98 The Battle for Gobwin Knob, Page 88

[slayerx]

It is not yet clear Stanley is heading for Faq, he could also be heading for Charlie (after noticing that Charlie had hired out most of his mercenaries) to get his tool.

I'd doubt that... i mean, would charlie really be foolish enough not to keep a strong defence at home while his merc's were away? nah, he would keep himself defended

Also one thing we have to consider is that for some reason Stanely has avoiding going after charlie. The question is why? Stanely knows Charlie has the arken dish and as such he would have been a prime target for attack, and yet he has not shown to make any attempt to attack charlie.

i would guess that perhaps Charlie's power over thinkamancy makes him too tough a target... it may be near impossible for anyone to get near charlie as long he can mess with their heads. Stanely may hate charlie becuase he knows that he has an arkentool and yet can not be touched.

. Stanly is in a desperate situation right now and he knows it's likely that GK will fall; and if he has no city then it's only a matter of time before he is hunted down. Even a second Arkentool wouldn't save him since his dwagons are his only units left and he's got an entire army to hunt him down... what he needs now is a new capitol to rebuild his forces

[multilis]

I had a strange thought. Suppose Charlie is set up at Faq, and his defences may not always be the best because of the remoteness/secretness of the location? (Similar to Faq under Jillian's dad).

Charlie and Stanley may have a long relationship with some sort of falling out, perhaps Stanley got Wanda when he thought the deal was he got a tool, hence the dislike of Charlie that Wanda knows about. Stanley being made heir was unusual (Charlie suggestion spell?).

Stanley impatient for dawn, 'decloaking' with his crew all war painted up feels like a cavalry charge to attack something, rather than just go to an empty ruin. It feels like right before a climax. (And we are nearly at episode 100)

Charlie and Parson as two aliens to Erfworld chat and get interrupted by Stanley's attack would be climatic.

[The Blind]

It is not yet clear Stanley is heading for Faq, he could also be heading for Charlie (after noticing that Charlie had hired out most of his mercenaries) to get his tool.

That is a fascinating idea! I'd find it hard to believe Charlie wouldn't have some kind of local defense, but I'd be equally surprised if he had more than three Archons.

On the other hand, the Archons heard Jillian tell Ansom by Thinkagram that Stanley bugged out, so they know he left. Since we know they have Thinkamancy capability, we have to assume that Charlie knows it, too.

I'm reaching here, but somebody with such powerful Thinkamancy might suspect why Stanley started a war with everyone in the first place, even if no one else seems to know.

You could still be right: if Charlie finds out this entire war was to gain the Arkentools, he might recall all his Archons immediately. Survival trumps dependability. I doubt every side keeps a strong enough defense to take on a surprise attack by a mass of dwagons with the combat bonus of an Arkentool.

I still agree with SlayerX, but this theory is not impossible. Since it appears Parson didn't know about the Arkendish before Maggie warned him, it probably isn't his plan, whether it results from this communication or not.

[Pyrian]

Anyone ever sought google for "Wanda Plier"

It now points first to this thread.

[ishnar]

It's interesting to see another Archon just as we have confermation that the dish is an arkentool.

Hammer = Brute Force = Combat Power + Dwagons

Dish = Communication = Thinkamancy + Archons

Pliers = ? = Exorcism + ?
This would mean that Charlie is attuned to the pliers. EDIT: Sorry, attuned to the dish.

You guys are gonna hate me. I'm thinking that the "powers" here are only for words that have dual meanings.

A hammer "drives" nails. Driving originally meant control a group of animals. The hammer is currently being used to Drive dwagons. Crush, smash, and pound don't seem to have a special RP game meaning that I can think of. Although it probably means greater combat utility. Although pound is the British unit of currency.

Normal Pliers "turn" bolts. Turning in RP games means something else. They are also used for "pulling" nails and other things. Pulling in MMOs means something else. Probably a power that would be unlocked for an attuned user. But being able to control who fights who can be a very useful power. The arkenpliers actually looks more like a needlenose and those can turn bolts, but not well, which is probably why he has to hit the uncroaked with the pliers and can only use it on one at a time, instead of taking out entire groups. Probably, all attuning is, is using the tool for the right job. He should be using his needlenose pliers for pulling not turning.

Satellight dish we all get. But I'll just point out the dual words are Sending and receiving. "Detect" or "Sensing (sensor)" would be radar but probably makes it really hard to attack charely even beyond the communication struggles. "Disrupt" for modern Jamming, probably indicates a capability in that area too. On the other hand, using the dish in combat might just cover the target in jam.

More speculation.

If we go by the "All players have an arkentool" concept, then Parson will be getting an arkentool once he figures out how to be a player rather than a lacky. If that is the case, once he completes the sword it may become rendered. A sword "cuts." Cutting can mean divide, but it is also used for cutting in line. Thus, dividing the opponents forces, or going out of turn. Even though it looks like a sword, the main benefit of the arkentool is not using it for it's mundane purpose but its powers. Thus the arkenswordl probably isn't a +XXX sword of doom, it's probably just a regular sword that imparts little if any direct combat bonus. Thus, Parson won't find himself a sudden sword master or anything.

It's pretty strongly implied that the tools choose the user. In other words, they choose to be found. Having an arkentool hidden in stupid meals only available to off world players sounds about as good a place for an arkentool that wants to be found as anywhere else. No one has said yet where the arkentools were found. But, I think that is because it might embarass the users to admit they found it in random mob drops. Since stupid meals give surprises too, there is apparently a chance for one to drop there too.

[Gamebird]

Another off-the-wall bit of speculation:

If the sword Parson is getting truly is the sword of Conan, or a replica thereof, then perhaps this presages Parson becoming a ... barbarian?

[Freederick]

Another off-the-wall bit of speculation:

If the sword Parson is getting truly is the sword of Conan, or a replica thereof, then perhaps this presages Parson becoming a ... barbarian?

Good one.

Don't forget that Parson's gauntlet is worth half a million schmuckers. Possibly Parson could bribe Charlie with that item.

Although it's possible, I kind of doubt that Parson would part with the item. It's very valuable for a strategist like Parson to be able to calculate the probabilities of the outcome of any given battle.

When push comes to shove, you sacrifice valuable stuff in order to survive make your time. Even the niftiest item is of little use to a dead strategist.

[SauroGrenom]

What happens if Parson spends most of the treasury buying Charlie as an ally, then Stanley ends up trying to start a new side and doesn't have the cash to rebuild the new city? There's some evidence that some units, at least commander units, can spend cash.

That would be a big surprise for Stanley, and it would represent some drama for the plot. What would Stanley do? Would he think his capital and treasury were captured? Would he disband the remaining troops from afar (can he do that)?

BTW what's the capital "building" right now? There's been a few turns in the comic, so whatever units are being built, it must take a long time to build them.

[fendrin]

BTW what's the capital "building" right now? There's been a few turns in the comic, so whatever units are being built, it must take a long time to build them.

...or they built the 3 extra heavy metal golems seen in the last strip.

[SauroGrenom]

...or they built the 3 extra heavy metal golems seen in the last strip.

I got the impression those were hard rock golems...

The list of forces lists one metal golem, and 4 hard rock golems. It's only been 1 turn since that list was true. Parson got a sword hilt with the first list, and a second piece of the sword with the second list.

If you're right they built 3 heavy metal golems in one turn. Since we don't know how fast things are built, you may be right.

[Justyn]

I got the impression those were hard rock golems...

The list of forces lists one metal golem, and 4 hard rock golems. It's only been 1 turn since that list was true. Parson got a sword hilt with the first list, and a second piece of the sword with the second list.

If you're right they built 3 heavy metal golems in one turn. Since we don't know how fast things are built, you may be right.

That list said that those were the troops left in Gobwin Knob: there could have been some metal golems outside what qualifies as Gobwin Knob per se. Or they could be the Hard Rock, or even the Soft Rock golems, affected by the lighting.

[Arkenputtyknife]

Also one thing we have to consider is that for some reason Stanely has avoiding going after charlie. The question is why? Stanely knows Charlie has the arken dish and as such he would have been a prime target for attack, and yet he has not shown to make any attempt to attack charlie.

On page 22, Vinnie asked Ansom a question: “You control one of the Arkentools, right? Don't they cancel each other or somethin'?” (emphasis added).

Ansom replied that he wasn't attuned to the pliers. But if Charlie is attuned to the dish, as seems likely, the dish could cancel Stanley's control over the dwagons and he would be booped.

A hammer "drives" nails.

There are many kinds of hammers. Claw hammers are for driving nails. Ball peen hammers are for beating metal. Lump hammers are for smashing walls. Sledgehammers are for all kinds of things, including smashing pianos and fixing bent car wheels. Toffee hammers are for breaking toffee. Steam hammers are for shaping ingots.

The Arkenhammer is modeled after a squeezy hammer, which has two purposes: harmlessly hitting things and making noise. Making a case based on a double meaning of a use that isn't even applicable to it is stretching things far beyond believability.

[abb3w]

Durn it. My Arkenwrench theory is shot. My theory that Charlie is a Gnomish Healer may be about to crumble. However...

What, you don't consider turning nuts into pigeons a significant power?
Nuts into pigeons, man! Pigeons! From nuts!

Can you say "Changemancy" children? I still think the weasel word of "known" means there's at least nine Arkentools, one for each class of magic. Arkenhammer for Stuffmancy, Arkendish for Eyemancy, and Arkenpliers for Naughtymancy.

Parsons sword is beginning to look suspiciously like Conans sword from the movies.

Too lazy to find it, myself. One alternative is He-Man's sword. Now THAT, Parson might find useful. I admit, however, the Conan resemblance is better. Nevertheless, if he has any brains he's still going to try yelling "I have the power" once the thing is put together. The only thing he has to lose is dignity and an appearance of sanity... which he's pretty much out of anyway. Converting his bulk into pure muscle... well, it will sure make the stairs easier.

[jindra34]

There are many kinds of hammers. Claw hammers are for driving nails. Ball peen hammers are for beating metal. Lump hammers are for smashing walls. Sledgehammers are for all kinds of things, including smashing pianos and fixing bent car wheels. Toffee hammers are for breaking toffee. Steam hammers are for shaping ingots.

The Arkenhammer is modeled after a squeezy hammer, which has two purposes: harmlessly hitting things and making noise. Making a case based on a double meaning of a use that isn't even applicable to it is stretching things far beyond believability.

noise ehh... like thunder?

[fendrin]

Everyone seems to forget that Stanley used the hammer to fly.

That doesn't really fit in with ANY of the theories presented. It is in keeping with The Mighty Thor's Mjolnir, though.

[Shalewind]

Another off-the-wall bit of speculation:

If the sword Parson is getting truly is the sword of Conan, or a replica thereof, then perhaps this presages Parson becoming a ... barbarian?

Sweet, Gamebird.

[The Blind]

Everyone seems to forget that Stanley used the hammer to fly.

That doesn't really fit in with ANY of the theories presented. It is in keeping with The Mighty Thor's Mjolnir, though.

Well, he also uses it as a handy lamp to help illuminate dark stairwells. I'm not sure all these abilities are going to be thematically significant.

Without seeing other characters who we know are attuned to their Arkentools, we can't be sure what abilities are Tool-specific and what is just the nature of attunement. The Arkenpliers might also double as a magical Swiss army knife if Ansom were attuned to them.

[TheWombat]

I think that Parson is going to get Charlie to remove himself from the war. We're not sure what the terms and conditions to his deal with the Alliance are, but you can be sure that if it had something to do with getting Stanley out of Gobwin Knob, then the letter of the deal has already been effectively complete.

Each thinkagram costs the Alliance some of it's treasury which means they didn't deal for an extended package where Charlie's side joins completely.

Oh and on a side note: We're never going to see Charlie. It will just be an intercom speaker on Bosley's desk.

[fendrin]

It occurs to me that this strip also shows that Charlie definitely has more than 3 Archons.

[werewolfjay]

the powers of each tool vary but it all ties into the game Control,Communication. the pliers powers have not shown up do to ansem not being attuned to it and the forth has not been found it may invole magic(only a guess)
Since it is linked to the world what if it has support powers for the capital such as repairs or wall build or golden nails that can be sold for moner
my arken tool guess : magic nailgun
super magical nailgun powers GO!!!!!!!

[slayerx]

On page 22, Vinnie asked Ansom a question: “You control one of the Arkentools, right? Don't they cancel each other or somethin'?” (emphasis added).

Ansom replied that he wasn't attuned to the pliers. But if Charlie is attuned to the dish, as seems likely, the dish could cancel Stanley's control over the dwagons and he would be booped.

sure he can't use his dwagons but he's got other forces and we know that gobwinknob use to have much lager territory and likely many more forces than what they are currently left with... quite frankly, with or without dwagons i would expect Stanely to make the attempt to take Chralie's dish... afterall, he did enough damage all around their neighboring areas to get a strong alliance against him and all in a SEARCH for the tools... what's the difference with making an attempt against charlie... only difference i see is that he is sure Charlie has a tool which gives stanely all the more reason to go after it

[The Old Hack]

A horrible idea just occurred to me: that Charlie is not as much attuned to the Arkendish as he is attunaed to it...

[Lamech]

...or they built the 3 extra heavy metal golems seen in the last strip.

Maybe they had some extra create golem spell and sizemore cast them.

“You control one of the Arkentools, right? Don't they cancel each other or somethin'?” (emphasis added).

Ansom replied that he wasn't attuned to the pliers. But if Charlie is attuned to the dish, as seems likely, the dish could cancel Stanley's control over the dwagons and he would be booped.

Unless he left the dwagons in another hex. Then wouldn't people by the Archons be booped? (Like Jillian if she is by the Archons.) Charlie probably has more than three Archons, just like Stanley has more than three dwagons, so he would go down too. (We saw a arching looking person this comic.) Then all Stanley has to do is sneak in with a veil and grab the dish, or take his dwagons (Charlie is dead and no longer attuned) in. Although if the Archons simply leave Charlie might be with out enough defenses to stop a powerful warlord with a powerful weapon.

In fact I bet that was the plan when he left GK: hit Charlie after eliminating his Arkentool. Why would he go to some random ruins when he could take a second tool. Also Stanley thought Ansom was bringing the pliers to him, so he wouldn't have left any sooner.

[slayerx]

In fact I bet that was the plan when he left GK: hit Charlie after eliminating his Arkentool. Why would he go to some random ruins when he could take a second tool. Also Stanley thought Ansom was bringing the pliers to him, so he wouldn't have left any sooner.

How about the little fact that without a capitol he has no hope of winning and that it only a matter of time before the alliance hunts him down? Really, His dwagons may be strong but there is no way that they alone could withstand the might of the enitre alliance... hell, Vinnie thought that he, Ansom, Jillian, the archons, and the forest units were enough to withstand TWICE the number of dwagons that Stanely has with him; now lets add in the rest of the alliance... If stanely is to seriously keep fighitng he's gonna need a capitol, the ability to produce more units, and the time he needs to tame more dwagons

[TheTurnipKing]

Theres a very strong possibility that Parson could still afford Charlie's price.
Stanley paid 350k for the spell that summoned Parson, while they could have afforded a 500k price. So we know that they have at least another 150k in the treasury. (Assuming there wasn't some sort of deficit spending going on between then and now.)

Charlie's thinkagram prices, meanwhile, were somewhere in the area of 2500 shmuckers, which Jillian considered really expensive (Far from "nominal."), and also mentions that she spent almost her entire purse on that. So, she can't be carrying that much money around, despite that she was a royal at one point. I assume she's still spending upkeep on her own Gwiffons and such, so she has to have an income from somewhere, which I'll assume is Ansom since he is, for lack of a better term, hiring her.

So, what price would Charlie charge for sending 3 archons to help in a fight?
Two hundred thousand? More? Parson would be able to, or get really close to, affording that. Of course, since he's hiring Charlie from straight out from under the other alliance, he'll have to beat the price. If Parson can't afford it already, he'll have to weigh whether the Calculations armband would be worth a trade for the alliance, because we know that's probably his most valuable item he's gotten so far.

Well, that depends on how Charlie rolls, don't it? If Parson can afford to buy the Archons out from under Ansom - for even a turn - Charlie can use that to extort an even larger paycheck for Ansom the next turn... or risk leaving the Archons under his opponents command.

Hell, even buying advance knowledge of the Archon's movements would be incredibly useful to Parson if they're being used for recon. He could guarantee there was nothing on the Hex for the archons to fight, then move units back afterwards making their recon info worthless, and this would also benefit charlie because not only is he being paid by both sides (and breaking neither agreement, I would assume), but the archons themselves are in no danger.

[Lamech]

His dwagons may be strong but there is no way that they alone could withstand the might of the enitre alliance... hell, Vinnie thought that he, Ansom, Jillian, the archons, and the forest units were enough to withstand TWICE the number of dwagons that Stanely has with him; now lets add in the rest of the alliance... If stanely is to seriously keep fighitng he's gonna need a capitol, the ability to produce more units, and the time he needs to tame more dwagons

Okay this will use as facts things that Stanley thinks are true. Since this is in reference to his plan...

To bad for the alliance Stanley will have the Archons, half the dwagons, and the combined bonus two attuned Arkentools; in addition to his warlord bonus, which is probably pretty good. Two he will be far faster than almost all of the opposing air force. Also if opposed Arkentools cancel might allied Arkentools amplify each other. Finally he will have Charlie's base. He could even pretend to be Charlie "I sent out my Archons in a preemptive strike, and got the Arkenhammer. Then I used my thinkamancy to get Stanley to give me GK."


Also on an unrelated note...
I thought of a possible way to split the coalition. Have the thinkamancer send a message to a bunch of coalition leader that says something like "Our predictamancer says that your forces will be totally wiped out and we'll suffer heavy casualties, so for are mutual benefit we should have a cease-fire."
Now here is the important part, make sure the thinkamancer's skill is demonstrated in sending this message. This will lead smart people to conclude that Jillian probably has had some sort of mind control spell placed on her. The Archons can then say, (possibly after making Jetstone pay through the nose) there was a spell but Jillian broke it. Now the information that the non-Jetstones have will be 1) Skilled thinkamancer at GK 2) Jillian has been captured and rescued repeatedly 3) Jetstone claims Jillian broke the spell without backlash. Take one and three and we have a contradiction; a skilled mancer would have tossed backlash at Jillian. Jetstone looks dishonest now.

[Justyn]

Also on an unrelated note...
I thought of a possible way to split the coalition. Have the thinkamancer send a message to a bunch of coalition leader that says something like "Our predictamancer says that your forces will be totally wiped out and we'll suffer heavy casualties, so for are mutual benefit we should have a cease-fire."
Now here is the important part, make sure the thinkamancer's skill is demonstrated in sending this message. This will lead smart people to conclude that Jillian probably has had some sort of mind control spell placed on her. The Archons can then say, (possibly after making Jetstone pay through the nose) there was a spell but Jillian broke it. Now the information that the non-Jetstones have will be 1) Skilled thinkamancer at GK 2) Jillian has been captured and rescued repeatedly 3) Jetstone claims Jillian broke the spell without backlash. Take one and three and we have a contradiction; a skilled mancer would have tossed backlash at Jillian. Jetstone looks dishonest now.

Oooh, how very Machiavellian.

[SauroGrenom]

Also on an unrelated note...
I thought of a possible way to split the coalition. Have the thinkamancer send a message to a bunch of coalition leader that says something like "Our predictamancer says that your forces will be totally wiped out and we'll suffer heavy casualties, so for are mutual benefit we should have a cease-fire."
Now here is the important part, make sure the thinkamancer's skill is demonstrated in sending this message. This will lead smart people to conclude that Jillian probably has had some sort of mind control spell placed on her. The Archons can then say, (possibly after making Jetstone pay through the nose) there was a spell but Jillian broke it. Now the information that the non-Jetstones have will be 1) Skilled thinkamancer at GK 2) Jillian has been captured and rescued repeatedly 3) Jetstone claims Jillian broke the spell without backlash. Take one and three and we have a contradiction; a skilled mancer would have tossed backlash at Jillian. Jetstone looks dishonest now.

Were you always like this, even as a child?

[slayerx]

Okay this will use as facts things that Stanley thinks are true. Since this is in reference to his plan...

To bad for the alliance Stanley will have the Archons, half the dwagons, and the combined bonus two attuned Arkentools; in addition to his warlord bonus, which is probably pretty good. Two he will be far faster than almost all of the opposing air force. Also if opposed Arkentools cancel might allied Arkentools amplify each other. Finally he will have Charlie's base. He could even pretend to be Charlie "I sent out my Archons in a preemptive strike, and got the Arkenhammer. Then I used my thinkamancy to get Stanley to give me GK."

Your highly over estimating the bonus granted by the arkentools. Jillian think that she along with just the fliers that have 26+ move will be enough to croak Stanely as is; hell she's not even talking about bringing Ansom with his chief warlord bonus... i highly doubt the second arkentool will matter when it's the ENTIRE alliance coming after him and not just the 26+ move fliers.

And considering how fast thinkamancy travels its undoubtful that Charlie will be able to send a message to the Alliance forces that he is being attacked by Stanely (much like how Jillian was able to get a message FAQ was being attack)... that alone will blow any "pretend to be charlie" plans out of the water.

And the major differences between FAQ and charlie's HQ... first Faq is made up of 3 cities which means it likely better at producing more units; Second Faq has high natural defences since the ONLY way to enter is by flying where Stanely has the advantage, especially when he adds Faq units to back up his dwagons; Third, taking beating charlie is bound to come at a cost, namely some more of his dwagons, where as faq will came at no such unit cost... and finally, to stanely's knowledge, the alliance has no idea where Faq is, but no exactly where charlie is... this means that if sets himself at Charlie's the alliance will be at his door step in just a few turns, where as going to Faq the allaince will not know where he is and it will buy him time to rebuild his forces.

not to mention it think it's a VERY bold assumption to say that Charlie's home defenses are not strong enough to take on less than 30 dwagons and that your plan to take the dish would work... really, If Charlie's defense were that weak and Stanely knew such a plan would work than Stanely would have taking all of his dwagons (50+) and wiped out Charlie a long time ago.

[Vreejack]

That is a fascinating idea! I'd find it hard to believe Charlie wouldn't have some kind of local defense, but I'd be equally surprised if he had more than three Archons.

Charlie has 14 underlings. They might not be archons but one of them looks like an archon.