Erfworld 155 -- tBfGK 142

[Stegyre]

They're back aaaaaaannnnnd . . .





Wanda has found and attuned to the Arkenpliers.

[Guts]

If wonder If Wanda will break away from Parson in some manner...

[Zeku]

Oh my....

I seem to remember someone saying way, way back before the wanda+pliers speculations even began. Wanda = the final Erfworld villian. It's starting to look a little plausible at this point.

Also, nice to see the Scarlet Witch.

[Lance]

I usually just lurk here, but being able to post this early on the first page is worth de-lurking for a sec.

Well, I guess we now know who the rightful owner of the pliers is...

I'm afraid!

[Ryuuk]

Well, guess the predictions one the pliers were right.

Also, Sizemore seems to have taken what that hippiemancer said to heart, either that, or what we saw last comic was a side of him that he never plans on showing Parson.

[Destro_Yersul]

Oh wow. I wonder if this means Parson and his caster friends are going to make their own side? They have an artifact, a site for a city, money...

And the best warlord that money can buy.

[JONJONAUG]

Oh wow. I wonder if this means Parson and his caster friends are going to make their own side? They have an artifact, a site for a city, money...

And the best warlord that money can buy.

Even if taking over from Stanley is possible (which it probably isn't), they have roughly NOTHING to fight with if they could, while Stanley still has a few Dwagons.

[Zeku]

What we know about Stanley suggests he could nearly instantly transform into Wanda's thrall, still worshiping power, but from a new position.

[Lunaya]

Aww..Wanda's happy. And I'm glad to see Sizemore's feeling better..quite suddenly.

[Decius]

I bet parson will have a wonderful time explaining to the Tool why the surrounding area is now entirely obsidian.

Bonus: The dead coalition, do they have bodies encapsulated under the rock, or can bodies be destroyed? I can see an epic croakamancy trap with uncroaked units rising from the ground...

[Haven]

I was expecting to spend more time in the Magic Kingdom, for some reason (I guess I expected something to go wrong with the severing of the link, or for the hippymancer thing to be elaborated on). Glad we got in a Scarlet Witch cameo before we left, at least.

Stanley's side being the richest in Erfworld? That's bad news. It's gonna go straight to his head, and he'll start his whole "crusade to take over the world" thing again.

Hopefully he gets deposed somehow—maybe Jillian & co can intercept and croak him. Putting Parson in a real position to live up to his anagram.

[Kreistor]

Wow, Rob, you're revealing everything these days, aren't you? And on the one day you drop the most spoilers on us, the unfortunate forums go down for repair so we can't talk about it.

I don't think anyone doubts that Wanda is attuned to the Pliers and always knew it.

The mountain can become a city again, and a very rich one at that. Sizemore scores a big one for the home team. GK is going to be bigger, better, and far more capable with Parson around.

BTW, the red-garbed chick in the first panel is Scarlet Witch, from Marvel.
We also have Harry Blackstone Jr (answering that question from a pair of strips ago).
I hope Top Hat babe is Marlene Dietrich. She did at least one pic where she wore black top hat and tails. But I highly suspect its a lesser known DC heroine, whose name I forget, but she was on JLU in the last couple seasons.

Stanley should get back to GK today with Jack. I am so looking forward to the face off between himself and a Pliers-wielding Wanda. Stanley is going to want those Pliers, and Wanda is never going to give them up. Wanda couldn't win, at least not unless Sizemore and Maggie betray Stanley, and I don't see that happening.

Oh, and I guess the Pliers don't confer Fire resistance, eh? Scarlet is Dee Eee Dee -- dead!

[SteveMB]

What we know about Stanley suggests he could nearly instantly transform into Wanda's thrall, still worshiping power, but from a new position.

Stanley's reaction when he returns is the open question. He has reasons to be delighted (the Coalition is wiped out, Ansom in particular is croaked, the Arkenpliers is in his side's hands) and reasons to be enraged (Gobwin Knob is in ruins, most of his forces are croaked, the Arkenpliers attuned to somebody else).

I hope Top Hat babe is Marlene Dietrich. She did at least one pic where she wore black top hat and tails. But I highly suspect its a lesser known DC heroine, whose name I forget, but she was on JLU in the last couple seasons.

Zatanna.

[sheepfly]

Let's see... Parson gets to leave the Magic Kingdom without so much as a slap on the wrist, Maggie is perfectly fine after the most epic trimancer link we've seen or heard of so far, Sizemore is downright chipper about the previous day's events despite previously stating his horror and revulsion, Wanda has the Arkenpliers and is attuned to them, and Parson's side is suddenly fabulously wealthy. All we need now is for Stanley to show up with a horde of newly tamed dwagons, pat Parson on the back, and name his chief warlord heir. Perhaps Wanda could uncroak the whole Coalition to top it off.

Seriously, if Parson wasn't dreaming before, he must be now.

If this is for real, though, it looks like Red Warlord didn't make it.

[Fez]

Mua ha ha ha ha.

The joyful sound of an Arkentool attuning.

On more serious note, I'm just pondering a bit. I wonder whether Rob is planning a few extra pages of what happened in the Magic Kingdom for the book. That would be a good place to draw paying customers and all.

As for the page itself, it really does build up a great question of what exactly is going to happen once Stanley arrives. What exactly is this little band going to do? Will Parson be able to get his freedom and so forth. This is just a wonderful way of building up the pot. Its like the Titans have gone all in. Sizemore has found a fortune. Wanda has attuned to one of the four known arkentools. Parson has learned that he can break the game. Maggie looks like Margaret Thatcher (okay that hasn't really changed.)

Now to wait and see what comes of all this excess of riches in the midst of waste and ruin.

[Kaed]

I bet parson will have a wonderful time explaining to the Tool why the surrounding area is now entirely obsidian.

Bonus: The dead coalition, do they have bodies encapsulated under the rock, or can bodies be destroyed? I can see an epic croakamancy trap with uncroaked units rising from the ground...

Nah, very unlikely, given that corpses simply vanish at the start of the next turn if left unattended.

Would be cool though.

[Poit-Narf]

Yay for Scarlet Witch and the 'pliers!

[Glome]

So I wonder whether all gems come out of the ground perfectly cut in Erfworld, or is that just a side effect of Sizemore's magic in pulling it out of the ground. Either way, gem cutting is apparently one of the many unneeded skills in Erfworld.

Also, I wonder if we are going to see what the pliers can do when they are attuned now.

And we still don't know for sure whether Parson is really a hippiemancer or whether Janis was just protecting him.

[tomaO2]

I found this the most disturbing page so far.

Parson wakes up. He's surrounded by a bunch of mancers that probably want to kill him. Maggie is there. She says it's time to go. He leaves with a backwards glance to see the utmost loathing the mancers have for him.

Think about the effort it takes to be pissed off for that long. Parson was asleep for the whole night, he wasn't trying to upset anyone but still the hate bubbles to he surface, or is that fear? Plus, he doesn't even know how he managed to enter the portal in the first place. How did they even know for sure he was a warlord when he has no visible stats anyway?

He enters the portal and is transported to a wasteland. Everyone is dead. Everyone. This is all the result of his handy work. Keep in mind that Parson hasn't had more then 10 minutes to go over all of this. Since he's been unconscious all this time it's like he just left. How can he not be affected by the agnitude of what he did?

He sees Sizemore, who is oddly chipper. Parson can't understand why this would be so. He has to be repressing. No way he could be over it, the butchering he did, already. He finds out that they suddenly have enough money to rebuild. Just minutes ago he was inches away from death and now it's rebuilding. Maye to something stronger than before.

Then, in the distance, Wanda, who I find the most frightening of all the characters, lets out an evil laugh as she attunes to the pliers.

None of the other pages have been so usettling to me.

The thing I find most interesting is the fact that they do not seem to have reverted to barbarian status. Sizemore clearly said that "our side" was rich now. I don't get that.

The city was totalled right? PClips? Why haven't they reverted to barbarian status? Also, how did the uncroaked survive anyway? They are even more quishy then the regular troops.

[Decius]

Let's see... Parson gets to leave the Magic Kingdom without so much as a slap on the wrist, Maggie is perfectly fine after the most epic trimancer link we've seen or heard of so far, Sizemore is downright chipper about the previous day's events despite previously stating his horror and revulsion, Wanda has the Arkenpliers and is attuned to them, and Parson's side is suddenly fabulously wealthy. All we need now is for Stanley to show up with a horde of newly tamed dwagons, pat Parson on the back, and name his chief warlord heir. Perhaps Wanda could uncroak the whole Coalition to top it off.

1: He had a grand abbie hippiemancer speak up for him. It's not like the magic kingdom COULD fight her if they tried.
2: The best thinkamancers in the magic kingdom unraveled the link, which was brief. It wasn't any more or less epic than the -other- trimancer link, which was broken suddenly and with no help.
3: Sizemore has hated Parson for quite a while. His duty, however, has certain requirements, which are at odds with his personal ethics. Plus, he did learn a whole lot about the mountain, and he also made his side really, really rich. He might even want Parson to start breaking more things for peace.
4. When Stanley returns, expect the other shoes to drop. He will be pissed initially; only when he learns what happened will he change his mind.

Side note: Bogroll leveled twice for killing Ansom, but the Trimancer didn't level more for killing the ENTIRE attacking force? Sizemore had to have gotten some for his work in the tunnels, not to mention his hit-and-run tactics in the outer walls zone. Did Parson get any experience from his part? Has he now leveled into a more perfect warlord? What about Stanley? It would make sense for him to know how many casualties were inflicted by his units; After all, "Unaroyal's thinkamancers" knew that their units were all killed in one -action-, and that it was a dirtamancy trap of some sort. Why shouldn't Jack know the same?

[Decius]

Nah, very unlikely, given that corpses simply vanish at the start of the next turn if left unattended.

Would be cool though.

I was thinking of a policy of "Uncroak now, disinter later".

(Sigged!)

[Hann]

Uh oh.
Wanda's got the pliers.

Parson doesn't seem too happy though.

I do like to see a cheery Sizemore.

Also, Scarlet Witch look-alike.

[Justyn]

The city was totalled right? PClips? Why haven't they reverted to barbarian status? Also, how did the uncroaked survive anyway? They are even more quishy then the regular troops.

Because while Gobwin Knob looks like Boatmurdered after an elephant invasion, Stanley is still alive.

[Chewy]

1:
Side note: Bogroll leveled twice for killing Ansom, but the Trimancer didn't level more for killing the ENTIRE attacking force? Sizemore had to have gotten some for his work in the tunnels, not to mention his hit-and-run tactics in the outer walls zone. Did Parson get any experience from his part? Has he now leveled into a more perfect warlord? What about Stanley? It would make sense for him to know how many casualties were inflicted by his units; After all, "Unaroyal's thinkamancers" knew that their units were all killed in one -action-, and that it was a dirtamancy trap of some sort. Why shouldn't Jack know the same?

Because sizemore and wanda did not DIRECTLY kill the troops. They indirectly manipulated the terrain into something which an army cannot survive upon. So the land killed them all not sizemore.

Also jack is a foolmancer.

[BarGamer]

Sizemore gets to go back to digging, Wanda has a Tool, Stanley should be coming back, if he's not dead. I hope Parson finds his crispy body, the Arkenhammer, and attunes to it. It would make sense for the Magic Kingdom to remove the threat of the Arkentools as well, and make Parson able to attune to all of them.

On the other hand, a Coalition full of charcoal-ed non-decaying Uncroaked would be rather epic.

[SteveMB]

Side note: Bogroll leveled twice for killing Ansom, but the Trimancer didn't level more for killing the ENTIRE attacking force?

Perhaps they didn't level up because they retreated from the engagement.

[Glome]

Because sizemore and wanda did not DIRECTLY kill the troops. They indirectly manipulated the terrain into something which an army cannot survive upon. So the land killed them all not sizemore.

Or a simpler explanation is that they fled before the volcano went off, you don't level if you flee, which is why Stanley was mad at Parson for using hit and run tactics.

[SpacemanSpif]

Well, whatever happens next is going to depend quite largely on what the attuned arkenpliers do.

My guess (and probably that of many others) is that Wanda knew she could get the pliers by staying with Stanley through predictamancy, which was why she stayed even though she was under no loyalty spells.

Remember the predictamancer that teamed with Jack to protect FAQ? Either it's Wanda, or someone she knew. At least I think so, I don't think it's been revealed yet.

Now that she has it... I'm not sure how easy it is to get out of disbandability, but I wouldn't be surprised if she tried.

[Borris]

With OotS also updating, I didn't notice the new Erfworld until today. Rereading it over and over, this strip just seems so out of place for Erfworld. Everything is calm and positive. It's just so... ominous.

[Chewy]

Or a simpler explanation is that they fled before the volcano went off, you don't level if you flee, which is why Stanley was mad at Parson for using hit and run tactics.

also very very very true.