Erfworld 150 - tBfGK - 137

[Mando Knight]

When all the land is in ruin,
And BURNiNATION has FORSAKEN the countryside...
Only one 'lord will remain...
My money's on...

PARSON!

And the Parson comes in the NiiiiiIIIIiiIGHT!

[Glome]

This is what I was hearing in my head when I saw the comic.
Poor boops. Including, I suppose, those poor boops in the last panel. I guess it would be mere minutes before burning bits of lava start falling on their heads. OMGWTFBBQ!

P.S.: Oh yeah, and excellent graphics!

Funny, this is what I hearing in my head
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdbYsoEasio

[JLrep]

Funny, this is what I hearing in my head
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdbYsoEasio

Not http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzOb3...eature=related ?

[HandofShadows]

DooM!

(need a font around here that looks like fire )

Impressive artwork. I think the red warlord is dead. The expression on her face is that she knows she is dead and is just waiting for it. It also shows the Arkenpliers still being in GK. As I stated before I don't think the volcano could destroy the 'pliers. They might be buried, but not destroyed. And remember Sizemore is still alive (we hope).
Being hit by a large amount of lava is not like being burned to death (which is a VERY bad way to die). For one the lava would destroy your nerves as soon as it touched you, no nerves, no pain. And you would either be incinerated or all the water in your body would turn to steam. The result being that you would be dead before you had time to feel a lot of pain. It's not a nice way to go, but might be less painfull than getting chopped up with a sword or axe. And it would be over very fast.
I think the forces we see in the last panel as the additional forces that where following behind the units that attacked GK (the ones that Ansom didn't want to wait for). I don't give them a very good chance of surviving. GK's eruption is not like that of a Shield Volcano, but a stratovolcanoes (someone already metioned Mount St Helens and Vesuvius). This means a big nasty eruption and things like pyroclastic flows (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyroclastic_flow ) waves of super hot ash (moving at well over 100 miles per hour) and huge amounts of poisonouse gases. Then there is the lighter ash the volcano produces that is more than able to choak a person to death or (worse) get into thier lungs where it can either tear them up (lungs fill up with blood) or the ash mixes with fluid in the lungs and turns into a concrete like substance. (gagh!) The think the people inside GK might have an easier death than those on the outside.

[CelebrenIthil]

Rock falls, everyone dies...indeed.
Indeed.

[Ragn Charran]

Random thought: We don't know what the pliers are made of.

And lava is liquid rock and metal.

Assuming they aren't either carried out by Scarlet or melted, they might float. And thus not be lost.

[The Old Hack]

and as the windshield melts
and my tears evaporate
leaving only charcoal to defend

finally I understand the feelings of the few
ashes and diamonds
foe and friend
we were all equal in the end

-- Pink Floyd, The Final Cut

Beautiful, beautiful page, Jamie. That's all I have to say this time.

[hajo]

the enemy forces we see fleeing were those that managed to escape the eruption.

The troops in the last panel are not fleeing, they are the last in the column that didn't make it to GK this turn.

[Alebak]

This strip reminds me of a game that my friend played in high school.

His history teacher made a game out of the inter relationships in the middle east, as a way to show who was who and who wanted what. My friend was Sadam, and a couple other kids were hi advisors, and other kids were the U.S and the other countries.

After surving an assassination attempt, and prevented another by killing off all of his advisors in game, he came to me, out of class for advice on what to do next.

Me: Ok, whats the deal?

Him: The U.S is at my borders pushing inwards and my army cant stop them.

Me: Ok, what do you have?

Him: (so many thousands of soldiers) and some nukes.

We eventually came up with a plan.

Me: Well for starters you should light the oil fields on fire.

Him: Can do!

After that used all his nukes but one to slow down the Americans, and had his guys do a fighting retreat to Baghdad. After holding out as long as he could, he set off his last nuke in his palace. I find the similarities to what Parson did and what me and friend thought up kinda funny.

TLDR version: Me and my friend thought up a plan in a game that turned out similar to whats happening in the strip, and thats funny to me.

[BLANDCorporatio]

On an unrelated note, did the cast page stay the same as it was in the beginning? I ask because when I try to access it

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erfcast.html

the page does not load.

Re: Alebak

Yep, when you can't win make sure the other guy loses. Mutually Assured Destruction.

[Partywhipple]

I am seriously hoping this damages Charlie. Does his Arkentool allow him to generate his floaty chicks or what? I am a bit confused by how they work. Does each tool come with troops? Allow you to make troops? Have a set number? It was never clear to me if Stanley could make more dragons with the hammer or if he just had a set number from it. Any know any definite answers?
It does look like the redhead isn't burning, right?

*edit*
Also I need to ask, Wanda is definitely going to die, right? That was one of the reasons Parson wanted to not do his plan, wasn't it? When the three casters break the trio it does immense psychic damage. It killed what's her face and made the foolomancer a nutcase. Wanda has shown she does not handle thinkamancy well, having taken great lasting damage from the backlash of her own spell failing. So I assume she is not going to be able to survive the breaking of the trio. I am unsure if Sizemore will be able to survive either. Neither of their magics come from mind magic, right?
*Edit #2*
Ok So about whether Sizemore and Wanda are going to die. Here's how i see it:
Maggie is a Thinkamancer. Thinkamancy is a subset of Eyemancy. Eyemancy is part Life and part Motion.
Wanda is a Coakamancer. Croakamancy is a subset of Naughtymancy. Naughtymancy is part Motion and part Matter.
Sizemore is a Dirtamancer. Dirtamancy is a subset of Stuffamancy. Stuffamancy is soley derived from Matter.

Sizemore's discipline has NOTHING to do with Maggie's. Wanda's touches it in Motion. I would think Sizemore wouldn't be able to handle psychic backlash at all and will definitely die when the link breaks. Wanda would have a better chance since Croakamancy is closer to Thinkamancy than Dirtomancy is. but she is already damaged from a bad spell experience. I have serious doubts she'll live through the breaking. Heck, Maggie might die too. she's already broken the link once and she doesn't look too healthy at this point. parson may have lost all his primary casters. Thoughts?

[joosy]

I enjoyed the falling arches.. er. archons in panel 3. Dramatic to the end, they are.

To answer some of the questions asked so far:

1) The portal leads to the Magic Kingdom: An Island with sections for each major magic class- color coordinated even, for your convenience. There is a section in the center called "Portal park" where casters or rather those who can use the portals exit and enter. We still don't know why Parson can use the portal but the implication is that it is for casters only.

2) We have no idea of any effect of the arkenpliers on its user for protection from damage, etc. We do know they apply a bonus but whether that is attack or defense remains to be spelled out. Their effect on uncroaked lifeforms is to turn them to dust. This volcano is not 'uncroaked' in the sense of a zombie, but rather an induced eruption. The pliers may have some effect on that but its doubtful that they would preserve their wielder from being at ground zero in this cataclysm.

3) The RCC troops at the end are troops who have not made it up the mountain yet. Remember that when RCC began this turn their seige and other units were still arriving. Ansom had brought in every resource he could even at great hardship to the various factions in the RCC. The other warlords wanted to wait for the rest of the seige but Ansom forced a breach. He clearly had more than enough troops to wipe out GK forces several times over. It seems that he also like to be dramatic and grand in his gestures.

4) Unanswered questions that I consider relevant so far:
a) Where did Parson go and why could he use the portal?
b) Does this effectively end RCC's turn?
c) Why does Wanda follow Stanley of her own free will? Wouldn't loyalty and duty endear her to FAQ? which brings us to:
d) What really happened to FAQ?
Speculation may abound but it is just that, speculation. I prefer to wait for it to play out rather than be like the annoying people in the theater who loudly proclaim their assumed predictions of the unfolding drama


Thank you very much, Rob and Jaime - I love this comic and may your detractors continue to rot in their parents' dank basements.

[Sarissofoi]

BTW Silly question.
How Parson can uncroak something in the middle on enemy turn?
This shouldnt be posible.
I suppose uncroak volcano was not only a game breaker but a world's rules breaker. Remeber parson blog and god mode?
Secundo.
I supose any units from coalition whose have enough move points can escape from city. Remeber? Turn based game it is.
But archons cant escape they end move. That will hurts them. A lot.
Anyway some units propably dont have enough due to attacks and some units attack from march then they have few or zero move points.

Tercio.
Scarlet. I think this is possibility that she synchronize with arkenpliers.
Ansom not synchronize with them and dont have theirs full powers.
Other hand Stanley find hammer when he was low ranking footsoldier and then become OverLord.

[Sarissofoi]

Ach.
If coalition troops can still move and be escape that mean this burning corpses belongs to parsons troops. You know city garnizons and uncroaked infrantry mostly.
Of course some troops from coalition cant escape and archons end their move and now fried but other units should easly reatret from city.

[DarkNewton]

since we all are keenly aware of Charlie's semi-cocky attitude a few strips ago 'you'll learn. We prefer to play games that don't even contain a losing outcome.'

Well it looks like the lesson really is for Charlie, facing Parson in battle doesn't contain a winning solution just varying levels of loss, as Parson fights all the way to the ground and beyond. I'll be surprised if Charlie easily/readily enters a protracted battle on the side opposite Parson again.

Will probably become a deal-breaking clause of his ongoing contracts 'if hampstard suddenly appears in the op4's leadership core, this contract is null and void, an all y'all is on yer own'

[BLANDCorporatio]

Re: Partywhipple

If Popularity Power is anything to go by, Wanda will live, and Sizemore has a good chance too. It's "what's her name" (Maggie, folks, M A G twice I E) that would be in trouble.

This does not mean that the authors are not preparing to off a few more significant characters btw, but succumbing to link-break is not dramatic enough.

All of this assumes, of course, that Parson does not wake up at the game table among his friends or something.

PS: and her name. Is Scarlett .

[elrod13]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][COLOR="DarkOrchid"]Ohhh...
very. Very. VERY. GOOD.

[Ikialev]

Wow, volcano shooting zombies!

[workmad3]

Wow, I think that was a good climax to the story arc :D

Incidentally, I've not seen anyone comment on the definite ruthless element of this as well. Parson was backed into a corner where the city was lost... he'd burned the chance to surrender (assuming he could anyway without Stanley there to make it official) in order to kill the opposing chief warlord. So he blew the city up, killing all his troops and denying the enemy the spoils.

Awesome, and will make Parson and Stanley feared throughout the (erf)world - 'mess with us and even if we lose you won't gain anything, and we'll blow you up for trying' :D

[Opal Tide]

"I love the smell of burning Archons in the morning."

Seriously awesome art in this addition, possibly the best of the series.

Several other thoughts:

I think Scarlett may in fact survive and the first panel is not just there for dramatic affect (though it is quite evocative). My thinking behind this is that everyone around her and the very ground itself seem to be alight with fire (see the background). She seems to be almost separate from the events going on around here. The pliers vs. uncroaked theory I think is sustainable with what we have seen thus far and she could serve as a link between the coalition forces from Gobwin Knob and subsequent Erfworld stories.

The Troops at the foot of Gobwin knob are likely the elements of siege that were too slow for the day's battles. If they survive the eruption is yet to be seen since, as many have already pointed out, volcanos are anything but a local event. They may not have move left, else Ansom would have brought them up for the last push against Parson. I would also think thee are a few warlords in those stacks if they are mixed units or else even if they survive the eruption they may be forced to auto attack each other. even if they don't they may fall prey to Tool when he returns with a flight of dragons. I can't imagine weakly led infantry with few heavy units standing up long against Chief Warlord led dragons and an artifact bonus.

Charlies has shown himself to be a master of exploiting the accepted Erfworld rules. But this event casts doubt on how much of an unconventional thinker he is. There is no doubt he has excellent assets available to him and the flexibility to deploy them as he sees fit. But he may be operating within the same limited world view that Ansom is in, just with a better handles on the rules and the means to exploit them. In either event I have to think he got a major bloody nose from the eruption.

All in all I am still at the edge of my seat, waiting for the next exciting events that will unfurl in Erfworld.

[raphfrk]

What happens to the Arkenpliers if they sink in lava?

They probably wouldn't actually melt. Maybe that is a job for Sizemore in a future volume :)? Also, there seemed to be alot of gems left in the volcano ... maybe he might remember their location.

[Lombard]

Yeah pliers vs. uncroaked, that's a good point. Maybe it will even end up saving Parson's fat arse from being turned into bacon if that whole portal thing doesn't work out for him!

[raphfrk]

Btw, a thought occurs, Parson just wiped out the Gobwins and they aren't technically part of Stanley's side, they were just allies.

[Yodimus]

Dude, the volcano just Mount St. Hellens'd the HELL out of itself!

[raphfrk]

Dude, the volcano just Mount St. Hellens'd the HELL out of itself!

Well, I was just thinking that wiping out your allies is worse that wiping out your enemies. This is especially true if there are very few/no gobwins anywhere else. Also, Parson basically set off the nuke and ran.

It could potentially lead to issues with making "long term" alliances in the future.

[teratorn]

Btw, a thought occurs, Parson just wiped out the Gobwins and they aren't technically part of Stanley's side, they were just allies.

They would not survive the fall of the city. Parson had no way to save them.

[Occasional Sage]

IIRC, somebody commented on how realistic some earlier flames were, and Jamie commented on the art technique to depict it. He's definitely outdone even his existing great job on the last few pages.

Oh yes. that was around the campfire, when Parson became hated.

[abb3w]

Methinks for the red-head, two explanations exist, and I am inclined towards the first one.

Arkenpliers are known to be very effective against uncroaked, and technically, the volcano is an uncroaked volcano right now. Perhaps a defense bonus of a sort against any uncroaked attack "the zombie volcano erupts in your face but arkenpliers unply the lava...

Secondly, Arkenpliers, like most artifacts, have some sort of intelligence/protective instict, and instead of accepting to sink into the bottom of the soon to be formed lava pool, they protect their current wielder by the will of titans.

Oh a third option an innate fire resistance/immunity.... or from a ring or potion...

Perhaps the Red hair signifies?

I was guessing option 1. That said, even if she lives, her sanity may be a bit fragile.



Also, on an old literary bent, cf. Job 1:13-18. "The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee."

[Oracle_Hunter]

BTW Silly question.
How Parson can uncroak something in the middle on enemy turn?
This shouldnt be posible.

Sure it is; people are always casting spells on other people's turns. The Linked Eyemancers were monitoring combat and giving orders on other people's turns all the time. Maggie cast Ephedera on Charlie's turn.

It's just a spell - you can cast it whenever you want.

As for the Pliers, I'm thinking Stanley will pick them up when he gets back to the remains of his home - and he is going to be pissed!

[mrlovanhey]

Wow, that was a very nice page. Great artwork.

Looks to me like the coalition is not enjoying the gentle breeze of a mountain top as much as they would like.