Because she hates her current side and is looking for an opportunity to turn?
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Of course, it could just be a random uncroaked. Chip didn't notice those either, until they started the attack en masse. Interesting that damage is given in terms of die rolls. I wonder if falling is the same way. It certainly puts Badminton's Luckamancer's dice rolls metaphor into perspective.
Uncroaked would have stats too... Chip didn't see them because they weren't standing anywhere visible. Frankly i think the figure is probably just a statue and Jillian was just seeing things; the whole point of all this was to show how paranoid Jillian was feeling about this whole situation
Update
SpoilerIt looks like the boop is about to get real in the Magic Kingdom.
So. Many. Casters.
Imagine how terrifyingly powerful the Magic Kingdom would be if it could act as its own side.:smalleek:
I'm not sure about that, honestly. Casters can be destructive, but a side still needs actual fighting units to do the heavy lifting.
Yeah, Dirtamancers, Dollamancers, and Croakamancers all either inherently specialize in making units or have the option of doing so, the current text update suggests that Hippiemancers can make plant based units, Dittomancers can duplicate units, and there are a bunch of other caster types we haven't really seen yet so there could be several more unit sources among them.
If a big group of casters decides they need some cannon fodder to fight for them, they are quite capable of creating it themselves. Meanwhile, casters have been consistently portrayed as the biggest game-changers in existence regardless of their specialty, even when only a single caster is present. And then you get things like three caster links capable of causing "rocks fall" scale events, and there appear to be enough casters in the Magic Kingdom to field at least a dozen or two such linked groups...
Good points. I suppose the balance of Erfworld does depend on each side having access to only a few casters and the Magic Kingdom staying neutral. Which means, of course, that the mess Parson has stirred up might be even more disruptive than Sizewell thought...
That's the critical thing, though--the Magic Kingdom is supposed to be sacrosanct; neutral territory. Parson is changing that by what he's doing here, and if he's not careful they could end up with a civil war among the casters!
I seem to recall a Marie quote from some time ago indicating that this may be precisely the point.
Maybe it is not good for Erf that the casters have a free zone they can hang out in, even if their entire side is disbanded. Maybe this is one of the things Parson's coming is intended to shake up.
EDIT: Okay, not quite as explicit as I may have thought it was, but I believe this is what I was remembering.
I think that the MK is a special place probably off the normal map. You can travel there off-turn, there are no hexes in it as far as we can tell and all capital cities have access to it. As for the upkeep of the sideless casters in MK they probably forage, but it's more important, that they didn't disband, when their side was destroyed.
From a meta perspective, viewing Erfworld as the game it resembles, the Magic Kingdom is the game mechanic that allows sides to hire casters that they don't have. Its nature and design are all about making it possible for any arbitrary side in all of Erfworld to dump a ton of money and immediately gain temporary access to whatever kind of caster they need. In an actual game, where those casters come from would most likely just be hand waved away, but since the Titans built it as a world instead they needed an explanation for it. Given that, it seems likely that neutral casters in the Magic Kingdom get free upkeep any time they're not actively working for a side.
The explanation the Titans came up with works, but has consequences and implications that they may not have realized. Parson is, of course, stretching those probably unintended possibilities for all they're worth.
In the back of the "It's Raining Men" print, there was a write-up on each of the Great Minds: including name, age, former kingdoms. It also had details on how all of them were earning their upkeeps. For example, the Vulcan/Romulan expy is actually still getting his upkeep paid by his original kingdom, even though they've "released" him. However, most of them were listed as earning upkeep by being casters for hire to the various kingdoms outside the MK. I'd assume that is what the other casters do as well, since most kingdoms will only have access to 2 or 3 different disciplines.
In textupdate#1, we learned that the casters in the MK are barbarians.
So, they have to earn their own upkeep, e.g. by making and selling scolls, or hiring out.
They also grow food, like mushrooms, wine and rice.
Anyway, no one can deny that Stanley really knows how to inspire his followers... :smalltongue:
Update.
SpoilerYou know, I had a feeling Charlie had a roll in that spell.
Norma Jeane... eheheh
Decisely, it seems so.
This also explains why Jojo was prepared when Parson entered the MK.
Now, let's see if this info breaks somehow the "Jojo's side" (Mr. Tracy and friends).
I'm wondering who that POV belongs to in the last panel.
Could be Maggie's. If she's in the MK now, she'll be coming up from behinf Parson, and as GK's thinkamancer is supposed to be keeping tabs on him.
SpoilerWell, seems that someone has a bit of problem keeping her pants on. And evidence that Wanda had been at this city at one time.