Erfworld 57 - Page 51

[kpenguin]

So... the comic has been up for awhile. It seems that Jillian is either lying or Wanda has implanted memories. I believe it is the former

[Dwagon]

I have to admit, I didn't get everything in this strip...

Panel 2, why "...moth?"
Didn't get what the archons said about communications.
Not sure if Jillian's lying or has been manipulated by magic

Only thing I got was that there's distrust between Jetstones and Jillian, and that Jillian seems to not like being considered as Stanley's underling.

[lovelyluthien]

I had my difficulties, but I conjectured that she uses "moth" because it's a flying thing with "m". My guess: the sake of alliteration.

[Paladine]

Nice

I can already see the next Comic :
Ansom : Our Siege-Towers have been burned , we must go through the Tunnels , Jillian you said you escaped through them , you will lead us .

And then we will see which side she is on .

[slb]

Didn't get what the archons said about communications.

This confirm us there is no two way communication between Jillian's group and Ansom.

The Archons offer Charlie's services for communication, but Webinar suggest to halve the cost of this service by using the hat which at least allow them to ask Ansom what to do. An Ansom will provide the answer using Charlie's telepathic link with his archon (or is it a power of the Arken-dish ?)

This also greatly add somme value to Vinie's bat who are obviously the only one on Ansom side to have a telepathic contact with their warlord.

Wanda is really right when she says that the lookamancers are Stanley's biggest asset, even before the Arkenhammer. I'm just wondering how Stanley has been able to screw his team that much with such an incredible advantage.

[kansas_dave]

I have to admit, I didn't get everything in this strip...

Panel 2, why "...moth?"

Maybe her mind was reaching across dimensions for a stronger insult than Erfworld's censorship allows. "Mother @!#$ers," or somesuch.

[Vreejack]

Nice

I can already see the next Comic :
Ansom : Our Siege-Towers have been burned , we must go through the Tunnels , Jillian you said you escaped through them , you will lead us .

And then we will see which side she is on .

Also, the reply from Ansom right now will probably vindicate her in many eyes, but yes, I too expect to see Ansom ask her "which tunnel?" It's such an obvious point that I can only hope that Wanda did not miss it.

Wanda can always say that she collapsed the tunnel behind her if she is lying and lacks enough detail, but I have to think that Wanda made sure her cover story was perfect.

On the graphics...in panel five Jamie is using those white things around Jillian's mouth. It always thought those were strange rictus lips (he uses them with Stanley a lot) but I guess they might be teeth. It was never clear to me. Loved panel 2, though.

And now we know. Let the arguments all cease, the archons are actually moths. "If I could interrupt your stunningly dysfunctional group dynamic for a moment ..."

[SteveMB]

Only thing I got was that there's distrust between Jetstones and Jillian, and that Jillian seems to not like being considered as Stanley's underling.

Well, an accusation of being an enemy agent is fighting words even for someone far more cool-headed than Jillian.

I had my difficulties, but I conjectured that she uses "moth" because it's a flying thing with "m". My guess: the sake of alliteration.

She's fumbling to cover the silliness of disdainfully describing the Archon's as "mercenaries". (To coin a phrase: "Listen to you, 'mealy-mouthed mercenary.' You're a mercenary!" )

This confirm us there is no two way communication between Jillian's group and Ansom.

The Archons offer Charlie's services for communication, but Webinar suggest to halve the cost of this service by using the hat which at least allow them to ask Ansom what to do.

Message hats must be rare and expensive items -- I would have expected Ansom to provide himself with a two-way link to Webinar and/or the mass of flying units he sent if at all reasonably possible, and Charlie could hardly charge such "nominal" fees if there were any readily available and cheaper alternative.

Webinar may find Jillian insufferable now -- if Ansom's response to his situation is the obvious one (We've been attacked. Head back to the column the moment our turn begins.), he's going to learn what "insufferable" really means....

[Haruspex]

So Jillian is mind-controlled, memory-tampered, or turncoat? So many questions.

[Fez]

Certainly her reaction to being called Stanley's agent wasn't guilt, fear or shift eyes but anger at the accusation.

It also leads to a different sense of her scene flying with Wanda her arms crossed, eyes closed as if dreaming. Perhaps it wasn't that she felt secure with Wanda or loved or such, but instead was dreaming.

Of course what does that do to the scene behind the dragon or her expression as Wanda left?

[Paul_Blue]

Finally I understand what was said in panel 4 Erfworld page 9!

Jillian (on accepting the hat): Is it dual use?
Ansom: Abjuration only.

Nice twist. Funny that the comment "It's a Jetsone item" clearly marks Jillian as not being a Jetsone, that it is evident to sir Webinar that Jillian is "only" an ally...

[Freederick]

The Archons rock with their condescending, Lawful Good holier-than-thou attitude, their highbrow language, and all this in the service of unabashedly commercial Charlie for whom they are making sales pitches. It's like Miko reincarnated as a used car salesman. They open their mouths twice, and already they're fully characterized. Erfworld pwns!

[Firest]

Certainly her reaction to being called Stanley's agent wasn't guilt, fear or shift eyes but anger at the accusation.

It also leads to a different sense of her scene flying with Wanda her arms crossed, eyes closed as if dreaming. Perhaps it wasn't that she felt secure with Wanda or loved or such, but instead was dreaming.

Of course what does that do to the scene behind the dragon or her expression as Wanda left?

She's angry because she isn't Stanley's agent, she's Wanda's sub.

Likely, Jillian can't stand Stanley.

[FredRalphFred]

... Webinar may find Jillian insufferable now -- if Ansom's response to his situation is the obvious one (We've been attacked. Head back to the column the moment our turn begins.), he's going to learn what "insufferable" really means....

If you ask me, it serves him right -- he's Ansom's chief trainer. He's not there for battlefield advice -- simply because he is technically a warlord.

[Gez]

She's fumbling to cover the silliness of disdainfully describing the Archon's as "mercenaries". (To coin a phrase: "Listen to you, 'mealy-mouthed mercenary.' You're a mercenary!" )

People Jillian doesn't like:
1. Royals ("he's not too bad for a royal")
2. Mercenaries (this strip)
3. Herself?

[abb3w]

Message hats must be rare and expensive items

The world's elements are supposed to be familiar to Parson. When was the last time you saw a genuine silk top hat, or priced one for purchase?

I'd guess rare and unusual, but that the (usually?) limited function and applications for them keep demand low enough to bring down the price to where it's acceptable to risk their loss in the field.

[Freederick]

"I also don't take orders from mealy-mouthed, mercenary...er...moths."

Apparently Language doesn't include the word "mofo" or more explicit variations thereof.

[The Old Hack]

People Jillian doesn't like:
1. Royals ("he's not too bad for a royal")
2. Mercenaries (this strip)
3. Herself?

I find the notion of #3 rather interesting and entirely possible. It would also tie neatly in with her not liking mercenaries, really, in a kind of... self-loathing way.

[factotum]

Webinar really doesn't like Jillian, does he? And the feeling would appear to be mutual. I wonder when the news of the attack will reach them? While it might make sense for Ansom to recall his fliers to protect against further possible attack, it's not going to undo the damage that has already been done...

[jindra34]

So will Jillian be proven to be unreliable...?

[SteveMB]

Webinar really doesn't like Jillian, does he? And the feeling would appear to be mutual.

Indeed -- Jillian takes off, even though she can't actually go anywhere yet, apparently to get away from Webinar and Dora while waiting for the turn to begin. If Dora hadn't been interrupted in her attempt to get to the bottom of the escape story, it probably wouldn't have taken long before Jillian either took off again or threatened to skewer her (or maybe not just threatened, if she caught something Jillian couldn't explain away).

My read is that they've been on these rescue missions before, and have figured out that something about this doesn't add up.

[Vethyx]

My guess at this point is that Wanda's magic is acting as a very subtle mind control, and that Jillian is at this point a 'sleeper' She is under Wanda's controll but has no concious memory of it. She probably even believes that she escaped through the tunnels, and has a head full of false memories. She will probably start getting up in the middle of the night and wandering zombie like to the edge of Ansom's camp or colum to report recent intel... OR even better, Ansom might wake up one night to find Jillian standing in his tent holding 4 feet of shiny death instead of some massage oil ;)

[glenndo]

I have a feeling Jillian will be redeemed a little when Ansom's return message is "Bring ALL available fliers to the column or we're booped!"

[SteveMB]

My guess at this point is that Wanda's magic is acting as a very subtle mind control, and that Jillian is at this point a 'sleeper' She is under Wanda's controll but has no concious memory of it. She probably even believes that she escaped through the tunnels, and has a head full of false memories.

Possible; we know that Wanda has a spell to alter memories. (It will probably take more work in this case, because the memory alteration would be more extensive and would be on a hero-class character rather than a grunt. However, we don't know how much time went by or what happened between the end of the interrogation and the "escape"... only that Jillian went from collapsing into an emotional wreck to contentedly smiling in Wanda's embrace.)

I have a feeling Jillian will be redeemed a little when Ansom's return message is "Bring ALL available fliers to the column or we're booped!"

Well, they're booped anyway; by the time the flyers can start back on Ansom's turn the attack (if all goes more or less as planned) will be over. At this point, it's a matter of getting air cover over the column to forestall an encore performance on Stanley's next turn.

[jindra34]

Possible; we know that Wanda has a spell to alter memories. (It will probably take more work in this case, because the memory alteration would be more extensive and would be on a hero-class character rather than a grunt. However, we don't know how much time went by or what happened between the end of the interrogation and the "escape"... only that Jillian went from collapsing into an emotional wreck to contentedly smiling in Wanda's embrace.)



Well, they're booped anyway; by the time the flyers can start back on Ansom's turn the attack (if all goes more or less as planned) will be over. At this point, it's a matter of getting air cover over the column to forestall an encore performance on Stanley's next turn.

I want an Encore.

[Doug Lampert]

Apparently Language doesn't include the word "mofo" or more explicit variations thereof.

We KNOW that. Boop seems to work. But as has been pointed out Jillian has the problem that she's nominally a mercenary and has just used mercenary as an insult. That's the sort of thing that might happen as a freudian slip from an agent PRETENDING to be a mercenary. Which, since she is in fact an agent means she has to say SOMETHING to cover it.

I think I like Wiebmar and the Archons quite a bit more than most of these characters. Wiebmar and Dora are doing everything right based on what they know (it's likely to screw them, but they really are doing their best without any actual mistakes). And the Archon line about stunningly disfunctional group dynamics is just too perfect.

Shame they're probably all gonna die. (Minor characters for the side which can't win without wrecking the story.)

[Dolohov]

I have a feeling Jillian will be redeemed a little when Ansom's return message is "Bring ALL available fliers to the column or we're booped!"

Redeem her? Or reinforce Webinar's opinion that she's working for Stanley?

I think we're starting to see the first cracks in this alliance. I expect to see more once Parson's attack is done, if not whole groups leaving outright. (The marbits look like they took some heavy damage without flier cover, and Ansom is relying on them for the tunnel battle...)

[Scientivore]

I don't have much to add to my earlier comments on the Erfworld Discussion fanforum. Except, there was some discussion awhile back that the Jetstone coat of arms looked like a radish; Jillian's "apple-polisher" insult seems to put that to rest. It was also very foolish because I think that it would offend any Jetstone unit, Ansom included, to know that she'd used that as an insult.

[SteveMB]

I think we're starting to see the first cracks in this alliance. I expect to see more once Parson's attack is done, if not whole groups leaving outright. (The marbits look like they took some heavy damage without flier cover, and Ansom is relying on them for the tunnel battle...)

"Now that we lost the siege engines during the pounding we took [because I sent the air cover away], I need you guys to spearhead a full-scale attack, not just a feint."

Yeah, that should go over real well....

I don't have much to add to my earlier comments on the Erfworld Discussion fanforum. Except, there was some discussion awhile back that the Jetstone coat of arms looked like a radish; Jillian's "apple-polisher" insult seems to put that to rest. It was also very foolish because I think that it would offend any Jetstone unit, Ansom included, to know that she'd used that as an insult.

"Apple-polisher" is a standard euphemism for "a**-kisser". I don't think Jetstone's coat of arms looks particularly like an apple.

Edit: Confirming my memory -- Jillian refers to Ansom redecorating Wanda's dungeon in "royal radishes" after his (presumed) victory.

[myeerah]

"Apple-polisher" is a standard euphemism for "a**-kisser". I don't think Jetstone's coat of arms looks particularly like an apple.

Edit: Confirming my memory -- Jillian refers to Ansom redecorating Wanda's dungeon in "royal radishes" after his (presumed) victory.

I always thought it looked like a strawberry.