Erf 112, Page 100!

[ss49]

Looks like Charlie is at least considering taking advantage of the coalition's shift plan- which he may not have been consulted on.

h4x- hacked?

[PePe QuiCoSE]

so, i´m confused. Is Ansom attacking from below this turn with Webinar or not?

[ishnar]

Heh, since I typed a much longer post, the OP made the new thread faster. :P

I just wanted to say that this is the most interesting page so far. The possibilities from here depend a lot on what kind of rules there are for "sides" at least in my interpretation.

The current potential schedule of events looks like.

Charlie is released from service with Radishes.
Charlie gets a new contract with Vampies.

Now what is interesting here is whether Charlie is considering taking TWO contracts or just having Parson outbit the Vampies. For some reason I don't think Charlie is so mercenary as to take simultaneous contracts for two factions fighting each other. After all, he intimated that his reputation is important. So contracting with Transvo vs Stanly and With Parson against Jetstone seems out, unless Parson and Stanly were recognized as separate states.

In RL, and some games, power is about being recognized as a power. You're not a ruler unless your subjects recognize your rule. You are not a country unless other countries recognize your country. Creating an alliance with a power recognizes them, and thus may be considered a coronation of sorts.

Thus an interesting twist potential here is

Stanley finally arrives and declares himself a new side Releasing Parson to "Neutrality"
Charlie allies with Parson same turn and by recognizing him as a ruler (through the act of creating an alliance), gives him legitimacy and keeps Parson active as a player.

There are historical presidents of this type of thing in RL, governments in exile, formosa, etc..

[ss49]

What I really think is that Charlie would rather help the winning side, and Parson impressed him a LOT when they had their last discussion. I expect him to at least consider contracting with Parson when Team Radish cuts him loose, partly because Charlie might not appreciate being the subject of a rules exploit.

[charles]

WOOT! CharlsNChrg I love it.

Good to see he has no hard feelings over the lost archeon (sound business man).

Be interesting to see how the archeons feel about working for him after this though.

Heck, be interesting to see how the archeons feel about turning to each of Don King's warlords next to them and toasting their arse.

We also get a view of what Wanda managed to uncroak, 1 x uncroaked archeon, 3 x uncroaked... PegaTaurs?

Keep up the good work Jamie and Rob. We love it!

[ishnar]

Good to see he has no hard feelings over the angels.

I take that as more of a sign of exactly how mercenary Charles is. So in a way, it can be a bad sign.

[teratorn]

Wanda has her own flying corps!

so, i´m confused. Is Ansom attacking from below this turn with Webinar or not?

Check the previous strips, in particular the talk between Parson and Wanda. Ansom will deploy all his forces before the attack. Only after he has everything in place will he strike.

Given Charlie's words, it seems both of Ansom's plans are going to bite him in the butt.

[ss49]

And the "Fer-Durrrrp", back on Page 78, seems to indicate the end of Ansom's turn.

[plainsfox]

Ansom's weakness as listed on the cast page is that he can't seal the deal. I guess we can add an "And how" to that, given this page.

If Charlie has had access to the GK Klog system, does Charlie know what Parson is?

[charles]

I thought the turn had already ended and they'd just slept through night. Could this be the indication of the morning and start of the day? Otherwise, I guess we've got a night of events and chatter to go yet.

Hey! What is bogrol holding in the background?

[teratorn]

Hey! What is bogrol holding in the background?

I think he picked a dead orly.

[Justyn]

I take that as more of a sign of exactly how mercenary Charles is. So in a way, it can be a bad sign.

I took it as more "I understand, you were defending yourself. It's a shame that she got croaked, but it happens." then "Huh, she died. Oh well.' or "You croaked one of my units! YOU WILL DIE!!!!!".

Charlie was likely brought up to speed reguarding Jaclyn, and understood that Parson (or rather, Wanda) did what they had to do. In addition to realising how completely boneheadded what Jillian did was. And then Jaclyn being stupid on top of it all that just icing on the cake.

[Oslecamo]

Hehe, here go my 2 cents.

Charlie is a mercenary. But mercenaries need to defend their reputations, and thus can't simply go around betraying their contracts left and right, or nobody will trust them and hire them.

BUT the coalition will release him this turn. Charlie then sees too choices:

1-Being hired by the vampire godfather, wich seems like a cheapstake(aka low pay), and risk losing more of his precious archons.

2-Or offer his services to Stanley's side. Stanley is desesperate enough to Charlie to get a nice pay from the work. Also I believe that archons+dragons will be much stronger than vampires+archons.

In the end, by offering his services to Hamster, Charlie will get more money(or the matchmancy thingy) and lose fewer units. Sure, he switched sides, but it was because the Coalition didn't pay him anymore.

Actually, there's a third possibility I just remembered:

3-Hamster pays Charlie to don't do anything. Archons simply go away and the vampire warlords have to fend for themselves against the dragon. Charlie doesn't risk more units and gets a shiny new mathmancy toy to play with.

[PePe QuiCoSE]

i think it´s more like outlined above: Charlie no longer has a contract with Jetstone (and Transylvito's affair is away from Gobwin Knob) so he see no reason why not offer his services to the conflict in GK (which don't go directl against his contractors right now).

Yes, it seems that Ansom hasn't attacked in his turn. At least not when Webinar went for the tunnels. Now it should be Parson's turn (after Transylvito's turn is over).
If Parson learn's from Charlie about the attack to Stanley the possibility of getting the Foolamancer's name to Stanley (if Wanda remembers it) is higher.

[fractal]

So for one thing, I don't think Parson will end up trading the gauntlet to Charlie. That seems too easy, plus Parson has barely even gotten a chance to use it yet. I don't know what sort of deal will be made, but I expect it will require something more active of Parson himself.

Regarding the Foolamancer, Charlie is on an entirely different level of Thinkamancy from Maggie. Can he restore the Foolamancer at a distance?

[rosebud]

I see Charlie as a technical man. So, no restoration of the foolmancer since there is no technology gear.

As to Jaclyn, there's nothing Parson did with respect to her. It was between Wanda and Jillian, and Jaclyn got herself in the way. Charlie missed her and he liked her, but he does not blame Parson for her demise. Parson was talking trash, but Charlie understands.

And, yes, Charlie can only be trusted as long and far as you pay him. He does not seem of this world, either, nor does he seem to be honorable ... or dishonorable. He's neutral and mercenary beyond that. He seems true to his word and true to his alliance so long as you pay him for one.

As for rules games, Charlie seems to have no issue with them. He likes intelligence. What they failed to remember, though, is they assumed that Charlie would just go along with things. They should have arranged the alliance with the Don before not after the alliance with Ansom's side was broken. That was a huge mistake on their part.

An interesting, thought, though --

Spoiler

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did the foolmancer ever fight in a recorded battle under his name?

[Warren]

Charlie considering his options once he was released from his contract was both predictable and predicted ... but I have no idea what he'll actually come up with once he's considered his options. Good to see he's not committed to Parson's destruction though.

Regarding all those folks in the tunnels, I have an idea about how Parson plans to deal with them, and why he needs his turn to act while they're still in the tunnels, as many as possible. My idea coud, if stretched, go some way towards doing for all the folks in the valley below. I don't know whether my idea is practical, and I apologize if it's too completely obvious:

Spoiler

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Consider what Gobwin Knob is. Remember Parson has a talented and inventive dirtamancer (remember that Heavy Metal Golem?). And ask yourself: is there such a thing as an extinct volcano?

[SteveMB]

so, i´m confused. Is Ansom attacking from below this turn with Webinar or not?

Not -- apparently Parson and Wanda are correct in their guess that Ansom will get everything lined up just so before making his move.

And, yes, Charlie can only be trusted as long and far as you pay him. He does not seem of this world, either, nor does he seem to be honorable ... or dishonorable. He's neutral and mercenary beyond that. He seems true to his word and true to his alliance so long as you pay him for one.

I'm reminded of the description of Thomasus the Syrian from Lest Darkness Fall -- "Of course he's honest. You just have to watch him." (i.e. he can be trusted to honor his agreements, but will aggressively exploit any loopholes you leave open to him).

As for rules games, Charlie seems to have no issue with them. He likes intelligence. What they failed to remember, though, is they assumed that Charlie would just go along with things. They should have arranged the alliance with the Don before not after the alliance with Ansom's side was broken. That was a huge mistake on their part.

That could be related to Ansom's worldview -- he expects commoners (Charlie is described as an Overlord, implying that he's at least non-royal and probably not even noble) to follow his direction.

Another point: If Charlie does indeed make a deal with Parson and break with the Coalition, that's going to have some interesting (in the Chinese-curse sense) effects on the Coalition. The "tiresome bluff" will then seem like a confirmed fact.

[Pebot]

sooo, if anyone remembers http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0021.html

We know his plan, and Wanda should know it because she interrogated Jillian.

The plan was changed a little bit, but the reason i'm mentioning that page is that Ansom said "On arrival, we will take a full turn to surround the city."

So thats what Ansom is doing. and thats the last panel of the comic too.

And, imo about Wanda's new creatures, they look like Wanda gave them orders? cause they seem to be flying away in the 5th panel. perhaps help for the almighty idiot?

edit: maybe not clear, I mean Stanley

[Lamech]

did the foolmancer ever fight in a recorded battle under his name?

I was assuming the recorded history was some kind of back story or at least takes a while to become updated, because otherwise it would give people info about troop locations and very good info about troop numbers.

So now we need to know (what) Charlie is doing. Ansom should have had another group like the superfluous elves hire the extra Archons, fire the ones working for Jetstone, and then have the elves break off and join the vamps; no chance for Charlie to pull something.

[SteveMB]

did the foolmancer ever fight in a recorded battle under his name?

I was assuming the recorded history was some kind of back story or at least takes a while to become updated, because otherwise it would give people info about troop locations and very good info about troop numbers.

If he's the Faq Foolamancer, brought into Stanley's service after the fall of Faq (which would fit with Maggie not knowing his name), it's unlikely that he was ever in battle -- his job would be to stay home and conceal it from any flying scout units that might chance upon it.

So now we need to know Charlie is doing.

It occurs to me that hacking into the eyebooks puts a bit of extra pressure on Parson to make a deal with Charlie (not that he isn't under enough pressure already). Parson is well aware that his situation is going to get even worse if Charlie remains on the Coalition side after "reading my notes".

[BarGamer]

Kinda obvious now, but in a continuation of the Erf 111's topic, now we know a little bit more of Wanda's capabilities: An Archon and 3 unipegtaurs, all of which are naturally flying. And apparently, dancing for her amusement. XD

Also... I believe Charlie hacked into the eyeBooks through Parson, and can "Thinkamancy" of the meaning behind Parson's words. Most any other explanation wouldn't make sense. AOL-speak might not be such a recent Internet phenomena, but lolcats? And wherever OMG HAX/H4X originated from? A possible reason Charlie isn't doing some major Mind Control on Parson is because then Charlie wouldn't be able to see who would really win. Also, Ansom didn't pay for it, but...

Warren:

Spoiler

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Play with fire, and you will get burned. Play with hot magma (please no Austin Powers jokes), and you get a Pyrrhic Victory. You'd be lucky not to get all of Gobwin Knob blown to hell, incidentally covering everyone who's not a flier in more magma.

[MattR]

For a mercenary war is good. While the conflict between Stanley and everyone else is going on Charlie can keep getting contracts, so why would he end a good thing? Besides any potential personal interest in Parson, changing sides and bolstering Team Stanley is just good business.

People seem to forget that Stanley probably has ways of finding out how many of his units are still active. If there doesnt appear to be any casualties at Gobwins Knob he isnt going to disband them as the casters alone are rather valuable and they are currently tying up a large force.

Parson is aware that Stanley needs to know the foolamancers name.. would Charlie have the power to discover what that is if Wanda doesnt know?

Has Parson already informed Stanley that a force has been sent off to specifically hunt him down?

I cant wait to see if the story answers either of those things.

Also! Wanda appears to be able to uncroak several units at a time and during someone elses turn which is good news if they croak the tunnel forces.

I dont understand why people want Parson to be freed from Stanley so badly as i think the friction between them makes things very interesting.

Personally i see the ending involving Stanley returning to Gobwins Knob and claiming all the glory after he hears about Parson croaking the tunnel forces.

Oh and regarding the Foolamancer being in a recorded battle, hes a caster and appeared to be part of a fairly non combative side before Stanley got hold of him IF he's the guy in Jillian's flashback... so i doubt hes been involved in any fights. Raises the question of why they wanted a foolamancer in the first place... can he use illusion to cloak a city? if he could it would make sense why that side had one... but raises the question of why it didnt stop Stanley from finding it. I think that if Stanley WAS responsible for croaking those cities it's because someone like Wanda turned taitor and contacted him.

/nod to SteveMb for beating me to it about the foolamancer. thatll teahc me for not reading the full thread before i post.

Does this mean no more klogs from Parson? or were they in a different book?

[rosebud]

I believe Charlie hacked into the eyeBooks through Parson

Interesting thought and okay. But unless there's proof, it is of limited usefulness for limiting the length of access.

AOL-speak might not be such a recent Internet phenomena, but lolcats?

Please, the Internet predates the September that never ended. AOL and lolcats are recent in comparison. lol predates them. And, again, cracker/hacker terms also predate them from BBS culture.

The only reason Charlie isn't doing some major Mind Control on Parson is because

It is fine to engage in wild speculation, but please do so in the context of random wild speculation instead talking as if it is fact. So, "I think ..." states an opinion. Or, "Why isn't ..." or "Do you think ..." to bring up a topic or discussion. Presenting it as fact makes it difficult to engage in discussion rather than disagreement or debate.

Play with hot magma

Where is the hot magma, given that they are purportedly sitting on a dead volcano?

[ralphmerridew]

Actually, there's a third possibility I just remembered:

3-Hamster pays Charlie to don't do anything. Archons simply go away and the vampire warlords have to fend for themselves against the dragon. Charlie doesn't risk more units and gets a shiny new mathmancy toy to play with.

Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that Hamster pays Charlie to send his troops elsewhere. I doubt Hamster has the funds to outbid Ansom, and siding with him would be considerably more dangerous than siding with Ansom. But there's probably plenty of demand for mercenaries, and there's probably somebody else who could outbid Ansom with H's help.

[slayerx]

"flying Zombies!"

Looks like Charlie is at least considering taking advantage of the coalition's shift plan- which he may not have been consulted on.

Charlie was informed about it... the only question is whether or not he actually agreed to it or just gave a very vague "i see..."

If he's the Faq Foolamancer, brought into Stanley's service after the fall of Faq (which would fit with Maggie not knowing his name), it's unlikely that he was ever in battle -- his job would be to stay home and conceal it from any flying scout units that might chance upon it.

I wouldn't be to sure about that actually... remember, Wanda has said that they had used veils to hide their units in the past, and a foolamancer must be with the units to veil them... which means, either stanely had more foolamancers in the past, or the foolamancer was used in the field for some time before being used in the eyemancer set up

Be interesting to see how the archeons feel about working for him after this though.

Heck, be interesting to see how the archeons feel about turning to each of Don King's warlords next to them and toasting their arse.

Probably not much different.
Putting aside that whole "loyalty" factor that exists in erfworld, one thing we got to remember is that they are mercenaries. They fight for the highest bidder; ideological and moral points do not matter, only money. This would not be the first time they would be working for "the bad guys"... and hell, their may very well have been times where they were paid to fight in one battle, but then once the contract was over, they were hired by the other side for the next. And when you live the merc life, you understand that allies die; you are paid to risk your lives and sometime you loose.

When it comes down to it, Jacklyn was actually the only archon that might have offered up any discontent or questioned Charlie's orders.She was the only one of the three that let her personal feelings determine how she works... the other two on the other hand have been strictly business when working for ansom; no matter how they might feel, they don't do anything they are not being paid to do.

As to Jaclyn, there's nothing Parson did with respect to her. It was between Wanda and Jillian, and Jaclyn got herself in the way. Charlie missed her and he liked her, but he does not blame Parson for her demise. Parson was talking trash, but Charlie understands.

Well Charlie does not know that Parson never ordered wanda to attack... and as chief warlord, Parson holds a certain amount of responsibility for the actions of his units... Wanda's actions can be consider his actions.

The reason why charlie is willing to forget about it and move on is simply because he is a mercenary... Money and opportunity are his native language and he's got plenty of experience of loosing units in the field. He could never expect his achons to always come back alive, in his line of business he is bound to loose some in every war he gets involved in. He has lost plenty of archons before Jaclyn, he doesn't like it and he misses them, but as a merc, he's got a to move on to the next opportunity no matter where it may come from

Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that Hamster pays Charlie to send his troops elsewhere. I doubt Hamster has the funds to outbid Ansom, and siding with him would be considerably more dangerous than siding with Ansom. But there's probably plenty of demand for mercenaries, and there's probably somebody else who could outbid Ansom with H's help.

Parson isn't outbiding ansom, his outbidding DonKing... and remember, that gauntlet of his is worth a lot of shmuckers. and the worth of it is only increased by the fact that Charlie may never see another one like it again (meaning he can't just go buy his own); so if he REALLY wants it, he's got to go with Parson

and there is nothing wrong with siding with Charlie... you sign a contract with Charlie and he will maintain it... the only reason ansom is getting screwed over is because he canceled Charlie's current contract leaving Charlie open to accept new bidders

[BarGamer]

Hey, Rosebud. I wrote it at 4 bloody AM. What'd you expect, a dissertation?

No, really. I start off with speculation, I go on to make more speculation, then I make a small mistake in speculation etiquette, followed by my rebuttal to someone else's speculation. {Self-scrubbed}.

[SteveMB]

Oh and regarding the Foolamancer being in a recorded battle, hes a caster and appeared to be part of a fairly non combative side before Stanley got hold of him IF he's the guy in Jillian's flashback... so i doubt hes been involved in any fights. Raises the question of why they wanted a foolamancer in the first place... can he use illusion to cloak a city? if he could it would make sense why that side had one... but raises the question of why it didnt stop Stanley from finding it.

After Ansom got the report from the scout bat that the center hex of the dwagon donut was empty, he didn't believe it and went in with his entire force. Apparently, he thought the wounded dwagons were in there, veiled. That implies that veiling can hide units from scouts (like one of Vinny's bats) but not from a major enemy force (perhaps sheer numbers of units and/or high level enemy warlords can defeat the veil).

[Zolem]

Also... I believe Charlie hacked into the eyeBooks through Parson, and can "Thinkamancy" of the meaning behind Parson's words. Most any other explanation wouldn't make sense. AOL-speak might not be such a recent Internet phenomena, but lolcats? And wherever OMG HAX/H4X originated from?

No he didn't, chat speek exists in this world. It was confirmed in the early strips by Stanly. Since you have to write things out, txttlk would save people time even here, so it's natural that it exists. Plus, the lolcats type speach isn't too hard to figure out. IF you require thinkmancy to understand that....
u 2 4 100ze2

[TheTurnipKing]

Oh Charlie, you double-dealing bastard. Love it.

The thing about being a mercenary is if there's no war, there's no profit.

I can't see Charlie entirely turning his back on Jetstone, but I could certainly see him agreeing to a short-term contract with Parson for a few turns if the pay is good and it's not going to cost too much. If nothing else, it will prolong the war, and may encourage Jetstone to stump up even higher fees to keep Charlie's forces out of Parson's hands in later turns.