian Zamussels''': A female barbarian and warlord, fighting for the army of Prince Ansom. She has been known to engage in combat even when directed to avoid it.<ref name=erf0009>'''Ansom:''' AVOID any engagements if you can! / '''Jillian:''' Oh, I am. Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0009.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 9)]</ref><ref>'''Ansom:''' [...] She's not just scouting; she's apparently hitting targets of opportunity. Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0010.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 10)]</ref> She has an unrealistically oversized sword.<ref name=erfcast/> Her personal relationship with Prince Ansom is initially unclear but evolves into a battlefield romance; she declined Ansom's invitation to join him in his tent, but later that night approached it, stopped, and walked away. <ref name=erf0008>Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0008.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 8)]</ref> Later, she professes her love for Ansom after breaking Wanda's spell, and it is suggested that they sleep together when she spends a night on his flying carpet after he saves her from the ensuing ambush by Stanley's dwagons. Jillian has a reputation for being frequently captured by the enemy. She chats casually with Wanda after being tortured and interrogated by her,<ref name=erf0036>Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0036.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 36)]</ref> but later suddenly breaks down and collapses. It is revealed that Wanda is able to influence her feelings and thoughts.<ref name=erf0039>Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0039.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 39)]</ref> She has stated that she was originally the heir of the kingdom of Faq, an isolated and peaceful Utopian kingdom and the daughter of King Banhammer, a philosopher-king who disliked his heir for her violent and aggressive ways.<ref name=erf0082>Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0091.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 82)]</ref>

* '''Sizemore Rockwell''': A Dirtamancer in the armies of Gobwin Knob and one of the few remaining members of the Plaid Tribe.<ref name=erfcast/> He is very curious and loves to study all types of magic, but is unskilled in any beyond his specialty.<ref name=erf0013/> He has helped Parson learn how magic works in Erfworld (insofar as the Erfworlders themselves understand it), but knows little about military matters.<ref name=erf0040>'''Klog:''' Sizemore and I have been talking magic theory. [...] He's about as knowledgable a guy as I could want for a teacher. Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0040.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (Parson's Klog #2)]</ref><ref name=erf0044>'''Klog:''' It's harder to get information about this stuff that it was about magic. Sizemore barely knows the basics. Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0044.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (Parson's Klog #4)]</ref> When forced into combat as the battle reaches Gobwin Knob itself, he is very regretful about taking lives, but reluctantly accepts it as his duty to do so.

* '''Bogroll''': A one-eyed twoll who served as a guardsman in Gobwin Knob and lackey to Parson.<ref name=erf0029>'''Bogroll:''' My Lords! I am reporting as Lackey retainer to Lord Hamster, by the order of my Lady Firebaugh. Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0029.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 29)]</ref> He was loyal and typically good-natured, although a frequent target of the other guardsmen's pranks.<ref name=erf0028>'''Bogroll''': Mung, why do the other henchmen pick on me? / '''Mung''': Because it's fun. Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0028.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 28)]</ref> Bogroll is presumably croaked, having sacrificed himself in a kamikaze style attack on Ansom. Bogroll was a character in the PartiallyClips strip,<ref>Balder, R; [http://www.partiallyclips.com/index.php?id=1009 Bogroll the Cyclops], ''PartiallyClips'', 2002-09-08. Retrieved June 29, 2007.</ref> and is the only crossover between PartiallyClips and Erfworld. His name is a British English colloquialism for toilet paper.

* '''Vinny Doombats''': A count of the Transylvito tribe who fights for the Royal Crown Coalition, Vinny has the appearance of a vampire (though sunlight apparently does not harm him). Vinny seems to be a close adviser and friend of Prince Ansom, to whom he has few qualms about speaking frankly, in a colorful accent and with colloquial slang. He has confronted Ansom with his opinion that Stanley's commoner origins, not his military aggressions against several coalition members, are at the root of Ansom's antipathy toward Stanley, while assuring Ansom that this issue would not affect his personal loyalty.<ref name=erf0034>'''Vinny:''' You know I gotcher back no matter what. But what I can't figure out is, why are you leading this fight? [...] / '''Ansom:''' Can't it just be that I want to end a great evil? / '''Vinny:''' It could be. [...] But your beef is he's not royal, right? Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0034.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 34)]</ref> As his name implies, he controls the coalition's bat scouting units. His name is a reference to Vinny Goombatz, a fictional character created by stand-up comedian Rodney Dangerfield.

* '''Maggie''': A Thinkamancer in the employ of Gobwin Knob. She is very skilled in her specialty and amoral in its application. She can send thinkagrams (telepathic messages) and link multiple casters together to combine their powers. She controlled a link with the Foolamancer Jack Snipe and the Lookamancer Misty, then later a link with the Croakmancer Wanda and the Dirtmancer Sizemore. It is heavily implied that when she broke the first link, she protected herself from the backlash at the expense of the other two. Visually, she resembles Margaret Thatcher. Parson described her as "Kind of a cold fish."

* '''Charlie:''' The Overlord of Charlescomm. Charlie has consistently remained offscreen, interacting with other characters via remote communication (similarly to the unseen "Charlie" of the TV program Charlie's Angels). Charlie was first contracted by Prince Ansom to supply a group of Archons to reinforce the expedition sent to rescue Jillian Zamussels. Later, after Ansom broke off the alliance in the expectation that Charlie would make a new alliance with Transylvito, Charlie instead took advantage of his release from his contract to begin dealing with Parson. Charlie shows no real commitment to either side, but does value his reputation as a mercenary who "stays bought". His main motivation though is his own profit.

===Known Arkentools===
There are four Arkentools known to be in existence,<ref name=erf0042>Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0042.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 42)]</ref> but only three have appeared in the comics.

*'''Arkenhammer''': A hammer resembling a toy croquet mallet. Owned by and attuned to Stanley the Plaid/Tool, the Arkenhammer has the power to control dwagons, to glow brightly, to levitate along with its wielder, to turn approximately 20 percent of walnuts cracked with it into pigeons and to turn some units into walnuts<ref name=erf0126>Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0126.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 126)]</ref>. Stanley claims the Arkenhammer has chosen him for divine reasons, and uses this as rationale for his quest to obtain the other tools.
*'''Arkenpliers''': A sword-sized pair of needle-nose pliers. Previously owned by but not attuned to Prince Ansom, they served as a close combat weapon and had the power in his hands to "turn most Uncroaked to dust". It is not yet known what powers they would manifest in the hands of an attuned wielder. Stanley believed that Ansom's attack on Gobwin Knob was divinely directed to bring the Arkenpliers to him. Seen in the hands of the unnamed Red Warlord of the Coalition, immediately prior to a volcanic eruption. They are now in the possession of Wanda, and have attuned to her.
*'''Arkendish''': An object resembling a satellite dish. Owned by and attuned to Charlie, it gives him a mastery of Thinkamancy. Possibly gives the ability to summon "Charlie's Archons." Parson uses the fact that Charlie is not a Royal but is still attuned to it to further provoke Ansom.

==The World==
===Game Rules===
The laws of nature governing Erfworld are similar to the rules of a turn-based strategy game. Forces are divided into "sides" each of which is controlled by an overlord; overlords have powers over their units that are similar to those of a player in a strategy game.

====Turns and Movement====
Battle takes place in turns; each side is able only to attack on its own turn and no turns occur during the night. Each unit (a term that encompasses both various creatures and sapient beings) has a certain amount of "Move," which governs the maximum distance it may travel during its side's turn. Thus, units may only travel to other locations during their turn, but at other times, they may only move around within the bounds of the hexagonal region, or "hex," where they ended up after their own turn.

====Units and Stats====
All people in Erfworld appear fully formed as adults. Any side is able to "pop" new units each turn at each of its city sites. Units can learn new skills and gain promotion at a cost of time and money, or these abilities and ranks can simply be "popped" along with the unit. Each unit has an "upkeep" cost, paid by the overlord of its side out of the treasury. At the start of their side's turn, each unit receives rations, heals back to full health, and experiences minor maintenance such as personal cleanup.

Units have various battle stats associated with them. Each has a "level" as would a unit in a strategy game. Level determines power in battle and increases with successive victories. Certain units can also offer bonuses (temporary boosts in level) to the forces they are leading; warlords give a bonus to the troops they lead, as do certain casters. One of the stranger bonuses available is "dance fighting," a bonus earned by leading one's forces while dancing.

====Boop====
One of the more unusual features of the Erfworld universe is that it appears to be censored. When Parson is summoned to the world, he discovers almost immediately that whenever he attempts to use a word that could be considered a profanity it comes out as "Boop". It is clear from Parson's reaction that this is an in-universe mechanic. <ref name=erf0018>Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0018.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 18)]</ref>

The natives of Erfworld apparently understand that the word represents profanity, but it is unclear whether they understand each boop as the word Parson had intended to use. Sizemore and Wanda are the only characters to have responded appropriately to a word that was "booped out," but it is possible they determine the word's meaning from the context. <ref name=erf0035>'''Sizemore:''' This...is called a "chamber pot." / '''Parson:''' Magic item? / '''Sizemore:''' You wish. / '''Parson:''' Boop. / '''Sizemore:''' Exactly! Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0035.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 35)]</ref>

There is one notable exception to the general censorship. "Crap" has been used by the natives of Erfworld, both before and after Parson is summoned there.<ref>[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0006.html Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob page 6 (Lady Firebraugh)]</ref><ref>[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0013.html Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob page 13 (Sizemore)]</ref><ref>[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0105.html Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob page 95 (Jillian Zamessels)]</ref> Only Jillian Zamussels' use of the word has been other than literal, though the earliest use by Lady Firebaugh could have been taken as both a literal observation and a curse word. Artist Jamie Noguchi has stated that he does not believe the word "crap" to be profanity<ref>[http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2262172&postcount=3 Post in Erfworld forums by Jamie Noguchi.]</ref>.

On the second night after Stanley the Tool leaves Gobwin Knob, Parson overhears the Gobwin troops singing drinking songs which work around the restriction by alluding to -- rather than explicitly describing -- deficiencies in manhood among the Jetstone and Transylvito factions.<ref>[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0113.html Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob page 101]</ref> For instance, he is surprised to learn that Erfworlders can use the word "testes". Other characters seem to have figured out their own loopholes; for example, one of Ansom's allies remarks that "the Sofa King is Sofa-King finished here" on page 117.

Artist Jamie Noguchi stated that once that Boop was originally supposed to be "meep" <ref>[http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1856008&postcount=2 Post in Erfworld forums by Jamie Noguchi.]</ref>.

===Magic===
Magic can be performed in Erfworld by units called casters. Each caster has a specialty in one of twenty-four magical disciplines, but can theoretically cast in any discipline. These specialties can be combined by mentally linking casters together using the magical disciple "thinkmancy"- a process that increases magical power but sometimes harms the casters involved when their link is broken.

It is explained in the [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0040.html second Parson's Klog], that three fundamental elements (Life, Motion, and Matter) are combined in all possible combinations to get eight major classes of magic. Magic within each class can be further aligned to any of three axes (Erf, Fate and Numbers), thus dividing each class into three disciplines. This gives a total of twenty-four disciplines, which are described - along with any known details - in the tables below:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Life
! Motion
! Matter
! Class
|-
!'''X'''
!
!
! Hocus Pocus
|-
!
!'''X'''
!
! Spookism
|-
!
!
!'''X'''
! Stuffamancy
|-
!'''X'''
!'''X'''
!
! Eyemancy
|-
! '''X'''
!
! '''X'''
! Hippiemancy
|-
!
! '''X'''
! '''X'''
! Naughtymancy
|-
! '''X'''
! '''X'''
! '''X'''
! Stagemancy
|-
!
!
!
! Clevermancy
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
|
! '''Erf'''
! '''Fate'''
! '''Numbers'''
| Notes
|-
! Hocus Pocus
! Findamancy
! Predictamancy
! Mathamancy
! Findamancy and Predictamancy were used to summon Parson; Predictamancers have been indicated to be akin to seers<ref>http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0091.html Erfworld, chapter 1: The Battle for Gobwin Knob page 82. Jillian: "His [Banhammer's] Predictamancer told him that his precious toy kingdom would fall someday."</ref>. Mathamancy is described as: "Analyzing probabilities... predicting outcomes" and "the raw calculations of that work"<ref name="giantitp.com">[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0060.html Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob page 54]</ref>.

|-
! Spookism
! Turnamancy
! Dollamancy
! Weirdomancy
!
|-
! Stuffamancy
! Dirtamancy
! Changemancy
! Dittomancy
! The Dirtamancer, Sizemore Rockwell, has been shown to be able to animate different types of rock into golems <ref>[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0059.html Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob page 53]</ref>, to be able to dig through solid rock<ref>Page 84, Parson's Klog 7</ref>, and to deal with Gobwin Knob's night soil in ways up to and including animating it into "crap golems".
|-
! Eyemancy
! Lookamancy
! Thinkamancy
! Foolamancy
! Lookamancy has only been shown as a form of scrying. Thinkamancy has been shown to deal with telepathy, including creating a mind link with other casters that allows spells that normal casters cannot even comprehend <ref name="giantitp.com"/>, Thinkagrams, and suggestion spells. Foolamancy has been shown to function around illusions and veiling troops. The Eyebooks used by the main characters in Chapter 1 are made through a combination of all three disciplines of Eyemancy<ref>[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0035.html Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Know page 35]</ref>.
|-
! Hippiemancy
! Flower Power
! Signamancy
! Date-a-mancy
!Time perception crumbles in the presence of Flower Power<ref>http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0011.html</ref>. It can also be used to "quiet" a battle<ref>http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0013.html</ref>, though the precise meaning of "quiet" has not been revealed.
|-
! Naughtymancy
! Shockmancy
! Croakamancy
! Retconjuration
! Croakamancy includes the creation of Uncroaked.
|-
! Stagemancy
! Hat Magic
! Carnymancy
! Rhyme-o-mancy
!
|-
! Clevermancy
! Luckmancy
! Healomancy
! Moneymancy
! Clevermancy consists of none of the Elements, and is described by author Rob Balder as "raw magic dealing with raw magical forces"<ref>[http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2315787&postcount=29 post by Rob Balder in the Erfworld Forums]</ref>.
|}

==Recognition==
Despite being a "young" webcomic, ''Erfworld'' has been recognised by several sources and webcomic authorities. Other webcomics authors such as Howard Tayler of ''Schlock Mercenary''<ref>[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/blog/index.php/2007/01/14/what-exactly-is-an-erf/ "What, exactly, is an “Erf?”"], Howard Tayler, ''Schlock Mercenary'' blog, January 14, 2007. Retrieved June 29, 2007. </REF> and Mohammad "Hawk" Haque of ''Applegeeks''<ref>[http://www.applegeeks.com/blog/?p=1441 "Erfworld Launched"], Mohammed Hoque, ''Applegeeks'' blog, December 7, 2006. Retrieved June 29, 2007.</ref> have posted reviews and comments about ''Erfworld'', and it has been cited on the webcomic site ''Fleen'',<ref>[http://www.fleen.com/archives/2007/01/19/ "What on Erf do you mean, "My Language"?"] Gary Tyrrell, ''Fleen'', January 19, 2007. Retrieved June 29, 2007.</ref> by authors outside the webcomic field such as Time-Blog and ''Time (magazine)|Time'' author/journalist Lev Grossman in his articles "Webcomics are the New Blogs"<ref>[http://nerdworld.blogs.time.com/2007/01/31/webcomics_are_the_new_blogs_th_1/ "Webcomics Are the New Blogs: The Order of the Stick"], Lev Grossman, Time (magazine)|TIME.com, January 31, 2007. Retrieved June 29, 2007.</ref> and "Erfworld: It's a Boopin' Good Webcomic!"<ref>[http://nerdworld.blogs.time.com/2007/04/10/erfworld_its_a_boopin_good_web/ "Erfworld: It's a Boopin' Good Webcomic!"], Lev Grossman, TIME.com, April 10, 2007 Retrieved June 29, 2007.</ref> Grossman also listed Erfworld as one of the Top 10 Graphic Novels of 2007.<ref>[http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/top10/article/0,30583,1686204_1686244_1692143,00.html "Top 10 Graphic Novels (#6: Erfworld)"], Lev Grossman, Time (magazine)|TIME.com, December 10, 2007. Retrieved December 11, 2007.</ref> The addition of ''Erfworld'' to GiantITP was noted in "First Watch," ''Dragon (magazine)|Dragon Magazine's'' monthly section on new developments in gaming and entertainment.<ref>"First Watch." Dragon Magazine, Issue #354 March 2007: 16.</ref>

==References==

==External links==
* [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erflatest.html ''Erfworld'']
* [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erfcast.html The main cast of characters]
* [http://erfworld.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page Erfworld Wiki, maintained in part by creators Rob Balder and Jamie Noguchi]
[[Category:Comic]][[Category:Wiki]]

Talk:Regeneration

2009-08-19T08:40:55Z

Ichthus:

==Existence==
With the retconjuration of the recent [http://www.erfworld.com/2009/08/the-ultimate-naughtymancy/|news update], is there still a Natural Ability called Regeneration? The only reference to it that I can recall is the now-retcon'd appearance in Bogroll's stats. -- [[User:Yehonatan|Yehonatan]] 06:28, 19 August 2009 (UTC)
:Leave the page up, but remove the Bogroll references. Never know when actual Regeneration might crop up. You might even mention on the page that this was removed via Retconjuration. --[[User:Ichthus|Ichthus]] ([[User talk:Ichthus|eyeBook]]) 08:40, 19 August 2009 (UTC)

ErfWiki talk:Community Portal

2009-08-19T08:36:32Z

Ichthus: deletionism vs Retconjurism info

===Deletionism vs Retconjurism===
Per {{WoT|8/19/2009}} I think I've changed all relevant references to Deletionism in the wiki except for the Klog graphic itself. --[[User:Ichthus|Ichthus]] ([[User talk:Ichthus|eyeBook]]) 08:36, 19 August 2009 (UTC)

===Template Requests===
Please put distinct requests for any formatting or reference templates you need here.

===Update other articles with references to the comic archive on erfworld.com (as opposed to that on GitP.com)===
When editting, I found it helpful to have Copy-ed <code><nowiki>{{erf|1|</nowiki></code>, mouse-select everything up to the page number, and just Paste. Tack on the last two brackets, and I'm done.
:Just so that everyone knows, I've updated the [[Template:Erf|Erf]] template. It now supports either a description or panel number as the 3rd argument as well as supporting a description as s fourth argument if the panel was the third. Such as...{{Erf|1|001|3|And so the Marbits could afford one extra squad of axemen.}} having the book, page, and panel displayed as well as the mouseover text telling you what you're looking for. All previous versions of it should work just as they did in the past. --[[User:Ichthus|Ichthus]] 02:26, 16 May 2009 (UTC) 
 
Searching on giantitp now shows only the main page link. I believe this is finished. --[[User:Kreistor|Kreistor]] 02:28, 24 May 2009 (UTC)
:Nevermind. More are cropping up. Search filter doesn't work on these links. --[[User:Kreistor|Kreistor]] 05:30, 24 May 2009 (UTC)

===Migration===
I have an older version of this wiki that I was making for Rob at ewik.erku.ca - there is plenty of good stuff there, and a fair number of fancy-pants templates as well.--> '''[[User:Erk|ERK!]]'''|[[User_talk:Erk|eyeBook me]] 21:18, 5 May 2009 (UTC)

Among other things, I'd really like to see:
====Panel-by-Panel====
Check out [[TBFGK 1:1]] and onward. These are a little out of sync with the current wiki. I have up to page 19 at least roughed in on my page above, and have uploaded up to page 4 onto this one. I'm copying them over as fast as I can, but the ones I've copied could use some updating and universalising. --> '''[[User:Erk|ERK!]]'''|[[User_talk:Erk|eyeBook me]] 21:18, 5 May 2009 (UTC)

== Dead end pages ==

The number of [[Special:DeadendPages|Dead end Pages]] is currently at 0. Thanks to the Annotation guys who started using the [[Template:Subpage|subpage template]] at the top of the minor pages so they'd still have a link on the page of some sort. --[[User:Ichthus|Ichthus]] ([[User talk:Ichthus|eyeBook]]) 09:57, 19 May 2009 (UTC)

==Link List For Community Portal==

It might be helpful to have a short list of major wiki pages (e.g. the Descriptive Table of Contents, Page 1 of TBFGK, Page 1 of the First Intermission) at the top of the Community Portal page. [[User:SteveMB|SteveMB]] 22:05, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

I've started a "Particularly Significant Pages" section, with the Descriptive Table of Contents and the Guidelines for Fan Art. Any other ideas on what should be there? [[User:SteveMB|SteveMB]] 02:52, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

:I've pulled over most of the MediaWiki Help pages. What do you think of linking to the [[:Category:Help]] page somewhere in the Community Portal to give new folks quick access to the reference docs? Will also need to add them to the [[Help:Contents]] page too... --[[User:MisterB777|MisterB777]] 20:43, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

::Thanks; that's a big contribution. The "Help" link in the navigation box on the left seems to link to the Help page you ported, so perhaps it's not really necessary to add it to the "Significant Pages" list; on the other hand, it may be worth including anyway. [[Special:Contributions/68.191.252.66|68.191.252.66]] 06:34, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

Useful Information

2009-08-19T08:33:52Z

Ichthus: Undo revision 25432 by Ichthus (Talk) y'know what... I'll leave it.

== "Add useful information" ==

This should be the mantra of all writers and editors here. It is your main purpose and guideline for what kinds of articles and information belong in this wiki. Add useful information. Err on the side of too much. If you want to add it, it's probably useful. Seriously, go to town.

== Useful to '''whom'''? Users of this Wiki!==

That's intentionally broad. In general, the more users who would benefit from the information you're adding, the better. But that is only one guideline!

An article about one obscure aspect of [[Erfworld]] that only a few people would care about is also useful! Even a deep and lengthy article on a topic that only half a dozen fans would ever care about makes the wiki better and more useful by existing than if it were not there to read.

And even an article which only the person who added it would find value in could STILL be useful, if it's something like personal reference page that you use to store information and references for future articles. But if you ''are'' the only person you could imagine getting value out of it, then consider whether it would be better if you kept it as notes on your own hard drive.

== Useful '''how'''? Understanding and enjoying Erfworld! ==

Articles that establish and explore facts about the [[story]], the [[characters]] and the [[Erfworld|world]] are the most obvious and important subjects for articles.

Articles that help establish a frame of reference for the story can also be useful.

Articles about meta-facts, such as the creators, the fans, events related to Erfworld, the history of the project, press that the project has received, etc. are also useful and should be added.

== What information '''isn't''' useful? ==

Misleading information isn't useful. Speculation that looks like fact needs to be clarified. Facts should be sourced when possible, but do not fall into the trap of classifying whole sources as off limits. Use common sense and reason. Challenge and research anything stated as fact which causes you to doubt it.

Completely irrelevant information isn't useful. But there will be a lot less of this than you think! If it has even a tangential use to fans of Erfworld, leave it in! [[Deletionism]] is [[Naughtymancy]].

Spam isn't useful. Kill it with fire.

== What about style? ==

A consistent style is useful. But enforcing a consistent style to the detriment of the usefulness of the tool is what has killed most of [[Wikipedia|Wikipedia's]] awesome potential. So if you want to contribute your time cleaning up articles and making them clearer and more consistent, that is great! Please, please do, we need that! Just remember always that style is trumped by substance, and never hurt an article's utility in the name of improving its look and feel.

Some things you can do to improve an article:

Make it clearer to understand, because that's useful.

Improve its organization, because that's useful.

Clean out redundant information, because that's useful.

Correct the grammar, spelling and punctuation, because that's useful.

Track down sources of facts, especially facts you question. That's useful not for its own sake, but for the sake of having an article with true information in it! If the information you're looking at is unsourced, but you have no reason to doubt it, then don't worry about it. We do ''not'' need to see "'''There are five fingers on the human hand.[''citation needed'']'''" That's not helping.

In short, editors here should not get hung up on points of style. Don't give the slightest consideration to the word "encyclopedic" or anything similar. This wiki is not meant to be pretty, academic, or encyclopedic. It's meant to be comprehensive, dynamic, constructive, and helpful. If we eventually do get bogged down by trivia, then organize the trivia. Do not delete it!
[[Category:Wiki]]

Useful Information

2009-08-19T08:33:18Z

Ichthus: /* What information isn't useful? */ removed deletionism ref

== "Add useful information" ==

This should be the mantra of all writers and editors here. It is your main purpose and guideline for what kinds of articles and information belong in this wiki. Add useful information. Err on the side of too much. If you want to add it, it's probably useful. Seriously, go to town.

== Useful to '''whom'''? Users of this Wiki!==

That's intentionally broad. In general, the more users who would benefit from the information you're adding, the better. But that is only one guideline!

An article about one obscure aspect of [[Erfworld]] that only a few people would care about is also useful! Even a deep and lengthy article on a topic that only half a dozen fans would ever care about makes the wiki better and more useful by existing than if it were not there to read.

And even an article which only the person who added it would find value in could STILL be useful, if it's something like personal reference page that you use to store information and references for future articles. But if you ''are'' the only person you could imagine getting value out of it, then consider whether it would be better if you kept it as notes on your own hard drive.

== Useful '''how'''? Understanding and enjoying Erfworld! ==

Articles that establish and explore facts about the [[story]], the [[characters]] and the [[Erfworld|world]] are the most obvious and important subjects for articles.

Articles that help establish a frame of reference for the story can also be useful.

Articles about meta-facts, such as the creators, the fans, events related to Erfworld, the history of the project, press that the project has received, etc. are also useful and should be added.

== What information '''isn't''' useful? ==

Misleading information isn't useful. Speculation that looks like fact needs to be clarified. Facts should be sourced when possible, but do not fall into the trap of classifying whole sources as off limits. Use common sense and reason. Challenge and research anything stated as fact which causes you to doubt it.

Completely irrelevant information isn't useful. But there will be a lot less of this than you think! If it has even a tangential use to fans of Erfworld, leave it in!

Spam isn't useful. Kill it with fire.

== What about style? ==

A consistent style is useful. But enforcing a consistent style to the detriment of the usefulness of the tool is what has killed most of [[Wikipedia|Wikipedia's]] awesome potential. So if you want to contribute your time cleaning up articles and making them clearer and more consistent, that is great! Please, please do, we need that! Just remember always that style is trumped by substance, and never hurt an article's utility in the name of improving its look and feel.

Some things you can do to improve an article:

Make it clearer to understand, because that's useful.

Improve its organization, because that's useful.

Clean out redundant information, because that's useful.

Correct the grammar, spelling and punctuation, because that's useful.

Track down sources of facts, especially facts you question. That's useful not for its own sake, but for the sake of having an article with true information in it! If the information you're looking at is unsourced, but you have no reason to doubt it, then don't worry about it. We do ''not'' need to see "'''There are five fingers on the human hand.[''citation needed'']'''" That's not helping.

In short, editors here should not get hung up on points of style. Don't give the slightest consideration to the word "encyclopedic" or anything similar. This wiki is not meant to be pretty, academic, or encyclopedic. It's meant to be comprehensive, dynamic, constructive, and helpful. If we eventually do get bogged down by trivia, then organize the trivia. Do not delete it!
[[Category:Wiki]]

Wikipedia

2009-08-19T08:32:47Z

Ichthus: removed deletionism RL example

Below is the latest edition Erfworld article from Wikipedia (retrieved on 2009-04-27) + 2 earlier versions of plot summaries taken out of revision history. 
The three versions of the plot summary were combined and copied to [[Plot Summary]]. You are very welcome to further improve that article.

Still to do here:
*clean up the formatting

'''''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob''''' is a story-driven fantasy/comedy webcomic about a master strategy gamer stuck in a wargame. It is written by Rob Balder (the author of ''PartiallyClips'') and illustrated by Jamie Noguchi. The comic is hosted on Giant in the Playground Games,[http://www.giantitp.com/index.html] along with Rich Burlew's ''The Order of the Stick''. It was recognized as one of the top 10 graphic novels of 2007 by Time Magazine.[http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/top10/article/0,30583,1686204_1686244_1692143,00.html]

''Erfworld'' follows a graphic novel format, with a new page added with each update. The setting is ''Erfworld'', a fantasy world that adheres to the rules of a turn-based strategy wargame. The narrative focuses on a complex story of battles and heroism within this world, but most installments also contain humor about strategy-fantasy video games, role-playing games, and references to history or popular culture. There are frequent puns and side-gags, as well as letter changes in frequently used names (spidews, dwagons and twolls instead of spiders, dragons and trolls ).

''Erfworld's'' plot, setting, and characters are released under a Creative Commons Attribution, Noncommercial, ShareAlike license.[http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29092]

==Plot synopsis==
''Erfworld's'' premise is that overlord '''Stanley the Plaid''' is conducting a military campaign to quest for the Archentools - artifacts of ancient power left behind by the Titans who created the Erfworld. Stanley controls one of these tools, the '''Arkenhammer''', but his quest for the others seems to have been costly and unsucessful; the story opens as his final living warlord is killed in battle. Stanley's chief adviser '''Wanda Firebaugh''' convinces him to purchase a "Summon Perfect Warlord" spell as a final attempt to prevent defeat. The spell summons Earth gamer '''Parson Gotti''' into the Erfworld, where he is to serve as chief warlord under Stanley.

Meanwhile, '''Prince Ansom of Jetstone''' is leading a massive coalition toward Stanley's capital, Gobwin Knob, hoping to destroy Stanley's side forever. Ansom's coalition has many members, but it's most prominent members are Jetstone (Ansom's own kingdom), the forces of Transylvito (a vampire-like people) and Archons (hovering female fighters) he has hired from '''Charlie''', a powerful overlord and mercenary. Early in the comic, one of Ansom's officers, '''Jillian Zamussels''' (who seems to also be his love interest) flies on a scouting mission, but is captured by Stanley's forces and taken to Gobwin Knob. Wanda interrogates Jillian and, having gained magical or emotional control of her actions, releases her back to Ansom's control, hopefully to become an unwitting double agent.

During this time, Parson has been learning the battle mechanics of Erfworld and has planned an attack on Ansom's coalition. He sends a force of dwagons to make hit-and-run raids on the coalition forces: destroying heavy-siege units then retreating. Ansom and his forces are led into various traps by Parson as they pursue the wounded dwagons, but eventually Jillian locates them. She seems unwilling to attack because she is under Wanda's mind-control spell, but the spell ultimately fails and Jillian leads her force in an attack. Parson fights back, but, when Prince Ansom flies to Jillian's aid, the dwagons are routed and destroyed.

Stanley is enraged about Parson and Wanda's unsuccessful plans and decides to take his last stand back into his own hands. He takes the surviving dwagons, his Foolamancer, and the best of his Knights in Stanley's Service, then - apparently believing defense to be a lost cause - departs his capital to start his side afresh on the uninhabited site of another capital he sacked some years ago. In response, Ansom dispatches a force of air units, led by Jillian, to hunt down Stanley. They are to join up with a force from Transylvito and head Stanley off at a narrow pass. Stanley's departure is a major turning point in the story, as these events leave Parson in sole command of the limited forces remaining at Gobwin Knob, which he must rally in a final stand against Ansom's much larger coalition.

Parson quickly puts some defensive plans and tricks into action. Parson contacts Charlie, and asks him to switch sides. Charlie declines (stating that it would harm his reputation) but seems impressed with Parson and agrees to sit the fight out. Also, as Ansom's forces scout out the mining tunnels under Gobwin Knob to find weak points, Parson orders '''Sizemore''', Stanley's dirtmancer, to ignore all but the scouts closest to the city, but to strike those with overwhelming force; this ploy leads Ansom to believe that the tunnels under the city are mostly unguarded. Ansom sends a force of Jetstone units into the tunnels, apparently believing that he has found an undefended path to the main city garrison.

Elsewhere, Stanley and his flight of dwagons arrive at the choke point where Jillian and the Transylvito forces plan to engage him. An intense fight leaves Stanley with heavy losses, but he escapes under a veil cast by his foolmancer. Beaten but alive, Stanley flies slowly back toward Gobwin knob.

Meanwhile the final battle for Gobwin Knob begins in earnest. Parson sends a large force led by Sizemore into the mining tunnels under Gobwin Knob to repel Ansom's underground attack. Hidden traps are activated that badly damage the Jetstone units, and Sizemore kills the commanding warlords with a rock golem. After sustaining these losses, the invaders are soon routed. Sizemore seals the tunnels against further incursion and Wanda resurrects the fallen enemies from this underground conflict to make an army of uncroaked soldiers, which Parson will use to protect the outer walls of Gobwin Knob.

The sight of uncroaked former Jetstones defending the walls of Gobwin Knob appears to exacerbate tensions within Ansom's coalition and outrages Ansom himself to the point of launching a one-man assault on the walls. He cuts a swath through the uncroaked horde with the '''Arkenpliers''' (his own archentool) and appears successful until a counterattack by Wanda damages him badly enough that he must engage Charlie's help again, presumably at a very high cost. With Charlie's help, Ansom breaches the outer wall of Gobwin Knob and Parson has his units stage a fighting retreat into the city proper. Ansom pours his units into the city in pursuit and does a Dance Dance Revolution-style dance led by Charlie's Archons, which gives his forces a massive bonus and leads them to victory.

Parson asks to personally surrender to the victorious Ansom atop Gobwin Knob's parapet. Instead of surrendering, however, Parson orders his twoll lackey, '''Bogroll''', to be magically disguised as himself and sends the twoll to surrender in his place. Ansom realizes the trick too late and the twoll tackles the prince off his flying carpet; Ansom and the twoll fall from the height of the parapet, and are both killed in front of the entire coalition army as they hit the floor below. Parson follows his assassination of Ansom by ordering Sizemore to collapse all the mining tunnels beneath the city, completely destroying Gobwin Knob and most of the coalition forces within its walls. This rack and ruin is insufficient for victory though; too many coalition forces remain alive. Parson retreats with the casters into the more isolated portal room to plan the desperate final attack that will be the story's climax. Gobwin Knob is built atop an extinct volcano, so Parson orders the casters to make it erupt. The casters use magic to link the minds of Wanda the croakmancer and Sizemore the dirtmancer, so that with their combined skill they can uncroak the volcano.

Parson and the casters flee though a portal to escape the resulting eruption, and return to find a scene of utter ruin. The coalition is erased and the terrain itself changed. Sizemore shows Parson that he has discovered a fortune in gems exposed by the volcano, while Wanda finds the Archenpliers, Ansom's archentool, and attunes to them.

====Earlier Version====

Overlord Stanley the Plaid is conducting a military campaign to quest for the Archentools - artifacts of ancient power left behind by the Titans who created the Erfworld. Stanley controls one of these tools, the Archenhammer, but he has not led his fight successfully and the story opens as his final living warlord is killed in battle. Stanley's chief adviser Wanda Firebaugh convinces him to purchase an expensive "Summon Perfect Warlord" spell as a last-ditch hope of staving off defeat. The spell summons Earth gamer Parson Gotti into the Erfworld, where he is to serve as chief warlord under Stanley.

Meanwhile, '''Prince Ansom of Jetstone''' is leading a massive coalition toward Stanley's capital, Gobwin Knob, hoping to destroy Stanley's side forever. Ansom's coalition has many members, but it's most prominent members are Jetstone (Ansom's own kingdom), the forces of Transylvito (a vampire-like people) and Archons (hovering, female warriors) he has hired from the powerful caster and mercenary '''Charlie'''. '''Jillian Zamussels''', both one of the coalition's officers and Ansom's love interest, flies on a scouting mission, but is captured by Stanley's forces and taken to Gobwin Knob. Wanda interrogates Jillian and, confident of her emotional domination of the prisoner, releases her back to Ansom's control to become an unwitting double agent.

During this time, Parson has been learning the battle mechanics of Erfworld and has planned an attack on the coalition. He sends a force of dwagons to make hit-and-run raids on the coalition forces: destroying heavy-siege units then retreating. Ansom and his forces are led into various traps by Parson as they pursue the wounded dwagons, but eventually Jillian locates them over a lake. Jillian is unwilling to attack because she is under Wanda's mind-control spell and flounders for a reason to avoid doing so. '''Jaclyn''', one of the Archons, presses her for a decision to either attack, switch sides, or quit. Unable to accept any of those options, Jillian overcomes Wanda's spell and leads her force in an attack. Parson directs a counterattack, but Prince Ansom flies to Jillian's aid and the dwagons are routed and destroyed. Stanley is enraged about Parson and Wanda's unsuccessful plans and decides to take his last stand back into his own hands.

Stanley takes the surviving dwagons, his Foolamancer, and the elite of his Knights in Stanley's Service, then departs his - probably doomed - capital to start his side afresh on the uninhabited site of another capital he sacked some years ago. This leaves Parson in sole command of the limited forces remaining at Gobwin Knob, which he must rally in a final stand against Ansom's vast coalition.

While examining the tunnels under Gobwin Knob, Parson learns from '''Sizemore''', Stanley's dirtmancer, that they were designed for mining rather than defense, and can only be collapsed to a limited extent before bringing down the entire city. During this conversation, Sizemore describes Stanley's rise to power. Originally a common pikeman, Stanley was promoted to warlord. He then found and was attuned to the Arkenhammer, enabling him to tame dwagons. The battles he won as a result impressed then-ruler King Saline IV, who made Stanley his Chief Warlord and Heir Designate. After a gobwin rebellion against Saline while Stanley was out on a mission, Stanley returned and took control of the realm.

As Ansom's forces approach Gobwin Knob, Jillian surmises that Stanley has fled and requests permission to pursue, but refuses to explain where he went or how she knows. After her request is denied, she tells her story to Ansom in person. Jillian had been the heir to Faq, a small hidden kingdom. Unhappy with life at home, she led mercenary expeditions to supplement Faq's treasury. While on a mission, she got a message describing a massive dwagon flight over Faq, and then found her status changed to barbarian. Continuing to take mercenary jobs to support herself, she learned that Stanley was a likely suspect in the attack. This was confirmed the first time she was captured by Stanley's forces, and encountered a spellcaster from Faq working for Stanley. (A flashback panel reveals to the reader that she is referring to Wanda Firebaugh.) After this explanation, Ansom agrees with Jillian's conclusion that Stanley is headed to the ruins of Faq with the intent of making a new start there.

Parson then begins putting his new plan into motion. He directs Sizemore to lead his golems in an overwhelmingly strong attack against the furthest-advanced Marbit scouts in the tunnels, ignoring all other forces. He then consults '''Maggie''', the Thinkamancer, who tells him that Wanda will probably recover eventually, but not yet.

Parson then has Maggie put him in direct contact with Charlie, and offers him a deal. Charlie takes a friendly tone, but declines to damage his reputation by changing sides in mid-conflict. After Maggie tells him that she has the stamina to send only one more Thinkagram this turn, Parson contacts Ansom and deliberately goads him, scoffing at royalty and declaring that Stanley's attunement to the Arkenhammer shows him to be Ansom's "superior".

However, this goading is unknowingly interrupted by Stanley. The Foolamancer was mentally damaged by the severing of the link, and has been unable to cast a proper veiling spell to help Stanley evade pursuit. Stanley contacted Maggie to see if she can help with the problem. She suggests addressing the Foolamancer by his proper name to restore his sense of self; unfortunately, neither she nor Stanley knows what his name is.

Ansom dispatches a force of air units, led by Jillian, to hunt down Stanley. They are instructed to break alliance with Jetstone at the end of the day and re-ally with the Translyvito (another member of the coalition). This will give them a late-afternoon turn now and an early-morning turn tomorrow, thus giving them a double move before Stanley can get any further. Ansom then sends a force of Jetstone units led by Webinar and Dora into the tunnels, believing (thanks to Parson's earlier ruse) that he has found an undefended path to the main city garrison.

Jillian leads her forces directly over Gobwin Knob, buzzing the Tower of Efdup. She confronts Wanda, who has partially recovered from her collapse. After Jillian declares her intention of hunting down Stanley and freeing Wanda from his service, Wanda activates the tower's anti-air defenses. This strikes down several Unipegataurs and Jaclyn the Archon, but spares Jillian herself. The intruders retreat, and Wanda heads down to the courtyard to uncroak the fallen enemy units, providing Gobwin Knob with a small air force.

That night, Parson discusses plans with Sizemore and Wanda. Sizemore is very unhappy about fighting, not because he fears death but because he does not wish to kill. However, he accepts that he has no real choice. Wanda intends to go after Stanley and rescue him, but is dissuaded when Parson explains that he has made a deal with Charlie. Freed of his Jetstone alliance by Ansom's turn-order exploit, Charlie is bowing out, avoiding a new alliance with Transylvito by making them an unacceptably expensive offer. Without the Archons reinforcing the enemy, Stanley will be able to survive on his own.

The next day, Parson's turn does not begin at dawn as usual. Instead, a large number of Archons arrive in Gobwin Knob airspace, and Charlie offers to hire Parson and extricate him from the siege. Parson declines, and convinces Charlie to stand by and await the outcome of the battle with Ansom's forces.

When Parson's turn does begin, a box of "Luckmancy Charms" appears, along with the final piece of a sword. The back of the box indicates that the items that have been appearing in his meals to date (a pair of glasses that let him see unit stats, a bracelet that interfaces with his calculator watch to compute battle odds, and the previous pieces of the sword) are there to correct flaws in the summoning spell and make Parson the "Perfect Warlord" he was originally supposed to be.

Parson learns from Wanda that the Foolamancer's name is "Jack", and has Maggie contact him in an attempt to get him to convince Stanley to return to Gobwin Knob with the dwagons. However, Jack does not seem to understand. Stanley, Jack, and the rest of the group continue on until they reach a choke point, where Jillian, Vinny, and a force of Transylvito warlords and bats wait in ambush. Transylvito warlord '''Caesar Borgata''' leads the assault, planning to make up for the departure of the Archons with a large quantity of bats reinforced by warlord bonuses.

Stanley fights his way through, and heads for Jillian, who has been left in the rear as a last-ditch backup. Jillian and Jack recognize each other, and Jack snaps out of his derangement. He uses his illusions to help Stanley escape.

Finding himself with only a half dozen of his original dwagons and still on the wrong side of the choke point, Stanley is convinced to abandon his plan and head back toward Gobwin Knob.

Back at the city, Parson sends a large force led by Sizemore into the tunnels. Traps (disabled earlier to conceal their presence) are activated, and Sizemore himself is confronted by Webinar and Dora. He re-animates one of his defeated golems, who then squashes the two Jetstone leaders. With the loss of their leaders, the invaders are routed. Sizemore then seals the tunnels against further incursion, and Wanda mass-uncroaks the fallen enemies.

The sight of uncroaked former Jetstones defending the walls of Gobwin Knob exacerbates tensions within Ansom's coalition and outrages Ansom himself to the point of launching a one-man assault on the walls. He cuts a swath through the uncroaked horde with the Arkenpliers, until Wanda leads her flying uncroaked units against him. Ansom loses the Arkenpliers and is knocked from his flying carpet, falling to the city walls. He desperately offers Charlie a new alliance, and one of the Archons presents him with a set of "amended" terms, which he grudgingly accepts.

The Archons then disintegrate Wanda's flying uncroaked forces, including the unipegataur she was riding. Ansom recovers the Arkenpliers and confronts Wanda, but she is rescued by Sizemore and his golems. As the attackers breach the walls, Parson has his units stage a fighting retreat into the city proper, and moves his headquarters to the dungeon beneath the city.

Ansom seizes the courtyard and Parson relays a desire to personally surrender to Ansom through Charlie. However, the surrendering Parson is revealed to be Bogroll wearing his guise and the twoll tackles an unprepared Ansom off of his flying carpet in front of the entire coalition army. Both are apparently croaked - Ansom by the fall and Bogroll by the enraged coalition forces immediately after.

As the coalition regroups and prepares to storm the dungeons, Parson formulates a desperate plan to uncroak the volcano using the skills of Maggie, Wanda and Sizemore. The plan succeeds and devastates the coalition, apparently annihilating all of the besiegers who entered the city and those in the surrounding hexes. Charlie attempts to treat with Parson but he refuses and escapes into the portal with the casters.

====Yet Earlier Version====

After a brief description of the origins of Erfworld, the comic begins with the Battle of Warchalking, a conflict between the forces of '''Stanley the Plaid''' and Marbit (and possibly other) forces. The battle ends in defeat for the Plaid, when Stanley's last living warlord is slain. Stanley's chief adviser '''Wanda Firebaugh''' convinces him to purchase a powerful and expensive "Summon Perfect Warlord" spell as a last-ditch hope of staving off defeat.

However, Stanley insists that Wanda cast the spell herself (ignoring her attempts to explain that she specializes in '''croakamancy''' and the spell requires a '''findamancer''') and he insists that this "perfect warlord" be "BIG" (he also asks for other skills, which are inadvertently met e.g. eats marbits for breakfast). The spell summons '''Parson Gotti''' from a gaming session in his apartment. It appears at first glance that, although Parson is big compared to the Erfworld inhabitants, he is not exactly the "perfect" warlord, and the spell may have failed.

Meanwhile, '''Prince Ansom of Jetstone''', the leader of a coalition against Stanley, and '''Jillian Zamussels''', a female barbarian officer in his forces, plan their final assault on Stanley's capital city, Gobwin Knob. Jillian flies a scouting mission; as soon as she leaves, Ansom sends a squad of heavy ground units led by '''Sir Webinar''' and '''Dora''' to follow her as emergency backup. Jillian is captured by a dwagon squadron and taken to Gobwin Knob, where Wanda interrogates her. Their interactions suggest that they are romantically or otherwise intimate.

After concluding the interrogation, Wanda, confident of her emotional domination of the prisoner, plans to deliberately release her to be found by Webinar's squad. Expecting Ansom to personally lead a rescue expedition, Wanda, Stanley, and Parson plot an ambush. The trap fails when '''Vinny Doombats''', one of Ansom's warlords, persuades him to remain with the main column. Instead, Ansom sends most of his flying forces. In addition, he contacts '''Charlie''' and hires three of '''Charlie's Archons''' from him to reinforce Webinar's group.

Taking advantage of the enemy column's lack of air cover, Parson sends a force of dwagons to make hit-and-run raids. They surgically target heavy siege units, which are critical to Ansom's attack plans, and then retreat. After the raids, Vinny's scout bats discover a ring of dwagons in the forest near the column. Inferring that this formation has been deployed to protect the attacking dwagons until they heal, Ansom assembles a force to punch through the far side of the ring (its weakest point) and finish them off while they are still wounded and vulnerable.

Ansom's force fights its way into the circle, and finds nothing inside. The ring formation is a trick (in fact, the wounded dwagons are hovering over a nearby lake, out of reach of enemy ground units). Ansom considers his options for salvaging the situation. In the hope of saving the remaining siege units, he orders Jillian to lead the air units in a hunt for the wounded dwagons.

Jillian begins to carry out the search as ordered. However, she deliberately sends Webinar, Dora, and most of the slower flying units on wild-goose chases and leaves them behind. Then, she declares that she is abandoning the mission in favor of heading directly back to Ansom's position to help him escape from the dwagon ring. One of the Archons confronts her with the question of whether her actions are the result of being under a spell... just as they find the group of wounded dwagons.

Meanwhile, Stanley and his advisers monitor the situation from the situation room at Gobwin Knob, using a battlefield command-and-control display generated by three mentally linked spellcasters: a '''Lookamancer''', a '''Thinkamancer''', and a '''Foolamancer'''. Parson worries that Jillian's group is getting too close to the wounded dwagons; however, Wanda insists that Jillian will not attack. '''Sizemore Rockwell''', another of Stanley's casters, warns that the suggestion spell on Jillian might break if it requires actions (such as ignoring enemy units) that are too difficult to rationalize away; Wanda angrily dismisses his concern.

Face to face with the wounded dwagons, Jillian is unwilling to attack, and flounders for a reason to avoid doing so. '''Jaclyn''', one of the Archons, presses her for a decision to either attack, switch sides, or quit. Unable to accept any of those options, Jillian collapses... and then recovers, sending a message to Ansom declaring her hatred for Stanley and love for Ansom. She then leads her force in an attack.

Parson directs a focused counterattack, ordering his forces to "croak, not capture" the enemy warlord. Wanda objects, but Parson and Stanley are unswayed. However, Ansom comes to Jillian's rescue just in time, with Vinny in tow. With these reinforcements, the dwagons are routed and destroyed. Stanley will not listen to Parson's attempt to suggest a new plan of attack, and orders Parson, Wanda, and Sizemore out of his sight. As they leave (with Parson carrying Wanda, who is in a state of shock), he sends a command to recall all of his surviving forces to Gobwin Knob, and orders the three casters to break their link.

Parson decides that he has to risk Stanley's wrath and convince him to attack the enemy leaders. Before he can do so, he finds that the surviving dwagons (from the decoy ring) have returned to Gobwin Knob. Stanley takes them, along with the Foolamancer and the top three units of the Knights in Stanley's Service, and departs the city. Parson goes to the situation room and finds that '''Misty''', the Lookamancer, was killed by the severing of the link. He reviews the very limited resources left to him to defend the city.

While examining the tunnels under Gobwin Knob, he learns from Sizemore that they were designed for mining rather than defense, and can only be collapsed to a limited extent before bringing down the entire city. During this conversation, Sizemore describes Stanley's rise to power. Originally a common pikeman, Stanley was promoted to warlord. He then found and was attuned to the Arkenhammer, enabling him to tame dwagons. The battles he won as a result impressed then-ruler King Saline IV, who made Stanley his Chief Warlord and Heir Designate. After a gobwin rebellion against Saline while Stanley was out on a mission, Stanley returned and took control of the realm.

As Ansom's forces approach Gobwin Knob, Jillian surmises that Stanley has fled and requests permission to pursue, but refuses to explain where he went or how she knows. After her request is denied, she tells her story to Ansom in person. Jillian had been the heir to Faq, a small hidden kingdom. Unhappy with life at home, she led mercenary expeditions to supplement Faq's treasury. While on a mission, she got a message describing a massive dwagon flight over Faq, and then found her status changed to barbarian. Continuing to take mercenary jobs to support herself, she learned that Stanley was a likely suspect in the attack. This was confirmed the first time she was captured by Stanley's forces, and encountered a spellcaster from Faq working for Stanley. (A flashback panel reveals to the reader that she is referring to Wanda Firebaugh.) After this explanation, Ansom agrees with Jillian's conclusion that Stanley is headed to the ruins of Faq with the intent of making a new start there.

==Characters==
* '''Stanley the Tool''', formerly '''Lord Stanley The Plaid''': Overlord of the city of Gobwin Knob and of the nearly lost Plaid tribe.[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erfcast.html] He started off as a piker unit under King Saline IV and eventually rose to the position of warlord.[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0087.html King Saline IV later paid to have Stanley promoted to Heir Designate. Thus, when King Saline IV was killed in an attack while Stanley was away, Stanley and his unit were not dissolved and retook the city. He possesses the Arkenhammer, a mysterious tool of divine origin.[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0004.html][http://web.archive.org/web/20041225030750/http://www.supercoolstuff.com/items/misc/nv680.htm] Lord Stanley is involved in an ongoing war in an effort to find the other Arkentools, believing it is the will of the Titans he control them. Unfortunately for him, this war has reduced his realm from eleven cities to only Gobwin Knob itself.[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0005.html] He had Wanda summon "the perfect warlord" in an attempt to win the battle for Gobwin Knob, which yielded Parson Gotti.<ref name=erf0016>Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0016.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 16)]</ref><ref name=erf0017>'''Wanda:''' I thought we agreed I was looking for the perfect military mind. [...] / '''Stanley:''' I want that too! Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0017.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 17)]</ref> In Stanley's first meeting with Parson, Parson convinced him that "tool" was a term of honor. Drawing a connection between this title and his search for the Arkentools, Stanley declared that he should henceforth be addressed as "Tool".<ref name=erf0020>'''Stanley:''' I have a higher calling! I am a Tool! / '''Wanda:''' I see, Lord. / '''Stanley:''' ''Not'' Lord. Tool. From now on, everyone addresses me as "Tool!" Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0020.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 20)]</ref> Stanley objects strongly to being called a "bad guy,"<ref name=erf0031>'''Parson:''' [...] I always did like playing the bad guys, which we obviously are. [...] / '''Stanley:''' (menacingly) I'm curious, Hamster... What makes you think we're the "bad guys?" Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0031.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 31)]</ref> and considers himself to be divinely favored by the Titans.<ref name=erf0032>'''Stanley:''' The Titans left [The Arkenhammer] here for a ''reason''. It chose ''me'' for a divine ''reason.'' Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0032.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 32)]</ref> Stanley's underlings often suffer from his unchecked ego and limited patience, as well as his limited intelligence.

* '''Wanda Firebaugh''': Chief Croakamancer serving Lord Stanley, and a member of the lost Croatan tribe.<ref name=erf0002>'''Narrator:''' [...] And that made a bad day considerably worse...for Lord Stanley's Chief Croakamancer: Wanda Firebaugh. Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0002.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 2)]</ref> She is a patient and skilled manager,<ref name=erfcast/> though she is ruthless in battle and not above using seduction as a means of manipulating others.<ref name=erf0054>Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0054.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 54)]</ref> She is skilled at many types of magic, but has stated that only Croakamancy (which she uses to animate fighters "croaked" in battle as uncroaked<ref name=erf0027>'''Stanley:''' Uncroaked. They each fell in battle and Wanda... whatchacallit... / '''Parson:''' Animated them? / '''Stanley:''' Animated them. Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0027.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 27)]</ref>) holds any interest for her.<ref name=erf0013>'''Sizemore:''' [...] I'm good at nothing beyond my specialty. But I do love to study everything. / '''Wanda:''' [...] I can manage quite a number of magicks outside Croakamancy, but I have little interest in them. Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0013.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 13)]</ref> At croakmancy she is very powerful, showing in the battle for Gobwin Knob that she is able to mass-uncroak thousands of dead infantry at once. As of the end of the battle for Gobwin Knob, she wields and is attuned to the Archenpliers. Before serving Stanley, Wanda was a caster at Faq, the same kingdom that Jillian originates from. Her name is an approximation of the phrase "wand of fireball," a fairly common magic item in "Dungeons & Dragons" and other fantasy games.

* '''Parson Gotti''' aka '''Lord Hamster''': Depicted as the author of the webcomic [http://www.hamstard.com Hamstard]<ref name=erf0014>Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0014.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 14)]</ref> (actually created by the authors of Erfworld as a meta-background for Parson's character and as an "easter egg"). Parson spends months at a time designing strategy games for his own amusement as an escape from an unsatisfying job and life.<ref name=erf0016/> He was summoned to Erfworld by Wanda on Lord Stanley's orders, called by a spell meant to summon "the ultimate warlord". Parson comes across as intellectual and somewhat detached in his klog where he asks the philosophical questions of whether erfworld is real or just a coma dream of his, if his action truly are his own (the summoning is supposed to put him under Stanley's command) and the ethics of his situation (his actions makes him responsible for thousands of deaths and he is serving what appears to be the evil side). Still he chooses to tentatively accept the reality of the situation and the role he has been given. Parson has a dry sense of humor and some of the comic's jokes consist of his reflections over the weird world he finds himself in. Parson is large by Erfworld standards, standing roughly twice as tall as Wanda Firebaugh.<ref name=erf0020/> He does not conform to all the rules of the universe, for example, he doesn't have visible "stats" like the in-world characters. His name is an anagram for "Protagonist".

* '''Prince Ansom''': Formally Chief Warlord to King Slately of the Jetstone<ref name=erfcast/> and the leader of the Royal Crown Coalition fighting against Stanley.<ref name=erf0021>Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0021.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 21)]</ref> He was a skilled leader, warrior and tactician but lacked modesty and was prone to reckless behavior when his pride was at stake. His crest was a radish. He carried the Arkenpliers, though he was not attuned to them, and thus could not use their full abilities.<ref name=erf0022>'''Ansom:''' I wield the Arkenpliers. But I am not attuned to them, as Stanley is to his artifact. Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0022.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 22)]</ref> He had a history of personally riding to Jillian's rescue,<ref name=erf0045>'''Wanda:''' [...] "Ansom, with his long history of personally riding to [Jillian's] rescue, flies his air units out to escort her back to the column." Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0045 ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 45)]</ref> and Wanda believes he was in love with her.<ref name=erf0043>'''Wanda:''' I know [Ansom's] entire battle plan. [...] As for his weaknesses, he is in love with our prisoner. And I control her mind. Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0043.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 43)]</ref> While he apparently looked down on those not of royal or noble houses---Vinny correctly guesses that he despised Stanley not so much for his attacks on other peoples as on the fact he came to rule by regicide---he did, according to Jillian, honestly believe in the concept of noblesse oblige, and as a result often put himself in unnecessary danger to protect his troops. He has been croaked by Bogroll.<ref>http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0145.html</ref>

* '''Jillian Zamussels''': A female barbarian and warlord, fighting for the army of Prince Ansom. She has been known to engage in combat even when directed to avoid it.<ref name=erf0009>'''Ansom:''' AVOID any engagements if you can! / '''Jillian:''' Oh, I am. Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0009.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 9)]</ref><ref>'''Ansom:''' [...] She's not just scouting; she's apparently hitting targets of opportunity. Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0010.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 10)]</ref> She has an unrealistically oversized sword.<ref name=erfcast/> Her personal relationship with Prince Ansom is initially unclear but evolves into a battlefield romance; she declined Ansom's invitation to join him in his tent, but later that night approached it, stopped, and walked away. <ref name=erf0008>Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0008.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 8)]</ref> Later, she professes her love for Ansom after breaking Wanda's spell, and it is suggested that they sleep together when she spends a night on his flying carpet after he saves her from the ensuing ambush by Stanley's dwagons. Jillian has a reputation for being frequently captured by the enemy. She chats casually with Wanda after being tortured and interrogated by her,<ref name=erf0036>Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0036.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 36)]</ref> but later suddenly breaks down and collapses. It is revealed that Wanda is able to influence her feelings and thoughts.<ref name=erf0039>Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0039.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 39)]</ref> She has stated that she was originally the heir of the kingdom of Faq, an isolated and peaceful Utopian kingdom and the daughter of King Banhammer, a philosopher-king who disliked his heir for her violent and aggressive ways.<ref name=erf0082>Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0091.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 82)]</ref>

* '''Sizemore Rockwell''': A Dirtamancer in the armies of Gobwin Knob and one of the few remaining members of the Plaid Tribe.<ref name=erfcast/> He is very curious and loves to study all types of magic, but is unskilled in any beyond his specialty.<ref name=erf0013/> He has helped Parson learn how magic works in Erfworld (insofar as the Erfworlders themselves understand it), but knows little about military matters.<ref name=erf0040>'''Klog:''' Sizemore and I have been talking magic theory. [...] He's about as knowledgable a guy as I could want for a teacher. Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0040.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (Parson's Klog #2)]</ref><ref name=erf0044>'''Klog:''' It's harder to get information about this stuff that it was about magic. Sizemore barely knows the basics. Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0044.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (Parson's Klog #4)]</ref> When forced into combat as the battle reaches Gobwin Knob itself, he is very regretful about taking lives, but reluctantly accepts it as his duty to do so.

* '''Bogroll''': A one-eyed twoll who served as a guardsman in Gobwin Knob and lackey to Parson.<ref name=erf0029>'''Bogroll:''' My Lords! I am reporting as Lackey retainer to Lord Hamster, by the order of my Lady Firebaugh. Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0029.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 29)]</ref> He was loyal and typically good-natured, although a frequent target of the other guardsmen's pranks.<ref name=erf0028>'''Bogroll''': Mung, why do the other henchmen pick on me? / '''Mung''': Because it's fun. Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0028.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 28)]</ref> Bogroll is presumably croaked, having sacrificed himself in a kamikaze style attack on Ansom. Bogroll was a character in the PartiallyClips strip,<ref>Balder, R; [http://www.partiallyclips.com/index.php?id=1009 Bogroll the Cyclops], ''PartiallyClips'', 2002-09-08. Retrieved June 29, 2007.</ref> and is the only crossover between PartiallyClips and Erfworld. His name is a British English colloquialism for toilet paper.

* '''Vinny Doombats''': A count of the Transylvito tribe who fights for the Royal Crown Coalition, Vinny has the appearance of a vampire (though sunlight apparently does not harm him). Vinny seems to be a close adviser and friend of Prince Ansom, to whom he has few qualms about speaking frankly, in a colorful accent and with colloquial slang. He has confronted Ansom with his opinion that Stanley's commoner origins, not his military aggressions against several coalition members, are at the root of Ansom's antipathy toward Stanley, while assuring Ansom that this issue would not affect his personal loyalty.<ref name=erf0034>'''Vinny:''' You know I gotcher back no matter what. But what I can't figure out is, why are you leading this fight? [...] / '''Ansom:''' Can't it just be that I want to end a great evil? / '''Vinny:''' It could be. [...] But your beef is he's not royal, right? Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0034.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 34)]</ref> As his name implies, he controls the coalition's bat scouting units. His name is a reference to Vinny Goombatz, a fictional character created by stand-up comedian Rodney Dangerfield.

* '''Maggie''': A Thinkamancer in the employ of Gobwin Knob. She is very skilled in her specialty and amoral in its application. She can send thinkagrams (telepathic messages) and link multiple casters together to combine their powers. She controlled a link with the Foolamancer Jack Snipe and the Lookamancer Misty, then later a link with the Croakmancer Wanda and the Dirtmancer Sizemore. It is heavily implied that when she broke the first link, she protected herself from the backlash at the expense of the other two. Visually, she resembles Margaret Thatcher. Parson described her as "Kind of a cold fish."

* '''Charlie:''' The Overlord of Charlescomm. Charlie has consistently remained offscreen, interacting with other characters via remote communication (similarly to the unseen "Charlie" of the TV program Charlie's Angels). Charlie was first contracted by Prince Ansom to supply a group of Archons to reinforce the expedition sent to rescue Jillian Zamussels. Later, after Ansom broke off the alliance in the expectation that Charlie would make a new alliance with Transylvito, Charlie instead took advantage of his release from his contract to begin dealing with Parson. Charlie shows no real commitment to either side, but does value his reputation as a mercenary who "stays bought". His main motivation though is his own profit.

===Known Arkentools===
There are four Arkentools known to be in existence,<ref name=erf0042>Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0042.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 42)]</ref> but only three have appeared in the comics.

*'''Arkenhammer''': A hammer resembling a toy croquet mallet. Owned by and attuned to Stanley the Plaid/Tool, the Arkenhammer has the power to control dwagons, to glow brightly, to levitate along with its wielder, to turn approximately 20 percent of walnuts cracked with it into pigeons and to turn some units into walnuts<ref name=erf0126>Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0126.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 126)]</ref>. Stanley claims the Arkenhammer has chosen him for divine reasons, and uses this as rationale for his quest to obtain the other tools.
*'''Arkenpliers''': A sword-sized pair of needle-nose pliers. Previously owned by but not attuned to Prince Ansom, they served as a close combat weapon and had the power in his hands to "turn most Uncroaked to dust". It is not yet known what powers they would manifest in the hands of an attuned wielder. Stanley believed that Ansom's attack on Gobwin Knob was divinely directed to bring the Arkenpliers to him. Seen in the hands of the unnamed Red Warlord of the Coalition, immediately prior to a volcanic eruption. They are now in the possession of Wanda, and have attuned to her.
*'''Arkendish''': An object resembling a satellite dish. Owned by and attuned to Charlie, it gives him a mastery of Thinkamancy. Possibly gives the ability to summon "Charlie's Archons." Parson uses the fact that Charlie is not a Royal but is still attuned to it to further provoke Ansom.

==The World==
===Game Rules===
The laws of nature governing Erfworld are similar to the rules of a turn-based strategy game. Forces are divided into "sides" each of which is controlled by an overlord; overlords have powers over their units that are similar to those of a player in a strategy game.

====Turns and Movement====
Battle takes place in turns; each side is able only to attack on its own turn and no turns occur during the night. Each unit (a term that encompasses both various creatures and sapient beings) has a certain amount of "Move," which governs the maximum distance it may travel during its side's turn. Thus, units may only travel to other locations during their turn, but at other times, they may only move around within the bounds of the hexagonal region, or "hex," where they ended up after their own turn.

====Units and Stats====
All people in Erfworld appear fully formed as adults. Any side is able to "pop" new units each turn at each of its city sites. Units can learn new skills and gain promotion at a cost of time and money, or these abilities and ranks can simply be "popped" along with the unit. Each unit has an "upkeep" cost, paid by the overlord of its side out of the treasury. At the start of their side's turn, each unit receives rations, heals back to full health, and experiences minor maintenance such as personal cleanup.

Units have various battle stats associated with them. Each has a "level" as would a unit in a strategy game. Level determines power in battle and increases with successive victories. Certain units can also offer bonuses (temporary boosts in level) to the forces they are leading; warlords give a bonus to the troops they lead, as do certain casters. One of the stranger bonuses available is "dance fighting," a bonus earned by leading one's forces while dancing.

====Boop====
One of the more unusual features of the Erfworld universe is that it appears to be censored. When Parson is summoned to the world, he discovers almost immediately that whenever he attempts to use a word that could be considered a profanity it comes out as "Boop". It is clear from Parson's reaction that this is an in-universe mechanic. <ref name=erf0018>Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0018.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 18)]</ref>

The natives of Erfworld apparently understand that the word represents profanity, but it is unclear whether they understand each boop as the word Parson had intended to use. Sizemore and Wanda are the only characters to have responded appropriately to a word that was "booped out," but it is possible they determine the word's meaning from the context. <ref name=erf0035>'''Sizemore:''' This...is called a "chamber pot." / '''Parson:''' Magic item? / '''Sizemore:''' You wish. / '''Parson:''' Boop. / '''Sizemore:''' Exactly! Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0035.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 35)]</ref>

There is one notable exception to the general censorship. "Crap" has been used by the natives of Erfworld, both before and after Parson is summoned there.<ref>[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0006.html Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob page 6 (Lady Firebraugh)]</ref><ref>[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0013.html Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob page 13 (Sizemore)]</ref><ref>[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0105.html Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob page 95 (Jillian Zamessels)]</ref> Only Jillian Zamussels' use of the word has been other than literal, though the earliest use by Lady Firebaugh could have been taken as both a literal observation and a curse word. Artist Jamie Noguchi has stated that he does not believe the word "crap" to be profanity<ref>[http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2262172&postcount=3 Post in Erfworld forums by Jamie Noguchi.]</ref>.

On the second night after Stanley the Tool leaves Gobwin Knob, Parson overhears the Gobwin troops singing drinking songs which work around the restriction by alluding to -- rather than explicitly describing -- deficiencies in manhood among the Jetstone and Transylvito factions.<ref>[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0113.html Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob page 101]</ref> For instance, he is surprised to learn that Erfworlders can use the word "testes". Other characters seem to have figured out their own loopholes; for example, one of Ansom's allies remarks that "the Sofa King is Sofa-King finished here" on page 117.

Artist Jamie Noguchi stated that once that Boop was originally supposed to be "meep" <ref>[http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1856008&postcount=2 Post in Erfworld forums by Jamie Noguchi.]</ref>.

===Magic===
Magic can be performed in Erfworld by units called casters. Each caster has a specialty in one of twenty-four magical disciplines, but can theoretically cast in any discipline. These specialties can be combined by mentally linking casters together using the magical disciple "thinkmancy"- a process that increases magical power but sometimes harms the casters involved when their link is broken.

It is explained in the [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0040.html second Parson's Klog], that three fundamental elements (Life, Motion, and Matter) are combined in all possible combinations to get eight major classes of magic. Magic within each class can be further aligned to any of three axes (Erf, Fate and Numbers), thus dividing each class into three disciplines. This gives a total of twenty-four disciplines, which are described - along with any known details - in the tables below:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Life
! Motion
! Matter
! Class
|-
!'''X'''
!
!
! Hocus Pocus
|-
!
!'''X'''
!
! Spookism
|-
!
!
!'''X'''
! Stuffamancy
|-
!'''X'''
!'''X'''
!
! Eyemancy
|-
! '''X'''
!
! '''X'''
! Hippiemancy
|-
!
! '''X'''
! '''X'''
! Naughtymancy
|-
! '''X'''
! '''X'''
! '''X'''
! Stagemancy
|-
!
!
!
! Clevermancy
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
|
! '''Erf'''
! '''Fate'''
! '''Numbers'''
| Notes
|-
! Hocus Pocus
! Findamancy
! Predictamancy
! Mathamancy
! Findamancy and Predictamancy were used to summon Parson; Predictamancers have been indicated to be akin to seers<ref>http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0091.html Erfworld, chapter 1: The Battle for Gobwin Knob page 82. Jillian: "His [Banhammer's] Predictamancer told him that his precious toy kingdom would fall someday."</ref>. Mathamancy is described as: "Analyzing probabilities... predicting outcomes" and "the raw calculations of that work"<ref name="giantitp.com">[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0060.html Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob page 54]</ref>.

|-
! Spookism
! Turnamancy
! Dollamancy
! Weirdomancy
!
|-
! Stuffamancy
! Dirtamancy
! Changemancy
! Dittomancy
! The Dirtamancer, Sizemore Rockwell, has been shown to be able to animate different types of rock into golems <ref>[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0059.html Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob page 53]</ref>, to be able to dig through solid rock<ref>Page 84, Parson's Klog 7</ref>, and to deal with Gobwin Knob's night soil in ways up to and including animating it into "crap golems".
|-
! Eyemancy
! Lookamancy
! Thinkamancy
! Foolamancy
! Lookamancy has only been shown as a form of scrying. Thinkamancy has been shown to deal with telepathy, including creating a mind link with other casters that allows spells that normal casters cannot even comprehend <ref name="giantitp.com"/>, Thinkagrams, and suggestion spells. Foolamancy has been shown to function around illusions and veiling troops. The Eyebooks used by the main characters in Chapter 1 are made through a combination of all three disciplines of Eyemancy<ref>[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0035.html Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Know page 35]</ref>.
|-
! Hippiemancy
! Flower Power
! Signamancy
! Date-a-mancy
!Time perception crumbles in the presence of Flower Power<ref>http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0011.html</ref>. It can also be used to "quiet" a battle<ref>http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0013.html</ref>, though the precise meaning of "quiet" has not been revealed.
|-
! Naughtymancy
! Shockmancy
! Croakamancy
! Retconjurism
! Croakamancy includes the creation of Uncroaked.
|-
! Stagemancy
! Hat Magic
! Carnymancy
! Rhyme-o-mancy
!
|-
! Clevermancy
! Luckmancy
! Healomancy
! Moneymancy
! Clevermancy consists of none of the Elements, and is described by author Rob Balder as "raw magic dealing with raw magical forces"<ref>[http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2315787&postcount=29 post by Rob Balder in the Erfworld Forums]</ref>.
|}

==Recognition==
Despite being a "young" webcomic, ''Erfworld'' has been recognised by several sources and webcomic authorities. Other webcomics authors such as Howard Tayler of ''Schlock Mercenary''<ref>[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/blog/index.php/2007/01/14/what-exactly-is-an-erf/ "What, exactly, is an “Erf?”"], Howard Tayler, ''Schlock Mercenary'' blog, January 14, 2007. Retrieved June 29, 2007. </REF> and Mohammad "Hawk" Haque of ''Applegeeks''<ref>[http://www.applegeeks.com/blog/?p=1441 "Erfworld Launched"], Mohammed Hoque, ''Applegeeks'' blog, December 7, 2006. Retrieved June 29, 2007.</ref> have posted reviews and comments about ''Erfworld'', and it has been cited on the webcomic site ''Fleen'',<ref>[http://www.fleen.com/archives/2007/01/19/ "What on Erf do you mean, "My Language"?"] Gary Tyrrell, ''Fleen'', January 19, 2007. Retrieved June 29, 2007.</ref> by authors outside the webcomic field such as Time-Blog and ''Time (magazine)|Time'' author/journalist Lev Grossman in his articles "Webcomics are the New Blogs"<ref>[http://nerdworld.blogs.time.com/2007/01/31/webcomics_are_the_new_blogs_th_1/ "Webcomics Are the New Blogs: The Order of the Stick"], Lev Grossman, Time (magazine)|TIME.com, January 31, 2007. Retrieved June 29, 2007.</ref> and "Erfworld: It's a Boopin' Good Webcomic!"<ref>[http://nerdworld.blogs.time.com/2007/04/10/erfworld_its_a_boopin_good_web/ "Erfworld: It's a Boopin' Good Webcomic!"], Lev Grossman, TIME.com, April 10, 2007 Retrieved June 29, 2007.</ref> Grossman also listed Erfworld as one of the Top 10 Graphic Novels of 2007.<ref>[http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/top10/article/0,30583,1686204_1686244_1692143,00.html "Top 10 Graphic Novels (#6: Erfworld)"], Lev Grossman, Time (magazine)|TIME.com, December 10, 2007. Retrieved December 11, 2007.</ref> The addition of ''Erfworld'' to GiantITP was noted in "First Watch," ''Dragon (magazine)|Dragon Magazine's'' monthly section on new developments in gaming and entertainment.<ref>"First Watch." Dragon Magazine, Issue #354 March 2007: 16.</ref>

==References==

==External links==
* [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erflatest.html ''Erfworld'']
* [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erfcast.html The main cast of characters]
* [http://erfworld.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page Erfworld Wiki, maintained in part by creators Rob Balder and Jamie Noguchi]
[[Category:Comic]][[Category:Wiki]]

Wikipedia

2009-08-19T08:31:40Z

Ichthus: /* Magic */ updated deletionism to retconjurism.

Below is the latest edition Erfworld article from Wikipedia (retrieved on 2009-04-27) + 2 earlier versions of plot summaries taken out of revision history. 
The three versions of the plot summary were combined and copied to [[Plot Summary]]. You are very welcome to further improve that article.

Still to do here:
*clean up the formatting

'''''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob''''' is a story-driven fantasy/comedy webcomic about a master strategy gamer stuck in a wargame. It is written by Rob Balder (the author of ''PartiallyClips'') and illustrated by Jamie Noguchi. The comic is hosted on Giant in the Playground Games,[http://www.giantitp.com/index.html] along with Rich Burlew's ''The Order of the Stick''. It was recognized as one of the top 10 graphic novels of 2007 by Time Magazine.[http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/top10/article/0,30583,1686204_1686244_1692143,00.html]

''Erfworld'' follows a graphic novel format, with a new page added with each update. The setting is ''Erfworld'', a fantasy world that adheres to the rules of a turn-based strategy wargame. The narrative focuses on a complex story of battles and heroism within this world, but most installments also contain humor about strategy-fantasy video games, role-playing games, and references to history or popular culture. There are frequent puns and side-gags, as well as letter changes in frequently used names (spidews, dwagons and twolls instead of spiders, dragons and trolls ).

''Erfworld's'' plot, setting, and characters are released under a Creative Commons Attribution, Noncommercial, ShareAlike license.[http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29092]

==Plot synopsis==
''Erfworld's'' premise is that overlord '''Stanley the Plaid''' is conducting a military campaign to quest for the Archentools - artifacts of ancient power left behind by the Titans who created the Erfworld. Stanley controls one of these tools, the '''Arkenhammer''', but his quest for the others seems to have been costly and unsucessful; the story opens as his final living warlord is killed in battle. Stanley's chief adviser '''Wanda Firebaugh''' convinces him to purchase a "Summon Perfect Warlord" spell as a final attempt to prevent defeat. The spell summons Earth gamer '''Parson Gotti''' into the Erfworld, where he is to serve as chief warlord under Stanley.

Meanwhile, '''Prince Ansom of Jetstone''' is leading a massive coalition toward Stanley's capital, Gobwin Knob, hoping to destroy Stanley's side forever. Ansom's coalition has many members, but it's most prominent members are Jetstone (Ansom's own kingdom), the forces of Transylvito (a vampire-like people) and Archons (hovering female fighters) he has hired from '''Charlie''', a powerful overlord and mercenary. Early in the comic, one of Ansom's officers, '''Jillian Zamussels''' (who seems to also be his love interest) flies on a scouting mission, but is captured by Stanley's forces and taken to Gobwin Knob. Wanda interrogates Jillian and, having gained magical or emotional control of her actions, releases her back to Ansom's control, hopefully to become an unwitting double agent.

During this time, Parson has been learning the battle mechanics of Erfworld and has planned an attack on Ansom's coalition. He sends a force of dwagons to make hit-and-run raids on the coalition forces: destroying heavy-siege units then retreating. Ansom and his forces are led into various traps by Parson as they pursue the wounded dwagons, but eventually Jillian locates them. She seems unwilling to attack because she is under Wanda's mind-control spell, but the spell ultimately fails and Jillian leads her force in an attack. Parson fights back, but, when Prince Ansom flies to Jillian's aid, the dwagons are routed and destroyed.

Stanley is enraged about Parson and Wanda's unsuccessful plans and decides to take his last stand back into his own hands. He takes the surviving dwagons, his Foolamancer, and the best of his Knights in Stanley's Service, then - apparently believing defense to be a lost cause - departs his capital to start his side afresh on the uninhabited site of another capital he sacked some years ago. In response, Ansom dispatches a force of air units, led by Jillian, to hunt down Stanley. They are to join up with a force from Transylvito and head Stanley off at a narrow pass. Stanley's departure is a major turning point in the story, as these events leave Parson in sole command of the limited forces remaining at Gobwin Knob, which he must rally in a final stand against Ansom's much larger coalition.

Parson quickly puts some defensive plans and tricks into action. Parson contacts Charlie, and asks him to switch sides. Charlie declines (stating that it would harm his reputation) but seems impressed with Parson and agrees to sit the fight out. Also, as Ansom's forces scout out the mining tunnels under Gobwin Knob to find weak points, Parson orders '''Sizemore''', Stanley's dirtmancer, to ignore all but the scouts closest to the city, but to strike those with overwhelming force; this ploy leads Ansom to believe that the tunnels under the city are mostly unguarded. Ansom sends a force of Jetstone units into the tunnels, apparently believing that he has found an undefended path to the main city garrison.

Elsewhere, Stanley and his flight of dwagons arrive at the choke point where Jillian and the Transylvito forces plan to engage him. An intense fight leaves Stanley with heavy losses, but he escapes under a veil cast by his foolmancer. Beaten but alive, Stanley flies slowly back toward Gobwin knob.

Meanwhile the final battle for Gobwin Knob begins in earnest. Parson sends a large force led by Sizemore into the mining tunnels under Gobwin Knob to repel Ansom's underground attack. Hidden traps are activated that badly damage the Jetstone units, and Sizemore kills the commanding warlords with a rock golem. After sustaining these losses, the invaders are soon routed. Sizemore seals the tunnels against further incursion and Wanda resurrects the fallen enemies from this underground conflict to make an army of uncroaked soldiers, which Parson will use to protect the outer walls of Gobwin Knob.

The sight of uncroaked former Jetstones defending the walls of Gobwin Knob appears to exacerbate tensions within Ansom's coalition and outrages Ansom himself to the point of launching a one-man assault on the walls. He cuts a swath through the uncroaked horde with the '''Arkenpliers''' (his own archentool) and appears successful until a counterattack by Wanda damages him badly enough that he must engage Charlie's help again, presumably at a very high cost. With Charlie's help, Ansom breaches the outer wall of Gobwin Knob and Parson has his units stage a fighting retreat into the city proper. Ansom pours his units into the city in pursuit and does a Dance Dance Revolution-style dance led by Charlie's Archons, which gives his forces a massive bonus and leads them to victory.

Parson asks to personally surrender to the victorious Ansom atop Gobwin Knob's parapet. Instead of surrendering, however, Parson orders his twoll lackey, '''Bogroll''', to be magically disguised as himself and sends the twoll to surrender in his place. Ansom realizes the trick too late and the twoll tackles the prince off his flying carpet; Ansom and the twoll fall from the height of the parapet, and are both killed in front of the entire coalition army as they hit the floor below. Parson follows his assassination of Ansom by ordering Sizemore to collapse all the mining tunnels beneath the city, completely destroying Gobwin Knob and most of the coalition forces within its walls. This rack and ruin is insufficient for victory though; too many coalition forces remain alive. Parson retreats with the casters into the more isolated portal room to plan the desperate final attack that will be the story's climax. Gobwin Knob is built atop an extinct volcano, so Parson orders the casters to make it erupt. The casters use magic to link the minds of Wanda the croakmancer and Sizemore the dirtmancer, so that with their combined skill they can uncroak the volcano.

Parson and the casters flee though a portal to escape the resulting eruption, and return to find a scene of utter ruin. The coalition is erased and the terrain itself changed. Sizemore shows Parson that he has discovered a fortune in gems exposed by the volcano, while Wanda finds the Archenpliers, Ansom's archentool, and attunes to them.

====Earlier Version====

Overlord Stanley the Plaid is conducting a military campaign to quest for the Archentools - artifacts of ancient power left behind by the Titans who created the Erfworld. Stanley controls one of these tools, the Archenhammer, but he has not led his fight successfully and the story opens as his final living warlord is killed in battle. Stanley's chief adviser Wanda Firebaugh convinces him to purchase an expensive "Summon Perfect Warlord" spell as a last-ditch hope of staving off defeat. The spell summons Earth gamer Parson Gotti into the Erfworld, where he is to serve as chief warlord under Stanley.

Meanwhile, '''Prince Ansom of Jetstone''' is leading a massive coalition toward Stanley's capital, Gobwin Knob, hoping to destroy Stanley's side forever. Ansom's coalition has many members, but it's most prominent members are Jetstone (Ansom's own kingdom), the forces of Transylvito (a vampire-like people) and Archons (hovering, female warriors) he has hired from the powerful caster and mercenary '''Charlie'''. '''Jillian Zamussels''', both one of the coalition's officers and Ansom's love interest, flies on a scouting mission, but is captured by Stanley's forces and taken to Gobwin Knob. Wanda interrogates Jillian and, confident of her emotional domination of the prisoner, releases her back to Ansom's control to become an unwitting double agent.

During this time, Parson has been learning the battle mechanics of Erfworld and has planned an attack on the coalition. He sends a force of dwagons to make hit-and-run raids on the coalition forces: destroying heavy-siege units then retreating. Ansom and his forces are led into various traps by Parson as they pursue the wounded dwagons, but eventually Jillian locates them over a lake. Jillian is unwilling to attack because she is under Wanda's mind-control spell and flounders for a reason to avoid doing so. '''Jaclyn''', one of the Archons, presses her for a decision to either attack, switch sides, or quit. Unable to accept any of those options, Jillian overcomes Wanda's spell and leads her force in an attack. Parson directs a counterattack, but Prince Ansom flies to Jillian's aid and the dwagons are routed and destroyed. Stanley is enraged about Parson and Wanda's unsuccessful plans and decides to take his last stand back into his own hands.

Stanley takes the surviving dwagons, his Foolamancer, and the elite of his Knights in Stanley's Service, then departs his - probably doomed - capital to start his side afresh on the uninhabited site of another capital he sacked some years ago. This leaves Parson in sole command of the limited forces remaining at Gobwin Knob, which he must rally in a final stand against Ansom's vast coalition.

While examining the tunnels under Gobwin Knob, Parson learns from '''Sizemore''', Stanley's dirtmancer, that they were designed for mining rather than defense, and can only be collapsed to a limited extent before bringing down the entire city. During this conversation, Sizemore describes Stanley's rise to power. Originally a common pikeman, Stanley was promoted to warlord. He then found and was attuned to the Arkenhammer, enabling him to tame dwagons. The battles he won as a result impressed then-ruler King Saline IV, who made Stanley his Chief Warlord and Heir Designate. After a gobwin rebellion against Saline while Stanley was out on a mission, Stanley returned and took control of the realm.

As Ansom's forces approach Gobwin Knob, Jillian surmises that Stanley has fled and requests permission to pursue, but refuses to explain where he went or how she knows. After her request is denied, she tells her story to Ansom in person. Jillian had been the heir to Faq, a small hidden kingdom. Unhappy with life at home, she led mercenary expeditions to supplement Faq's treasury. While on a mission, she got a message describing a massive dwagon flight over Faq, and then found her status changed to barbarian. Continuing to take mercenary jobs to support herself, she learned that Stanley was a likely suspect in the attack. This was confirmed the first time she was captured by Stanley's forces, and encountered a spellcaster from Faq working for Stanley. (A flashback panel reveals to the reader that she is referring to Wanda Firebaugh.) After this explanation, Ansom agrees with Jillian's conclusion that Stanley is headed to the ruins of Faq with the intent of making a new start there.

Parson then begins putting his new plan into motion. He directs Sizemore to lead his golems in an overwhelmingly strong attack against the furthest-advanced Marbit scouts in the tunnels, ignoring all other forces. He then consults '''Maggie''', the Thinkamancer, who tells him that Wanda will probably recover eventually, but not yet.

Parson then has Maggie put him in direct contact with Charlie, and offers him a deal. Charlie takes a friendly tone, but declines to damage his reputation by changing sides in mid-conflict. After Maggie tells him that she has the stamina to send only one more Thinkagram this turn, Parson contacts Ansom and deliberately goads him, scoffing at royalty and declaring that Stanley's attunement to the Arkenhammer shows him to be Ansom's "superior".

However, this goading is unknowingly interrupted by Stanley. The Foolamancer was mentally damaged by the severing of the link, and has been unable to cast a proper veiling spell to help Stanley evade pursuit. Stanley contacted Maggie to see if she can help with the problem. She suggests addressing the Foolamancer by his proper name to restore his sense of self; unfortunately, neither she nor Stanley knows what his name is.

Ansom dispatches a force of air units, led by Jillian, to hunt down Stanley. They are instructed to break alliance with Jetstone at the end of the day and re-ally with the Translyvito (another member of the coalition). This will give them a late-afternoon turn now and an early-morning turn tomorrow, thus giving them a double move before Stanley can get any further. Ansom then sends a force of Jetstone units led by Webinar and Dora into the tunnels, believing (thanks to Parson's earlier ruse) that he has found an undefended path to the main city garrison.

Jillian leads her forces directly over Gobwin Knob, buzzing the Tower of Efdup. She confronts Wanda, who has partially recovered from her collapse. After Jillian declares her intention of hunting down Stanley and freeing Wanda from his service, Wanda activates the tower's anti-air defenses. This strikes down several Unipegataurs and Jaclyn the Archon, but spares Jillian herself. The intruders retreat, and Wanda heads down to the courtyard to uncroak the fallen enemy units, providing Gobwin Knob with a small air force.

That night, Parson discusses plans with Sizemore and Wanda. Sizemore is very unhappy about fighting, not because he fears death but because he does not wish to kill. However, he accepts that he has no real choice. Wanda intends to go after Stanley and rescue him, but is dissuaded when Parson explains that he has made a deal with Charlie. Freed of his Jetstone alliance by Ansom's turn-order exploit, Charlie is bowing out, avoiding a new alliance with Transylvito by making them an unacceptably expensive offer. Without the Archons reinforcing the enemy, Stanley will be able to survive on his own.

The next day, Parson's turn does not begin at dawn as usual. Instead, a large number of Archons arrive in Gobwin Knob airspace, and Charlie offers to hire Parson and extricate him from the siege. Parson declines, and convinces Charlie to stand by and await the outcome of the battle with Ansom's forces.

When Parson's turn does begin, a box of "Luckmancy Charms" appears, along with the final piece of a sword. The back of the box indicates that the items that have been appearing in his meals to date (a pair of glasses that let him see unit stats, a bracelet that interfaces with his calculator watch to compute battle odds, and the previous pieces of the sword) are there to correct flaws in the summoning spell and make Parson the "Perfect Warlord" he was originally supposed to be.

Parson learns from Wanda that the Foolamancer's name is "Jack", and has Maggie contact him in an attempt to get him to convince Stanley to return to Gobwin Knob with the dwagons. However, Jack does not seem to understand. Stanley, Jack, and the rest of the group continue on until they reach a choke point, where Jillian, Vinny, and a force of Transylvito warlords and bats wait in ambush. Transylvito warlord '''Caesar Borgata''' leads the assault, planning to make up for the departure of the Archons with a large quantity of bats reinforced by warlord bonuses.

Stanley fights his way through, and heads for Jillian, who has been left in the rear as a last-ditch backup. Jillian and Jack recognize each other, and Jack snaps out of his derangement. He uses his illusions to help Stanley escape.

Finding himself with only a half dozen of his original dwagons and still on the wrong side of the choke point, Stanley is convinced to abandon his plan and head back toward Gobwin Knob.

Back at the city, Parson sends a large force led by Sizemore into the tunnels. Traps (disabled earlier to conceal their presence) are activated, and Sizemore himself is confronted by Webinar and Dora. He re-animates one of his defeated golems, who then squashes the two Jetstone leaders. With the loss of their leaders, the invaders are routed. Sizemore then seals the tunnels against further incursion, and Wanda mass-uncroaks the fallen enemies.

The sight of uncroaked former Jetstones defending the walls of Gobwin Knob exacerbates tensions within Ansom's coalition and outrages Ansom himself to the point of launching a one-man assault on the walls. He cuts a swath through the uncroaked horde with the Arkenpliers, until Wanda leads her flying uncroaked units against him. Ansom loses the Arkenpliers and is knocked from his flying carpet, falling to the city walls. He desperately offers Charlie a new alliance, and one of the Archons presents him with a set of "amended" terms, which he grudgingly accepts.

The Archons then disintegrate Wanda's flying uncroaked forces, including the unipegataur she was riding. Ansom recovers the Arkenpliers and confronts Wanda, but she is rescued by Sizemore and his golems. As the attackers breach the walls, Parson has his units stage a fighting retreat into the city proper, and moves his headquarters to the dungeon beneath the city.

Ansom seizes the courtyard and Parson relays a desire to personally surrender to Ansom through Charlie. However, the surrendering Parson is revealed to be Bogroll wearing his guise and the twoll tackles an unprepared Ansom off of his flying carpet in front of the entire coalition army. Both are apparently croaked - Ansom by the fall and Bogroll by the enraged coalition forces immediately after.

As the coalition regroups and prepares to storm the dungeons, Parson formulates a desperate plan to uncroak the volcano using the skills of Maggie, Wanda and Sizemore. The plan succeeds and devastates the coalition, apparently annihilating all of the besiegers who entered the city and those in the surrounding hexes. Charlie attempts to treat with Parson but he refuses and escapes into the portal with the casters.

====Yet Earlier Version====

After a brief description of the origins of Erfworld, the comic begins with the Battle of Warchalking, a conflict between the forces of '''Stanley the Plaid''' and Marbit (and possibly other) forces. The battle ends in defeat for the Plaid, when Stanley's last living warlord is slain. Stanley's chief adviser '''Wanda Firebaugh''' convinces him to purchase a powerful and expensive "Summon Perfect Warlord" spell as a last-ditch hope of staving off defeat.

However, Stanley insists that Wanda cast the spell herself (ignoring her attempts to explain that she specializes in '''croakamancy''' and the spell requires a '''findamancer''') and he insists that this "perfect warlord" be "BIG" (he also asks for other skills, which are inadvertently met e.g. eats marbits for breakfast). The spell summons '''Parson Gotti''' from a gaming session in his apartment. It appears at first glance that, although Parson is big compared to the Erfworld inhabitants, he is not exactly the "perfect" warlord, and the spell may have failed.

Meanwhile, '''Prince Ansom of Jetstone''', the leader of a coalition against Stanley, and '''Jillian Zamussels''', a female barbarian officer in his forces, plan their final assault on Stanley's capital city, Gobwin Knob. Jillian flies a scouting mission; as soon as she leaves, Ansom sends a squad of heavy ground units led by '''Sir Webinar''' and '''Dora''' to follow her as emergency backup. Jillian is captured by a dwagon squadron and taken to Gobwin Knob, where Wanda interrogates her. Their interactions suggest that they are romantically or otherwise intimate.

After concluding the interrogation, Wanda, confident of her emotional domination of the prisoner, plans to deliberately release her to be found by Webinar's squad. Expecting Ansom to personally lead a rescue expedition, Wanda, Stanley, and Parson plot an ambush. The trap fails when '''Vinny Doombats''', one of Ansom's warlords, persuades him to remain with the main column. Instead, Ansom sends most of his flying forces. In addition, he contacts '''Charlie''' and hires three of '''Charlie's Archons''' from him to reinforce Webinar's group.

Taking advantage of the enemy column's lack of air cover, Parson sends a force of dwagons to make hit-and-run raids. They surgically target heavy siege units, which are critical to Ansom's attack plans, and then retreat. After the raids, Vinny's scout bats discover a ring of dwagons in the forest near the column. Inferring that this formation has been deployed to protect the attacking dwagons until they heal, Ansom assembles a force to punch through the far side of the ring (its weakest point) and finish them off while they are still wounded and vulnerable.

Ansom's force fights its way into the circle, and finds nothing inside. The ring formation is a trick (in fact, the wounded dwagons are hovering over a nearby lake, out of reach of enemy ground units). Ansom considers his options for salvaging the situation. In the hope of saving the remaining siege units, he orders Jillian to lead the air units in a hunt for the wounded dwagons.

Jillian begins to carry out the search as ordered. However, she deliberately sends Webinar, Dora, and most of the slower flying units on wild-goose chases and leaves them behind. Then, she declares that she is abandoning the mission in favor of heading directly back to Ansom's position to help him escape from the dwagon ring. One of the Archons confronts her with the question of whether her actions are the result of being under a spell... just as they find the group of wounded dwagons.

Meanwhile, Stanley and his advisers monitor the situation from the situation room at Gobwin Knob, using a battlefield command-and-control display generated by three mentally linked spellcasters: a '''Lookamancer''', a '''Thinkamancer''', and a '''Foolamancer'''. Parson worries that Jillian's group is getting too close to the wounded dwagons; however, Wanda insists that Jillian will not attack. '''Sizemore Rockwell''', another of Stanley's casters, warns that the suggestion spell on Jillian might break if it requires actions (such as ignoring enemy units) that are too difficult to rationalize away; Wanda angrily dismisses his concern.

Face to face with the wounded dwagons, Jillian is unwilling to attack, and flounders for a reason to avoid doing so. '''Jaclyn''', one of the Archons, presses her for a decision to either attack, switch sides, or quit. Unable to accept any of those options, Jillian collapses... and then recovers, sending a message to Ansom declaring her hatred for Stanley and love for Ansom. She then leads her force in an attack.

Parson directs a focused counterattack, ordering his forces to "croak, not capture" the enemy warlord. Wanda objects, but Parson and Stanley are unswayed. However, Ansom comes to Jillian's rescue just in time, with Vinny in tow. With these reinforcements, the dwagons are routed and destroyed. Stanley will not listen to Parson's attempt to suggest a new plan of attack, and orders Parson, Wanda, and Sizemore out of his sight. As they leave (with Parson carrying Wanda, who is in a state of shock), he sends a command to recall all of his surviving forces to Gobwin Knob, and orders the three casters to break their link.

Parson decides that he has to risk Stanley's wrath and convince him to attack the enemy leaders. Before he can do so, he finds that the surviving dwagons (from the decoy ring) have returned to Gobwin Knob. Stanley takes them, along with the Foolamancer and the top three units of the Knights in Stanley's Service, and departs the city. Parson goes to the situation room and finds that '''Misty''', the Lookamancer, was killed by the severing of the link. He reviews the very limited resources left to him to defend the city.

While examining the tunnels under Gobwin Knob, he learns from Sizemore that they were designed for mining rather than defense, and can only be collapsed to a limited extent before bringing down the entire city. During this conversation, Sizemore describes Stanley's rise to power. Originally a common pikeman, Stanley was promoted to warlord. He then found and was attuned to the Arkenhammer, enabling him to tame dwagons. The battles he won as a result impressed then-ruler King Saline IV, who made Stanley his Chief Warlord and Heir Designate. After a gobwin rebellion against Saline while Stanley was out on a mission, Stanley returned and took control of the realm.

As Ansom's forces approach Gobwin Knob, Jillian surmises that Stanley has fled and requests permission to pursue, but refuses to explain where he went or how she knows. After her request is denied, she tells her story to Ansom in person. Jillian had been the heir to Faq, a small hidden kingdom. Unhappy with life at home, she led mercenary expeditions to supplement Faq's treasury. While on a mission, she got a message describing a massive dwagon flight over Faq, and then found her status changed to barbarian. Continuing to take mercenary jobs to support herself, she learned that Stanley was a likely suspect in the attack. This was confirmed the first time she was captured by Stanley's forces, and encountered a spellcaster from Faq working for Stanley. (A flashback panel reveals to the reader that she is referring to Wanda Firebaugh.) After this explanation, Ansom agrees with Jillian's conclusion that Stanley is headed to the ruins of Faq with the intent of making a new start there.

==Characters==
* '''Stanley the Tool''', formerly '''Lord Stanley The Plaid''': Overlord of the city of Gobwin Knob and of the nearly lost Plaid tribe.[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erfcast.html] He started off as a piker unit under King Saline IV and eventually rose to the position of warlord.[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0087.html King Saline IV later paid to have Stanley promoted to Heir Designate. Thus, when King Saline IV was killed in an attack while Stanley was away, Stanley and his unit were not dissolved and retook the city. He possesses the Arkenhammer, a mysterious tool of divine origin.[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0004.html][http://web.archive.org/web/20041225030750/http://www.supercoolstuff.com/items/misc/nv680.htm] Lord Stanley is involved in an ongoing war in an effort to find the other Arkentools, believing it is the will of the Titans he control them. Unfortunately for him, this war has reduced his realm from eleven cities to only Gobwin Knob itself.[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0005.html] He had Wanda summon "the perfect warlord" in an attempt to win the battle for Gobwin Knob, which yielded Parson Gotti.<ref name=erf0016>Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0016.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 16)]</ref><ref name=erf0017>'''Wanda:''' I thought we agreed I was looking for the perfect military mind. [...] / '''Stanley:''' I want that too! Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0017.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 17)]</ref> In Stanley's first meeting with Parson, Parson convinced him that "tool" was a term of honor. Drawing a connection between this title and his search for the Arkentools, Stanley declared that he should henceforth be addressed as "Tool".<ref name=erf0020>'''Stanley:''' I have a higher calling! I am a Tool! / '''Wanda:''' I see, Lord. / '''Stanley:''' ''Not'' Lord. Tool. From now on, everyone addresses me as "Tool!" Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0020.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 20)]</ref> Stanley objects strongly to being called a "bad guy,"<ref name=erf0031>'''Parson:''' [...] I always did like playing the bad guys, which we obviously are. [...] / '''Stanley:''' (menacingly) I'm curious, Hamster... What makes you think we're the "bad guys?" Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0031.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 31)]</ref> and considers himself to be divinely favored by the Titans.<ref name=erf0032>'''Stanley:''' The Titans left [The Arkenhammer] here for a ''reason''. It chose ''me'' for a divine ''reason.'' Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0032.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 32)]</ref> Stanley's underlings often suffer from his unchecked ego and limited patience, as well as his limited intelligence.

* '''Wanda Firebaugh''': Chief Croakamancer serving Lord Stanley, and a member of the lost Croatan tribe.<ref name=erf0002>'''Narrator:''' [...] And that made a bad day considerably worse...for Lord Stanley's Chief Croakamancer: Wanda Firebaugh. Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0002.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 2)]</ref> She is a patient and skilled manager,<ref name=erfcast/> though she is ruthless in battle and not above using seduction as a means of manipulating others.<ref name=erf0054>Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0054.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 54)]</ref> She is skilled at many types of magic, but has stated that only Croakamancy (which she uses to animate fighters "croaked" in battle as uncroaked<ref name=erf0027>'''Stanley:''' Uncroaked. They each fell in battle and Wanda... whatchacallit... / '''Parson:''' Animated them? / '''Stanley:''' Animated them. Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0027.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 27)]</ref>) holds any interest for her.<ref name=erf0013>'''Sizemore:''' [...] I'm good at nothing beyond my specialty. But I do love to study everything. / '''Wanda:''' [...] I can manage quite a number of magicks outside Croakamancy, but I have little interest in them. Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0013.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 13)]</ref> At croakmancy she is very powerful, showing in the battle for Gobwin Knob that she is able to mass-uncroak thousands of dead infantry at once. As of the end of the battle for Gobwin Knob, she wields and is attuned to the Archenpliers. Before serving Stanley, Wanda was a caster at Faq, the same kingdom that Jillian originates from. Her name is an approximation of the phrase "wand of fireball," a fairly common magic item in "Dungeons & Dragons" and other fantasy games.

* '''Parson Gotti''' aka '''Lord Hamster''': Depicted as the author of the webcomic [http://www.hamstard.com Hamstard]<ref name=erf0014>Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0014.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 14)]</ref> (actually created by the authors of Erfworld as a meta-background for Parson's character and as an "easter egg"). Parson spends months at a time designing strategy games for his own amusement as an escape from an unsatisfying job and life.<ref name=erf0016/> He was summoned to Erfworld by Wanda on Lord Stanley's orders, called by a spell meant to summon "the ultimate warlord". Parson comes across as intellectual and somewhat detached in his klog where he asks the philosophical questions of whether erfworld is real or just a coma dream of his, if his action truly are his own (the summoning is supposed to put him under Stanley's command) and the ethics of his situation (his actions makes him responsible for thousands of deaths and he is serving what appears to be the evil side). Still he chooses to tentatively accept the reality of the situation and the role he has been given. Parson has a dry sense of humor and some of the comic's jokes consist of his reflections over the weird world he finds himself in. Parson is large by Erfworld standards, standing roughly twice as tall as Wanda Firebaugh.<ref name=erf0020/> He does not conform to all the rules of the universe, for example, he doesn't have visible "stats" like the in-world characters. His name is an anagram for "Protagonist".

* '''Prince Ansom''': Formally Chief Warlord to King Slately of the Jetstone<ref name=erfcast/> and the leader of the Royal Crown Coalition fighting against Stanley.<ref name=erf0021>Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0021.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 21)]</ref> He was a skilled leader, warrior and tactician but lacked modesty and was prone to reckless behavior when his pride was at stake. His crest was a radish. He carried the Arkenpliers, though he was not attuned to them, and thus could not use their full abilities.<ref name=erf0022>'''Ansom:''' I wield the Arkenpliers. But I am not attuned to them, as Stanley is to his artifact. Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0022.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 22)]</ref> He had a history of personally riding to Jillian's rescue,<ref name=erf0045>'''Wanda:''' [...] "Ansom, with his long history of personally riding to [Jillian's] rescue, flies his air units out to escort her back to the column." Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0045 ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 45)]</ref> and Wanda believes he was in love with her.<ref name=erf0043>'''Wanda:''' I know [Ansom's] entire battle plan. [...] As for his weaknesses, he is in love with our prisoner. And I control her mind. Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0043.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 43)]</ref> While he apparently looked down on those not of royal or noble houses---Vinny correctly guesses that he despised Stanley not so much for his attacks on other peoples as on the fact he came to rule by regicide---he did, according to Jillian, honestly believe in the concept of noblesse oblige, and as a result often put himself in unnecessary danger to protect his troops. He has been croaked by Bogroll.<ref>http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0145.html</ref>

* '''Jillian Zamussels''': A female barbarian and warlord, fighting for the army of Prince Ansom. She has been known to engage in combat even when directed to avoid it.<ref name=erf0009>'''Ansom:''' AVOID any engagements if you can! / '''Jillian:''' Oh, I am. Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0009.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 9)]</ref><ref>'''Ansom:''' [...] She's not just scouting; she's apparently hitting targets of opportunity. Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0010.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 10)]</ref> She has an unrealistically oversized sword.<ref name=erfcast/> Her personal relationship with Prince Ansom is initially unclear but evolves into a battlefield romance; she declined Ansom's invitation to join him in his tent, but later that night approached it, stopped, and walked away. <ref name=erf0008>Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0008.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 8)]</ref> Later, she professes her love for Ansom after breaking Wanda's spell, and it is suggested that they sleep together when she spends a night on his flying carpet after he saves her from the ensuing ambush by Stanley's dwagons. Jillian has a reputation for being frequently captured by the enemy. She chats casually with Wanda after being tortured and interrogated by her,<ref name=erf0036>Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0036.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 36)]</ref> but later suddenly breaks down and collapses. It is revealed that Wanda is able to influence her feelings and thoughts.<ref name=erf0039>Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0039.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 39)]</ref> She has stated that she was originally the heir of the kingdom of Faq, an isolated and peaceful Utopian kingdom and the daughter of King Banhammer, a philosopher-king who disliked his heir for her violent and aggressive ways.<ref name=erf0082>Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0091.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 82)]</ref>

* '''Sizemore Rockwell''': A Dirtamancer in the armies of Gobwin Knob and one of the few remaining members of the Plaid Tribe.<ref name=erfcast/> He is very curious and loves to study all types of magic, but is unskilled in any beyond his specialty.<ref name=erf0013/> He has helped Parson learn how magic works in Erfworld (insofar as the Erfworlders themselves understand it), but knows little about military matters.<ref name=erf0040>'''Klog:''' Sizemore and I have been talking magic theory. [...] He's about as knowledgable a guy as I could want for a teacher. Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0040.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (Parson's Klog #2)]</ref><ref name=erf0044>'''Klog:''' It's harder to get information about this stuff that it was about magic. Sizemore barely knows the basics. Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0044.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (Parson's Klog #4)]</ref> When forced into combat as the battle reaches Gobwin Knob itself, he is very regretful about taking lives, but reluctantly accepts it as his duty to do so.

* '''Bogroll''': A one-eyed twoll who served as a guardsman in Gobwin Knob and lackey to Parson.<ref name=erf0029>'''Bogroll:''' My Lords! I am reporting as Lackey retainer to Lord Hamster, by the order of my Lady Firebaugh. Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0029.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 29)]</ref> He was loyal and typically good-natured, although a frequent target of the other guardsmen's pranks.<ref name=erf0028>'''Bogroll''': Mung, why do the other henchmen pick on me? / '''Mung''': Because it's fun. Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0028.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 28)]</ref> Bogroll is presumably croaked, having sacrificed himself in a kamikaze style attack on Ansom. Bogroll was a character in the PartiallyClips strip,<ref>Balder, R; [http://www.partiallyclips.com/index.php?id=1009 Bogroll the Cyclops], ''PartiallyClips'', 2002-09-08. Retrieved June 29, 2007.</ref> and is the only crossover between PartiallyClips and Erfworld. His name is a British English colloquialism for toilet paper.

* '''Vinny Doombats''': A count of the Transylvito tribe who fights for the Royal Crown Coalition, Vinny has the appearance of a vampire (though sunlight apparently does not harm him). Vinny seems to be a close adviser and friend of Prince Ansom, to whom he has few qualms about speaking frankly, in a colorful accent and with colloquial slang. He has confronted Ansom with his opinion that Stanley's commoner origins, not his military aggressions against several coalition members, are at the root of Ansom's antipathy toward Stanley, while assuring Ansom that this issue would not affect his personal loyalty.<ref name=erf0034>'''Vinny:''' You know I gotcher back no matter what. But what I can't figure out is, why are you leading this fight? [...] / '''Ansom:''' Can't it just be that I want to end a great evil? / '''Vinny:''' It could be. [...] But your beef is he's not royal, right? Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0034.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 34)]</ref> As his name implies, he controls the coalition's bat scouting units. His name is a reference to Vinny Goombatz, a fictional character created by stand-up comedian Rodney Dangerfield.

* '''Maggie''': A Thinkamancer in the employ of Gobwin Knob. She is very skilled in her specialty and amoral in its application. She can send thinkagrams (telepathic messages) and link multiple casters together to combine their powers. She controlled a link with the Foolamancer Jack Snipe and the Lookamancer Misty, then later a link with the Croakmancer Wanda and the Dirtmancer Sizemore. It is heavily implied that when she broke the first link, she protected herself from the backlash at the expense of the other two. Visually, she resembles Margaret Thatcher. Parson described her as "Kind of a cold fish."

* '''Charlie:''' The Overlord of Charlescomm. Charlie has consistently remained offscreen, interacting with other characters via remote communication (similarly to the unseen "Charlie" of the TV program Charlie's Angels). Charlie was first contracted by Prince Ansom to supply a group of Archons to reinforce the expedition sent to rescue Jillian Zamussels. Later, after Ansom broke off the alliance in the expectation that Charlie would make a new alliance with Transylvito, Charlie instead took advantage of his release from his contract to begin dealing with Parson. Charlie shows no real commitment to either side, but does value his reputation as a mercenary who "stays bought". His main motivation though is his own profit.

===Known Arkentools===
There are four Arkentools known to be in existence,<ref name=erf0042>Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0042.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 42)]</ref> but only three have appeared in the comics.

*'''Arkenhammer''': A hammer resembling a toy croquet mallet. Owned by and attuned to Stanley the Plaid/Tool, the Arkenhammer has the power to control dwagons, to glow brightly, to levitate along with its wielder, to turn approximately 20 percent of walnuts cracked with it into pigeons and to turn some units into walnuts<ref name=erf0126>Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0126.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 126)]</ref>. Stanley claims the Arkenhammer has chosen him for divine reasons, and uses this as rationale for his quest to obtain the other tools.
*'''Arkenpliers''': A sword-sized pair of needle-nose pliers. Previously owned by but not attuned to Prince Ansom, they served as a close combat weapon and had the power in his hands to "turn most Uncroaked to dust". It is not yet known what powers they would manifest in the hands of an attuned wielder. Stanley believed that Ansom's attack on Gobwin Knob was divinely directed to bring the Arkenpliers to him. Seen in the hands of the unnamed Red Warlord of the Coalition, immediately prior to a volcanic eruption. They are now in the possession of Wanda, and have attuned to her.
*'''Arkendish''': An object resembling a satellite dish. Owned by and attuned to Charlie, it gives him a mastery of Thinkamancy. Possibly gives the ability to summon "Charlie's Archons." Parson uses the fact that Charlie is not a Royal but is still attuned to it to further provoke Ansom.

==The World==
===Game Rules===
The laws of nature governing Erfworld are similar to the rules of a turn-based strategy game. Forces are divided into "sides" each of which is controlled by an overlord; overlords have powers over their units that are similar to those of a player in a strategy game.

====Turns and Movement====
Battle takes place in turns; each side is able only to attack on its own turn and no turns occur during the night. Each unit (a term that encompasses both various creatures and sapient beings) has a certain amount of "Move," which governs the maximum distance it may travel during its side's turn. Thus, units may only travel to other locations during their turn, but at other times, they may only move around within the bounds of the hexagonal region, or "hex," where they ended up after their own turn.

====Units and Stats====
All people in Erfworld appear fully formed as adults. Any side is able to "pop" new units each turn at each of its city sites. Units can learn new skills and gain promotion at a cost of time and money, or these abilities and ranks can simply be "popped" along with the unit. Each unit has an "upkeep" cost, paid by the overlord of its side out of the treasury. At the start of their side's turn, each unit receives rations, heals back to full health, and experiences minor maintenance such as personal cleanup.

Units have various battle stats associated with them. Each has a "level" as would a unit in a strategy game. Level determines power in battle and increases with successive victories. Certain units can also offer bonuses (temporary boosts in level) to the forces they are leading; warlords give a bonus to the troops they lead, as do certain casters. One of the stranger bonuses available is "dance fighting," a bonus earned by leading one's forces while dancing.

====Boop====
One of the more unusual features of the Erfworld universe is that it appears to be censored. When Parson is summoned to the world, he discovers almost immediately that whenever he attempts to use a word that could be considered a profanity it comes out as "Boop". It is clear from Parson's reaction that this is an in-universe mechanic. <ref name=erf0018>Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0018.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 18)]</ref>

The natives of Erfworld apparently understand that the word represents profanity, but it is unclear whether they understand each boop as the word Parson had intended to use. Sizemore and Wanda are the only characters to have responded appropriately to a word that was "booped out," but it is possible they determine the word's meaning from the context. <ref name=erf0035>'''Sizemore:''' This...is called a "chamber pot." / '''Parson:''' Magic item? / '''Sizemore:''' You wish. / '''Parson:''' Boop. / '''Sizemore:''' Exactly! Balder, R; Noguchi, J; [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0035.html ''Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' (page 35)]</ref>

There is one notable exception to the general censorship. "Crap" has been used by the natives of Erfworld, both before and after Parson is summoned there.<ref>[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0006.html Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob page 6 (Lady Firebraugh)]</ref><ref>[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0013.html Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob page 13 (Sizemore)]</ref><ref>[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0105.html Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob page 95 (Jillian Zamessels)]</ref> Only Jillian Zamussels' use of the word has been other than literal, though the earliest use by Lady Firebaugh could have been taken as both a literal observation and a curse word. Artist Jamie Noguchi has stated that he does not believe the word "crap" to be profanity<ref>[http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2262172&postcount=3 Post in Erfworld forums by Jamie Noguchi.]</ref>.

On the second night after Stanley the Tool leaves Gobwin Knob, Parson overhears the Gobwin troops singing drinking songs which work around the restriction by alluding to -- rather than explicitly describing -- deficiencies in manhood among the Jetstone and Transylvito factions.<ref>[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0113.html Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob page 101]</ref> For instance, he is surprised to learn that Erfworlders can use the word "testes". Other characters seem to have figured out their own loopholes; for example, one of Ansom's allies remarks that "the Sofa King is Sofa-King finished here" on page 117.

Artist Jamie Noguchi stated that once that Boop was originally supposed to be "meep" <ref>[http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1856008&postcount=2 Post in Erfworld forums by Jamie Noguchi.]</ref>.

===Magic===
Magic can be performed in Erfworld by units called casters. Each caster has a specialty in one of twenty-four magical disciplines, but can theoretically cast in any discipline. These specialties can be combined by mentally linking casters together using the magical disciple "thinkmancy"- a process that increases magical power but sometimes harms the casters involved when their link is broken.

It is explained in the [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0040.html second Parson's Klog], that three fundamental elements (Life, Motion, and Matter) are combined in all possible combinations to get eight major classes of magic. Magic within each class can be further aligned to any of three axes (Erf, Fate and Numbers), thus dividing each class into three disciplines. This gives a total of twenty-four disciplines, which are described - along with any known details - in the tables below:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Life
! Motion
! Matter
! Class
|-
!'''X'''
!
!
! Hocus Pocus
|-
!
!'''X'''
!
! Spookism
|-
!
!
!'''X'''
! Stuffamancy
|-
!'''X'''
!'''X'''
!
! Eyemancy
|-
! '''X'''
!
! '''X'''
! Hippiemancy
|-
!
! '''X'''
! '''X'''
! Naughtymancy
|-
! '''X'''
! '''X'''
! '''X'''
! Stagemancy
|-
!
!
!
! Clevermancy
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
|
! '''Erf'''
! '''Fate'''
! '''Numbers'''
| Notes
|-
! Hocus Pocus
! Findamancy
! Predictamancy
! Mathamancy
! Findamancy and Predictamancy were used to summon Parson; Predictamancers have been indicated to be akin to seers<ref>http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0091.html Erfworld, chapter 1: The Battle for Gobwin Knob page 82. Jillian: "His [Banhammer's] Predictamancer told him that his precious toy kingdom would fall someday."</ref>. Mathamancy is described as: "Analyzing probabilities... predicting outcomes" and "the raw calculations of that work"<ref name="giantitp.com">[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0060.html Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob page 54]</ref>.

|-
! Spookism
! Turnamancy
! Dollamancy
! Weirdomancy
!
|-
! Stuffamancy
! Dirtamancy
! Changemancy
! Dittomancy
! The Dirtamancer, Sizemore Rockwell, has been shown to be able to animate different types of rock into golems <ref>[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0059.html Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob page 53]</ref>, to be able to dig through solid rock<ref>Page 84, Parson's Klog 7</ref>, and to deal with Gobwin Knob's night soil in ways up to and including animating it into "crap golems".
|-
! Eyemancy
! Lookamancy
! Thinkamancy
! Foolamancy
! Lookamancy has only been shown as a form of scrying. Thinkamancy has been shown to deal with telepathy, including creating a mind link with other casters that allows spells that normal casters cannot even comprehend <ref name="giantitp.com"/>, Thinkagrams, and suggestion spells. Foolamancy has been shown to function around illusions and veiling troops. The Eyebooks used by the main characters in Chapter 1 are made through a combination of all three disciplines of Eyemancy<ref>[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0035.html Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Know page 35]</ref>.
|-
! Hippiemancy
! Flower Power
! Signamancy
! Date-a-mancy
!Time perception crumbles in the presence of Flower Power<ref>http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0011.html</ref>. It can also be used to "quiet" a battle<ref>http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0013.html</ref>, though the precise meaning of "quiet" has not been revealed.
|-
! Naughtymancy
! Shockmancy
! Croakamancy
! Retconjurism
! Croakamancy includes the creation of Uncroaked. [http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Deletionism Deletionism] is an in-joke reference to the same name phenomenon in Wikipedia while Shockmancy refers to shock images.
|-
! Stagemancy
! Hat Magic
! Carnymancy
! Rhyme-o-mancy
!
|-
! Clevermancy
! Luckmancy
! Healomancy
! Moneymancy
! Clevermancy consists of none of the Elements, and is described by author Rob Balder as "raw magic dealing with raw magical forces"<ref>[http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2315787&postcount=29 post by Rob Balder in the Erfworld Forums]</ref>.
|}

==Recognition==
Despite being a "young" webcomic, ''Erfworld'' has been recognised by several sources and webcomic authorities. Other webcomics authors such as Howard Tayler of ''Schlock Mercenary''<ref>[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/blog/index.php/2007/01/14/what-exactly-is-an-erf/ "What, exactly, is an “Erf?”"], Howard Tayler, ''Schlock Mercenary'' blog, January 14, 2007. Retrieved June 29, 2007. </REF> and Mohammad "Hawk" Haque of ''Applegeeks''<ref>[http://www.applegeeks.com/blog/?p=1441 "Erfworld Launched"], Mohammed Hoque, ''Applegeeks'' blog, December 7, 2006. Retrieved June 29, 2007.</ref> have posted reviews and comments about ''Erfworld'', and it has been cited on the webcomic site ''Fleen'',<ref>[http://www.fleen.com/archives/2007/01/19/ "What on Erf do you mean, "My Language"?"] Gary Tyrrell, ''Fleen'', January 19, 2007. Retrieved June 29, 2007.</ref> by authors outside the webcomic field such as Time-Blog and ''Time (magazine)|Time'' author/journalist Lev Grossman in his articles "Webcomics are the New Blogs"<ref>[http://nerdworld.blogs.time.com/2007/01/31/webcomics_are_the_new_blogs_th_1/ "Webcomics Are the New Blogs: The Order of the Stick"], Lev Grossman, Time (magazine)|TIME.com, January 31, 2007. Retrieved June 29, 2007.</ref> and "Erfworld: It's a Boopin' Good Webcomic!"<ref>[http://nerdworld.blogs.time.com/2007/04/10/erfworld_its_a_boopin_good_web/ "Erfworld: It's a Boopin' Good Webcomic!"], Lev Grossman, TIME.com, April 10, 2007 Retrieved June 29, 2007.</ref> Grossman also listed Erfworld as one of the Top 10 Graphic Novels of 2007.<ref>[http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/top10/article/0,30583,1686204_1686244_1692143,00.html "Top 10 Graphic Novels (#6: Erfworld)"], Lev Grossman, Time (magazine)|TIME.com, December 10, 2007. Retrieved December 11, 2007.</ref> The addition of ''Erfworld'' to GiantITP was noted in "First Watch," ''Dragon (magazine)|Dragon Magazine's'' monthly section on new developments in gaming and entertainment.<ref>"First Watch." Dragon Magazine, Issue #354 March 2007: 16.</ref>

==References==

==External links==
* [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erflatest.html ''Erfworld'']
* [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erfcast.html The main cast of characters]
* [http://erfworld.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page Erfworld Wiki, maintained in part by creators Rob Balder and Jamie Noguchi]
[[Category:Comic]][[Category:Wiki]]

TBFGK 38a:2/Text

2009-08-19T08:30:48Z

Ichthus: replaced Deletionism with Retconjurism

<noinclude>{{subpage}}[[Category:Frame Contents]]</noinclude>
If I live through the next few days, I am going to have a lot to say about the cutesy-boop names and appearances of everything in this world. Expect a full-on rant. Right now, I don't have time.

[[Sizemore Rockwell|Sizemore]] and I have been talking "[[magic]] theory." He says he's one of the few people in [[Erfworld]] who studies magic outside his specialty (which is "[[Dirtamancy]]"...it's worse than it sounds.)

Anyway, he's about as knoweldgable a guy as I could want for a teacher, but I have to wonder how much anyone here really knows about their own world. What he told me sounds a lot like that crap about the four basic elements that people believed in for centuries just because Aristotle said it.

Here's what he said. Magic uses the three elements of Life, Motion, and Matter. The major classes of magic are defined by combinations of these three things:

{| style="background:gray; color:white; text-align:center"
| style="width:60px" | [[Life]] || style="width:60px" | [[Motion]] || style="width:60px" | [[Matter]] || style="background:white; color:black; text-align:left" | Class
|- style="background:white; color:black"
| x || || || style="background:darkgray; text-align:left" | [[Hocus Pocus]]
|- style="background:white; color:black"
| || x || || style="background:darkgray; text-align:left" | [[Spookism]]
|- style="background:white; color:black"
| || || x || style="background:darkgray; text-align:left" | [[Stuffamancy]]
|- style="background:white; color:black"
| x || x || || style="background:darkgray; text-align:left" | [[Eyemancy]]
|- style="background:white; color:black"
| x || || x || style="background:darkgray; text-align:left" | [[Hippiemancy]]
|- style="background:white; color:black"
| || x || x || style="background:darkgray; text-align:left" | [[Naughtymancy]]
|- style="background:white; color:black"
| x || x || x || style="background:darkgray; text-align:left" | [[Stagemancy]]
|- style="background:white; color:black"
| || || || style="background:darkgray; text-align:left" | [[Clevermancy]]
|}

That gives eight major magic classes. But magic is also "aligned" on three axes: Erf, Fate, and Number magic. So each major class is divided into three disciplines, based on what axis it is aligned to.

{| style="text-align:center; background:gray"
| rowspan="2" style="background:white; width:120px" | || colspan="3" style="border:1px solid darkgray; background:darkgray; color:white" | '''Magical Axis'''
|- style="background:gray; color:white"
| style="width:120px" | '''[[Erf]]'''
| style="width:120px" | '''[[Fate]]'''
| style="width:120px" | '''[[Numbers]]'''
|- style="background:white"
| style="background:darkgray; text-align:right" | '''[[Hocus Pocus]]'''
| [[Findamancy]]
| [[Predictamancy]]
| [[Mathamancy]]
|- style="background:white"
| style="background:darkgray; text-align:right" | '''[[Spookism]]'''
| [[Turnamancy]]
| [[Dollamancy]]
| [[Weirdomancy]]
|- style="background:white"
| style="background:darkgray; text-align:right" | '''[[Stuffamancy]]'''
| [[Dirtamancy]]
| [[Changemancy]]
| [[Dittomancy]]
|- style="background:white"
| style="background:darkgray; text-align:right" | '''[[Eyemancy]]'''
| [[Lookamancy]]
| [[Thinkamancy]]
| [[Foolamancy]]
|- style="background:white"
| style="background:darkgray; text-align:right" | '''[[Hippiemancy]]'''
| [[Flower Power]]
| [[Signamancy]]
| [[Date-a-mancy]]
|- style="background:white"
| style="background:darkgray; text-align:right" | '''[[Naughtymancy]]'''
| [[Shockmancy]]
| [[Croakamancy]]
| [[Retconjurism]]
|- style="background:white"
| style="background:darkgray; text-align:right" | '''[[Stagemancy]]'''
| [[Hat Magic]]
| [[Carnymancy]]
| [[Rhyme-o-mancy]]
|- style="background:white"
| style="background:darkgray; text-align:right" | '''[[Clevermancy]]'''
| [[Luckamancy]]
| [[Healomancy]]
| [[Moneymancy]]
|}

In each discipline there are a certain number of [[spell|spells]] it is possible to cast. I am gonna look at tactics, but I can't help thinking that magic is where the answer is. Maybe somewhere in this table is a spell that'll be the magic bullet to win this battle, so I just have to find it. I'm cramming for the ultimate pass/fail exam.

And yeah, I asked. There's no spell actually called "magic bullet."

Charlescomm

2009-08-19T08:29:59Z

Ichthus: removed deletionism ref

'' 'Your battlespace solutions provider' '' 
'''Mission Statement''': Team members will integrate core competencies utilizing best practices to achieve total battlespace saturation, and to provide just-in-time client solutions.
==Proposed Canon==
Charlescomm is an Erfworld [[side]] lead by the mysterious [[Charlie]]. Its capital is a mountaintop city clad in blue, topped by the ominous [[Arkendish]].

Charlescomm sells the services of its [[Unit]]s as mercenaries, even those of its Ruler (only those available remotely). It deals in anything of value, and does not operate on cash-only policies. Although Charlie (the primary dealmaker of Charlescomm, as well as its Ruler) will consider any offer, reputation is important to him, so Charlescomm will normally not change Sides in a conflict, as most mercenaries would.

Services known to be offered by Charlie himself include contract [[Thinkamancy]] and manipulation of employers. The [[Archon]]s, Charlescomm's primary off-site consulting [[Unit]], can provide significant combat casting abilities based on [[Shockmancy]] and/or Thinkamancy, and [[Foolamancy]] as well as a range of other services such as spell security. Clients choose which services they wish the Archons to provide. [[Archon]]s interpret contracts themselves, and have on occasion provided more than the client contracted, but this must not be relied upon since it is up to each Archon to decide whether to go beyond the scope of the contract.

==Speculation==
At least part of Charlescomm's power derives from Charlie's possession of and attunement to the [[Arkendish]] - how powerful this faction would be without such a significant [[artifact]] in their possession is unlikely to be revealed.

===Charlescomm in the Royal Crown Coalition===
Charlescomm provided 15 units to the [[RCC|Coalition]], which were probably all [[Archon]]s.

===Charlescomm in Gobwin Knob Airspace===
Charlie sent at least 30 Archons to Gobwin Knob Airspace in the return of the [[Volcano Uncroaking]]. Of these, 28 were [[decrypted]], and now serve Gobwin Knob.

[[Category:Side]]
[[Category:Proposed Canon]]
[[Category:Speculation]]

Archon

2009-08-19T08:29:22Z

Ichthus: /* Proposed Canon */ removed deletionism ref

{{ImageStackRight|220|
[[File:Archons.JPG|thumb|Center|200px|Three Archons pose. [[Jaclyn]] is on the right.]]
}}
==Proposed Canon==
A [[humanoid]] [[flying unit]] first seen in the service of [[Charlescomm]]. They are nearly all female, and often are dressed much like an airline stewardess from the 1960s. When preparing for [[dance fighting]], they have dressed in a 1950s dance style. Archons are intelligent and have names (such as [[Jaclyn]]).

Archons are powerful spellcasters thanks to [[Unit#Natural_Abilities|natural ability]], but are not true [[Caster]]s. They are also possessed of significant tactical and administrative skills. Archons bring powerful combat and support spells to their employers. Archons can detect the presence of spells that influence [[Unit]]s, including but not limited to [[Suggestion Spell]]s and [[Veil]]s.

[[Decrypted]] Archons retain their ability to cast, unlike [[uncroaked]] Archons.

Spells that Archons are known to have cast include:
*[[Thinkamancy]]: [[Thinkagram]]s
*[[Foolamancy]]: DDR trick and "Fireworks display" {{blog|2009|07|summer-updates-007}}
*Blast/energy spells (possibly shockmancy)

==Speculation==
Since [[Unit]]s [[level]], it is possible that Archons gain access to new [[spell]]s with each level, and because they are not true casters, they may all operate from the same table.

As non-[[Caster]]s, Archons probably do not specialize as normal casters do. They would not benefit from Linking, may not have [[Juice]], and may not be permitted in the [[Magic Kingdom]].

Under [[Charlie]], Archons are mercenaries. Given that both the [[Arkenhammer]] and [[Arkenpliers]] have special [[Unit]]s associated with them ([[dwagon]]s and [[decrypted]] respectively), it is likely that Archons have some special relationship to the [[Arkendish]]. As such, they will be overpowered (ie. unbalanced) relative to normal units.

Their changing "outfits" when preparing to dance-fight is likely an effect of their natural Foolamancy. It could also explain the 3 archons' blasts as being the same spell-like ability despite their different appearances. An alternate explanation would be that they were different levels and thus had access to different combat spells.

The [[decrypted]] Archons put on a giant fireworks display that included a large image of [[Stanley the Tool|Stanley]]. This could have been [[Shockmancy]] (a damage [[spell]]) or [[Foolamancy]] (a spell that looked like it could damage, but couldn't), or even a combination of both. Whichever it was, all 28 Archons could create the fireworks, suggesting it is available at a very early [[level]]. [[Charlie]] may not have sent his lowest level Archons to [[Gobwin Knob]] due to the extreme danger of the place (one Archon had already died to Air Defenses), so it may not be available to Level 1 Archons.

==Known Users==
[[Charlescomm]] - Archons seem to have been exclusive to this [[side]] prior to the Battle for Gobwin Knob. 
[[Gobwin Knob]] - after undergoing [[decrypted|decryption]]

==Real World References==
[[Charlie]]'s Archons are a reference to a television series [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie%27s_Angels Charlie's Angels] featuring 3 young women working as private investigators for their boss, Charlie, whose face is never seen on screen. The first appearance of a trio of archons{{erf|1|042|The Battle For Gobwin Knob}} shows them in the iconic silhouette pose from that show's title card.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Charliesangels.jpg]

The Archon Jaclyn is likely named after [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaclyn_Smith Jaclyn Smith], the actress who played the role of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly_Garrett Kelly Garrett].

Archons are a race of heavenly outsiders analogous to angels seen in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archon_(Dungeons_%26_Dragons) Dungeons & Dragons] roleplaying game. The term "Archon" replaced the term "Angel" used in the earliest versions of D&D: this choice was made in response to complaints that the game's depiction of angels was disrespectful toward religious belief. ("Demon" and "Devil" were also renamed to purely invented terms in response to complaints that the depiction of demons and devils encouraged occultism.) Recent versions of D&D have quietly restored the original terms as these issues became less heated.

Connecting the two Real World References leads to the following progression: "Charlie's Angels" becomes "Charlie's Archons" under the marketing decision of TSR.

[[Category:Unit]]
[[Category:Humanoid]]
[[Category:Flying Unit]]
[[Category:Proposed Canon]]
[[Category:Speculation]]
[[Category:Real World References]]

Talk:Retconjuration

2009-08-19T08:27:28Z

Ichthus: added retconjuration info for those curious what the heck just happened.

Word of the Titans

2009-08-19T08:26:04Z

Ichthus: /* Rob */ Retconjuration post added

{{TOCright}}
This is a collection of posts made by [[Rob Balder]] and [[Jamie Noguchi]] relating to Erfworld on the [http://www.giantitp.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=47 Giant in the Playground Forums]. It is copied here for easier reference and to save the valuable information. It is... well, the [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WordOfGod Word of the Titans]. Word of the Titans is considered [[canon]], while not in comic it comes from those who shaped that world.

Newer posts first. References to forum posts are mandatory.

;How to reference: Put a post's ID into {{tl|WoT}} and it will be linked – e.g. <code><nowiki>{{WoT|6012585}}</nowiki></code> gives:{{WoT|6012585}}

==Rob==
===8/19/2009===
The Ultimate Naughtymancy

There are a lot of difficult things about writing a story webcomic. But maybe the hardest one is this: the first draft is the final draft.

If a novelist gets to page 280 and realizes there's a basic conflict with something that was written on page 14, they can go back to page 14 and edit it, before they call the draft done. If a complete draft gets to an editor's desk and they say, "I loved it, but on page 194 you had the Fartaxians shooting lasers out of their sphincters when on page 75 you clearly said they shot antimatter beams," then the writer can say, "Oh, I'll change that." And the reader never sees the mistake.

I don't get to do that. When I come to a head-smacking realization about some detail in an earlier page, the page is already in the archives. It has already been read and discussed and speculated on and cited by one forumite to bludgeon another forumite in an argument. I have to live with it.

For the most part, I've been able to think ahead enough to avoid any really major mistakes. But there's this one that has been bugging me for the better part of two years, and I am going to fix it before the book goes to print.

It's one word. "Regeneration."

The graphic in Parson's Klog 4, where he puts on the 3-D glasses and looks at Bogroll's stats and sees that his special is "Regeneration" was something I suspected might come back to haunt me. But when I wrote that page, I needed to put something in that script to show for Bogroll's stats. So I guessed, before I had fleshed out stat systems and specials. "Regeneration" is a really common trait for trolls to have, so I put that.

But I realized within a few pages that it should have been "Fabrication." And I realized when Bogroll was going to have his apotheosis, that a whole lot of people were going to think he was coming back. Because of that one stupid word.

I talked to Rich Burlew about it many months ago, when we were getting close to the page that features Bogroll and Ansom. We talked about several possible solutions, and I took one of his suggestions: to show the Jetstone troops burning/destroying Bogroll's corpse. It did keep the speculation down. But it wasn't perfect, because it left me with this concept of Twolls in Erfworld as makers of things that wasn't supported by the text. It also left me eventually having to explain what Regeneration meant in Erfworld.

Well, I'm not gonna.

I am going to make a more drastic change. A change to the magic table. If you now look at Klog 2, you will see that the branch of magic I called "Deletionism" is no longer there. It has been deleted.

In its place is a new branch of magic: "Retconjuration." (The name was also Rich's idea.) This is a theoretical branch of magic, like an undiscovered element on the periodical table. No ordinary caster can practice it; there are no Retconjurers in Erfworld. It is reserved for the Titans. And I can tell you, they don't like it much and use it as seldom as possible. I apologize for invoking it now, especially to the wiki editors.

So, any differences you notice between the printed book and the old archives you can chalk up to Retconjuration, the ultimate form of Naughtymancy.
[http://www.erfworld.com/2009/08/the-ultimate-naughtymancy/]

===5145===
Interesting discussion. Gotta settle it, though. "Flower Child" would be great, if anyone in Erfworld knew what a child was.

We're going to go with "Florist."[http://www.erfworld.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=331&p=5145#p5145]

===6085467===
"Scarlet" is the Jek Tono Porkins of Erfworld. :smallwink:[http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=6085467#post6085467]

===6051503===

We'll get this and other details codified and canon-ized in the wiki. Short answer: Cities have a limited menu of unit types they can produce. Gobwin Knob can pop most dwagon types, but couldn't produce, say, a gwiffon.

Many types of units also pop randomly in the wild as barbarians, and that's complicated. We did not see it happen in Book 1 at all, and it is fairly rare (can you imagine the cries of "deus ex machina" if we had seen it happen?)

Warlords can pop randomly in the wild, even more rarely. This is why Ansom would not necessarily think Jillian was a Royal, as randomly-popped barbarians are way more common than heirs and rulers who lost their capitals.

Natural allies pop more of their kind via moneymancy, converting Schmuckers directly to units. This is why they typically ally with a strong side that can pay them for their alliance, and/or they mine and farm and hunt and do various other money-making things in the wild.

Part of the fun in Book 1 has been revealing many of the facts of the world as Parson learned them, or as they served the story. But for Book 2, we'll have a more comprehensive world knowledgebase for readers to draw on. So it's time we can definitively answer some of these questions.[http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=6051503#post6051503]

===6012585===
You have to understand that the denizens of Erfworld don't see a lot of what a player would see in a game. Including XP. Leveling is a surprise to them, and XP (or the equivalent) is a theory (albeit a pretty solid one). The people are in the dark and guessing, and it's kind of hard to build an XP table by actually finding 10 new level 1 Marbits to croak, discovering that you level, then discovering through experimentation that you need to croak 50 to level again.

From a narrative perspective, the fudge factor is high. But that does not mean there is not one consistent mathematical system governing leveling. It's just opaque to the characters and readers at this time.

The general answer to your question is that power gains are linear and level requirements are exponential. It's not perfectly simple as all that, but to generalize, yes.[http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=6012585#post6012585]

===6011856===
The relative combat power by level is NOT logarithmic or exponential.[http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=6011856#post6011856]

===6011549===
Higher levels cost more, on a kind of exponential scale that may vary by a large number of factors including the type of unit leveling, the type and number and levels of units croaked, and other activities involving the leveling unit's special abilities that may not even constitute combat. But the main thing is that you should imagine something like a logarithmic curve (not saying it literally is logarithmic), whereby low levels are achievable with a little combat, but levels above 10 or 11 become extremely difficult to obtain, and something like a level 20 unit is completely unheard of. Also notable is that not all of the numbers are available to the units and commanders to calculate, and so the existence of a predicable system of leveling at all is in the realm of the theoretical Mathamancers. Units cannot actually predict when they are going to level (Jillian is being flippant when she tells the Archons, "Cmon, it'll be fun. You'll level." but it would be a reasonable bet they might if they took out a stack of dwagons.)[http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=6011549#post6011549]

===5931853===

p64{{Erf|1|064|3}} panel 3 seems to be a major hangup. Wasn't intentional and I agree that it's misleading. We'll clarify that for the book.

For the record, the rule is actually pretty simple and I am amazed it's been such a sticking point for people.

* You can move only on your turn, and you can cast only on your turn.
* When an enemy comes to you on their turn, you can engage, and you can cast. This includes when they are attacking your city.

'''Why could Parson not have ordered a veil to be cast, even if the Foolamancer had been in the group with the wounded dwagons?''' It was not his turn, and they were not under attack. Once Jillian entered the hex, a theoretical Foolamancer within that hex could have veiled, but it wouldn't have been very effective at fooling her.

'''Why could Parson have his casters cast on the Coalition's turn, later in the story?''' His city was being attacked.

'''Why could the Archons cast the DDR spell?''' They were part of the Coalition and it was now technically their turn. But they could not move because all of Charlescomm's units' move went to zero when Charlie ended turn. Move and hits are restored to full at the beginning of a side's turn, and (re)forming an alliance does not count as starting a new turn.

'''Why could the Archons "cast" the contract, when it was not their turn?''' Well, why could they still fly? It's not a spell, it's a natural magic. There's also a heavy dose of [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TalkingIsAFreeAction "talking is a free action"] in that scene, another thing about turn based games that is silly but almost universally true. It's no sillier than food popping at the start of a turn.[http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5931853#post5931853]

===5781568===
p129 panel 1{{Erf|1|129|1}}, change "leading" to "guiding" or possibly "directing."[http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5781568#post5781568]

===5580422===
Courtyard refers to the portion of the Garrison that is above ground, within the walls, and not in or on the Tower. Wanda is not in the Garrison zone at all in page 122{{Erf|1|122}}. She's in the Outer Walls zone.

We've been attempting to avoid confusion by keeping it simple and avoiding unnecessary detail (like, for example, the fact that the Outer Walls zone also has parts to it, or that Parson's klog was referring specifically to attacks on the Garrison and that there are other sets of rules regarding movement by friendlies within the city).[http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5580422#post5580422]

===5467430===
Note: p120{{Erf|1|120}}, Jamie did not draw the uncroaked Jaclyn in Wanda's stack and should have. It will be fixed for the book. She'll be in there in p121 and was in in p119. Just an oversight.[http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5467430#post5467430]

===5448820===

Quote: 
Originally Posted by Godskook 
If she is in the Airspace, how can she get close enough to a non-flier to make a contract?

I'll answer this one question as an example of "yes, we did think about this stuff before we started writing." And then I'll stop before I get any farther into the tar pit of explaining the rules while we are telling the story.

Do you remember when Ansom was getting word passed along through the column about the results of Parson's attack? That was not on the Coalition's turn, but physical notes were still being passed between hexes. Did we specifically show a note passed across a hex? No. The story didn't need it. Compared to showing the abortive celebrations of the Coalition's leadership corps, it's dramatically trivial.

But that's what happened. I thought about it. I knew about it. We didn't show it.

Now, if you are seriously hung up on whether or not Ansom could touch a magical button projected in the air by an Archon hovering just above the city wall, then you are not really granting us any license at all for a joke, you know? There's occasionally some humor in this comic. The EULA joke is meant to make you laugh.

But yes, okay. It is absolutely physically possible for the Archons to project an image into the air, which Ansom, standing on the wall top, can see and touch.

We are telling a story set in a whole alien universe here. We have mythologies and character histories and world mechanics backing this up, but it's the story that matters. I care ten times more about Sizemore's emotional state in the heat of battle than I do about whether or not a sourmander could spit acid across a hex boundary. (But I still know the answer.)

As this goes along, some mechanics are going to be unclear at times. Please trust that we've thought about these things to the extent needed to support the story. We're not going to pull any major cheapness in how we tell the tale, and we have not written ourselves into a corner.
[http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5448820#post5448820]

===5448054===

Okay, I know it's bad policy to explain as the narrative is going on. Maybe a sign of bad storytelling that I feel like I have to. My fault, if so. But I can't watch you guys squirm any more. Future pages will touch on some of this, but it's very, very simple.

* You can only move when it is your turn.
* When it is not your turn, and someone moves into the space you're on (meaning hex or city zone), then you can engage them.
* Every side gets exactly one turn a day.
* There is a natural turn order. When sides ally, their next turn is shared at the latest slot in the day of any of the allied sides.

On this day, Charlescomm has had their turn. The Archons ended that turn in Gobwin Knob's airspace. If they ally with Jetstone (I am not saying they will), then they do not get another turn until tomorrow, after Gobwin Knob's next turn. If they don't ally, they'll go before Gobwin Knob. Either way, until their next turn, the Archons can only engage units that enter Gobwin Knob's airspace.

I think the main thing that's confusing people is this:

* If you own the city, you can move around in it without move cost.

That means even zone to zone, and even when it is not your turn, so the constraint does not apply to the defenders. Sorry if that's confusing, but it was more or less explained in a Klog.

I promise there is no long, complicated set of rules being made up to satisfy plot conditions. It's a simple list, and the plot will play out without breaking them, or inventing new ones.[http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5448054#post5448054]

===2786759===
<code>In Erfworld 39{{Erf|1|038}} Jillian heals at dawn, while Erfworld 52/Parson's Klog 6{{Erf|1|046a}} states that Ansom's forces heal at noon.</code>

Ah, that one's not a blooper. Jillian is captured at that point and shares "turns" with her captors' side. Eats prison meals that pop on Gobwin Knob's expense, etc.
[http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2786759#post2786759]

===2316704===
<code>I want to know something a little more mundane from Rob/Jami:</code>

<code>What software did you use to bend the text and tables down toward the spine of the eyebook? That's a really nice touch, but I would think it would be a real bear to accomplish in something like Photoshop. Was it done in Illustrator or some other more vector-based program?</code>

I letter the comic in Paint Shop Pro X, and for the eyebook pages I generally use the Mesh Warp tool. PSPX is way better than Photoshop (the versions I have used) for vector manipulation, so I use it for all the balloons, speech, and SFX words. PSP is cheap and powerful, and has a free downloadable demo. I recommend it highly, and I have done PartiallyClips entirely in it for years.

The only drawback to the Mesh Warp tool is that it's got to be the worst memory hog in the toolbox. Close all other programs![http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2316704#post2316704]

===2276100===
I encourage and appreciate the feedback. I did post something about the pacing a few strips ago, on the order of "I feel your pain but this is the way the story needs to be told to get it across the way I imagine it."

Believe me, I agonize over this issue, but it's a problem with the whole medium of story webcomics. Telling an 80 to 90-page story at the rate of 2 pages a week is just bound to leave a lot of people frustrated, but there's no real way to adjust for it.

Since we're talking about craft, though, I'm willing to open up and talk a bit about the choices I made on this particular page.{{Erf|1|037}} Potential spoiler follows, but not so bad. Mostly a sausage-making lesson you might not want to watch.

'''Spoiler:'''

{{Spoiler|Yes, I did sit there and stare at that last panel for a long time. "This has no punchline," I said to myself. "This page has some funny stuff on it, but it ends with nothing. Is that what I want?"
I considered two possible changes. I could force a punch on the last panel, but any little throwaway I came up with just didn't have as much oomph as the stuff that came earlier. It would have felt forced. Anticlimactic.}}

{{Spoiler|I could also have dropped a drama point there, by having Bogroll explicitly point out that if Parson failed to show up in the Situation Room at dawn, he'd have disobeyed Stanley's order and would die. I almost did that, but in the end I decided not to. Reason: Parson already knew it (and isn't really taking it seriously), Bogroll certainly knew it (and is taking it seriously, which shows), and the reader should know it already, too (and should be withholding judgement).}}

{{Spoiler|It would be a heavy-handed mood change in what was meant to be a light and personal scene. It would also be petty drama for nothing, since I had every intention of having Parson show up on time. We've got enough "DUM, dum, dummmmmmmmm!" in this story for now, relating to real plot points. No need for pointless foot-dangling when the whole story is set on a cliff edge.}}

{{Spoiler|So, in the end, I went with the natural "more to follow" panel that I think will flow quite well in a few months, when the story is one complete block. It wasn't exciting, but it did the job and it was exactly what Bogroll would say and do.}}

{{Spoiler|Sorry it wasn't fireworks, but this page really did a lot of necessary stuff. It established the Bogroll/Parson dynamic, did the costume change, began to answer some of the basics of daily life, and helped set a mood/tone we're working hard to establish. We want the comic to have that mundane feel of reality, even against a setting as bizarre and surreal as Erfworld. Jamie, I think, is doing a fantastic job at conveying that with his color choices (orange firelight before, and now ashen pre-dawn chill) and little visual details (the crumpled golem-skin on the bed).}}

{{Spoiler|I think I managed to do all of that, and still throw in three pretty decent gags. It just happened that none of them came at the very end.
I really don't intend to make the whole Erfworld writing process transparent like I do with PartiallyClips. But I hope you guys can see that I'm actually giving a lot of thought to these choices, and I'm making the best calls I can}}.[http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2276100#post2276100]

===2198313===
<code>Re: What about Parson's friends?</code>

True spoiler, from the author. Think before clicking, please. Seriously.

'''Spoiler:'''

{{Spoiler|I was glad to see this thread, because there are some plans to involve Parson's gaming buddies in the future of Erfworld. If everything goes as we hope it will, then you have not seen the last of those guys}}.[http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2198313#post2198313]

===1646581===
<code>Sizemore Rockwell, eh? Nice one, Rob. References to obscure yet awesome [http://superbigcool.com/assrockers/index.shtml local bands] can only add to the intrigue of the comic. I can see the where the earnest dweeb look comes from, but you could have at least given him a fu manchu.</code>

Heh, I borrowed only your names. I could never hope to capture the quintessence of Durt Sizemore and Riff Rockwell in the same character. The character comes from another source entirely.[http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1646581#post1646581]

==Jami==
===4047518===
Hey hey, friendly neighborhood art monkey here. Most of these will be answered by the end of the first chapter here, some will be left unanswered for future stories, and a few will be answered right now!

I'll answer the ones I can and leave the others out.

<code>
3) What are the wiener dog/goat things viewable in the first panels of these pages?
</code>

Cute, ain't they! I won't tell you what they are, but we will get to see them again before the Battle for Gobwin Knob is through.

<code>
10) Can units willingly leave sides and become Barbarian units?
</code>

There's enough information in the comic now that you could make an educated guess about this one.

<code>
12) Do the ... extracurricular activities ... of Erfworld's characters have any bearing on royals and nobles "popping" from cities?
</code>

Again, you can make an educated guess regarding this one. Remember Wanda's surprise when Parson mentions "children."

<code>
16) What's the deal with items just disappearing? Does Erfworld have a Hammerspace? Is this some kind of natural magic? Is it that Jamie doesn't want to keep drawing them?
</code>

In some instances, they're honest mistakes on my part. Parson's watch is a good example of this. Sometimes it's there, sometimes it's not. We've demonstrated that magical items like the EyeBooks are resize able. So you can shrink them down and put them in your pocket.

<code>
23) What's with those floating balls of light?
</code>

They light stuff. And they float.

<code>
25) Do Erfworlders bleed... at all?
</code>

Seen any spurting blood yet?

<code>
27) Do magic items and artifacts dematerialize like garbage? (For instance, would Manpower's sword, if it is magical at all, still be at the bottom of that lake where it fell?)
</code>

Remember when Jillian was first nabbed and she dropper her hat and sword? Those were recovered by Webinar's group.

That's probably all I can get away with answering now without spoiling too much.
[http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4047518#post4047518]

===1856008===
Yes indeed, the Battle for Gobwin Knob has a definite ending.

We started long ago just throwing some ideas around, some initial character descriptions and designs, some plot points. Rob then took all that brainstorming and created an overall outline broken down per page of the whole first arc. He has some notes on where we'll take Erfworld once this first bit is done.

Then comes the actual scripting. Rob takes his outline and starts filling in the blanks. The scripts are very detailed giving me dialog, page break downs, panel shots, action description, everything a comic artist needs. Every once in a while, Rob will ask if we can expand and add another page or two to give me some room to draw cool things and to give him some room to script. The Dwagon air battle is a perfect example of this.

As he continues scripting things out, I get started with small thumbnail sketches of the page I'm working on. I get scripts a few pages at a time which allows me to work on a few pages at once. Once I'm happy with my thumbnails, I break out my boards and start lining the borders.

I'm using Strathmore 300 series smooth bristol at 9X12. Not quite the standard 11x17 boards that the comic industry uses, but it serves my purposes. I use a variety of microns and other felt time pigment pens. They're permanent and don't smudge often. I use HB leads out of a Sumo Grip mechanical pencil. And of course, my gummy and Mars erasers.

After I line my borders, I sketch in my forms very lightly with my mechanical pencil. I concentrate mostly on the characters since a lot of the backgrounds will get painted in Photoshop, but every once in a while I throw in some detailed background work (Stanley's office for example). I use a thicker line to outline the characters. It's an old animation trick to pop the characters up a bit and push the backgrounds back. Then I scan.

I scan in at 600dpi and reduce to 300dpi. Reducing by half makes the lines look cleaner. Then I go ahead and paint the backgrounds first. This helps make some lighting decisions which become important when I go to color the characters. The characters all get the cell shaded look which actually takes the least amount of time in the whole process.

Once I'm done, I send the full resolution file off to Rob for lettering. Rob uses an archaic program to letter that is incompatible with my Mac which will offer us new challenges when we go to get this thing in print. Lettering each page himself gives Rob a chance to change some bits of dialog and add some sound effects or other touches that he thinks will work. "Boop" was originally supposed to be "meep."

Once he's done, he sends it off to Rich who uploads the page for all to see.

And that's it in a nut shell!

[[Category:Canon]]

Retconjuration

2009-08-19T08:21:36Z

Ichthus: major edits to page to fit with the new 'retconjuration' that Rob did.

Magic

2009-08-19T08:12:53Z

Ichthus: /* Disciplines */ Updated main chart to dynamically pull schools of magic from template.

=Proposed Canon=
Magic is any item, event, or action that achieves a non-mundane result. In [[Erfworld]], Magic is governed by a set of Rules that determine what an item can do, what is necessary to achieve a particular result, or how a creature can do something it shouldn't be capable of.

==Basics of Magic==
Magic is divided up into eight Classes. Each class uses some combination of elements -- Motion, Matter and Life. (e.g. The class [[Eyemancy]] uses Life and Motion, but not Matter.) Each Class has three Disciplines. Each of these Disciplines uses one of the three Magical Axes -- Erf, Fate, or Numbers. (e.g. [[Thinkamancy]], a Discipline of [[Eyemancy]], is aligned to Fate.) Each Discipline has a limited number of [[Spell]]s.{{Erf|1|038a}}

===Casters===
[[Casters]] cast Magic [[Spell]]s, which alter the world around the Caster in some way, gather information, or otherwise provide a result that would be considered extraordinary or supernatural in the [[Real World]]. Each Caster has one Discipline of specialization.

[[Caster]]s are titled after their Discipline of specialization. For instance, a Caster that specializes in [[Lookamancy]] is known as a [[Lookamancer]].

One or two [[Caster]]s can also [[Link]] with a [[Thinkamancer]] to cast even more powerful [[Spell]]s; however, there are risks since an improperly broken Link could damage the Casters.

===Spells===
A [[Spell]] is a process by which a [[Caster]] achieves a magical effect. Casting a Spell involves using hand gestures, materials, and/or verbal triggers to accomplish the desired end result.

For more details on [[Spell]]s and the casting of Spells, see [[Spell]].

==Types of Magic==
===Classes===
{| style="background:black; color:white; text-align:center"
| style="background:gray; width:60px" | [[Life]] || style="background:gray; width:60px" | [[Motion]] || style="background:gray; width:60px" | [[Matter]] || style="background:white; color:black; text-align:left" | Element/Class
|- style="background:white; color:black"
| x || || || style="background:darkgray; text-align:left" | [[Hocus Pocus]]
|- style="background:white; color:black"
| || x || || style="background:darkgray; text-align:left" | [[Spookism]]
|- style="background:white; color:black"
| || || x || style="background:darkgray; text-align:left" | [[Stuffamancy]]
|- style="background:white; color:black"
| x || x || || style="background:darkgray; text-align:left" | [[Eyemancy]]
|- style="background:white; color:black"
| x || || x || style="background:darkgray; text-align:left" | [[Hippiemancy]]
|- style="background:white; color:black"
| || x || x || style="background:darkgray; text-align:left" | [[Naughtymancy]]
|- style="background:white; color:black"
| x || x || x || style="background:darkgray; text-align:left" | [[Stagemancy]]
|- style="background:white; color:black"
| || || || style="background:darkgray; text-align:left" | [[Clevermancy]]
|}

===Disciplines===
{| style="text-align:center; background:black"
| rowspan="2" style="background:white; width:120px" | '''Class\Axis'''|| colspan="3" style="border:1px solid darkgray; background:darkgray; color:white" | '''Magical Axis'''
|- style="background:gray; color:white"
| style="width:120px" | '''[[Erf]]'''
| style="width:120px" | '''[[Fate]]'''
| style="width:120px" | '''[[Numbers]]'''
|- style="background:white"
| style="background:darkgray; text-align:right" | '''[[Hocus Pocus]]'''
| {{MagicInfo|Erf|Hocus Pocus}}
| {{MagicInfo|Fate|Hocus Pocus}}
| {{MagicInfo|Numbers|Hocus Pocus}}
|- style="background:white"
| style="background:darkgray; text-align:right" | '''[[Spookism]]'''
| {{MagicInfo|Erf|Spookism}}
| {{MagicInfo|Fate|Spookism}}
| {{MagicInfo|Numbers|Spookism}}
|- style="background:white"
| style="background:darkgray; text-align:right" | '''[[Stuffamancy]]'''
| {{MagicInfo|Erf|Stuffamancy}}
| {{MagicInfo|Fate|Stuffamancy}}
| {{MagicInfo|Numbers|Stuffamancy}}
|- style="background:white"
| style="background:darkgray; text-align:right" | '''[[Eyemancy]]'''
| {{MagicInfo|Erf|Eyemancy}}
| {{MagicInfo|Fate|Eyemancy}}
| {{MagicInfo|Numbers|Eyemancy}}
|- style="background:white"
| style="background:darkgray; text-align:right" | '''[[Hippiemancy]]'''
| {{MagicInfo|Erf|Hippiemancy}}
| {{MagicInfo|Fate|Hippiemancy}}
| {{MagicInfo|Numbers|Hippiemancy}}
|- style="background:white"
| style="background:darkgray; text-align:right" | '''[[Naughtymancy]]'''
| {{MagicInfo|Erf|Naughtymancy}}
| {{MagicInfo|Fate|Naughtymancy}}
| {{MagicInfo|Numbers|Naughtymancy}}
|- style="background:white"
| style="background:darkgray; text-align:right" | '''[[Stagemancy]]'''
| {{MagicInfo|Erf|Stagemancy}}
| {{MagicInfo|Fate|Stagemancy}}
| {{MagicInfo|Numbers|Stagemancy}}
|- style="background:white"
| style="background:darkgray; text-align:right" | '''[[Clevermancy]]'''
| {{MagicInfo|Erf|Clevermancy}}
| {{MagicInfo|Fate|Clevermancy}}
| {{MagicInfo|Numbers|Clevermancy}}
|}

==Magic Items and Artifacts==
[[Magic Item]] is an item that is both magical and made by a mortal. An item with magical powers created by the [[Titans]] is called an [[Artifact]].{{Erf|1|035}}

===Scrolls===
Through some unknown process, a [[Caster]] can create and use [[Scroll]]s. This has the advantage of not using up caster [[juice]] (or energy) at the time of casting the [[Spell]], but requires considerably more juice when initially created, and the scroll does not necessarily have to be of their specialized Discipline. The creators of the Scroll do not need to be of a single discipline{{erf|1|005}}{{erf|1|036}}: such a [[Summon Perfect Warlord Spell|Summoning Scroll]] was used at the beginning of the comic to summon Parson Gotti to Erfworld. Whether this scroll was created by [[Link]]ed casters or simple cooperation is unknown.

[[Category:Proposed Canon]]
[[Category:Erfworld Mechanics]]
[[Category:Magic]]

Magic

2009-08-19T08:07:47Z

Ichthus: /* Disciplines */ Updating Deletionism to Retconjuration per Rob.

=Proposed Canon=
Magic is any item, event, or action that achieves a non-mundane result. In [[Erfworld]], Magic is governed by a set of Rules that determine what an item can do, what is necessary to achieve a particular result, or how a creature can do something it shouldn't be capable of.

==Basics of Magic==
Magic is divided up into eight Classes. Each class uses some combination of elements -- Motion, Matter and Life. (e.g. The class [[Eyemancy]] uses Life and Motion, but not Matter.) Each Class has three Disciplines. Each of these Disciplines uses one of the three Magical Axes -- Erf, Fate, or Numbers. (e.g. [[Thinkamancy]], a Discipline of [[Eyemancy]], is aligned to Fate.) Each Discipline has a limited number of [[Spell]]s.{{Erf|1|038a}}

===Casters===
[[Casters]] cast Magic [[Spell]]s, which alter the world around the Caster in some way, gather information, or otherwise provide a result that would be considered extraordinary or supernatural in the [[Real World]]. Each Caster has one Discipline of specialization.

[[Caster]]s are titled after their Discipline of specialization. For instance, a Caster that specializes in [[Lookamancy]] is known as a [[Lookamancer]].

One or two [[Caster]]s can also [[Link]] with a [[Thinkamancer]] to cast even more powerful [[Spell]]s; however, there are risks since an improperly broken Link could damage the Casters.

===Spells===
A [[Spell]] is a process by which a [[Caster]] achieves a magical effect. Casting a Spell involves using hand gestures, materials, and/or verbal triggers to accomplish the desired end result.

For more details on [[Spell]]s and the casting of Spells, see [[Spell]].

==Types of Magic==
===Classes===
{| style="background:black; color:white; text-align:center"
| style="background:gray; width:60px" | [[Life]] || style="background:gray; width:60px" | [[Motion]] || style="background:gray; width:60px" | [[Matter]] || style="background:white; color:black; text-align:left" | Element/Class
|- style="background:white; color:black"
| x || || || style="background:darkgray; text-align:left" | [[Hocus Pocus]]
|- style="background:white; color:black"
| || x || || style="background:darkgray; text-align:left" | [[Spookism]]
|- style="background:white; color:black"
| || || x || style="background:darkgray; text-align:left" | [[Stuffamancy]]
|- style="background:white; color:black"
| x || x || || style="background:darkgray; text-align:left" | [[Eyemancy]]
|- style="background:white; color:black"
| x || || x || style="background:darkgray; text-align:left" | [[Hippiemancy]]
|- style="background:white; color:black"
| || x || x || style="background:darkgray; text-align:left" | [[Naughtymancy]]
|- style="background:white; color:black"
| x || x || x || style="background:darkgray; text-align:left" | [[Stagemancy]]
|- style="background:white; color:black"
| || || || style="background:darkgray; text-align:left" | [[Clevermancy]]
|}

===Disciplines===
{| style="text-align:center; background:black"
| rowspan="2" style="background:white; width:120px" | '''Class\Axis'''|| colspan="3" style="border:1px solid darkgray; background:darkgray; color:white" | '''Magical Axis'''
|- style="background:gray; color:white"
| style="width:120px" | '''[[Erf]]'''
| style="width:120px" | '''[[Fate]]'''
| style="width:120px" | '''[[Numbers]]'''
|- style="background:white"
| style="background:darkgray; text-align:right" | '''[[Hocus Pocus]]'''
| [[Findamancy]]
| [[Predictamancy]]
| [[Mathamancy]]
|- style="background:white"
| style="background:darkgray; text-align:right" | '''[[Spookism]]'''
| [[Turnamancy]]
| [[Dollamancy]]
| [[Weirdomancy]]
|- style="background:white"
| style="background:darkgray; text-align:right" | '''[[Stuffamancy]]'''
| [[Dirtamancy]]
| [[Changemancy]]
| [[Dittomancy]]
|- style="background:white"
| style="background:darkgray; text-align:right" | '''[[Eyemancy]]'''
| [[Lookamancy]]
| [[Thinkamancy]]
| [[Foolamancy]]
|- style="background:white"
| style="background:darkgray; text-align:right" | '''[[Hippiemancy]]'''
| [[Flower Power]]
| [[Signamancy]]
| [[Date-a-mancy]]
|- style="background:white"
| style="background:darkgray; text-align:right" | '''[[Naughtymancy]]'''
| [[Shockmancy]]
| [[Croakamancy]]
| [[Retconjuration]]
|- style="background:white"
| style="background:darkgray; text-align:right" | '''[[Stagemancy]]'''
| [[Hat Magic]]
| [[Carnymancy]]
| [[Rhyme-o-mancy]]
|- style="background:white"
| style="background:darkgray; text-align:right" | '''[[Clevermancy]]'''
| [[Luckamancy]]
| [[Healomancy]]
| [[Moneymancy]]
|}

==Magic Items and Artifacts==
[[Magic Item]] is an item that is both magical and made by a mortal. An item with magical powers created by the [[Titans]] is called an [[Artifact]].{{Erf|1|035}}

===Scrolls===
Through some unknown process, a [[Caster]] can create and use [[Scroll]]s. This has the advantage of not using up caster [[juice]] (or energy) at the time of casting the [[Spell]], but requires considerably more juice when initially created, and the scroll does not necessarily have to be of their specialized Discipline. The creators of the Scroll do not need to be of a single discipline{{erf|1|005}}{{erf|1|036}}: such a [[Summon Perfect Warlord Spell|Summoning Scroll]] was used at the beginning of the comic to summon Parson Gotti to Erfworld. Whether this scroll was created by [[Link]]ed casters or simple cooperation is unknown.

[[Category:Proposed Canon]]
[[Category:Erfworld Mechanics]]
[[Category:Magic]]

Template:MagicInfo

2009-08-19T08:06:52Z

Ichthus: updated Deletionism to Retconjuration

<noinclude>{{ {{PAGENAME}}/doc }}</noinclude><includeonly>{{#switch: {{lc:{{{2}}}}}|

hocus pocus ={{ #switch: {{lc:{{{1}}}}} |erf=[[Findamancy]] |fate=[[Predictamancy]] |numbers=[[Mathamancy]] }}|
spookism ={{ #switch: {{lc:{{{1}}}}} |erf=[[Turnamancy]] |fate=[[Dollamancy]] |numbers=[[Weirdomancy]] }}|
stuffamancy ={{ #switch: {{lc:{{{1}}}}} |erf=[[Dirtamancy]] |fate=[[Changemancy]] |numbers=[[Dittomancy]] }}|
eyemancy ={{ #switch: {{lc:{{{1}}}}} |erf=[[Lookamancy]] |fate=[[Thinkamancy]] |numbers=[[Foolamancy]] }}|
hippiemancy ={{ #switch: {{lc:{{{1}}}}} |erf=[[Flower Power]] |fate=[[Signamancy]] |numbers=[[Date-a-mancy]] }}|
naughtymancy ={{ #switch: {{lc:{{{1}}}}} |erf=[[Shockmancy]] |fate=[[Croakamancy]] |numbers=[[Retconjuration]] }}|
stagemancy ={{ #switch: {{lc:{{{1}}}}} |erf=[[Hat Magic]] |fate=[[Carnymancy]] |numbers=[[Rhyme-o-mancy]] }}|
clevermancy ={{ #switch: {{lc:{{{1}}}}} |erf=[[Luckamancy]] |fate=[[Healomancy]] |numbers=[[Moneymancy]] }}|
}}</includeonly>

Talk:Deletionism

2009-08-19T08:05:58Z

Ichthus: moved Talk:Deletionism to Talk:Retconjuration: I blame Rob.

#REDIRECT [[Talk:Retconjuration]]

Deletionism

2009-08-19T08:05:58Z

Ichthus: moved Deletionism to Retconjuration: I blame Rob.

#REDIRECT [[Retconjuration]]

Talk:Retconjuration

2009-08-19T08:05:58Z

Ichthus: moved Talk:Deletionism to Talk:Retconjuration: I blame Rob.

==Speculation and Discussion==
Taken from the Magical Speculation thread in the forums:

*negates bonuses, units, or stats
*possibly disintegration.

==Speculation from the page==
*A style of magic that specializes in nullifying or diminishing opposing unit stats, bonuses, or special abilities.
*May be a reference to the Dungeons and Dragons spell 'Disintegrate,' suggesting that it specializes in purely destructive magics.

==Element and Axis==
Deletionism is Naughtymancy, the magic of Motion and Matter, and the abscence of Life. It is aligned to the axis of Numbers. How Deletionism manifests is as yet unclear, but it could be the Deletion of Life, or of Numbers, or the use of moving matter to "delete" life. [[User:Commander I. Heartly Noah|Commander I. Heartly Noah]] June 3 2009

Retconjuration

2009-08-19T08:05:58Z

Ichthus: moved Deletionism to Retconjuration: I blame Rob.

==Canon==
{{MagicSchool
|Naughtymancy
}}

=Proposed Canon=
Deletionism is one of the three disciplines of the [[Magic]] class [[Naughtymancy]]; it is aligned with the axis of [[Numbers]].{{erf|1|038a|Parson's Klog #2}}

==Abilities==
*As of yet Unknown.

==Known Deletionists==
As of yet, no known Deletionists have been introduced.

=Speculation=
Deletionism might be used to destroy weak (non-notable) units en masse.

[[Archon]]s may have used Deletionism or [[Shockmancy]] against the injured dwagons.

==Real World References==
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deletionism Deletionism] is the school of thought amongst Wikipedia moderators that argues for immediate deletion of articles that don't meet the notability standards. [[Rob Balder]] is an outspoken critic of this practice.

[[Category:Proposed Canon]]
[[Category:Speculation]]
[[Category:Magic]]
[[Category:Real World References]]

Music

2009-08-06T23:28:59Z

Ichthus: /* Real World References */ added links to A Mighty Wind and West Side Story on IMDB.com as well as mentioning that A Mighty Wind was a mockumentary.

{| style="border:1px solid darkgray;text-align:center;width:320px" align="right"
|-
|{{crop|365|760|680|980|TBFGK_7.jpg}}
|-
|A horn being played at nightfall by a [[Royal Crown Coalition]] unit.
|}

__TOC__

=Proposed Canon=
{| style="border:1px solid darkgray;text-align:center;width:280px" align="left"
|-
|{{crop|6|20|266|264|TBFGK_94.jpg}}
|-
|A [[gobwin]] sentry warns of an advancing squadron of flyers.
|}

Music plays a role in the cultural and social interactions of several different groups in [[Erfworld]]. Several different [[sides]] have been shown singing and playing various musical instruments, including at least two types of horns. {{erf|1|007}} {{erf|1|094}}

Music also plays a role in coordinating troops in battle during [[dance-fighting]]. For instance, in the [[Battle for Gobwin Knob]], [[units]] that were engaged in dance-fighting either performed their own songs, as in the case of [[Transylvito]]{{erf|1|111}}, or music was generated magically, as was the case when Charlie's [[Archon]]s created a beat for the [[Royal Crown Coalition]] forces to follow in the courtyard of [[Gobwin Knob]].{{erf|1|128}}

=Speculation=

==Transylvitian Folk Music==
The following is a list of known folk songs of [[Transylvito]].{{blog|2009|07|summer-updates-015}}

* ''Little Darlin' ''
* ''Sh-Boom''
* ''Come and Go With Me''
* ''Erf Angel''

==Battle Songs of the Battle for Gobwin Knob==
The following are excerpts from battle songs performed during the [[Battle for Gobwin Knob]]. These songs may or may not have been composed specifically for the conflict, but represent the types of music that units on the various [[side]]s found useful either in dance-fighting, or simply to boost morale.

{|
|-
| '''Excerpt from an untitled Transylvitian dancefighting song'''{{erf|1|111}}
|-
| ''performed a cappella with snapping fingers used for rhythm''
|-
|
Crazy! 
Go! 
Cool! 
When you're a bat, 
you're a bat all the way! 
From you first startin' stat, 
til the turn you decay! 
Da Doo da-doo-dooooo... 
Da Doo da-doo-doo doo DOOooooo... 
|}

{|
|-
| '''Excerpt from an untitled, anti-Jetstone song from Gobwin Knob'''{{erf|1|101}}
|-
| ''ostensibly written by [[Parson Gotti]]''
|-
|
Oh the mighty men of Jetstone, 
Their testes have not yet grown! 
Their king stays home and gets stoned, 
While the prince goes out and gets pwned! 
 
And the men from Transylvito 
Are hung just like mosquitos! 
To protect their little egos 
They put burritos in their Speedos! 
|}

==Other Songs Heard in Erfworld==

{|
|-
| '''Excerpt from a song overheard in the [[Magic Kingdom|Glade of the Hippiemancers]]'''{{erf|1|011}}
|-
|
It's blowin' peace and freedom! 
It's blowin' equaliteee! 
|}

==Real World References==
The Transylvitian dancefighting song is a modified version of the Jet's theme song and the song "Cool" from the musical [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055614/ "West Side Story"].

The lyrics to the song overheard in the Glade of the Hippiemancers are from the song [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0310281/ "A Mighty Wind"] from the movie of the same name which is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mockumentary mockumentary] about folk music.

[[Category:Proposed Canon]]
[[Category:Speculation]]
[[Category:Real World References]]

Fabrication

2009-08-03T23:07:01Z

Ichthus: /* Proposed Canon */ changed 'generate' to 'create' as it matches better with the info in Coin.

=Proposed Canon=
Fabrication is a [[Unit#Natural_Abilities|Special Ability]] that allows a [[Unit]] to create [[coin]]s and other items.

[[Category:Currency]]
[[Category:Proposed Canon]]