Erfworld

The interesting question is what could Parson do with that information?

Oooh.

At the least, he should now know FAQ and Transylvito have open diplomacy, and the latter knows about the death of Banhammer through Jillian. He can probably guess that they have some form of alliance given that Bunny lists Banhammer's death as something that displeased him.

Then again, telling Don through Bunny that Ansom is going to parley with Tramennis might be another ameliorating factor. As in "Hey, I'm getting the heretic to make nice with his family, we're not going to be crusading any more".

I don't think Don had any personal relationship with Banhammer, he's just one more Royal croaked by Stanley. There were a lot of Royal deaths that angered him.

Now this is an interesting bit of psychological warfare. Jojo is trying to tempt Parson to try to Screw Destiny. Of course, we have no idea if defeating Charlie is actually his Fate, or if he has some kind of exemption.

Never mind that, if his summary of Carnymancy is accurate, Parson accepting and using the spell to return home would boomerang somehow and lead directly to Charlie's defeat. It makes the discipline seem a bit tragic, really — forever pushing at the boundaries of Fate, knowing that Fate will always win in the end.

edited 15th Jun '15 6:16:30 AM by Fighteer

Wow, Jojo is good at this.

Meh. Breaking fate on purpose is just a flip-side extreme of Wanda's blind following.

Parson doesn't want to break Charlie because fate said so, he wants him gone because Charlie has attacked him and his friends. In fact, if Charlie foreverswore on his magical contracts from directly attacking or indirectly manipulating events to do Gobwin Knob harm, that would achieve Parson's victory.

I don't know, if I were summoned on Erfworld I'd be pretty pissed at Fate in general. XD

Eh. The most practical way to go about prophecies is to not give much of a damn about what Fate wants. (Except when you try using it to get valuable information annd then tread very VERY carefully)

But there isn't even any specific prophecy in here. Jojo is just playing Parson by presuming the state of unknowns to be exactly how they need to be for his argument to work.

Of course, Parson did try to use the scroll once. Fate intervened to stop him.

Meanwhile, I wonder what Janis is thinking. She doesnt want either of those outcomes.

edited 15th Jun '15 6:38:38 PM by DeMarquis

If we recall, the scroll that summoned Parson into Erfworld to begin with had a huge Fate component. So clearly there is an underlying purpose to Parson's presence, whether he knows it or not. Of course, that's the rub: nobody can be sure exactly what Fate has in store for him. Whatever Maggie or Jojo or Janis has in mind can only be guesswork.

It's been hinted at that Parson's RP friends back on Earth will factor into the story at some point. So, how better to subvert the Carnymancy than for Parson to use the return scroll, then find a way back to Erfworld with all his buddies in tow, each of whom becomes a high level warlord? Obviously this is pure WMG, but it's plausible.

edited 17th Jun '15 7:02:39 AM by Fighteer

I wonder if their play could affect events within Erfworld- and would there be a way for Parson to figure that out?

I think we've adequately established that this is not a Game Within A Game; to the extent that there may exist a larger meta-context to Erfworld, it's way more than a few people in the "real" world sitting around a table. For one thing, it would be the longest game anyone's played, ever, lasting for millions of turns.

Another thing is that much of the aspect of the world that Parson sees is governed by Erfworld's Signamancy shaping things to fit his personal experiences.

edited 17th Jun '15 5:25:31 PM by Fighteer

Come to think of it, does this thing about poor Signamancy and aging coming from poor decisions etc. mean that Maggie is literally getting younger because she's become a more valuable unit to her side?

edited 17th Jun '15 5:59:40 PM by Arha

Quite possibly- there have been lines that indicate she's started looking younger.

edited 17th Jun '15 6:20:25 PM by Gilphon

I guess it could sort of be their world's version of "you're happier with your job and your life, so you start taking better care of yourself, so you appear younger and more attractive".

Hmm. Does that mean one possible indication of a loss of loyalty is that your underling starts looking like an old hag? Is Bunny about to lose her youthful good looks?

I'm not sure that Loyalty and a unit's perception of its own usefulness are directly related values, but one imagines that there would be other natural Signamancy effects associated with a low Loyalty stat.

Complicated.

Hehe, I saw that one coming. What's the specific trope for the idea that you need to have had sex in order to be a fully mature individual?

edited 3rd Jul '15 5:20:44 AM by Fighteer

There can never be a permanent peace so long as Erfworld operates the way that it does. She realizes that, and we've seen that she has plans for him that involve "breaking the system". So whatever she is about to do, it's not just about "love", she's manipulating him. Which is what Hippiemancers do, I guess.

A Man Is Not A Virgin, maybe?

I don't think it's that way. For starters, she is blatantly open about what she hopes he'll do.

And I think that what she says about needing that understanding for the purposes of Erfworld's wonky systems is legit.

^ Just because you're apparently honest with someone doesn't mean you aren't manipulating them. I don't really consider Janis any more trustworthy than Isaac.

I think it's a sort of Gray-and-Gray Morality thing. Janis is a genuinely nice person who wants the best for Parson (and everyone) and is manipulating him.

edited 3rd Jul '15 9:18:00 AM by Cozzer