The Arkentools [speculation]

[innovan]

If Arkenhammer tames dwagons, Arkenpliers must allow you to tame bwears.

The big fluffy teddy bears that are his heavy calvary.

The standard Playskool toolbox contains:
Hammer, Saw, Wrench, Screwdriver, Drill and Pliers

But like the Istari, I doubt there's enough pages in one single story to carry all of them as plot points.

[Lord Fullbladder, Master of Goblins]

It seems to me, Rocheforte, that the Arkentools, exclusive among all other weaponry and items in the World of Erf, appear a little more.. three dimensional and slightly out-of-place graphics-wise. The pliars on Ansom's belt and the Arkenhammer both share this little graphics thing. Or I may be playing into this, as the Arkenhammer is thus far the only confirmed Arkentool we've Arkenseen so Arkenfar. Arken.

[Darth Paradox]

My interpretation is that the Arkentools, belonging to the creators of the world, are actually not of Erfworld at all, but of the world that the creator of Erfworld inhabited. I.e. the "real world".

[Erk]

the tools are prerendered graphics, Fullbladder

The Arkenpliers change the perspective on the tools a lot. Unlike the Hammer, they are not toylike, they just look like standard household needlenoses. Other tools could therefore vary to a huge degree. Who knows, now... we don't have a pattern to assume from :)

Also, Innovan and Sprite, do you even know where the "W" comes from? /wince/ "bwears"? "mweasuring"? /sigh/

I suspect the pliers have something to do with diplomacy myself. Stanley's powerful unit come from the Hammer, and Ansom's power is the size of his army thanks to the alliances. He doesn't seem to be much better of a strategist than Stanley, otherwise.

[innovan]

Do you even know where the w comes from?

Silly! Of course we do!

As in all feudal societies, the ruling class determines the fashion for word pronouncation. (see: History of the English Language)
And in Erfworld, the ruler is... Lambchop!

[ampcptlogic]

If we have the Arkenhammer, the Arkenshovel, and the Arkenbucket beach toys, wouldn't we also need the Arkensieve?

[Uzraid]

I am earnestly hoping for an Arkenhexwrench. This legendary artifact would possess the power of causing Ikea furniture to last for more than six months.

[Deuce]

I'm just hoping the wielder of the Arken Saw will tell Parson that "You ain't from 'round here boy" at some point.

[Heliomance]

The Arkensonicscrewdriver!

[Belphegor]

Arkenpimpwaterpistol. Looks like a water pistol but instead It shots little pimps that pimp everything that they touch... The dangerous weapon of them all.

BTW is it me or is did the creator implied that parsons is the one to wield the arkenpiels (or whatever they are called).

[h3rne]

I just checked the Cast List to see if it had been updated (please?) to include the Arkenpliers. I noticed that the Arkenhammer is listed as having Occupation: MacGuffin.

Familiar with the game now, I hit wiki and got this:

A MacGuffin (sometimes McGuffin or Maguffin) is a plot device that motivates the characters and advances the story, but has little other relevance to the story. The element that distinguishes a MacGuffin from other types of plot devices is that it is not important what object the MacGuffin specifically is. Anything that serves as a motivation will do. A true MacGuffin is essentially interchangeable.

It's interesting to speculate as to in what way exactly is the Arkenhammer a MacGuffin? It could be that the Arkentool themselves are the MacGuffin - a motivator for Stanley's questing and civic/military neglect. However, I suspect it's the actual form of the tools. I could see it's functions replaced easily by, say, a magic staff that tames Dwagons, throws lightning and causes nuts to change into pigeons.

For my part, I'm hoping for ArkenPowerTools, although current evidence suggests they might all be hand tools, in which case I'm already disappointed Stanley got the ArkenHammer and not the ArkenBoxCutter.

!WARNING: That last gag may only be funny in the UK, Australia and New Zealand!

Spoiler

Show

In the UK a box cutter is often referred to as a "Stanley Knife". Sorry. I thought it was funny.

p.s. Sorry about the triple preposition in the 5th paragraph. No. Honestly.

[Hilary Moon Murphy]

Okay, thanks to episode 22, we now know a lot about the two Arkentools that have shown up already. Let's compile that knowledge:

The Arkenhammer is

• attuned to Stanley
• has poor taste in friends
• tames dwagons
• throws lightning (which I'd really, really like to see)
• has other powers unknown, including the ability to turn nuts into pigeons and to help Stanley escape at any time (albeit without the treasury).

The Arkenpliers are

• not attuned to Ansom
• usable in combat even for someone NOT attuned to them
• turn Uncroaked to dust

This attunement thing is very, very interesting to me. Ansom said:

But Fate Magic is powerless in my case; I cannot unlock their secrets. I know of no-one who can.

This suggests that the Arkentools have something to do with Fate Magic... Either in their properties or in their derivation. But what can that be?

Also, I think I know now why the Arkenpliers are so plain, and the Arkenhammer is a very colorful croquet mallet. I believe that unattuned Arkentools will all look like pretty standard tools, but attuned ones take on the personality of those who wield them. That's why the Arkenhammer looks so damn silly. It's Stanley's tool, afterall.

Now I am convinced that the Arkensaw (if it shows up) will become a pizza cutter in the hands of Parson. I'm not certain that the Arkensaw will show up, though.

And now some questions for all of you:

• What will be the next Arkentool to show up?
• Who will the Arkenpliers attune to, if anyone?
• Will Parson befriend an Arkentool?
• What exactly, is involved in the attunement process? Plot coupon redemption quests? Love at first sight? Confluence of multiple unlikely events?
• Does having an Arkentool attuned to you make you an Overlord in this world? Or is Stanley just doubly fortunate, having both rank and a powerful ancient artifact?

Yeah, I guess that's enough questions for now.

Hmm
Wielder of the mighty Arkenpencil (which gives the ability to draw spurious conclusions)

[TheAnimal]

Since there is an Arkenhammer, there must also be an Arkensickle!

[Erk]

in communist erfworld, arkensickle and arkenhammer wield you.

I get the impression from the Arkenhammer description that the tools choose their wielders, hence the "poor taste in friends". I assume that makes them attune to their owner.

I like the idea that they look different depending on who they are attuned to. I am curious to see who gets the pliers.

[Seraph]

I have a question: why do people use "[spoiler]" for the least-spoilerlike things on this forum? The word is heavily misused. We have known about the arkentools since what, the third comic? Therefore that, and the fact that there are multiple arkentools as mentioned on the cast page, make this topic absolutely not a spoiler. Speculation isn't a spoiler, but that seems to be what the world means around here. Should not people start using [spec] instead? Just a peeve of mine.

basically, before erfworld, random, open speculation on the forums annoyed Rich to a point where he decreed that all posters making speculations had to mark it openly so that he didn't blunder in on it.

[Lord Fullbladder, Master of Goblins]

the tools are prerendered graphics, Fullbladder

That's it. Thanks. I'm not good with Computo-babble.

[Stormthorn]

Arkentoothpick...just because.

[Belphegor]

This attunement thing is very, very interesting to me. Ansom said:

But Fate magic is powerless in my case. I know no-one who can wield them.

This suggests that the Arkentools have something to do with Fate Magic... Either in their properties or in their derivation. But what can that be?

And now some questions for all of you:

• Will Parson befriend an Arkentool?
• Does having an Arkentool attuned to you make you an Overlord in this world? Or is Stanley just doubly fortunate, having both rank and a powerful ancient artifact?

Yeah, I guess that's enough questions for now.

Hmm
Wielder of the mighty Arkenpencil (which gives the ability to draw spurious conclusions)

I believe he will befriend Arkenpiels.

because Ansom says later

For Stanley has squandered his leadership forces. He has no-one left to lead his forces. No-one.

Perhaps the author tried to imply that Parson=no-one. Replace all instances of no-one with Parson and you get that Parson can wield arkenpiels and currently commands Stanley's forces.

I think being a warlord and wielding an arkentool can be two different thing. I mean it would be as having an nuclear missle in your garage. Heck you could use it to blow up the world or let it sit tight and do nothing.

BTW is that pencil in one of those first strips on page 22? If so I guess that is the next Arkentool. Because they look arcane.

[Bilgore]

The Arkenspanner, which undoes nuts without turning them into pigeons, all while complaingin about the uselessness of the other tools (including Stanley)

Wouldn't the Arkenspanner undo enemy plans? Preferably through some divine form of fate magic.

[Crazy Ivan]

Actually I was recently thinking about the Arkentools and came up with this conclusion.
Each Arkentool controls a unit class, as in, where the Arkenhammer when atuned to an owner can be used to control Dwagons the Arkenpliers when atuned could be used to control Undead. On that one could assume that Arkentools would then do some sort of special damage to its aligned unit class.

But then again no one should EVER repeat EVER rely on my speculation and summary conclusions.

[charles]

Remember that Stanly is on a quest for the arkentools.

This is only the first installment of erfworld (The battle for Gobwin Knob) There will be more.

But I think fate is becoming more and more of a strong point considering how this comic started in the first two pages (the gem, fated to give an advantage to the marbits).

[KaTTaNa]

Maybe Arkendie? One of Parson's beta testers said dips on his dice, which would imply that Parson's had some extraordinary dice, maybe even specifically made for his game (5 months...).

Oh, and of course I hope to see the Arkenrocketlauncher, but somehow I doubt it show up :P

[Darth Paradox]

Dice need not be special to be coveted. Parson may well just have a sizable collection.

[Ashildr_the_Bard]

I want an arkensauteringiron.

[Erk]

do you mean soldering? Or is that some kind of word meaning "to add salt to something"? I always thought "salt" was one of those great words that was both noun and verb.... and even adjective with the help of our ubiquitous friend, the letter "y".

[Ashildr_the_Bard]

That's how we spell soldering here in the South. They don't teach spelling past 3rd grade here in Alabama you know.

[Corolinth]

Arkensquare
Arkencrowbar
Arkengonzos
Arkenwelder
Arkenjack
Arkenratchet

[bdh5533]

arkenwrench
arkenscrewdriver
arkensaw

already : arkenhammer arkenpliers

i think those are the basic tools in everyone's toolbox the others are just too specific. if i listed every tool i liked, we'd have a 300 item arken list.

[Hilary Moon Murphy]

My friend Bret (an otherwise intelligent person who has remained a lurker rather than post his own ideas) has suggested an arkentool that I think would be awesome:

The Arkensafetygoggles -- Confers immunity on the wearer to any sharp stick in the eye and destroys all fashion sense. A most excellent accessory for any ambitious tool.

He also mentioned another interesting idea... Hammers pound, but pliers extract. What exactly are the Arkenpliers extracting when they turn Uncroaked to dust?

Hmm

[Erk]

No, Hillary: the Arkengoggles, unfortunately, do nothing.