Erfworld
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| Erfworld | |
|---|---|
 Lady Wanda Firebaugh and Lord Manpower the Temporary ride a dwagon to Gobwin Knob. |
|
| Author(s) | Rob Balder and Jamie Noguchi |
| Website | Erfworld |
| Current status | Updated twice weekly, on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Parson's Klog updates on Thursdays. |
| Launch date | 2006-12-07 |
| Genre(s) | fantasy,comedy,parody |
Erfworld: The Battle for Gobwin Knob is a fantasy/comedy story-driven webcomic written by Rob Balder (the author of PartiallyClips) and illustrated by Jamie Noguchi. It is hosted on Giant in the Playground Games[1], along with Rich Burlew's "The Order of the Stick".
Erfworld follows a graphic novel format, with a new "page" released every update. A parallel work called Parson's Klog reveals the main protagonist's diary entries. The setting is "Erfworld," a fantasy world that adheres to the rules of a turn-based strategy wargame. The narrative itself is surreal and referential. The comic's humor largely revolves around strategy-fantasy videogames, roleplaying games, popular culture references, and historical references, with frequent puns and sight-gags, as well as letter changes in frequently used names (spidews, dwagons and twolls instead of spiders, dragons and trolls, for example).
Erfworld's plot, setting, and characters are released under a Creative Commons Attribution, Noncommercial, ShareAlike license[2].
Contents |
[edit] Plot synopsis
After a brief description of the origins of Erfworld, the comic begins with the Battle of Warchalking, a military conflict between the forces of Stanley the Plaid and Marbit (and possibly other) forces. The battle ends in defeat for the Plaid, when his warlord is slain. Left without leadership, Stanley the Plaid and his chief advisor Wanda Firebaugh use a powerful and expensive "Summon Perfect Warlord" spell, summoning Parson Gotti to fill the role.
Meanwhile, Prince Ansom, the leader of a coalition against Stanley the Plaid, and Jillian Zamussels, a female barbarian officer in his forces, plan their final assault on Stanley's capital city, Gobwin Knob. Jillian is sent ahead to scout on a flying unit, followed by (unknown to her) heavy ground forces as emergency backup. Zamussels is attacked by a squadron of dwagons, captured, and taken to Gobwin Knob, where Firebaugh interrogates her. The ground forces that Prince Ansom sent to aid Zamussels continue to follow her trail, reporting the situation to Ansom as they learn more about Zamussels' disappearance.
[edit] Characters
- Stanley the Tool, aka Lord Stanley The Plaid: Overlord of the city of Gobwin Knob, and of the nearly lost Plaid tribe, he is egotistical and has weak strategic ability. He possesses the Arkenhammer, an ancient and mysterious tool of divine origin, resembling a toy hammer. Lord Stanley is involved in an ongoing war as an effort to find the other Arkentools. Unfortunately, his handling of the war (such as promoting of only the most handsome men to warlord status) led to the loss of all the eleven cities he once owned, leaving only his capital of Gobwin Knob. He had Wanda summon "the perfect warlord" in an attempt to win the battle for Gobwin Knob, which yielded Parson Gotti. In his first meeting with Parson, Parson convinced Stanley that "tool" was a term of honour. Drawing a connection between this title and his search for the Arkentools, Stanley happily declared himself a tool. Stanley was "common infantry" before coming to rule through regicide and despises being considered evil despite having many enemies and (by Parson's words) having classic evil creatures at his side.
- Wanda Firebaugh: Chief Croakamancer serving Lord Stanley. She is very patient and formal, and a skilled manager. She is skilled at many types of magic, but has stated that only Croakamancy has any interest for her. She was the one who suggested using the warlord summoning spell, and cast the spell that drew Parson into Erfworld. As a Croakamancer, she was not ideally trained for the casting of the Summon Perfect Warlord Findamancer spell, and the warlord she summoned (Parson) did not match Stanley's expectations. She has been described as a skilled amateur torturer and interrogator.
- Parson Gotti aka Lord Hamster: Depicted as the author of the webcomic Hamstard (actually created by the authors of Erfworld as a meta-background for Parson's character and as an "easter egg"), and who spends months at a time designing strategy games for his own amusement. He is overweight, slovenly and sarcastic but a gifted strategist and designer. He was summoned to Erfworld by Wanda on Lord Stanley's orders, called by a spell meant to summon "the ultimate warlord". Parson fulfills many of the requirements Lord Stanley asked for, such as: physical size, metabolic and linguistic compatibility, willingness to plan wars and "[kill] his foes for fun" (strategy gaming), and the desire to be summoned. Parson stands roughly twice as tall as Wanda Firebaugh, making him nearly three times Stanley the Tool's height. His name is an anagram for "Protagonist".
- Prince Ansom: The commander in charge of King Slately's army, in opposition of the armies of Lord Stanley. He is a skilled leader, but severely lacking in modesty[3]. His symbol is a radish. He carries the Arkenpliers, though he is not attuned to them, and thus cannot use their special abilities. Ansom dislikes the idea of Stanley coming to power by regicide, and ruling despite his ignobility. This is a major motivation for Ansom's organisation of the coalition to defeat Stanley[4].
- Jillian Zamussels: A female barbarian and warlord, fighting for the army of Prince Ansom. She is fearless and independent, and employs a generally hack and slash strategy. She has an unrealistically oversized sword. Jillian has a reputation for being captured by the enemy, and is frequently tortured by Wanda - though after torture they apparently engage in conversation, possibly hinting at a casual friendship[5]
- Sizemore Rockwell: A Dirtamancer in the armies of Gobwin Knob, who serves as an advisor to Parson. He is very curious and loves to study all types of magic, but is unskilled in any beyond his speciality.
- Bogroll: A one-eyed twoll who serves as a guardsman in Gobwin Knob and lackey to Parson. He is loyal and typically good-natured, although a frequent target of the other guardsmen's pranks. Bogroll was a character in the PartiallyClips strip Bogroll the Cyclops, and is the only known crossover between PartiallyClips and Erfworld.
- Vinnie Doombats: (also spelled "Vinny") A count who holds loyalty to Ansom personally and fights for the coalition. Vinnie has few qualms about speaking frankly, in a colourful accent, to Prince Ansom.
[edit] Known Arkentools
There are four Arkentools known to be in existence, though only two have so far been identified in the comics.
- Arkenhammer: Owned by and attuned to Stanley the Plaid/Tool, the Arkenhammer has the power to control dwagons, to glow brightly, to levitate along with its wielder, and to turn approximately 20 percent of walnuts cracked with it into pigeons. Stanley claims the Arkenhammer has chosen him for divine reasons, and uses this as rationale for his quest to obtain the other tools.
- Arkenpliers: Owned by but not attuned to Prince Ansom, they serve as a close combat weapon have the power to "turn most Uncroaked to dust". Their hidden powers are currently unknown.
[edit] Recognition
Despite being a "young" webcomic, Erfworld has been recognised by several sources and webcomic authorities. Authors of other webcomics (not including Rob Balder and Rich Burlew) such as Howard Tayler of Schlock Mercenary[6] and Mohammad "Hawk" Haque of Applegeeks[7] have posted reviews and comments about Erfworld, and it has been cited on numerous webcomic sites such as Comixpedia[8] and Fleen[9], by authors outside the webcomic field, such as Jonathan Coulton [10], and by Time-Blog and Time magazine author/journalist Lev Grossman in his article Webcomics are the New Blogs[11]. The addition of Erfworld to GiantITP was noted in "First Watch," Dragon Magazine's monthly section on new developments in gaming and entertainment.[12]
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.giantitp.com/index.html
- ^ http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29092
- ^ http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erfcast.html
- ^ http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0034.html
- ^ http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0036.html
- ^ http://www.schlockmercenary.com/blog/index.php/2007/01/14/what-exactly-is-an-erf/
- ^ http://www.applegeeks.com/blog/?p=1441
- ^ http://comixpedia.com/node/10133
- ^ http://www.fleen.com/archives/2007/01/19/what-on-erf-do-you-mean-my-language/
- ^ http://www.jonathancoulton.com/2007/01/17/i-pervade-more-media/
- ^ http://time-blog.com/nerd_world/2007/01/webcomics_are_the_new_blogs_th_2.html
- ^ "First Watch." Dragon Magazine, Issue #354 March 2007: 16.
