102 The Battle for Gobwin Knob, Page 92

[memnarch]

Hm, Stanley seems to have calmed down a bit. Didn't expect that to occur given the panel on the previous page.

[Twisted Otaku]

Foolamancers name : Uwe Boll

[Twisted Otaku]

Hm, Stanley seems to have calmed down a bit. Didn't expect that to occur given the panel on the previous page.

He's calmer because he's confused, he can't remember the foolamancer's name. That's what he gets for treating his people like crap (sorry Sizemore)

[Wender]

... 101 - Uber awesome from Parson. 102 - eh, he slips.

We don't actually know what he was doing, since he was cut off in mid-sentence. That bluff was far too ham-fisted to have been the actual tactic.

I was imagining a feint: Give Ansom enough information to figure out which member of the alliance you've had a "secret dialog" with. Let him call your bluff. Next turn, open up a secret dialog with that member of the alliance. See how long it takes Mr. Most Intelligent and Fit to Lead to a) realize, and b) admit that he got played.

But that's just speculation pulled out of thin air. As it is, Parson have to step back from his plans and spend some time gaming out what Ansom heard and how he might have reacted to it. As others have pointed out, the timing of that interruption was just about perfect. If Ansom falls for it and Parson realizes it, he gains an advantage.

But if Ansom suspects Charlie, and goes to him enraged that Charlie is trying to play both sides, Charlie might not be happy with Parson at all. As he explained, it's bad for business, and business with Team Ansom is working out quite well for him so far. In that case, Parson has some serious damage control to do.

Meanwhile, Stanley is still an obtuse buffoon.

[Zienth]

It seems to me like the foolamancer should be named "Jack".

Zienth

[Twisted Otaku]

Now... the coalition leaders who were present all KNOW they didn't receive Thinkagrams from Parson...

yes but now that the doubt has been placed, even if nobody recieved thinkagrams from parson, if they asked everybody if they had, they'd all (honestly) say no. HOWEVER, just by Parson saying this places doubt in everyones heart. They know it wasn't them that got the thinkagram, so it must be somebody else, and whoever it is would have been lying (if they were asked and said no). So, do you see why he did this?

[BarGamer]

So far we have Maggie the thinkamancer and Misty the Lookamancer. Also Wanda the Croakamancer and Sizemore the Dirtamancer. Any paterns that arise?

Wanda's name is a DND pun: "Wand of Fireball." Jillian's name might also be a pun, but I can't place it, or I'm possibly misspelling it: "Jilli and the muscles." Prince Ansom is a sorta pun on "Prince Charming," except in this case, it's "Handsome." It's safe to say that most everyone's name is some kind of joke or other, only a few of which we "get," but to extrapolate that to speculate the Foolamancer's name, is kind of... silly.

Spoiler

Show

But Tom Fool DOES sound pretty funny. XD

[SteveMB]

We don't actually know what he was doing, since he was cut off in mid-sentence. That bluff was far too ham-fisted to have been the actual tactic.

Parson originally wanted to talk to each of the Coalition leaders. The attempt to make Ansom think he's done so is a fallback plan when he found out he only has one more call.

I agree that it's a bit too obvious for anyone to fall for outright, but if strains appear in the Coalition -- and especially if other leaders start pressing Ansom's hot buttons as a result -- he might prefer to believe that his allies are betraying him than that he's losing because the Titans aren't on his side after all.

[IronMouse]

Now... the coalition leaders who were present all KNOW they didn't receive Thinkagrams fro Parson... so Ansom sharing that tidbit will likely shoot him in the ankle big time, as well as implicating only those coalition factols wihout an emissary present.

It occurs to me that one of the most important of those would of course be Charlie.

Or Ansom will assume those denying they have been in contact with Parson via thinkgram are lying to him

[IronMouse]

I'd wager that the foolamancer came from FAQ, along with Wanda. And no one else there knows his name. But she does. Which means she'll likely stay in her zonked out state to heighten the drama. I've also been re-reading, and it looks like her mind snapped when Stanley got pissed, not when Jillian broke the suggestion. Maybe her "distraction" wasn't that much of a sacrifice. Also, it looks like Parson's size is definitely being transmitted, and Ansom doesn't seem to care.

You bring up a fascinating point.

Maybe Wanda had more than one suggestion spell going on. She has demonstrated she can ignore Stanley’s orders both for a good reasons and for very bad reasons. Why is it not possible she was manipulating Stanley just like she has been manipulating Jillian. Maggie’s assessment of Wanda’s skills at defending her own mind against the backlash of such a spell breaking could be way off base it was just two such spells snapping back to back that did Wanda in

[slayerx]

I'd wager that the foolamancer came from FAQ, along with Wanda. And no one else there knows his name. But she does. Which means she'll likely stay in her zonked out state to heighten the drama. I've also been re-reading, and it looks like her mind snapped when Stanley got pissed, not when Jillian broke the suggestion. Maybe her "distraction" wasn't that much of a sacrifice. Also, it looks like Parson's size is definitely being transmitted, and Ansom doesn't seem to care.

Actually, if you look at the first panel you can see that Jillian looks like she's stumbling around... meaning it looks she snapped before Stanely got pissed off, but sometime after Stanely order'd Jillian to be croaked and Ansom saved her...

Thing is, i could be that even by choosing to fight the dwagons, Jillian was still within the bounds of the spell... however, when ansom saved jillian, she had a classic "knight in shining armor" moment and at the moment thought ONLY of Ansom and thus shattered the suggestion spell; at that moment, she finally chose Ansom over wanda

THAT, or the spell didn't offically break until the battle was over, as Jillian still had a chance mid battle to do what would favor wanda or something... though i still think wanda COULD have blocked the backlash from the broken spell, but chose not to since the alternative would hurt Jillian... ^^

[rkyeun]

The ally gambit sows seeds of distrust if believed, and the "oops" part makes it an obvious lie. Surely Parson isn't that stupid?
Of course Parson isn't that stupid. You ALL started thinking about if Ansom would believe the ally lie or not --

And completely stopped wondering about the tunnels vs the walls.
Just like Ansom.

Covering a subtle obvious bluff with an obvious subtle bluff. Classic.

[Aquillion]

Ooo, ooo, I know who would probably remember the Foolamancer's name!

Misty. Let's go ask her.

[Nerd_Paladin]

I dunno, I wonder sometimes if Parson is as smart as we all think he is. All of his plans thus far have failed, after all. That's not neccesarily his fault, but it's not a good track record, and what evidence do we actually have that he's as clever as he/we think he is? Just because he's the main character? Because he can munchkin around the game rules (with little lasting effect)?

[factotum]

I wonder if this "say their name to bring them back" option will work for Wanda?

[warmachine]

Obvious troll is obvious. Still, it'll make Ansom more angry and increase the chance he'll do something stupid.

[Keldaria]

Is Parson continuing to hide his intelligence level? Some of his phrasing seems deliberately constructed to sound a bit dumb...

I'll surrender to my secret allies in your coalition

That doesn't sound smart, on the surface. And

Ewps. Did I let that slip?

Just sounds like he's either someone who is too dumb to keep a secret, or too cocky to care. And there's no good reason I see that Parson would present a cocky attitude about that.

yet its the perfict bait .. as far as the prince knows parsons an idiot commander. And parson's playing his cards perfictly. As mentioned before the Prince is too self absorbed to realize that Stanley or any of his leadership corps were capable of laying a trap for him .. thats why he walked into the center of the dragons and thats why he's gonna fall into parsons hands yet agian.

My personal opinon is this time its check mate. The prince is gonna start being suspicious of everyone, prolly even miss barbarian for spending that extra movement to circle around (and conspire with the enemy) last turn.

He's also gonna push hard into the tunnels instead of making for the walls where parsons likely got most the garason stationed.

Yep he's playing right into parsons hands, only this time he's directly manipulating the Prince and not relying on some spell bound go between that could break control at any second

[Keldaria]

I wonder if this "say their name to bring them back" option will work for Wanda?

wanda wasn't damaged in the same type of link.. the foolamancer lost his sence of self by having his mind body and will connected to 2 other casters. Wanda on the other hand was controling the mind of someone else.

[Kanthalion]

Hmmm. It seems it was not Parson's intent, but I think the heavy handed "subterfuge" and the call broke off in mid message may just play to his advantage.

As we are well aware, Ansom has a low view of the Tools intelligence, and I am sure that would extend to anyone below the Tool--including Parson. I don't think it would be much of a stretch for Ansom to be even more inclined to believe the truth of Parson's claims because he thinks Stanly cut off Parson's message for Parson telling Ansom too much about their "secret" plans.

I hope the above made sense, cause it is 1:30 am here and I should have been in bed hours ago.

[Rockphed]

It made enough sense.

[plainsfox]

Hrrm...maybe Charlie did put the idea in Parson's head....the first thing that Charlie said to Parson after introductions was to inquire if Parson was going for terms of surrender.

[Scutatus]

Cutting out the message at that point actually could not have worked better. I would say that it will likely have more constructive(destructive) effects than Parson would have managed if he'd finished.

People will willingly follow someone they adore or respect, but with the suggestion of the archentool wielders having "higher authority" reason for doubt was planted amongst the allies. And Ansom showed some of his true colours in response, which will give others even further cause for concern. Together that may well be enough for some of the allies to question their loyalties.

Parson was about to name names or say something like sending mesages " to your leaders". But this way, Ansom will be suspicious of absolutely everyone. Such suspicions will grow to distrust. Ultimately, Ansom potentially could now seriously damage his own cause from within via his own paranoia and accusations. It's been known to happen amongst proud royal types who have their "divine royal authority" questioned or who come to believe in themselves too much. Both just happened.

Unable to rely on anyone he will potentially spend more time and resources in suspiciously monitoring his forces instead of actually fighting the fight. Which in itself will fuel the resentment and doubt he would be trying to stamp out. With Parson only suggesting that some are questioning his authority, Ansom's response could ensure that many actually do! His own actions could result in the very thing he wanted to find and stop. It would be self fulfilling on Ansom's part.

How will such a proud egotystical megalomaniac king respond to his people doubting his authority and thinking for themselves? History would demonstrate that in such cases the monarch sometimes overreacts and becomes a paranoid unappreciative tyrant, ruling by the iron fist instead of by respect and authority. Will Ansom do this? Will he try to keep his allies in line by becoming a tyrant? In such a case his followers are likely to start leaving. What ever happens trouble will be afoot.

Parson just planted some fantastic seeds that could turn the whole tide of the war. Way to go Parson.

[Hyozo]

Steve? That's a name for a jerk player, not a foolamancer.

I think Yorrick would be a better name, as it's thematicly appropriate.

As for the lie, it sounds too much like some turn based RPGs I've seen to be taken too lightly. Even a little doubt in an alliance can be disasterous.

Yorrick!?!?!?!?!?!?

Sorry, just getting out of the Hamlet unit with an english teacher who makes a big deal about EVERYTHING. I don't want to hear any more about Yorrick. A name people actually have would be better.

[MrEdwardNigma]

If the foolamancer's name isn't something out of King Lear (which is likely) it will either be "Rumplestiltskin" or "Tim".

[Alexei P]

Any reason Stanley can't simply get the Foolamancer's name by checking his stat block?

[stsasser]

It seems to me like the foolamancer should be named "Jack".

Zienth

He's a few cards short of a lucky deck.

[zeropsm]

Jillian offcourse!

who've been captured a dozen times?
who knew of parson?
who's trying to fake royalty to fall on the leader's grace?

I'm expecting a mean look on next strip.

ps.:Damn Stanley...i wanted to heal all that thinkagram!

[Generalissimus]

What Parson said in Panel 4, is exactly the same thing Charlie had said to him.

More implication of Charlie... and of course if the question comes up of who'd have the kind of power to just cut a Thinkagram: Charlie obviously would.

I totally agree with you. Maybe Stanley (being as he is, "somewhere between Gilligan and Starscream") has made an involuntary good move calling Maggie.

If Ansom begins suspecting Charlie (who is revealed, finally,as a commoner), maybe not all is lost for GK.

[Templar]

The Gilligan gag rocked.

Parson's arrogant condescension in 102 is serving to get Ansom even more riled, which I think is what he's going for. An opponent who's worked up and wants to smash your face in in a homicidal rage is far more likely to make a mistake. It's like talking boop during hoops on the playground or acting like a cocky jerk at any tabletop game. You're booping off the other players to get them to stop thinking clearly. Even when you can see through it, it's still going to bother you, I think.

[PePe QuiCoSE]

the Fool's name should be April. Quite appropriate for the past date
Oh, and note that the Maggie calls Stanley directly Tool and not Lord or Overlord. I guess that's natural Thinkamancy since she was not present when Stanley accepted his higher calling, and i doubt that he had told everyone about his new title.
Though it would be too good to be true, Vinnie has been the first one to question Ansom about the royalty thing and the attune(ment?) to the arkentools. If by chance Ansom starts doubting Vinnie... well, he loses so far his greatest advisor and is going to fall for the trap this time.