OOTS #1267 - The Discussion Thread

[Thecommander236]

I bet anything that the capital of Anywhere is literally No-clue-at-all.

[WanderingMist]

The capital of Anywhere is clearly Anywhere.

[brian 333]

According to this stuff I just pulled out of my hat, the government of Anywhere is a constitutional monarchy with a direct democracy as its base government, so the authority of the kingdom is dispersed to all corners of the kingdom. Therefore the capitol of Anywhere is Everywhere.

[F.Harr]

I like when Redcloak gets have some sort of fun with his boss.

[Fyraltari]

constitutional monarchy with a direct democracy as its base government

Is the idea "everyone is the King" here?

[Metastachydium]

Is the idea "everyone is the King" here?

Alternatively, the monarch might be a figurehead with ceremonial powers only beyond the one vote they get as a citizen.

[Fyraltari]

Alternatively, the monarch might be a figurehead with ceremonial powers only beyond the one vote they get as a citizen.

Ceremonial powers are still powers.

[Metastachydium]

Ceremonial powers are still powers.

But not powers that ruly matter.

[alceryes]

I like when Redcloak gets have some sort of fun with his boss.

Definitely!
The "free gift with purchase," line killed me!

[KorvinStarmast]

According to this stuff I just pulled out of my hat, the government of Anywhere is a constitutional monarchy with a direct democracy as its base government, so the authority of the kingdom is dispersed to all corners of the kingdom. Therefore the capitol of Anywhere is Everywhere.

I like where you are going with this.

[Metastachydium]

According to this stuff I just pulled out of my hat, the government of Anywhere is a constitutional monarchy with a direct democracy as its base government, so the authority of the kingdom is dispersed to all corners of the kingdom. Therefore the capitol of Anywhere is Everywhere.

I like where you are going with this.

Clueless Foreigner: [Clearly confused.] And where is this "Everywhere", exactly?
Local Crowd: [All turning to stare ominously at Clueless Foreigner, in unison.] We Are Everywhere!

[Eric the White]

I wonder how much leeway the Quniton is willing to extend Xykon here. His stated goal is to impose order on chaos, which he cant do if he ends the contract on the least little messup, (like the one Xykon does in the last panel) On the other hand... being of pure law. This should be fun! :)

[Tzardok]

What messup in the last panel?

[alceryes]

I wonder how much leeway the Quniton is willing to extend Xykon here. His stated goal is to impose order on chaos, which he cant do if he ends the contract on the least little messup, (like the one Xykon does in the last panel) On the other hand... being of pure law. This should be fun! :)

Remember the Quinton just wants order generated. He doesn't necessarily care about catching Xykon on every single possible (not definite) mess up. Or, more specifically, the chaos being generated by the little bit of waffling Xykon is doing is nothing compared to the order being generated in Xykon having to think about what he is saying. My guess is that he'll let Xykon fumble and fumble again because you know what? ...ka-ching, ka-ching, ka-ching! More and more order up!

I also don't see anything wrong in the last panel. The last word of every sentence has an odd number of characters(?)

[wilphe]

Clueless Foreigner: [Clearly confused.] And where is this "Everywhere", exactly?
Local Crowd: [All turning to stare ominously at Clueless Foreigner, in unison.] We Are Everywhere!

One guy slowly puts hand up: I'm not

Omnes: Splitter!

[Metastachydium]

One guy slowly puts hand up: I'm not

Alternative Ending:
Crowd: [Mobs the guy and tears the poor soul to shreds.] Yes, you are!

[mjasghar]

Remember the Quinton just wants order generated. He doesn't necessarily care about catching Xykon on every single possible (not definite) mess up. Or, more specifically, the chaos being generated by the little bit of waffling Xykon is doing is nothing compared to the order being generated in Xykon having to think about what he is saying. My guess is that he'll let Xykon fumble and fumble again because you know what? ...ka-ching, ka-ching, ka-ching! More and more order up!

I also don't see anything wrong in the last panel. The last word of every sentence has an odd number of characters(?)

As a being of absolute law it will follow the letter of the contract

[Riftwolf]

Is the idea "everyone is the King" here?

How dare you! Everyone's the Seneschal! (They're also a critic)

[alceryes]

As a being of absolute law it will follow the letter of the contract

Definitely.
However, we are not privy to the exact number of seconds of pause the quinton will allow for continuing sentence clauses.
Not to mention the fact that, we see the word bubble, with all the words, at the same time and are not privy to how Xykon actually speaks them, or how long the pauses are.

So, we can never actually know when and where the quinton will draw the line, if at all.

Edit - Also, we don't have a copy of the contract.

[Wintermoot]

As a being of absolute law it will follow the letter of the contract

Eh. I find that overstated.

We see plenty of beings of pure chaos who are able to follow orders and act in a hierarchy when it suits them.

No reason why a being of pure law can't ignore some bending of rules when it suits them.

[The MunchKING]

We see plenty of beings of pure chaos who are able to follow orders and act in a hierarchy when it suits them.

I don't know about that. The only being of Pure Chaos I really remember are the Salaads like the ones that were advising Elan when he thought about Law vs. Chaos. And they were pretty lolrandom.

[Tzardok]

*snerk* red salad, blue salad, death salad...

[Fyraltari]

Caesar Slaad was the most Lawful of them all and look where that got him.

[Eric the White]

What messup in the last panel?

He clearly ends a sentence with an even number of letters and then "fixes it."

Definitely.
However, we are not privy to the exact number of seconds of pause the quinton will allow for continuing sentence clauses.
Not to mention the fact that, we see the word bubble, with all the words, at the same time and are not privy to how Xykon actually speaks them, or how long the pauses are.

So, we can never actually know when and where the quinton will draw the line, if at all.

Edit - Also, we don't have a copy of the contract.

Because we can see the word bubbles however we know that he made a small misstep. The first sentence ends with an even number of letters and an exclamation point. If the Quinton wanted too it could make an issue of it, but then no more order - plus Xykon will probably do something random just out of frustration. I imagine we will know where the Quinton draws the line - when it does it.

[Quizatzhaderac]

However, we are not privy to the exact number of seconds of pause the quinton will allow for continuing sentence clauses.
Not to mention the fact that, we see the word bubble, with all the words, at the same time and are not privy to how Xykon actually speaks them, or how long the pauses are.

Xykon is able to read the word bubbles (He reacts to a speech bubble where his name is spelt with a Z), so maybe the Quinton can as well.

[mjasghar]

The mess up is in next to last panel not the last one - all his sentences in the last panel end in odd lettered words.

[jokem]

The capital of Anywhere is clearly Anywhere.

I have no clue at all...

[brian 333]

As a being of absolute law it will follow the letter of the contract

A contract is a meeting of the minds, and therefore attempting to fulfill the terms of a contract to the best of one's ability is considered fulfilling the contract.

In my opinion:
For a LG character, the letter of the contract is important, but the spirit of the contract is more so.
For a LE character the letter of the contract trumps its intent if by so doing one can leverage a gain, but if such gain can be more easily had by adhering to the spirit of the contract, then a token attempt to fulfill the letter is sufficient.
For a LN character, both spirit and letter have equal weight. If adhering more to the letter or to the spirit of the agreement fulfils the intent of the contract, then a token attempt to fulfill the weaker half could be deemed sufficient.

LG= I couldn't get the blue blankets you wanted, but I can get green. They will keep you just as warm.
LN= I can get warm green blankets, or blue linen sheets, take your pick.
LE= There are no blue blankets available until July, so you'll have to wait. No refunds, as I've already spent the money.

[bunsen_h]

A contract is a meeting of the minds, and therefore attempting to fulfill the terms of a contract to the best of one's ability is considered fulfilling the contract.

It really doesn't work that way. Some people vastly overcommit, promising things that they have no real hope of achieving. No matter how much effort they've expended in trying to fulfil those promises, they're not relieved of the consequences of failing to meet those commitments. At least not in a sane and functional legal system.

Gilbert and Sullivan's Mikado notwithstanding:

When your Majesty says, "Let a thing be done," it's as good as done — practically, it is done — because your Majesty's will is law. Your Majesty says, "Kill a gentleman," and a gentleman is told off to be killed. Consequently, that gentleman is as good as dead — practically, he is dead — and if he is dead, why not say so?

Years ago, I was treasurer for an organization. My successor wanted to transfer the group's savings from our old bank to another. She tried and she tried, unsuccessfully, because she kept refusing to follow the old bank's established procedure for doing so: to send that bank the necessary form, with the necessary signatures, to direct them to release the funds. Instead, she kept trying to get the new bank to have the funds moved over to them on her say-so. (If it worked that way, I'd create an account at my local bank in the name of the Gates Foundation and have them transfer money from Richmond. Oddly enough, it doesn't work that way.) She seemed to think that she ought to get credit for expending all that effort, despite not accomplishing the goal.

[brian 333]

Yes, sometimes people cannot deliver on their half of a contract and it defaults. That is very different from giving good faith effort and renegotiating the agreement. And in the end, if one party is unhappy with the result, they can seek remedies. In arbitration a neutral party will consider just how much the good faith effort was worth.

In Xykon's case, the modron may choose to allow a slip here and there to further it's goal of increased order through Xykon's attempt to fulfill the contract. If it cancels service after the first mistake, it will miss future opportunities for gain.