99 The Battle for Gobwin Knob, Page 89

[fendrin]

I can see three possibilities of what Parson is offering:

1) The armband, with or without the watch.
2) His services as a warlord or mathamancer (nothing beats consulting to the consultants).
3) His fealty.

Here's the important point: Parson is offering. Not necessarily actually selling. This could all be a ruse.

Particularly with #3, I would think it would be a ruse. Otherwise he would have had to have defeated the loyalty and duty natural thinkamancies that bind him to Stanley, and also he would have had to abandon his friend. The former I think would be weak storytelling (we at least should have seen it happening), the latter I think is out of character for Parson.

[Capt'n Ironbrow]

Maybe Parson is looking for a way not to be "disbanded" or killed when GK is captured or his Overlord dies. Erfworld kind of works as a computer game with the overlords as "players", when they die or lose their capital it's "game over" for them... now... does any of us know what really happens with our digital troops when we get that "game over" screen?
They probably "die"...
Could there by (thinkamancy) magic that can change someones status from warlord to Overlord?

Parson does not want to die and furthermore, he does not want any more Gobwin Knobians to die as well (especially the courtiers he has bonded with).

I think he'll try to defect with the entire city. Stanley abandoned them and without the Dwagons, GK has little chance in the assault. Would Charlescomm have a use for a second city? a city with a more traditional army than the archons?
One led by a master strategist and mathamancy-device-wielder... And what would Ansom think?
It's also typically Mercenary to cut deals with those you (or your employers) threaten. In the late 14th century, the British Mercenaries in Italy were very much racketeers and extorsionists, attacking or not attacking for a prize, defecting to the states that could offer more and at times serving more than one side at the same time. The city-state of Sienna, for example, became practically bankrupt because instead of hiring mercenaries of their own or improving their militia, spend their whole treasury buying off Hawkwoods White Company employed by (in turns) the Pope, Florence and Visconti Milan.

It might be considered a lame solution, but supposing Stanley gets to Faq and starts to rebuild his capital there, we have a whole new story to read... GK needs a new governor and a leader. I think Parson can provide that. If his defection is accepted, GK will know peace for a while, and can rebuild it's forces. Either to join the hunt for Stanley, or to take over erfworld in the future...

[Calemyr]

It doesn't even matter if it's possible or not. If you can't control the higher virtues of loyalty and friendship, you can still turn to the baser failings of greed and selfishness. The legendarily mercenary and self-motivated Charlescomm side is now aware of a single piece of loot worth half a mill. Even if they all this does is encourage Charlescomm to keep on their current path, they'll be gunning for that prize. There's no way that little tidbit is going to cement the alliance. Either Charlescomm tells the others about it (and everyone tries to claim it) or they keep that to themselves and the alliance fractures further.

That's close to the worst case scenario, of course. (Worst case, Charlie overpowers the thinkamancer and turns Parson into a puppet and tears Gobwin Knob down from the inside.)

Another possibility is that Parson is making a play for freedom. The story of Stanley's unofficial revolution indicates that a lot of Gobwin Knob is not actually part of the ruling side, but allies. Such a population can detach from the ruling side and even rebel. Stanley's actions may have opened the door for Parson to do the same with the whole of the abandoned capital, but he'd probably need an established side to ally with to make it stick, at least politically.

[Shalewind]

Another possibility is that Parson is making a play for freedom. The story of Stanley's unofficial revolution indicates that a lot of Gobwin Knob is not actually part of the ruling side, but allies. Such a population can detach from the ruling side and even rebel. Stanley's actions may have opened the door for Parson to do the same with the whole of the abandoned capital, but he'd probably need an established side to ally with to make it stick, at least politically.

I think that’s it exactly. Parson has been internally debating WHY he is fighting to protect GK and whether or not he is loyal to Stanley. I think him seeking his own side now that he’s been abandoned makes a lot of sense and fits in with most of what we have seen.

[Freederick]

She ought to have been wearing a miniskirt, like the others. That'd have thrown Parson off balance for sure!

[scotty new]

My opinion is that he is offering the actual arm band. Even though they said it runs on magic from parsons world I believe they mean its sort of like a calculator which you probably wont find in erfworld. Hence, magic from Parson's world. Also, by asking how he's doing on mathamancers it can be taken as stating, I have something that could make it so you dont even need any. I know that the arm band is priceless but if you have ever been in a position where you dont have the money to buy something and you must have what your looking at, you are willing to trade something that far exceeds the actual price through bartering. It sucks, but then again his backs against the wall. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Plus, the Archons are mercenaries, meaning just that. Mercs. Which I would tend to lean, do not get a cut of the loot unless stated in the deal/contract. I dont think Charlie would be willing to change sides for a bit of servitude. Especially from someone in a position that you dont need the armband to figure out is SOL. If the Archons were to back stab Ansom it would be such a huge blow. Especially if they are in his stack at the time it occurs. I think all three of them could croak ansom if they were to launch a sneak attack while he was unexpectant. However, this is just the ramblings of a man who is wrong more than several times a day.

[SteveMB]

In fact, Sizemore says that other kingdoms would pay top smucker for parson's armband... If Sizemore thought that only Parson alone could work the armband than such a comment would be meaningless since those same kingdoms wouldn't pay a dime for an Item they could not use...

True. It does raise the question of whether you have to wear the armband to use it, and if so whether Erfworld works by "One Size Fits All" rules for such items (which would fit the notion that its underlying mechanics are "pretty simple").

[Aquillion]

You people are all forgetting one vital point.

Parson isn't really there. It's mental contact. Not teleportation.

Regardless of what deal he makes, he can't give Charley anything physical right now.

However, yes, it could be a ruse. I can't help but think of a story I heard once where a general removed the most effective adviser of an enemy leader by engaging in an elaborate facade to make it look like they were having secret back-door negotations. If Parson could make Ansom aware of the fact that his side has been talking to Charley, it wouldn't be that odd for Ansom to start suspecting things... even if Charley always holds to his contracts, do you really think Ansom believes that of a non-noble? We already know that he has a dim view of mercenaries in general (he likes Jillian, but that's despite her being a mercenary, and even she senses his opinions), so it's not a stretch to say that he probably doesn't really trust Charley's word.

I like this theory because it's playing off of Ansom's weak points. I'm not sure how Parson could make Ansom aware of this contact without being obvious, though...

[Moechi_Vill]

All respectable armies loot. That is any army of a good size that is engaged in a proper war. Charlescomm are mercenaries. They tend to get rowdy if you don't let 'em in on good loot.

[Sebastian Bux]

Okay .. seriously ... what the eff is this comic about anymore ... because these last few updates have been all over the place.

[fendrin]

You people are all forgetting one vital point.

Parson isn't really there. It's mental contact. Not teleportation.

Regardless of what deal he makes, he can't give Charley anything physical right now.

However, yes, it could be a ruse. I can't help but think of a story I heard once where a general removed the most effective adviser of an enemy leader by engaging in an elaborate facade to make it look like they were having secret back-door negotations. If Parson could make Ansom aware of the fact that his side has been talking to Charley, it wouldn't be that odd for Ansom to start suspecting things... even if Charley always holds to his contracts, do you really think Ansom believes that of a non-noble? We already know that he has a dim view of mercenaries in general (he likes Jillian, but that's despite her being a mercenary, and even she senses his opinions), so it's not a stretch to say that he probably doesn't really trust Charley's word.

I like this theory because it's playing off of Ansom's weak points. I'm not sure how Parson could make Ansom aware of this contact without being obvious, though...

Yes, it is remote. He can't give the armband/watch over immediately, but it wouldn't be at all difficult to arrange a meeting in a neutral 3rd party's territory. Probably the Magic Kingdom... oh man, I just got the Disney reference... any, what I was saying is that parson could use the transporter to go to the MK and back on his turn, no effective time lost. If Charlie can't do that, well, an Archon could probably make a pickup from GK.

This "meeting" reminds me of Franklin in France during the Revolutionary War...

@Sebastian Bux
This comic has recently been showing a lot of character growth commingled with much of the realities of trying to win a war. The plot has gotten a lot less straightforward, likely because we are approaching a reveal.

[Mr. B]

Hi, long time reader, first time poster.

Just a thought on Parson's. He knows that Charlie is in this for the money, and likely won't want to lose anything on the deal. So, perhaps he isn't offering him anything, except for a little statistical analysis. I have a hunch he's bluffing, hoping that Charlie doesn't have the Mathemancy resources necessary to counter anything he tells him. If he can convince Charlie to bow out so as not to lose his capital investment (archons look quite expensive) by, convincing him that the coalition's his statistical odds of success are low, like any good CEO, he'll cut his losses and call his forces home, or, at least, keep them out of any major combat situations. Just a thought.

Also, LOVE the Foolamancer! He also quoted King Lear in the last panel (Lear himself, to be precise), as well as Caliban in the Tempest the panel before. Feels like he is definitely there as a means of foreshadowing, and I wonder if the "malady" may be more Stanley's than his... maybe a veiled reference that Stanley is worrying too much about his immediate problems (dwagons in the form of balloons) and not enough on a potentially revolutionary overlord...

[fendrin]

I don't recall... has the foolamancer said anything that wasn't a quote from Shakespeare?

He's not a foolamancer, he's a bard!

I apologize for the bad joke.

EDIT: Mr. B, your second link has a break tag in it, so it's not working.

[hajo]

Parson is a player. He is not selling the watch, but himself as a Mathmancer

Until now, nobody outside GK knows about Parson, and invading troops would not care about him.
So he needs some form of life-insurance, just in case GK falls.
Making himself known as a valuable caster before the battle gets him into a better position for being picked up it the battle goes badly.
And maybe, he can get an idea of how much he would be worth, and/or get other negotiations going...

But I don't quite understand that "How're you doing for Mathemancers these days?", maybe just sloppy speaking ?

[Halfpunch]

One base assumption I would like to challenge here is that Parson is attempting to fracture the alliance by depriving them of the Archon's and/or Charlie's services. Personally I feel driving the Archons away would be of little use to Parson, as they were already fairly well booped before the Archons were even contracted. Granted, they're the the Coalition's best air units at the moment, but that's more of a concern for Stanley and the dwagons than it is for Parson.

I think Parson is playing a different game here, namely one of deception: either direct or indirect. The ability to feed misinformation to, or sow desent amongst your opponent's forces can be one of the greatest tools in the consumate warrior's arsenal.

Charlie's main interrest here is money, and as such the most profitable solution for him would be one that doesn't involve invalidating his contract with Jetstone. While the mathamancy bracer may be in and of itself more valuable than the Jetstone/Charlescomm contract, I feel that Parson is going to use the bracer as a tool to demonstrate the feasibility (and subsequent profitability) of his proposal to Charlie. A proposal which allows him to hold true to the Jetstones (and their Schmuckers) but adds additional value from Parson.

I'm going to speculate that the proposal would be to deliver misinformation to the Coalition to cause a fracture between some of the main forces. He has their unit count, so he knows which faction is bringing the most to Ansom's table.

[Kaeledra]

In looking up the last line from the foolamancer, the next line to king Lear after "the lesser is scarce felt" is "Thou'dst shun a bear;/But if thy flight lay toward the roaring sea,/Thou'dst meet the bear i' the mouth." I wonder if the foolamancer is showing more foreshadowing/prophecy ability and is implying that by fleeing Ansom's armies ("the bear") to go to Faq, they are actually running into something worse (aka Jillian/"the ocean"). If Stanley actually listened to the foolamancer.... But we know better.

[fendrin]

One base assumption I would like to challenge here is that Parson is attempting to fracture the alliance by depriving them of the Archon's and/or Charlie's services. Personally I feel driving the Archons away would be of little use to Parson, as they were already fairly well booped before the Archons were even contracted. Granted, they're the the Coalition's best air units at the moment, but that's more of a concern for Stanley and the dwagons than it is for Parson.

Parson doesn't know that Jillian is going after Stanley, and we don't know that she will be taking the Archons (though it is likely).

Besides, Turning away the Archons is infinitely less useful than getting them to switch sides.

I think Parson is playing a different game here, namely one of deception: either direct or indirect. The ability to feed misinformation to, or sow desent amongst your opponent's forces can be one of the greatest tools in the consumate warrior's arsenal.

You could be right. This is the first any of the coalition members have actually seen Parson (assuming that Jillian hasn't, but I think she would have said something to Ansom if she had). Of course, even more valuable than feeding unconfirmed misinformation to Charlie, and thus indirectly to the Alliance, it would be MUCH more effective if Parson got Charlie to directly feed misinformation to the coalition high command. This would entail Charlie switching sides...

Charlie's main interrest here is money, and as such the most profitable solution for him would be one that doesn't involve invalidating his contract with Jetstone. While the mathamancy bracer may be in and of itself more valuable than the Jetstone/Charlescomm contract, I feel that Parson is going to use the bracer as a tool to demonstrate the feasibility (and subsequent profitability) of his proposal to Charlie. A proposal which allows him to hold true to the Jetstones (and their Schmuckers) but adds additional value from Parson.

Could be. The most profitable arrangement for a mercenary company is one in which they are getting payed by both sides simultaneously. Of course, do that too much (especially in a world with ease of communication and a perfect[?] historical record popping in every library) and the mercenary company develops a bad rep and loses business... so it would need to be done very carefully.

I'm going to speculate that the proposal would be to deliver misinformation to the Coalition to cause a fracture between some of the main forces. He has their unit count, so he knows which faction is bringing the most to Ansom's table.

As I said above, I think that qualifies as turning the Archons against Ansom... just in a less obvious way than them making a surprise attack.

EDIT:

In looking up the last line from the foolamancer, the next line to king Lear after "the lesser is scarce felt" is "Thou'dst shun a bear;/But if thy flight lay toward the roaring sea,/Thou'dst meet the bear i' the mouth." I wonder if the foolamancer is showing more foreshadowing/prophecy ability and is implying that by fleeing Ansom's armies ("the bear") to go to Faq, they are actually running into something worse (aka Jillian/"the ocean"). If Stanley actually listened to the foolamancer.... But we know better.

Come to think of it, I think the foolamancer's veils are significant.
In both cases they are balloons, indicating that the foolamancer thinks that Stanley is full of hot air / a hollow threat / only skin deep.
The first veil was of various corporate logos, indicating that Stanley had 'sold out'.
The second veil is of parade floats if children's characters, indicating that Stanley is childish and immature.

[Tignok]

I think one thing that is being forgotten in the debate about Charlie is how he is perceived by the other people native to Erfworld. Specifically I'm thinking of Maggie, but even Ansom (who only contracted him as a last resort over the capture of Jillian). Charlie is seen as "strange" and one who "follows his own rules". Logically, yes, a mercenary would not break a contract because of the obvious ramifications to his credibility, but I understand Charlie to be a man of alterer motives. Why would he even listen to Parson if he were only in it for material gain, GK, while rich, most likely lacks the same financial capability of all Jetstone.

While the argument that Parson is trying to drive a wedge in the Coalition is most persuasive to me, I do allow myself to hold out an alternate hope: That he is trying to persuade Charlie to join him in defeating Ansom and his army. Parson's reference to his magic item could be the beginning of a "pitch" with regards to a GK - Charlescomm Alliance.

Parson actually seems capable of besting Ansom tactically and holding off the eventual defeat of GK, with Charlie's help the tide may actually be turned.

Consider the consequences of this if he's successful in turning Charlie. Even though Parson wouldn't know this, and assuming the Archons are going with Jillian, the whole tide of THAT battle could change. I personally think that Charlie's units make all the difference in a Stanly/Jillian fight.

If Stanly does win, though, he will add FAQ to GK all under his own side (as I understand the rules of Erfworld). If Parson can somehow manage to use the victory at GK to leverage a thawing in the relationship between Charlie and Stanly...that would place both Arkentools under the same side, and most likely puts Parson in control of GK subservient only to Stanly (who would be off in the safety of FAQ).

Perhaps I went off on too much speculation - but I would kill to see the look on both Stanly AND Jillian's faces when the Archons declare their change of sides.

[Halfpunch]

Parson doesn't know that Jillian is going after Stanley, and we don't know that she will be taking the Archons (though it is likely).

But Parson does know that Stanely has the dwagons. The Archons are the only units fit to fight them in the Coalition's air force, so it's a fairly (hah!) safe assumption on Parson's part that the Archons will either be hunting the dwagons, or protecting the column from their ambush. Ansom wants Stanely erradicated, and that involves getting through the dwagons.

Besides, Turning away the Archons is infinitely less useful than getting them to switch sides.

Absolutely true, but remember that Parson's intent with contacting Charlie is to fracture the alliance. If the Archons turning cloak is enough to get the column to fracture then Parson meets his objective. This could certainly be the case if the reason for Charlie switching sides is enough to dishearten some factions.

<snip> Of course, even more valuable than feeding unconfirmed misinformation to Charlie, and thus indirectly to the Alliance, it would be MUCH more effective if Parson got Charlie to directly feed misinformation to the coalition high command. This would entail Charlie switching sides...

It sounds like Charlie adheres to the letter, not the spirit, of the contract when it comes to things like this. Giving blatantly false information could only complicate the Jetstone contract, rather than nullify it.

Could be. The most profitable arrangement for a mercenary company is one in which they are getting payed by both sides simultaneously. Of course, do that too much (especially in a world with ease of communication and a perfect[?] historical record popping in every library) and the mercenary company develops a bad rep and loses business... so it would need to be done very carefully.

I think Charlescomm's stock would fall farther as a turncloak than someone who wiggles every inch you give them. Everyone knows the genie is going to try to trick you with your wishes, but they still wish...

As I said above, I think that qualifies as turning the Archons against Ansom... just in a less obvious way than them making a surprise attack.

Technically: yes. Semantically: no

[slayerx]

@those saying Parson is hiring himself out as a mathamancy merc

Parson does not have that kind of freedom. the spell that summoned him here forces him to work for Stanely and if he does not then the spell will end him. Rulers are likely the only one with the freedom to allow his units to act as Mercs (This includes Jillian since she was the Heir of Faq)

Not to mention Charlie doesn't have that much use for a merc-mathamancer... if he has use for one it would be a mathamancer he has access at all times; not just sometimes... a mathamancer may be very useful for one in merc business. Mathamancy would allow him to give a more accurate judgement of how much his services are worth and overall help him increase his profits... He doesn't need a "sometimes" mathamancer, he needs something he knows he will always have access to one... really, offering the armband itself would be a much more tempting offer than Parson being a mathmancer.

However, Parson maybe able to get Charlie on his side... as someone pointed out, Parson can't give Charlie the armband now and Gk needs to live in order to give the armband to charlie; so as someone pointed out, charlie may need to join GK to protect his investment... having the archons on his side would be much more worthwhile than just having them leave

Though maybe, instead of getting the archons to fight for him, Parson may want Charlie to use a little thinkamancy to effect the alliance leaders and help turn them against eachother... Thinkamancy can atler certain things like loyalty and what-not

@Those saying that Parson is trying to join or defect to charlescomm and leave Stanely

Again, the spell on Parson would prevent this, AND Parson has stated, right before contacting Charlie, that his current plan is to break up the alliance forces... so he is trying to either get Charlie out of the game or get Charlie to join him; he is not looking for a way to escape.

Hell if he was looking to escape like that (and thought that he could), he might aswell do the simple thing and contact Ansom and surrender... Parson could make his only surrender condition be that he along with all of GK's warlord/casters be captured and not croaked (except Stanely ofcourse)... though i doubt Parson's status allows him to Surrender without Stanely's approval (just as he probably can't defect to Charlescomm)

[SteveMB]

I don't recall... has the foolamancer said anything that wasn't a quote from Shakespeare?

"We all float down here." (from Stephen King's "It", IIRC).

Until now, nobody outside GK knows about Parson, and invading troops would not care about him.

Wanda mentioned the casting to Jillian in their post-session chat (though how much she told her remains to be seen -- for one thing, she had only seen and talked to Parson briefly before heading off to enjoy her "surprise treat", and so wouldn't know all that much about how the reality of what she'd summoned differed from her and Stanley's assumptions).

But I don't quite understand that "How're you doing for Mathemancers these days?", maybe just sloppy speaking ?

It's an idiomatic expression, asking if he has any Mathemancers (and by implication whether he's in the market for any).

Parson doesn't know that Jillian is going after Stanley, and we don't know that she will be taking the Archons (though it is likely).

That depends on whether she thinks she can head off Stanley without revealing his objective (the site of Faq). She isn't at all "likely" to willingly lead the Archons to the latter.

Come to think of it, I think the foolamancer's veils are significant.
In both cases they are balloons, indicating that the foolamancer thinks that Stanley is full of hot air / a hollow threat / only skin deep.
The first veil was of various corporate logos, indicating that Stanley had 'sold out'.
The second veil is of parade floats if children's characters, indicating that Stanley is childish and immature.

Heh. I hadn't thought of it in those specific terms, but the general idea that the images "fit" did cross my mind.

[hajo]

open question, how is Charlie going to ensure that Parson is still alive after the battle .. ?

Parson (plus some selected persons) could just stay at the top of the tower, and get an airlift by the archons.

[zillion ninjas]

It appears that Charlie likes the cut of Parson's jib. That bodes well for Parson's deal, whatever it is. It's also encouraging that Charlie is happy about receiving a more "interesting" offer from Parson than his surrender.

More, what does this tell us about the Arkentools? Two of them have become attuned to non-Royals. One of them outright refuses to yield its full power to a Royal. Possibilities, possibilities...

An excellent point. Maybe the Arkentools are meant to balance out the advantages that royals (as a group) have over non-royals (also as a group).

It doesn't explain much about Stanley's claims about holy vs. unholy. But that might have just been Stanley talking out his kiester.

True. It does raise the question of whether you have to wear the armband to use it, and if so whether Erfworld works by "One Size Fits All" rules for such items (which would fit the notion that its underlying mechanics are "pretty simple").

There's some evidence to support "One Size Fits All" - Stanley was easily able to resize an eyeBook for Parson, despite having no obvious casting ability. Although that might be an ability built specifically into the eyeBooks, and not found in most objects.

Edit: We have a Word of Titan ruling on that last question:

We've demonstrated that magical items like the EyeBooks are resize able. So you can shrink them down and put them in your pocket.

[hajo]

Charlie doesn't have that much use for a merc-mathamancer

Maybe Charlie has no use of a mathamancer for him/herself, but he always could offer one for hire, for all interested sides - just as he did with the archons. That would definitely fit his mode of business.
So, at the least, Parson could now ask how technically surrendering/switching sides is done on Erf.

[TheWombat]

Well, I think I can quell two rumored ideas with this one comic. First of all I believe Charlie to be a resident of Erf. He uses the same font as Tool, and all of the others, so I think it's fair to say.

The other thing would be that I'm fairly sure that Charlie is a man. His company is Charlescomm not Charliecom. Charles is a male name, or at least I think so, as I've never heard of a woman named Charles before.

Those are my two main points. So I'm out.

[Laurentio]

Oldest of the book: there is always an older story.

Probably wrong, probably not fitting, but Parson and Charlie are probably going to became really close. I'm not going to speculate on the story so far, but at the meta-plot.

Parson is taken away from his world, and received only a token initiation on Erfworld. Any Hero need a Mentor, and must undergo an initiation to "fit the hero shoes". While every single creature in Erfworld is alien to Parson, Charlie seems to be on the same line of through.

So, GK is the starting point (the would-be-hero is taken in the alien world). Charlie became the Mentor, giving him the key to Erfworld secrets and treasures. Than, when Parson is ready, the Mentor fade away, leaving him on the road to the ultimate goal.

I can't put my hand on a fire, but it's the plot of... let's say, over one million stories? But there is another million that totally subvert this one, I have to admit it.

Laurentio

[fendrin]

"We all float down here." (from Stephen King's "It", IIRC).

Oh yeah, that's right. Still a book quote, though...

Wanda mentioned the casting to Jillian in their post-session chat (though how much she told her remains to be seen -- for one thing, she had only seen and talked to Parson briefly before heading off to enjoy her "surprise treat", and so wouldn't know all that much about how the reality of what she'd summoned differed from her and Stanley's assumptions).

I still think that Jillian would have said something about it to Ansom if she thought it were relevant. By now Ansom must realize that someone other than Stanley is running things in GK. I suppose he might think that Stanley could be issuing orders via a thinkamancer, but that is a lot less likely than Stanley promoting another pretty-boy.

The point is, Ansom must be figuring by now that there is a new player on the scene. If Jillian had any inkling about the spell being a summoning, she probably would have said something.

That depends on whether she thinks she can head off Stanley without revealing his objective (the site of Faq). She isn't at all "likely" to willingly lead the Archons to the latter.

1) She already plans to head him off.
2) She doesn't believe that a bubble kingdom is truly workable.

[AngryAngel]

The other thing would be that I'm fairly sure that Charlie is a man. His company is Charlescomm not Charliecom. Charles is a male name, or at least I think so, as I've never heard of a woman named Charles before.

While you're probably right about Charlie's gender, your reasoning is a bit off.

I've known a man whose given name was Shirley. I have a niece whose name is Emerson. "Charlie" might be a nickname for Charlene, or Charlize, etc. And who is to say that the 'Charles' in Charlescomm is derived from the owner's first name? It might be from their last name. I work with a guy named Kevin Olsen, whose nickname is 'Ole'.

Just food for thought.

[rman]

Still open speculation on Charlie being from Parson's world. Suppose you found yourself in the middle of a world like this? How do you avoid at some time being at the wrong end of it?

The only way to win is to leave the game.

Charlie is technically on neither side and will win/profit no matter which side does in the end. Essentially Charlie has escaped the game. Charlie's place also looks remote and he operates by delegates only. Parsons would be interested in that type of position.

On other things:

Parson could be demonstrating several things here
1) possession of mathemancy and the predictor guy -> very powerful side. Is Charlie charging enough for his minions? The deal would have been done before Parson showed up. Potentially Parson has changed the balance.
2) setting himself up to become a mercenary for Charlie should the side collapse.
3) potentially just signing the whole castle up to Charlie's payroll, not sure what the conditions would be for that but it would not hurt to ask and Charlie might be interested enough to supply the answer so Parson could implement it. Example - side refuses to pay upkeep, units may become mercenary if an offer is available.
4) simple reconnaissance of Charlie, Charlie's forces are at play in the battle understanding the conditions is required for proper tactics.

[pendejochy]

Was anyone reminded of Marik from Yu-gi-oh: The Abridged Series when Charlie asked to call Parson "Mind Slave" ?

Possible reference here?