Does anyone with free will serve Stanley (spoiler?)

[Larrin]

I've seen alot of indications that the people that serve stanley (at least the non-fodder ones) are bound to him in some way. Parson is of course magically bound to him, but his "findamancers" (or whoever they are) are chained to that table, and even wanda has made references to being bound to stanley's will (in fifth strip wanda states she is "allowed" to defy his order because she believes it would lead to his destruction. I wonder if thats the ONLY reason she can refuse a direct order. While seizmore has interacted with stanely yet, it really seems like he'd rather not be in such an apparently doomed situation, but is stuck there no matter what.

So i'm wondering, Does stanely rule through magically binding people to serve him? I'm sure most of the units are just troops who serve whoever, but the "thinkers" and "casters" and "people who might be smart enough to flee the sinking ship of toolsville" could well be bound by one method or another....

[Bogardan_Mage]

Wanda says she is "allowed" to disobey Stanley in the capacity of a soldier in his army (Stanley's line immediately before is "Are you refusing an order, officer?", which is a perfectly reasonable thing for a general to say). As far as the doomed situation goes, most people are trapped in the city because of the very same geography that makes it difficult to attack (Parson mentions this being an obstacle to retreat in a klog). Stanley wasn't doomed from the getgo, I don't think, he just got that way through incompetant leadership and such. Indeed, it's suggested that had the Marbits just one fewer unit of axemen, he would have won a crucial battle. Bogroll at least seems pretty loyal to his superiors, and Mung envies Wanda's evilness, suggesting he'd be unlikely to join the forces of good. Even bad guys can have willing followers, and if Stanley is controlling an entire city (and onetime more) one must wonder how. It doesn't seem he's a caster himself, so he'd have to have at least one loyal caster to ensorcel everyone, right?

[Glome]

Also, people coerced into serving by force tend to make poor officers. There is a reason that Stanley specified in in the summoning spell that to get someone who voluntarily wants to be here, despite the fact that the magic of spell would force Parson to serve regardless.

Honestly, I think the only people under compulsion to serve are the lookamancers, Parson and of course the uncroaked. The rest Stanley could probably execute or otherwise punish if they disobey orders, but no magical or special physical compulsions are used that wouldn't exist in any normal military at that time.

[the_tick_rules]

yeah parson is the only one who is forced to through magic. the other just the old-fashioned way