Note: Some theories can be found on the Erfworld wiki.
- Partially Jossed: Parson has turned back to Gobwin Knob. However, it is possible that his turning back was possible due to his Disbanding immunity. Charlie had threatened Parson with Disbanding to avoid Decryption, he would've definitely tried to disband him after the Tripod Blunder.
- It's not clear he's actually immune to disbanding. He ordered Stanley not to disband him (which, as Chief Warlord, he's allowed to do), and Stanley can only disobey an order like that if he believes it's in his side's best interest. Since Stanley believed, deep down, that his side needed Parson, he was unable to justify disobeying the order.
- That would make alot of sense, but they can only do that if he truly considers Erfworld 'home'.
- That's less about Schmuckers and more about the Natural Moneymancy that uses them.
- Considering that in 9/30/11 Ossomer is now back in his Jetstone attire, this may not be WMG anymore.
- Jossed. We can see Charlie's hand during Lilith's return to Charlescomm, so he clearly has a body outside the 'Dish. However, his voice in realspace is rendered as much more frail than his voice in Thinkspace.
- And totally Jossed. He is connected to the 'dish with special Shockmancy wires.
- It did. It gave Charlie a good view of Slately being croaked giving him enough leverage to force the Ditto of him to follow through on his game plan to kill Parson.
- Jossed. Tremmanis is fleeing as the new heir while King Slately's double is fighting the final battle.
- This one is kind of Jossed kind of confirmed? Peace Through Superior Firepower showed that Charlie's personality changed dramatically after attuning to the dish. This suggests that the Arkentools can normally alter their wielder's personality to match their own, so presumably this didn't happen with Wanda because her personality already fit. This may have happened for Stanley or he may have always been like that.
- It could well be- Saline IV is a hint, commented on in the strip. Life On Mars much?
That's a lot more brutal than it was All Just a Dream, Dorothy...-Silverlocke980
- One thing to remember is that we, the audience, get to see events without Parson present in both Erfworld and Stupidworld. His gaming group, for instance, clearly watched him disappear. While that doesn't rule out All Just a Dream, it is awkward storytelling or cheating the audience, depending on how charitable you want to be.
This might mean that, as the game goes on, Parson will realise how much of a Crapsack World this truly is, with literally no point to existence but war, and end up trying to change things despite its going against all his instincts and experience.
- Supported by the chief hippiemancer(Janis). She said that if Parson breaks enough rules, peace is possible. War simulation rarely have "peace mode".
-
Seems to beConfirmed with the latest comic.- And at least one of its powers seems to be resurrection.
- Wanda was conquered by FAQ, and he took Jillian from her, Jillian being the only one she ever truly cared for.
- Ansom destroyed Faq. Jillian wasn't there and has only surmised Stanley's role in its destruction. Wanda originally held the Arkenpliers, and Ansom took them from her. Stanley probably arrived afterwards looking for the pliers and collected all the remaining casters.
- If Ansom destroyed Faq, then wouldn't he be aware of it and realize that Stanley would attempt to flee towards there? Wanda being pissed at Ansom can all be attributed to the more recent choosing of Ansom/ hatred of Stanley by Jillian over the compulsion spell.
- Apparently Jossed here. Her primary motivation for working with Stanley was to attune to an Arkentool.
- Faq wasn't Wanda's original home, Faq was betrayed by Wanda, and Faq was destroyed by Stanley and her home was destroyed by Olive Branch who isn't in any way related to Ansom, jossing all aspects of this.
- Jossed in the end of book one... maybe.
- Explicitly maybe. :) The explanation is clear, but the applicability depends on what you count as "free will".
- In the latest story arc it's STRONGLY implied that he finally pissed Stanley off enough to make him try to disband him only to find that he couldn't. So there's that...
- Well, Wanda just out and out confessed to selling Faq out to Stanley. So that's half confirmed. It would not be surprising if she admits to engineering the gobwin uprising...
- Corollary - this will be Parson's home state. All of the other arkentools have attuned based on puns.
- What puns exactly? I don't get what's punny about Stanley having the Arkenhammer, or the new attunement of the pliers.
- To quote the ErfWiki: Stanley manufactures hand tools; Zhejiang Wanda Tools Co. Ltd specializes in making pliers; Dish Network formed by Charles W. "Charlie" Ergen provides satellite television service in the United States.
- ... Damn. On another note, having an Arkentool attune to Parson would have interesting implications in its own right...
- Then perhaps it should be noted that there is now a character named Ace Hardware. Or perhaps that's too obvious.
- Plus, Parson is from Indiana http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0038.html.
- What puns exactly? I don't get what's punny about Stanley having the Arkenhammer, or the new attunement of the pliers.
- Mentioned in-story now; Parson was expecting the fourth Arkentool to be the Arkensaw, and is both disappointed and astonished to learn it was the Arkenshoes, aka the "Ruby Slippers" from The Wizard of Oz
- It must be noted that this is the film version we are talking about, not the book. In the book, the slippers were silver.
- Possibly jossed in the "summer updates" (these are canon according to Word of God). Stanley has returned home and the Decrypted army is his own, not Wanda's.
- Note, however, that Stanley himself isn't exactly comforted by that, or even all the flattering communist-style propaganda posters in his honour that were plastered everywhere in the new Gobwin Knob. He's actually become incredibly edgy around Wanda and Parson- this might just be jealousy, but he could always inadvertently push them to desperate measures...
- Wanda being a caster probably means she cannot form her own side (only commanders can do that).
- Casters are commanders; I think you mean "warlord".
- Casters are commanders, they just can't grant leadership bonuses to units outside their casting specialty (dirtamancers golems, croakamancers uncroaked/decrypted).
- Note, however, that Stanley himself isn't exactly comforted by that, or even all the flattering communist-style propaganda posters in his honour that were plastered everywhere in the new Gobwin Knob. He's actually become incredibly edgy around Wanda and Parson- this might just be jealousy, but he could always inadvertently push them to desperate measures...
- Further addendum. Stanley has mentioned that Wanda's Decrypted are loyal to her, not him.
- According to Inner Peace Through Superior Firepower, Wanda once did command her own side. She lasted about a minute before being made into a barbarian.
- Perhaps fitting since the first chapter seemed like the endgame of an epic fantasy plot, the kind of thing often used as backstory in a fantasy RPG.
- The most obvious clue that Charlie is a human like Parson is that he's the only person able to stand up to Parson strategically.
- He also understands Parson's netspeak (look at their first 'conversation'), while others, such as Sizemore, have no idea what 'kthnx' means.
- Opinable. Sizemore's nick is ImInUrDirtz, that is sort of netspeak, and uses smiles like D: . Seems to be common usage, sort of a costume in Erfworld.
- It's also indicative that he keeps himself a complete and utter secret from the rest of Erfworld, beyond his inner guard of Archons (who are all female and the ONLY unit that Charlescomm's one city pops; exactly the kind of thing a lonely antisocial nerd might want in his ideal world)— he knows enough about Erfworld to know that he personally cannot enter the City of Heroes or any other Erfworld afterlife and has no idea what will happen if he dies there, but— much like Parson, who openly expressed his desires to abandon his shitty Stupidworld life— he'd rather be the head of Charlescomm than whoever he was in Stupidworld.
- Also, Charlie is female. If hir face is going to be revealed at any point, there will inevitably be some sort of twist...
- combining the two above theories perhaps Charlie is female, lesbian, and from earth. She might be from an area that is/was highly homophobic, making her want to leave earth for somewhere where she can have her own harem in peace.
- Charlie appears to people in forms that are "forth wall breaking". When he appears to Tranennis, he shifts forms into things that we recognize from our word ("Stupid World"). It could be because Charlies is from Stupid World and he changes into things from his world because he likes those things. It's not forth wall breaking. It's foreshadowing.
- Book 0 Reveals that he is a Carnymancer who once allied with Judy Gale, who was almost certainly from "Stupidworld".
- It's more fun to play then to watch, so perhaps the key players are avatars of the Titans.
- Or the game will go out of its way to make it less useful. We've already seen that a badly damaged body can't be repopped, so... maybe certain units can fry their targets.
- Said body belonged to a character with regeneration...
- Explicitly retconned.
- Revived units are turned to dust if killed again, so one revive is confirmed.
- The way the current story is going, I think it most likely that the pliers have fulfilled their story-breaker power role by being used to escape the impossible situation at the beginning of Love Is A Battlefield... and the next challenge will be to defeat them once Wanda finally turns away from Stanley.
- Sadly, this is unlikely now, thanks to the author's using Retconjuration, the newly announced magic style (which was Retconjured into existence). Rest in Piece, Bogroll.
- Also note that it was pretty explicitly stated that the entire reason for the apology/announcement was to make sure everyone knew he wasn't coming back. So... yeah.
- Also, the point of destroying Bogroll's body was to dissuade people from believing he is not coming back, and then him being blown up was to further dissuade people from believing he was coming back.
- All of which sounds like Suspiciously Specific Denial to me!
- Unfortunately, while entertaining, Bogroll is simply not a relevant enough character to be brought back, given the level of Ass Pull this would require.
- And on top of that, coming back from the dead would kind of invalidate part of the point of his death.
- Also note that it was pretty explicitly stated that the entire reason for the apology/announcement was to make sure everyone knew he wasn't coming back. So... yeah.
- Supported by the fact that no one has seen Charlie save for the Archons specifically tasked with guarding his inner sanctum, and Charlie's goals are very simplistic and self-perpetuating. It really does fit the concept of a sentient artifact operating on it's own designs.
- If this is true, maybe "Charlie" will be attuned to Parson.
- If this is true, Charlie's true form had better look like HAL.
- Book 0 states that he is a Carnymancer who was given the Arkendish by Judy Gale as part of the terms of their alliance.
- [[spoiler: Judy spared Charlie's life and returned home, so he has to be a real person.]
- No, Charlie definitely exists. He looks like an old, obese, barely-functioning Charlie Brown. This was mentioned, though, as one of the theories the Archons have about him.
- It makes sense. He doesn't care for royal mandate because he's a non-royal ruler himself, and toolism is basically just a cult Wanda invented for her own purposes (although how much of her own message she believes is unclear). Charlie is not a very observant Titanist, if he is a Titanist at all. His true deity is the Shmucker.
- Problem: if it's the same scenario as he was going to run, why does he seem to be on the opposite side from the one he was forcing to break rules to win?
- He's not. The players were going to play as the defenders of his version of Gobwin Knob on earth and he would be the GM arranged against them trying everything he can to make them fail, which was (essentially) Charlie's position in the first book.
Therefore, even if Stanley had simply been a ordinary piker who rose through the ranks to Warlord — even if Saline IV had named him heir without the Arkentools being involved — even if he had been a completely outstanding, wonderful person and modestly accepted whatever role he found himself in — the Royals still would have viewed him with distrust and as a threat, because he wasn't one of them. His very existence was a threat, because it proved you didn't have to be Royal to become Heir, and that you could rise above your station.
- Furthermore, this concept will be explored in-strip when another Heir-less side, desperate to ensure its survival, rewards another non-Royal by naming them Heir. This newly named Heir will face distrust and suspicion from Royals wary of "another Stanley", even if they show no signs of attuning to an Arkentool or any remote similarities to Stanley beyond their appointment as a non-Royal Heir.
- It's been mentioned in one of the text updates that Transylvito's Don King doesn't have a purpose-popped Heir, but rather appointed one of his warlords as an "Heir Designate".
- Though Caesar is TECHNICALLY a noble, just a very lowly one, but maybe this is why he gets a pass. Plus, Slately didn't like the way Don was running things. Don, on the other hand is a royal and is good friends with Slately and other royals.
- It's been mentioned in one of the text updates that Transylvito's Don King doesn't have a purpose-popped Heir, but rather appointed one of his warlords as an "Heir Designate".
- While true, the coalition wouldn't have been so big if he didn't spend so much time pissing them off.
- Corollary: It has never been confirmed who started the rebellion that killed King Saline. Everyone assumes that Stanley did it, but there's a problem with the theory. King Saline loved and trusted Stanley and Stanley, though he was not a royal, was part of King Saline's clan, the Plaids. It wouldn't be far fetched to say that Stanley had the hobogobwins kill King Saline IV, but we have no real evidence of it. We did have real evidence that Stanley destroyed Faq and got some spell-casters out of the deal, but maybe he did that for Saline. Furthermore, we know Stanley has a deep seeded hatred of Charlie that was never explained. Lastly, Stanley wasn't ready to rule as shown by his troubles as Overlord. Perhaps Charlie had King Saline IV killed in order to weaken the kingdom so that he could get the Arkenhammer. After all, we know from Charlie's dealings with Parson in the first book that Charlie wouldn't have minded getting the Arkenpliers. All Stanley would have to do to find this out is beat the crap (interrogate) out of the hobogobwin(s) that killed Saline to figure out who put him(them) up to it. That is beyond Charlie's abilities and it matches his style. This would also explain why Stanley hates him if Stanley really did care for his King (he was already heir, why speed up the process?) - Thecommander236
- We know from the summer updates that how units, like Rulers for example, appear is influenced by how others perceive them.
- Which might be why Stanley is so touchy about his height!
- We know from the summer updates that how units, like Rulers for example, appear is influenced by how others perceive them.
- If anyone in Erfworld is an Avatar of Tzeentch, it's Parson. He comes from a realm where the "regular" laws of nature don't apply, his physiology and biology are totally alien (LIQUID CONMES OUT OF HIM WHEN HE'S HURT!!!). He has proven himself to be a masterful warlord and great manipulator, playing EVERYONE around him like a musical instrument in order to fulfil his objectives, and the LAWS OF TIME AND SPACE in Erfworld bend to his will, and there are words in his language that cannot be uttered in their universe.
- Well, Rob has said that he wants to do something with Parson's gaming buddies...
- Wanda's odd mannerisms at present are probably left over from the broken mind-control spell, possibly exacerbated by the later linking to uncroak the volcano while her mind was still in such a fragile state.
- Plus, at the moment, we've pretty much only seen her from the decrypted viewpoint (with one or two exceptions), and she has to put on a regal, even divine air for them.
- It may be more likely that this difference in Wanda's manner is a simple result of finally acquiring the power that she had long been seeking, rather than any specific change wrought by the Arkenpliers; she no longer sees the need to pander to Stanley, and she didn't take crap from anyone else to begin with. Remember, her first line upon picking them up describes her as having "wrecked and ruined more than you have" to obtain them, right after Parson blew up a Level Five city and the surrounding area, killing thousands. It's likely that we're just seeing what she looks like Beneath the Mask now.
- Wanda's odd mannerisms at present are probably left over from the broken mind-control spell, possibly exacerbated by the later linking to uncroak the volcano while her mind was still in such a fragile state.
- In light of the new information on the Hippymancer-led conspiracy to bring peace to Erfworld, I think it likely that the support plan meant 'advisers and casters'
- Stanley buys the support plan and ends up with Batman. Batman takes the 4 turns Ansom's column needs to reach Gobwin Knob to prepare, and then curbstomps him.
- In light of the new information on the Hippymancer-led conspiracy to bring peace to Erfworld, I think it likely that the support plan meant 'advisers and casters'
1. He's used to only commanding units that follow his every order. Being in a Coalition/alliance means that he can't expect everyone to listen to his plans, so he goes with the lowest common denominator of plans in order to minimize infighting.
2. He specializes in heavy siege and infantry units. We know that his preferred strategy (which Ossomer calls him on) focuses heavily on siege engines and infantry, so it's reasonable to believe that he's very good with these units... but less so with others. This may also contribute to why King Slately refused to give him any casters.
3. Gobwin Knob's terrain was working against him. He's leading full stacks of units up a narrow path towards a city: There's no room to maneuver. In the above page, he's shown consider the terrain and group movements, but if he were to be in a situation where he's unable to move around, all he can do is keep marching forward!
- There's another one we can add to that, which might be the most likely of all:
4. Ansom was overconfident. It's clear in his briefing of the Royal Crown Coalition I commanders that Ansom was not expecting Stanley to have someone like Parson in command. As far as any of them knew, Gobwin Knob had no leadership corps left (except for uncroaked Warlords and, for specific cases, Casters—who are usually far more valuable in other roles than commanding stacks).
We do know that Stanley has a poor mind for strategy and tactics, since Gowbin Knob lost the ten cities it originally had during his Quest for the Arkentools—he blew the whole thing off as Parson's job after summoning him, and we've seen Ansom's reaction to Stanley playing with the Situation Room's tactical board during the Summer Updates. Ansom was clearly expecting Stanley to be pathetically easy to defeat, which means that Ansom would not seriously plan and overplan like he usually does. In this light, combined with Ansom's prejudice against non-Royals and not (yet) knowing about Parson, falling for the Dwagon Doughnut trap causes Ansom to nearly have a BSOD; to Ansom, Stanley is "simply not that bright."
It wasn't until Parson contacted him directly later on that Ansom realized there was indeed a new Chief Warlord in command, and as we've seen, Parson is very good at psychological warfare. Ansom was thrown off his game with Parson's first move, and Parson's further mind games (such as goading Ansom with the Thinkagram) only made him angrier and more predictable. Toward the end, Ansom was so riled and frustrated with Parson that Parson was not only able to easily read what Ansom would do next, but also why and Ansom's emotional state as well ("But... They're going to attack. Ansom will make that mistake, just for pride. Just so he can avoid making the same mistake twice in a row.")
After Ansom's decryption, in the Summer Updates we're told from Parson's perspective that Ansom's plans are usually fairly solid, and there was only one instance where he'd found one of Ansom's strategies to be a bad plan. That's pretty high praise coming from someone like Parson, although that still leaves us in the field of Informed Ability since the audience hasn't been shown Ansom's "solid plans" in action. Though we've yet to really see Ansom "in his zone," we can at least deduce that he had a serious case of hubris during the Battle for Gobwin Knob, and was not able to realize that he was dealing with a tactical genius or clear his mind.- Stanley is a decent enough tactician when he's leading a battle (he didn't get to be a Warlord for nothing). But Stanley has no mind for strategy, and being outnumbered 25 to 1 is not something that tactics can easily overcome.
- My theory is that Ansom is a brilliant warlord when playing by the usual rules, but lacks Parson's lateral thinking, making him vulnerable to Parson and Charlie's tactics of rigging the game. His plan to capture Gobwin Knob would have succeeded if not for Parson's volcano trick, and his surprise attack on Spacerock would have succeeded with minimal losses and ended Jetstone as a side as planned, if not for Charlie and Jillian pulling KingWorld.
And during this time, she has risked arguing with Stanley on his behalf when he was demoted/resigned from his position as Chief Warlord... And actually took the risky initiative of utilizing a loophole to brainwash Stanley into returning Parson's position.
- Seconded that Maggie has feelings for Parsons. I don't think their reciprocated... yet.
- Confirmed for Maggie, but Parson doesn't love her back.
- Sorry, not fourth, but fifth. The Arkenshoes are in. So yes, this will be fifth if it isn't jossedificated.
- The Predictamancers and Thinkamancers seem to agree to some degree, but they all have their own motivates. It doesn't seem like a Pack Of Wolves as of right now, but the three caster groups aren't working efficiently as one group. Also, Charlie is getting REALLY antsy to kill, not croak, KILL Parson.
- This seems to be the overarching plot, considering: (1) Charlie and Parson being the only two really genre-savvy characters; (2) Charlie is a mercenary who needs people to be at war in order to make money, and Parson is the (anti)hero who feels bad about killing and may end up trying to create peace in order to win the game; (3) there's a prediction that Parson will end war.
- As with the above, this is getting closer to being confirmed since a lot of casters are making a bigger deal out of Charlie. Also, according to the grand teacher Isaac the Thinkamancer, Parson is fulfilling not one, not two, but as many as FOUR prophecies.
- Probably less this theory and more that Charlie is another gamer who saw the ongoing conflict in Erfworld and decided to take advantage of it for personal gain, in which he has succeeded remarkably.
- Seconded! But he'll have to fight Wanda to do it, since she's gleefully going on to kill the command without orders (and even knowing Parson will disapprove). And we know that she has no Loyalty to anything but fate and herself.
- Thirded, with the following twist: Either Slately or Tramennis will be killed during the battle, and as a favor to the surviving member, Parson will go over Wanda's head to keep the killed member from decryption (maybe going so far as to re-execute them himself).
- May be Jossed as Tramennis is fleeing and Slately is being chased by Parson and may already be dead according to Book 2, Page 102.
- A lot of things in Erfworld are puns on things in our world. Remind me, what happened with OUR Caesar?
- Caesar Borgata's probably closer to Cesare Borgia than Julius Caesar, so if deaths can be predicted by punning people's names he's probably more likely to be slain in battle after murdering Don in an attempt to take control of Transylvito.
- I have a theory (available on the Erfworld wiki in the Speculation section of Turnamancy) that Turnamancy doesn't directly turn units, it just accellerates the processes that are already there (like Jillian trying to convince Ansom to turn).
Alternately, they let you through the most wicked Rock concert ever, awesome enough to alter the work of the Titans. The Arkenhammer provides the rockage (and lead guitar), the Arkendish amps everything up (and is a drum), the Arkenpliers provide the backup dancers and archgroupies (their instrument depends on that of the Arkenwhatsit. Perhaps keytar?), and the Arkenwhatsit provides something (an actual stage, to be imbued with the idea of a stage that the Arkenhammer projects? If a dirtomancy shovel, it is obviously the bass). If this is the case, there's a two-to-one chance against it simply being a way to call down the Titans.
- On the Gotta Catch 'Em All point this has already happened. The Arkenshoes disappeared with Judy Gale back to where she considered home, likely Parson's world(Earth). Unknown to Wanda and Parson there is no possible way all the Arkentools can be brought together thanks to Judy (http://www.erfworld.com/wiki/index.php/Judy_Gale). Not without Parson using the return home Carnymancer spell, finding Judy, stealing her shoes and putting them on, then somehow reentering Erfworld. Could possibly be for the better, something horrible might have happened when the tools are brought together.
- That's actually possible. Think about it, the Carnymancer spell is already in Parson's possession so he can return home. He seems to be heading towards feeling like Erfworld is where he belongs so the shoes will provide a return trip to Erfworld. All that remains is to grab the shoes of Judy Gale. She may be willing or have already given them away to somebody who will give it to him. Might be a story about this process and a way to touch more on Parson's world. Matti 23
- Corollary: Rob will use Parson's friends for this or the problem could solve itself. There are several ways this could go down. Thecommander236 note
- One: His friends are arrested for conspiracy to murder and dispose of a body since they were with Parson when he disappeared and whose going to believe this is possible and not bring these people in? The news goes national and people start a huge man-hunt to solve the mystery, Parson's parents go on the news and plead for people to help, and his friends will claim their innocence insist that he disappeared immediately upon his wish. Judy Gale will see the report, fly over, talk to and maybe bail out one of his friends, and get the full story. She will then use her shoes to get back to Erfworld to clear his friends' names, because she knows how hard it is to get home and he may not know they are in trouble.
- Two: His friend's, in a panic, will know logically that they will be blamed for the disappearance and work feverishly to get him back, plus they are more concerned about him then they initially let on. They will believe anything related to the case and, since they are nerds, they may have certain websites online to look through to try to friend someone who know anything about what happened. They come across a supposedly insane person, on a conspiracy theory website or some such, called Judy Gale and contact her out of desperation, but this particular person has the Arkenshoes and a means to prove her story...
- Three: The Masterminds or some other group will use a link up to locate the Arkenshoes (since they are a known item) to try to get Parson to attune or some such. They will use spells similar to the "Summon Perfect Warlord" spell to get the shoes or Judy back. Maybe they contact someone like Parson's friends or Judy herself. Either way, they both have reasons to find and send the shoes back.
- Four: The problem resolved itself. The shoes made it half way to the our world, stopped, left Judy's feet, and repopped in Erfworld. Corollary: They got stuck in time and repopped at the entrance of another "Summon Perfect Warlord" portal. Meaning that they could have respawned in our world where Parson was teleported out because Judy and Parson are from the same world and the shoes can be used to travel between worlds. It linked up naturally to the portal that brought Parson to Erfworld and popped there, right into Parson's friends' hands. Arguably, the people who needed them the most.
- On the Gotta Catch 'Em All point this has already happened. The Arkenshoes disappeared with Judy Gale back to where she considered home, likely Parson's world(Earth). Unknown to Wanda and Parson there is no possible way all the Arkentools can be brought together thanks to Judy (http://www.erfworld.com/wiki/index.php/Judy_Gale). Not without Parson using the return home Carnymancer spell, finding Judy, stealing her shoes and putting them on, then somehow reentering Erfworld. Could possibly be for the better, something horrible might have happened when the tools are brought together.
- Fate-aligned Arkentools, following that at least two of the first three Arkentools specialise in Fate magics:
- Predictamancy:
- The Arkenplumb: A plumbbob on the end of a string that is used to guide palm readings, choose cards, or (most easily) dowse maps and what is in front of the Predictamancer for supplies and answers.
- Dollamancy:
- The Arkenchisel/Arkenneedle: Either way, they craft things that no unattuned Dollamancer could make (unworkable materials, addding attributes in wyays that would otherwise break the rules, that sort of thing). The Arkenchisel would be more likely, but the Arkenneedle would be more humiliating for Dollamancer Lord Ace Hardware.
- Alternatively, the Arkendriver. It doesn't work on wood, and goes "vzzzoozzzozzzz" when it's working.
- Changemancy:
- Signamancy:
- Carnymancy:
- The Arkenhammer, as guessed on the Erfworld wiki. It looks like a cheap carnival prize, and tends to do flashy things that might go with the discipline of Carnymancy.
- Healomancy:
- The Arkentrowel: Fixes the cracks in reality, and heals what isn't there. Clevermancy allows the healer to dip their toes into Retconjuration the way it has been theorized in-world that the Arkenpliers allow an attuned Croakamancer to blur the Motion and Matter aspects of Naughtymancy (specifically Croakamancy) into Life, which Naughtymancy does not use.
- Unknown name: Basically the Arkenpliers, but they may also be able to heal Decrypted.
- Predictamancy:
- The Arkenspork.
- The Arkendish is linked to Archons, being able to pop them much more quickly than any other Side.
- The Arkenhammer is linked to Dwagons, being able to Tame and Incapacitate them with a single blow.
- The Arkenpliers are linked to Transylvito Vampires. The lack of flight and blood-drinking are because they are Supremely Decroaked/Uncrypted/Re-popped into Vampires instead of naturally Popped (the latter is because they have no upkeep. I don't know why they would lose the former when the Archons kept their natural Flight, though. Perhaps Decrypted can only use Natural Magic that they already knew).
- The Arkenwhatever is linked to Gobwins, and Charlie both has access to it and is screwing around with loopholes in the rules to use its non-Attuned link to keep the Gobwins out of the Gobwin Knob region post-Book 1.
- Jossed - As of Book 3 Page 17, Charlie admits to having allied with the gobwins.
- Seemly Jossed. He's a caster and had to be popped in a city. There is no indication that natural allies can produce casters.
- Book 0 reveals he's actually a Carnymancer.
- And the latest story reveals his signamancy is actually that of CHARLIE BROWN. Which, given his whole 'fated to fail' thing, we really should have seen coming.
- Jossed - the fourth tool were the Arkenshoes.
Both Toolists and Royalists are playing by the Titans' rules. Parson's ultimate battle will be to reject the Titans, help the Erfworlders claim the world as their own, and find some way of breaking the rules so much that the Titans lose their power. Both of the Titanic factions (Toolist and Royalist) will reject this (although whether they will put aside their differences and make peace with each other to stop Parson is another question — most likely not). On the other hand, Parson will not be without allies who see that there is more to what's right than the Titans' will. Sizemore is one probable ally, along with Janis. Other less expected allies might be Ossomernote and Charlie note .
- Arkentools ma also have more than one magical align. Maybe there is an invisible stat that says what type of magic someone is most attuned to and if you can activate an Arkentool, then the tool conforms to the type of magic the person is most aligned to. (Why else would a pair of pliers be the tool for resurrecting the recent dead? Unless I am missing the pun, that makes no sense.)
The guess is that the easiest way to Decrypt archons (which theoretically means opposing an Arkentool oriented towards mental connection, if not control) means letting this be correct: Charlie is actually getting paid for those archons, and paid highly. In fact, this is the exact reason he can now afford to be doing work that isn't purely mercenary.
Each different world represents a single aspect of our world. Parson is in the world based around war. Units and objects don't really "pop" and "depop", they are actually teleported between worlds. Schmuckers are the Global Currency for all the worlds, not just all the sides in war-world.
For instance, to elaborate on how farms work, whenever a war-world pig "depops," it's actually teleported to a "food preparation" or "service industry" world that handles butchering pigs. They butcher the pig, and the pork is teleported to the larder of whichever side originally owned the pig. The Schmuckers that the war-world side paid for the butchering is actually paid to the unit/side/corporation/whatever that butchered the pig in food-prep-world.
There's also a "nursery" world, where people are born to parents, just like here. They grow up, go to school, choose a profession that some other world needs, and are transported to that other world when a side in that other world needs a unit. They arrive with Identity Amnesia, but with all skills (and their name) intact.
Of course, these worlds provide services each other, in addition to war-world. Nursery-world raises butchers like it raises soldiers, and food-prep-world takes pigs from nursery-world's farms.
- Confirmed.
- Confirmed via Exact Words. Olive succeeded Judy as the Ruler of Haffaton, making her vulnerable to the prophecy.
We know that Holly unfortunately croaked at one point and I assume Ossomore was produced after that moment thus not getting any Sygnamancy from her, furthermore we know that Ossomore got along well with Ace Hardware Holly's replacement this might be because he had never met Holly thus he was judging Ace on his own merits and not comparing.
Another aspect of this simulation might be psychological Ossomer is described as militaristic like the city which created him, this might be evidence his "mom" was from the same city and a simulation of growing up in that city.
It may work the other way too. Most units have to contend with random chance and Fate fudging their rolls. But Parson was summoned with such powerful Fate magic, he may "roll" natural 20s every time. Or maybe he doesn't even need dice.
Now based on the archons, what category of creatures could the arkendish be linked to?
- Natural humanoid allies. This one seems to be the most likely, as it would explain how gobwins vanished from around gobwin knob, or how the western giants defected.
- Flying humanoids. No real proof of this, but it could work from a story-writing perspective to give Charlie some power over transilvyto.
- Or, since Gobwin Knob couldn't afford the support plan, the as yet unknown casters may have decided to provide discreet, anonymous assistance to make up the perceived difference in quality resulting from the spell. The support plan was likely something like "We cast it for you to guarantee a professional job".
- No, Parson will go back to earth with the scroll from JoJo to escape the burning city: this book's 'There's no place like home." Then he'll have to track down the Arkenshoes in Kansas to wish himself back to Erfworld. Of course, if Parson knows they exist at all that means Jack can't be dead...
- As a Foolamancer, his observation skills are too good to have been done in by forgetting to account for a dwagon's missing eye, which he explicitly noticed. And we still don't know how he got back into Spacerock without any juice; the other casters would have stopped him. And as Maggie was saying, if Parson is to fulfil his destiny, he needs to know what fighting is like, including suddenly losing a friend.
- Jossed, he's been decrypted now.
- Jossed/confirmed. While Charlie did use to occupy El-Efbaum, he wasn't running mercenary missions from it, being much more pacifistic and insular at the time.
- The only problem with this is that he has friends and family who care about him and, last we saw, Parson "disappeared" in the middle of a game session with his friends. They may be in jail for kidnapping/murder after trying to explain THAT to the police. Parson may not want to leave them hanging.
One possible answer is that it was a pretense to show Jillian something she needed to know, without giving the information directly. By finding her and contacting (or pretending to contact) Haffaton, then doing nothing, Jillian deduced that Haffaton couldn't afford Charlie's services. Which led to her passing the information on to Faq. Which led to Faq invading Haffaton, which led to Judy Gale's departure from Erf and Olive Branch's capture.
Charlie may have orchestrated all of this without seeming to have been involved at all.
And there are logical advantages to being in the Magic Kingdom. As a caster, he has allies there, and the only enemies there don't dare start something for fear of breaking neutrality (remember how they reacted to a warlord in the Magic Kingdom?). And nobody else can even get there; it's a casters only area. It also doesn't contradict his fear of Parson, as Parson is both willing and capable of finding him in the Magic Kingdom and killing him.
Think of this like a player with a PC in World of Warcraft. What if there were 8 sides fighting each other at the same time, your PC dies permanently on death, and the system appears to be rigged so that there can be no "winner" but the game is still fun. What do you do? You park off to the side and manipulate all sides with no definite end in mind aside from increasing your numbers. That's what Charlie does.
The next part of this theory is the Summon Perfect Warlord Spell created by Charlie. Charlie created the spell. But he originally created it to summon himself to Erfworld. He tested the spell by summoning Judy Gale. That the spell can be dispelled by Carnymancy (Charlie's class) only demonstrates that Charlie wanted to be able to control the results of the spell.
It looks like he intends to exploit some mechanic or other to get the corpses to the Magic Kingdom, then decrypt them.
- Confirmed.
- Also, she's still around.
- Perhaps Judy told Baum about her adventures in Erfworld, which served as the basis for the fictional Land of Oz?
- That would imply that she was from a different period of time as well as a different universe. The original book was written in 1900 and the movie was made in 1936. There's no way any of the characters are 60 to 70 years of age by Earth standards. She would literally need to be sent to a different time then Parson and would be dead by the time Parson was sent to Erf. That open up interesting possibilities as anyone from any time and any universe could all be brought to one point of time on Erf. That would give the "Elvis is a Titan" theory some weight.
- Ephedra, a Thinkamancy-but-with-Healomancy spell as it appears to actually have a restorative effect independent of mental capabilities
- Possibly the interlocking spell array on the pagoda in one of Faq's cities, a combination of Shockamancy and the other disciplines Faq had available, such as a Predictamancer's ability to easily Predict if a shot will hit and autonomously decide to take it or not
- Love spells, considering they appear to be a handful of Hippiemancy effects but casters still have discussions as to Love itself being anywhere else on the magic system if at all
- Golem creation of certain materials, as there appear to be at least two disciplines (Dollamancy and Dirtamancy) capable of golem manufacturing from different materials
- When an Erfworld unit croaks or disbands, then if it did its Duty well enough (or has a high enough Score if the scorists are correct) it reincarnates as a newly-conceived Stupidworlder, losing its memory in the process. Thus, the resemblances between Stupidworld and Erfworld are rooted in the fact that one is founded from the other.
- Alternately, all Erfworlders reincarnate as Stupidworlders, but their Service in Erfworld determines the quality of their starting circumstances in Stupidworld. So a Dutiful and heroic unit reincarnates as a child of a loving American couple with enough money and luxuries, while a cowardly or treacherous unit reincarnates as the child of a single mother in some Third World slum.
- His primary goal seems to be building up his power so as to avoid Fate killing him via Equivalent Exchange for his eariler survival. Since the Titans are the ones who arrange people's various Fates, this means he intends to defy them as well. When chatting with Parson about Toolism, his response to being called a Tool is "I'm nobody's tool." and when Parson specifies the Titans he says "... We'll see." Lastly, when rooting around in Jillian's mind, he takes an interest in destroying the mental jester she had, calling it the tool of the only enemy ever worth fighting. Said jester mainly acted as Jillian's internal compass guiding her towards acting like a Warlord, or in another sense, acting the way units like her need to behave in order to propagate the eternal war the Titans arranged Erfworld to be. Thus, the jester was an agent of the Titans/Fate. Considering Parson also has an interest in ending the ceaseless conflict, this could result in a team up when Charlie's real goals are revealed.
In Inner Peace (Through Superior Firepower) there are numerous references to the Wizard of Oz such as the Emerald City and the road made of yellow bricks that led to it. Those that read Inner Peace know that Charlie was once the leader of the side that ruled the Emerald City, and took the title of "Wizard". Those that have watched the Wizard of Oz know that the wizard is a fraud from Kansas. This implies that Charlie is also a fraud from Kansas, and therefor not a caster
Charlie not being a caster would explain why the Magic Kingdom is so hostile to him. Who would trust a man from Kansas?
- Keep in mind that the Humbug Wizard of Oz became a real one after training with Glinda. Charlie himself may or may not be a "true" caster, but his explanation of the Carnymancy/Weirdomancy scroll pretty much confirms that he has access to Carnymancy one way or the other. As to the Magic Kingdom being hostile, that only applies to the Great Minds, to whom he is a threat because of the Arkendish. He is as mysterious to the Magic Kingdom as he is to everyone else. They have no idea whether he's a caster, a warlord, or a talking frog.
- Jossed: Charlie confirmed the fact that he's a Carnymancer.
- References to the Arkendish picking up "extrauniverse channels" in a Charlie-POV chapter suggest that Charlie has at least listened to Stupidworld via Aliens Steal Cable.