Erfworld 153 - tBfGK - 140

[Mysteryman64]

In response to a side not ending their turn, I have to point out that Erfworlders don't seem to have a great track record with thinking outside of the conventions of the world. Not ending your turn probably falls under one of the acts that just simply wouldn't occur to an erfworlder because its so far out from their usual world traditions.

[Oracle_Hunter]

In response to a side not ending their turn, I have to point out that Erfworlders don't seem to have a great track record with thinking outside of the conventions of the world. Not ending your turn probably falls under one of the acts that just simply wouldn't occur to an erfworlder because its so far out from their usual world traditions.

I've always figured that every turn has an absolute length since the day does seem to progress into night on its own... and the night is certainly a fixed length. It doesn't usually come into play because Sides can end their Turn early, causing the day to speed forward.

[Saladman]

The Sagan thinkamancer looking out for Sizemore is plausible since he knows him better than red-hat, but another (and not exclusive) possibility is he's looking out for Maggie. The Magic Kingdom is divided into zones by caster type, and Maggie is a master-class thinkamancer: her order may well want her.

Where do the resident casters come from, anyway? Refugees from defeated sides, or escapees/rejects who would have been disbanded to save on upkeep? Possibly new units can be produced in the Magic Kingdom, but we don't know, and production in cities argues against it. Dividing up the refugees could be standard operating procedure, complicated only by Parson's presence.

[Alexei P]

If Gobwin Knob was destroyed, it looks like Parson is a Barbarian. Does that finally make him a free agent?

[Fafnir13]

I just wanted to say that I am very glad to see Parson didn't magically get zapped back to "reality" like so many other series do with their main protagonist.

[GreatWyrm]

Hmm... fair enough. Besides, if it were Doctor Who, he'd be wielding a Sonic Screwdriver, wouldn't he?

OK, hopefully final list:

From Left to Right
- Albus Dumbledore
- Hermione Granger
- Harry Potter
- Carl Sagan
- Orko
- Jeannie
- Wicked Witch of the West
- Doctor Strange

I'm going to contend that 3rd is Harry Potter for the following:
His sleeve does not match the style of Hermione's
His hair is sticking up in the front, Harry Potter's hair sticks up in the back.
His wand is too short/stubby.

[djharr]

As to who Bunny is, I immediately thought of Bunny from Robert Aspirin's Myth Adventures series. She is the moll of a powerful gangland figure, and also acts as a part of his brain trust. Admittedly, it is a bit of a stretch, but it was the gangland connection that got me.

Of course, I am likely wrong.

David

[Oracle_Hunter]

I'm going to contend that 3rd is Harry Potter for the following:
His sleeve does not match the style of Hermione's
His hair is sticking up in the front, Harry Potter's hair sticks up in the back.
His wand is too short/stubby.

No, I agree it's not Harry Potter (which is what I think you meant to say) but I have no idea who it is supposed to be. A Generic Magician would be out-of-place among the host of icons.

Harry Blackstone is the latest suggestion, but his hair is brown, not black

[slayerx]

Where do the resident casters come from, anyway? Refugees from defeated sides, or escapees/rejects who would have been disbanded to save on upkeep? Possibly new units can be produced in the Magic Kingdom, but we don't know, and production in cities argues against it. Dividing up the refugees could be standard operating procedure, complicated only by Parson's presence.

It could just be simply the case that the magic kingdom acts as a city... and thus is subject to the same rules and thus can pop casters.

If Gobwin Knob was destroyed, it looks like Parson is a Barbarian. Does that finally make him a free agent?

So far, nothing says becoming a barbarian frees you from the service of your ruler should your ruler still be alive... or the spell which summoned Parson to be in service to Stanley would free him just because of barbarianship

[GreatWyrm]

No, I agree it's not Harry Potter (which is what I think you meant to say) but I have no idea who it is supposed to be. A Generic Magician would be out-of-place among the host of icons.

Harry Blackstone is the latest suggestion, but his hair is brown, not black

Whoops, yeah, that should've been "contest"..


Houdini? Though Houdini would probably have some handcuffs somewhere...

[Oracle_Hunter]

Houdini? Though Houdini would probably have some handcuffs somewhere...

Nah, hair's not curly enough.

[Eldritch_Ent]

My question is what kind of Hippiemancer is he? Flower Power? Signamancy? Date-o-Mancy?

[Oracle_Hunter]

My question is what kind of Hippiemancer is he? Flower Power? Signamancy? Date-o-Mancy?

It's highly unlikely that Parson is actually a Hippiemancer.

Janis likely intervened out of the goodness of her heart - only as a Hippiemancer could she claim Parson to be under her protection. If she had just supported that he was a Mathemancer or Luckamancer then all it would have taken is one Master of each to debunk him and get him zapped.

Besides - Parson, the man who just killed, what, three or four thousand people, being someone who calms down aggressors? Ha!

[Jon Pander]

The red one? He's from He-Man masters of the Universe.

I love all trhe referneces.

Orko. His name is Orko.

And he sucks at magic, if based on the cartoon. :)

I also think I see Dr. Strange in that panel as well.

[Turbidus]

Why is Parson rendered unconscious? From the point of view of the casters, it's probably a good idea to neutralize an unknown sword-wielding giant of a man. Why not just killed outright then? Wouldn't fit Hippiemancy too well. And making the connections between Spock, the pinch and This Side of Paradise to tie in with Hippiemancy is entertaining enough. It makes enough sense to me.

But I still wonder if this wasn't also done to grant the readers some information without making it known to Parson - exposition that couldn't be done in a klog. This suggests to me that Janis is not lying about Parson. Or perhaps we will receive more information while Parson is still unconscious. If we don't, I'm going to assume Janis was speaking the truth here.

The grey-clad wizard next to the portal is neither Gandalf nor Dumbledore. Gandalf should have a staff instead of a wand (Orko seems to have a staff so it's not like everyone gets a wand) and Dumbledore should wear flamboyant purple robes. To draw an instantly recognizable character of either would IMHO require those elements.

[Jon Pander]

It's highly unlikely that Parson is actually a Hippiemancer.

Janis likely intervened out of the goodness of her heart - only as a Hippiemancer could she claim Parson to be under her protection. If she had just supported that he was a Mathemancer or Luckamancer then all it would have taken is one Master of each to debunk him and get him zapped.

He ended a war. Now there's peace.... since everyone's dead.

Okay maybe that doesn't actually fit :)

I don't think it's a lie that he registers as some sort of caster, or the portal may not have let him through in the first place

Besides - Parson, the man who just killed, what, three or four thousand people, being someone who calms down aggressors? Ha!

Actually he killed a lot more than that. Heck he killed almost 3000 in the tunnels alone.

And another 3000+ when the volcano erupted.

And who knows how many from the collapsing of the city.

And 40% of the siege with his dwagon hit and run tactics.

And a smaller number of FoxMUD when they charged the dungeon

But hippies are a violent people. Eating nothing but ocra and soybean and not bathing or shaving or practicing basic hygeine can make anyone crazy.

[Zictor]

So, I agree with the Rand being a random unit that powers up magic.

I Also think that Parson really IS a hippie-mancer. That's why the portal did not disband him. Although there might be unique things about him nobody knows.

The first magician would be one of the following: Gandalf/Merlin/Dumbledore, although I think Dumbledore is the less likely one.

The Second one DOES look like Hermione.

I can't come up with a good identity for the third one. Maybe Mandrake?


I don't know why people sepculate so much here. Why is it so unthinkable that PArson is a hippiemancer?

I think it is actually pretty funny.

[Jon Pander]

If Gobwin Knob was destroyed, it looks like Parson is a Barbarian. Does that finally make him a free agent?

Or Parson might not be a barbarian, since he's still under Stanley, and Stanley is a barbarian. Not sure how it works when you're under a barbarian. Jillian referred to them as 'her units' but didn't refer to them as barbarians by name, as she referred to herself. Possible though.

Or it could be that Gobwin Knob doesn't count as being 'destroyed' in game terms - just a level 1 city with no structures.

Or going through the portal -could- have broken whatever link Parson has to Stanley... which would make Parson either a barbarian or, because of his extraerfly status, something entirely different.

Or, if he really is a caster, maybe he's can take advantage of the same rules which other casters take when their city is destroyed. We've never actually seen if casters become barbarians or not. That might be the entire purpose of the magic kingdom - so when a city falls, if the caster gets away, they survive, because they CANT become barbarians like warlords can.

Lotta possible choices.

[Jon Pander]

I don't know why people sepculate so much here. Why is it so unthinkable that PArson is a hippiemancer?

Hrm... he gets the munchies and eats happy meals and subs.

He has a fondness for eating peeps.

His cleanliness leaves a lot to be desired.

He wears wierd colored glasses (yes I know they're 3-D, play along with me here)

All we need is him to grow a beard or play a guitar and stop wearing shoes, and he just might be a hippie after all.

The most warlike hippie of all.

Ultra-Hippie-Destructo.

[Glome]

It's highly unlikely that Parson is actually a Hippiemancer.

Janis likely intervened out of the goodness of her heart - only as a Hippiemancer could she claim Parson to be under her protection. If she had just supported that he was a Mathemancer or Luckamancer then all it would have taken is one Master of each to debunk him and get him zapped.

Besides - Parson, the man who just killed, what, three or four thousand people, being someone who calms down aggressors? Ha!

Actually, Parson did calm down aggression by ensuring there was nobody left to wage war. But that isn't the point, Erfworld is filled with people who defy traditional stereotypes, and Parson being a hippiemancer fits right in that theme.

Regardless of how many people you kill, you aren't going to change your basic unit type. So we have to look at the Parson who was summoned by the spell, who had fought thousands of battles and hadn't killed anything larger than a spider. A Parson who was able to get people to work together and bring out the best in people. That is a Parson who I can see being a hippiemancer.

Plus it is not like he wanted to set off a WMD, he only used it when duty left him with no other option and he pursued every other path to avoid such a situation. Think of him like Oppenheimer who helped invent the nuclear bomb and spent the rest of his life fighting against the use of the weapon he helped create.

And the way Janis said Parson was a hippiemancer was almost as a afterthought to an already unconscious Parson, she didn't say 'Wait, don't kill him, he's a hippiemancer', and she even went to the trouble of putting a guard on him instead of guarding him herself, which she probably wouldn't do if she was trying to keep a secret.

Plus, I really can't imagine her not wanting to know why he could use the gate if it wasn't because he was a hippiemancer. I really don't think Parson was in any immediate danger to his life when he was unconscious and they didn't know how he got there. Being scholarly wizards, their next step would be to find out who he really is and how he got through the gate, not to kill him.

[Bobnik]

I wonder if Parson's luckamancy got him through the portal? That is, if he's not truly a caster.

[Sappo7]

He's a Signamancer.

You see, he worked at "kinko's"...

It's such an awful pun I think it has to be the answer.

[Gez]

The idea that the Rand is an intrisicly more useful, and powerful 'commodity' forms up because the Magic kingdom does take Schmuckers, as refferenced when Wanda purchased the Summoning Spell. If the Rand was just a currency, then they would have just demanded Rands, forgoeing the conversion process.

I still think that "schmuckers" are used by overlords, while rands are used just by units (maybe only caster units).

[ishnar]

Well, this isn't like the Red girl dead argument. There are good reasons why this could go either way.

First, Parson being a soldier doesn't stop him from being a hippy. Lots of hippies were drafted. Many soldiers that were drafted became hippies after the draft. A hippy can hate war with a firey passion, but when their life is on the line, they fought just as passionately. Hippy doesn't mean shirk responsibility. Lots dodged the draft, but many did their duty. Others raised children, another form of responsibility.

Panel one is interesting. Obviously we are supposed to assume Janis is restraining Spocky. But what if the artist is deliberately misleading the readers by giving Spocky his looks to make us assume the nerve pinch comes from his own power. Maybe Janis is charging Spocky's hand with flower power and Spocky's main power is stealth and surprise. If she did impart flower power, maybe the fact that Parson had a moment of resistance was the telling point?

Meh, I still believe she's just covering for him, but if he turns out to be a hippymancer, I won't be disappointed.

[Glome]

.

Panel one is interesting. Obviously we are supposed to assume Janis is restraining Spocky. But what if the artist is deliberately misleading the readers by giving Spocky his looks to make us assume the nerve pinch comes from his own power. Maybe Janis is charging Spocky's hand with flower power and Spocky's main power is stealth and surprise. If she did impart flower power, maybe the fact that Parson had a moment of resistance was the telling point?

That is actually a good point either way. I was assuming he resisted the nerve pinch because he is a big guy, but if either Spock here is a hippiemancer or Janis imparted the ability to him, Parson resisting the pinch might have been the telling sign that Parson was indeed a hippiemancer. Otherwise it just might be 'mancers can recognize their own kind even without points being visible.

[Yuki Akuma]

Orko. His name is Orko.

And he sucks at magic, if based on the cartoon. :)

I also think I see Dr. Strange in that panel as well.

Actually, Orko is a master-class magician.

It's just that the laws of magic are different on Eternia and he hasn't adapted yet.

[Sancdar]

Ok, so the snakes have always been there. I guess I just didn't notice it before because there were so few. But why are the snakes there?

Honestly, who put these motherbooping snakes on this motherbooping plane?

[memnarch]

My question is how did all those casters manage to get around the portal so quickly? I mean, it wasn't that long between the trimancer going through and Parson following.

[Kasavin]

Hmmm... was it actually confirmed that the city was "destroyed?" and not merely reduced to level 1 or 0? Very early on Parson suggested destroying the city to deny the opponent victory (while killing plenty) and I believe Sizemore shot him down saying the opponents would just retake the ground and rebuilt. It suggests that cities in Erfworld are a constant.

If thats the case, there would still be a Gobwin Knob side, as no one was left alive to merely walk into the city and claim it. Now, income might have been reduced to zero, but there was still a sizable treasury and a lot of fat just got trimmed from the budget, meaning enough funds to pay upkeep for the time being.

[pclips]

Honestly, who put these motherbooping snakes on this motherbooping plane?

A winner is you, Sancdar.