2010-03-22: This. Is. Tsuiraku!

[mindstalk]

And monks.
Robots vs. zombies vs. ninjas.

I'm not sure the assassins count at this level. Maybe they can be the monkeys.

[Forrest]

I think if the Wraiths count as any cliche childhood fantasy archetype, they're cowboys. 1337 cowboy assassins, but still. Farrell is a whole country of cowboys. Or maybe pirates? Works better vs the Ensigerum's ninjas. Something from that general era of gun-toting lawlessness, either way.

So we've got a god, some zombies, and some ninjas; versus a goddess, some robots, and maybe some pirate-cowboys.

Since Elves are involved here can we expect to see the Dwarves suddenly show up and complete our quadrifecta of classical archetype animosities?

[Schmorgluck]

Considering their extensive use of firearms, I think you can count them as the pirates.

[wrog]

Can we expect robots vs zombies in the big show down?

Not if the robots and the zombies are on the same side.

what would be the policy of the Gewehr Wraiths. They are not exactly a neglectible force.

Actually, they are. And their policy would be something like Hide in a Deep Hole Until it's Over (seriously, what else could they do? Ally with the elves against the Ensigerum, Tsuiraku, the robots, the zombies, and the Entire Rest of the World? Not bloody likely...)

[Graybeard]

Can we expect robots vs zombies in the big show down?

Not if the robots and the zombies are on the same side.

what would be the policy of the Gewehr Wraiths. They are not exactly a neglectible force.

Actually, they are. And their policy would be something like Hide in a Deep Hole Until it's Over (seriously, what else could they do? Ally with the elves against the Ensigerum, Tsuiraku, the robots, the zombies, and the Entire Rest of the World? Not bloody likely...)

If there are any of them left. Remember that the monks were getting sent out to wipe out the whole bunch of them, at least in places the Ensigerum can reach (Veracia). Yeah, "Hide in a Deep Hole" sounds like the right strategy ... if they haven't all been buried in it except for Jon.

[DatDude]

Yeah, and while we're at wild war scenarii, I think there's an important question that hasn't been treated: what would be the policy of the Gewehr Wraiths. They are not exactly a neglectible force.

If they where smart they'd dump the assignation thing and go into gun sales. Failing that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. We've seen from Jon that Elves drop fast when they don't know a bullet is coming. Snipers I'm sure would cut the Elvin population down a bit. Depending of course on the gods of Reactive Shielding

[Lurker 314]

Can we expect robots vs zombies in the big show down?

Not if the robots and the zombies are on the same side.

what would be the policy of the Gewehr Wraiths. They are not exactly a neglectible force.

Actually, they are. And their policy would be something like Hide in a Deep Hole Until it's Over (seriously, what else could they do? Ally with the elves against the Ensigerum, Tsuiraku, the robots, the zombies, and the Entire Rest of the World? Not bloody likely...)

They can ally with Tsuiraku. First, Tsuiraku basically runs things out that way anyway. Here, Farrel looks to me like a buffer state for Tsuiraku from the rest of the world. Second, Tsuiraku's spy network probably has connections with them. The Gewehr push into Veracia might even have been spurred by Tsuiraku interests (would explain the stubbornness of the Gewehr who were dealing with the time monks, if they were hanging on for a big client like Tsuiraku). Third, while Gewehr doesn't have anything to do with elves, they do have a few axes to grind with the time monks. Tsuiraku could provide some heavy muscle for perhaps permanently crushing an otherwise invincible enemy.

Even if Gewehr strategy should be hiding in that deep hole, the chance to get some payback on the time monks might get them to come out for one (or perhaps two, if they think they can play more than one side) of the other primary powers.

[Forrest]

Can we expect robots vs zombies in the big show down?

Not if the robots and the zombies are on the same side.

Well that's what I meant by my "Battle of Five Armies type situation" comment. Whether or not Tsuiraku goes after the Elves I seriously doubt they're going to be very friendly if they run into an army of zombie trolls.

Also, regarding the Wrath's involvement or lack thereof, I imagine if Tsuiraku does go after the Elves they'll be smarter than to just throw whatever they've got against a great big unknown somewhere far far away. They'd muster up reserve forces to call on if need be, possibly from outside their own population: a foreign legion. And where besides Farrel, and I guess maybe the North, would they draw from? This may be a way of getting the Wraith involved again, as a mercenary army. They do kill things for money already, after all, and Tsuiraku probably has a lot of it by Farrellian standards.

So the Elves may just serve as a focal point. A god and his ninjas march their zombies off to war against the elves, and some folks with a goddess and some hired pirates and a bunch of robots march off to the same cause, meet each other at the door, and fight over who gets to do the honor of exterminating the elves. (Then all that racket wakes up the Dwarves -- they're just resting -- and now everybody's got bigger problems).

[mindstalk]

Another thought on wargaming:

Tsuiraku lives mostly in or under a flying city. They use airships, which may or may not be magical in their levitation.

Elves know how to disrupt magic flows, on an unknown scale. We saw the anti-personnel weapon; do they have bigger ones, or could they make them?

The "war" could plausibly (in-world, less so dramatically) be an elven insertion team activating a device, big enough to take out both levitation devices. Only for a minute... but it takes only 20 seconds to fall down. War over in the first blow.

[ChunLing]

I think that elves have already mentioned this to Ichiro a couple of times...but they are in a desperate hole and Tsuiraku now holds the trump card they were hoping could get them out.

On the other hand, it seems that the supposed trump may just be a Joker, currently incapable of anything at all. He might be quite confident that he can still use it to bluff, but he's hardly going to call.

Tsuiraku has no reason to fight unless they're attacked (or at least insulted), the elves have no reason to risk worsening their problems unless it promises immediate acquisition of godly power. They might try and steal or kill Mejinilis, but anything that might leave her alive and with a serious grudge against them would seem...here I am talking as if elves are not congenital mental defectives. Well, it seems that convincing Tsuiraku that the elves don't deserve to be wiped out would be a more intelligent strategy for the elves, but they probably don't see it that way.