Found 39 entries in 0.114 seconds.
A quick question I've had for a while... the whole 600 billion souls on Cradle thing... is that just the humanoid/sentient species or does that include everything alive including plants, remnants, etc?
Sentient population. It's very large and a much higher percentage of their planet's surface is inhabited.
Were the sacred artists Suriel revealed to Lindon a mere sampling of the beings at that power level, or are these literally the only three groups at their level?
They are not the only ones. In the form of a young boy, an ancient dragon rules the desert to the east of the Blackflame Empire. He is kept from consuming the humans by the deterrent of the Akura clan, whose Matriarch is one of the few beings on the planet he respects. Northstrider gathers power in the hopes that he will one day be able to challenge this particular dragon.
How advanced is their scientific understanding on cradle? Cause I mean I know they have lots of knowledge of their magic and their alchemy equivalent but do they understand stuff like, there is a top of the atmosphere, cradle revolves around the sun, space is empty, other planets exist... stuff like that
It's not great in Sacred Valley, but there are places in Cradle where their scientific understanding is pretty advanced.
But their technology never advanced to the level you'd THINK it could, what with scripts and constructs.
Why? A few reasons, but here's the main one: thanks to the sacred arts, if you have the resources, you can learn to DO pretty much anything yourself. You don't have to develop the technology to fly in a world where you can learn to fly.
It's more complicated than that, but we'll explore it as we get into the more advanced areas of the world.
1. So what the heck happened between valin and the queen cause from what i gathered from the short stories they used to be thick as thieves, kinda like simon and leah (is history gonna repeat itself ) 2. So at the risk of repeating this request, would love some info about the abidan court or at least the willverse or whatever u call it.3. What about the First Mistress of Mist cause as u said (or impied) she was running a guild in a time when humans were basically livestock/slaves.4. So i asked this before and u said to wait for Blackflame so i wont ask this point again.5. Were the elders trapped by the abidan or are they beneath their notice? 6. Would love a comparison system for power between different worlds.7. so much to ask but dont wanna be a bother or be the reason for causing a delay in blackflame so ill stop here ans any you can leave any which u want to keep for plot purpose
1.) The answer to this is pretty tightly related to why Valin hates Damasca in the first place.2.) I'm calling it the Willverse now. That's hilarious.3.) I don't know how much more I'm going to explore her, but yeah, she was running a Guild when humans were AT BEST servants. It would be an interesting time to write about.4.) Yes. Wait for Blackflame.5.) The Elders were trapped by the Abidan. In their current forms, they're beneath the notice of the Abidan, but if they escaped Asylum, it would be a different matter entirely.6.) It's hard to come up with a comparison, because comparing one magic system to another is like comparing apples to non-Euclidean geometry.7.) Hahaha thanks! I have spent a long time on this thread, thanks to the site bug that has prevented me from responding to anything over the last few days. I do need to get back to work.
so 2 last question 1. are Territories the surviving fragments/parts of the Worlds(main planets in Willverse) that were destroyed by the Corruption or by the abidan.(as punishment or cause they got corrupted)2. why were the ELDERS trapped on asylum was it a matter of opportunity(all were present there) or were the people of asylum punised for some purposeor was there a significant power/structure on asylum that was supposed to keep the ELDERS in check but something went wrong.(like were the people advanced enough to subdue the ELDERS or was there a prison )
1.) They're fragments of worlds that died naturally, uncorrupted.2.) SPOILERS!
what is a Cradle calendar like? I know that time basically works the same as here i.e. a day is 24 hours and a week is 7 days, but do the people on cradle count the days the same way as the do in travellers by counting the number of days to big days of each season? do they even have four season or is it more of a wet/dry season than winter/spring ect.
How many moons does cradle have? how many other planets are there in cradle's solar system?
Cradle has one moon, and it appears larger in the night sky than ours does. It's pocked with scars not just from ancient meteor showers, but also from the sacred arts techniques that have struck it over the millennia.
I haven't brought up the calendar in the main series because it changes so often. Sacred Valley had a calendar, the Desolate Wilds had a calendar, the Blackflame Empire has an official calendar and several more colloquial ones, and so on.
In order to keep it consistent in each region, I personally use a calendar based on year and season. That's not what they use in the world, though.
So if Simon managed to ascend, would he become a Wolf? And how far away is he in terms of power from the weakest of the wolves?
I'm going to guess LIGHT YEARS away from ascending. Remember that the Emperor could smite all the incarnations at once, and unless he was secretly an ascended being, it would seem that Simon is way way behind even that. So unless he masters valinhall and becomes the next traveler.. He's got a ways to go.
Yeah, the Emperor has enough power to ascend past his world. The only reason he hasn't is because he's in Asylum, which is effectively a prison.We haven't seen anyone in Traveler's Gate strong enough to do that. But if Simon DID get to ascend, then he would end up as a Wolf, yeah.
Would the emperor have ascended and ditched his planet had he been able to or would his sense of duty have kept him there?
He wouldn't have left on his own. He may have tried to take a team into the Way, or tried to cast the Elders out.
Do the other planets or asteroids or space bodies in Cradle's Iterations gather aura?
Yes, they do. The other celestial bodies in Cradle do have the same rules and laws of aura that Cradle does. It won't be as rich or as powerful, but it'll be there.
The Emperor is way more powerful than a lot of people on the blog give him credit for!
How about him vs. Northstrider or any of those guys Suriel showed Lindon at the beginning of Unsouled. Actually I believe The Emperor would kick any of their butts one on one. How about The Emperor vs. the three strongest people on the planet Cradle? Besides Suriel because she is not a resident of Cradle.
Basically is anyone on Cradle on par with The Elders, or could The Emperor handily destroy anyone on Cradle?
Their powers work differently, but no, the Emperor would not be one of the strongest people on Cradle. The reason the Abidan value Cradle is because it nurtures and produces extremely powerful individuals.
A fight against Yerin's master would be pretty even. Depends on the circumstances at that point, like how well-armed the Emperor is and how seriously the Sword Sage takes the fight from the very beginning.
Has anybody on Cradle every left their world to go to the moon or another planet?
Yes. Minor spoiler alert: I'd like to go into more detail, but I'd also like to explore this in the main series, so I'm going to leave it at that.
When you say universe do you mean literal full scale universe like the one we exist in or do you mean a sorta localized sphere of planets and stars, perhaps the scale of one galaxy, and nothing else exists at all?
Full universe. Some of the Iterations have galactic colonies.
That would imply that the most developed and advanced iterations have multiple worlds all united under one government and/or race. Makes sense that the "Court of Seven" would rule from this iteration. I wonder if in the most advanced iterations, they are so knowledgeable that things like the Abidan are not myths, just everyday facts of life. And hell I wonder if the average citizens discuss the policies this Court of Seven implement or think about. I wonder if this iteration is so fucking advanced that even a child in this civilization would seem like a god to the strongest people on Cradle. At some point this becomes an epic fantasy space opera now that I think about it...
Sanctum is like you've described. It's a galactic civilization with faster-than-light travel in the form of skipping through the Way, they're fully aware of the Abidan, and they benefit from the technology of other worlds.However, it's the exception. Most Iterations, even the technologically advanced ones, are unaware (or only vaguely aware) of the Abidan. That's a result of their non-interference policy.There is at least one organization out there that unites worlds and gladly interferes in natural development. They encourage inter-universal trading, develop weapons based on the magic of several different worlds, and even raid other worlds for resources.
Are there tens of billions of lowgolds on Cradle? Since 1000 x 1000 x 10,000 = 10 billion, either the odds that Eithan quoted are incorrect, or else there must be a heck of a lot of lowgolds around somewhere.
This may or may not surprise you, but I actually have an answer for this.First of all, Eithan is using those numbers rhetorically. He begins it by saying "I've heard it said..." indicating that this is idiomatic, and not literally correct. It's really just a saying about how difficult it is to advance; it's not based on accurate census data.That said, it's not high. It's low.Cradle has a population far greater than that of Earth and more spread out. The planet is larger, the gravity is higher, and the sacred arts developed as a way to survive in environments that would kill any real human. Even though the populace is spread out, there's basically no region that isn't inhabited by SOMEONE, including deserts at the center of many continents and large stretches of the ocean.But, of course, the only people who know this are the Abidan. And now you.
Since we know the Iteration is called Cradle ... what do the inhabitants of Cradle call their world? Is it rutabaga? or do all humans call the main planet terra or earth?
My thought on that is that almost always unless people are aware of a larger universe they just have a word that means the world, so we'd just translate it to Earth. That's usually my answer to that, because there's all these fantasy worlds where the inhabitants call their Earth "Kren", or whatever. And it's like - that's cool, that's really neat, that makes sense, they call it "Narnia" or whatever. I like knowing the name but would the inhabitants of their world really call it that, or just call it the world? So that's always my thought process on that. Depending on the language, they have different words - so that's just the world for Earth in their language.
Is there room in the willverse for an iteration that is populated entirely by nonhuman intelligence? And what about AI? Do they add stability to they way or do they not count cause they are "artificial"?
This is one of the sacrifices I had to make in designing the Willverse, which I still think is a hilarious name: truly artificial intelligence doesn't exist.
In theory, as we understand intelligence in our world right now, we should soon reach a point where artificial intelligence starts increasing exponentially until it changes the world entirely.
Well, in the Willverse, developing civilizations eventually discover a hard limit to artificial intelligence. The same X factor that ties the Way to human consciousness also means that non-human entities can never be truly sentient.
A pure computer in the Willverse is never going to beat a really good Turing Test.
However, you CAN manipulate human consciousness to get around the intelligence barrier.
A Presence is an AI built out of what you might call human souls.
***
I had to make this decision because, if hyper-advanced AI is possible in this multiverse, then *that's* what would be running the Abidan. Not the Judges. Human decisions would be overrated, since an AI could come to the optimized conclusions a billion times faster and without emotional bias.
It also kind of fits the premise of a multiverse where human will is intrinsic to existence. If it's that fundamental and important, then it can't be faked.
Does mean that existential questions about what it means to be human are easier to answer, though.
(You also asked about nonhuman intelligence; bottom line is, non-humans gain intelligence by stealing or copying or otherwise transferring it from humans. So as they become more intelligent, they also become more human.)
Huh. Well I'm glad that you wove a reason as to why AI doesn't work in your universe. Makes you greater than most in that regard.
Years ago, I got to a point in this system's development and I realized I was pretending they didn't have AI. Which they would obviously have, as advanced as they are.
So I got down into it and realized that having AI violates the one core tenet of how this multiverse works: humans are important.
"Humans are important" is a key rule in the Willverse, because I wanted room for as many characters as possible. I wanted it to be people from the ground up, so that when you get up to the very apex of the universe (the Judges), you're not dealing with a bland personification of the will of the universe, or a hyper-advanced AI, or an unknowable alien god. You're dealing with a person, who might be incredibly advanced and powerful but is still human deep down.
So instead of humans being one sentient species on one insignificant planet in one insignificant system in one insignificant galaxy in a vast, uncaring universe, we are (in my world) a crucial part of the machinery of reality.
Many stories PRETEND humans are important, but how many of them hard-code it into the way the universe functions? HUH? HUH!?...anyway, since AI makes humans less special and unique, I built a set of rules that precluded AI. Sad to see them go, but I think it makes room for some interesting stories.
For clarification:--When I say AI, I mean advanced sentient AI. Obviously they do have some level of artificial intelligence.
--Here's the REASON I wanted all those humans: characters are what make a story interesting. An AI isn't relatable, and gods don't have flaws.
I wanted to be able to give every significant force in this multiverse a personality, a backstory, and a relatable motivation.
Not to mention cool powers.
...plus, it's kind of neat to have a universe where everyone, even on a cosmic scale, earned their way there.
The Blackflame Empire
The Blackflame Empire was founded by dragons.
In Cradle, dragons are a race of sacred beasts that can...well, they're dragons. You know what they can do. Like all sacred beasts and Remnants, their intelligence is based largely on their age and advancement levels, so many of them have human-level intelligence or better.
A family of black dragons once conquered and ruled half a continent, which is a truly massive amount of territory in a world the size of Cradle. They held their empire against all rivals for centuries.
Until a mysterious disaster killed most of the dragons, crippling their ability to continue the bloodline. As you know, no one in a fantasy novel ever discovers the truth behind ancient disasters, so I'm sure it will remain a mystery forever.
With their rulers dead or dying, a clan of humans stumbled upon a method of harnessing the dragons' power. They abandoned their old Path, instead choosing to develop the same sacred arts used by the dragons.
The Blackflame Empire shrunk in size, the humans lacking the ability to control quite as much territory as the dragons could, though it was still home to over a billion people.*
This clan started calling their main branch the Blackflame family, for obvious reasons, and they stayed in control for almost five hundred years.
But human bodies were not well-suited to the power of dragons. Slowly, the family declined, until even those who lived in the heart of the empire thought of them more as symbols and legends than actual individuals.
More and more of the day-to-day workings of the Empire were left to the Blackflames' traditional servants, the Naru clan. They became the face of the Blackflame empire, with their loyal reputation and shining emerald wings, and the people grew to know and trust them.
Fifty years ago, they quietly ascended the throne.
The first Naru clan Empress has since moved into private seclusion, and her son now rules the Empire. As for the Blackflame family themselves, they died out decades ago, gradually eaten from the inside out by their own madra.
That's the story, anyway.
*(A truly ridiculous number of people live in Cradle. The main planet of Iteration 110 is quite a bit bigger than Earth.)
The Eledari Pact: An ancient agreement between the original Court of Seven that both increases and restricts the powers of the Abidan.
Agreements and restrictions are inherently ordered, so this pact is the tool that allows the Abidan to control the power of the Way as they do. There are many rules in the Eledari Pact, but the most relevant one is this: the Abidan cannot use their powers to prevent the natural progression of an Iteration.
They cannot stop a global war from claiming billions of lives and destroying a planet, unless that war was started by outside forces or by a significant subversion of Fate. Abidan only descend to correct a deviation, though they're granted a certain freedom of action in doing so. This law exists both to preserve the natural balance of existence and to prevent the Abidan from settling down in lesser worlds and ruling like gods.
How long is a day on Cradle?
What is the fishers' Iron body?
How many of the Abidan came from worlds like Cradle?
Will Lucas get a dragon fang and challenge Simon or will he get over his dislike/hatred?
1.) It's 24 hours, because I learned a long time ago that people get really irritated when you make up your own scales for space and time. In Wheel of Time, a week is technically ten days, but that does nothing but confuse the timeline.
I know the planet is bigger, and I would love it to have a 32-hour day, but I didn't feel like I could get away with it.
2.) The Hidden Spring Iron body. So called because they can go a long time without drinking water, so the idea is that they have a "hidden spring" inside their bodies and they never have to drink at all.
This isn't true, it's just a myth they cultivate. Their bodies process water more efficiently so that they can survive longer in the wilderness of the Desolate Wilds where finding fresh water can be all but impossible.
3.) "How many of the Abidan came from worlds like Cradle?"
I'm not sure what "worlds like Cradle" means, so I'm not sure how to answer that. All of them?
4.) Oh, you. Plot point in the next book!
Who would win, Monarchs or the most powerful Greek gods
Any single Monarch Solos the entire Greek pantheon. I don't, yeah. Just, annihilates them. So, the feats that Greek gods perform in myth, are not that strong, on a Cradle scale. They don't, do anything like that. So, it's just, you could reasonably expect 'Oh Zeus could conjure a planet wide lightning storm', but he doesn't, so, going with the feats they actually perform, yeah, any single Monarch Solos the whole setting. So, yup; but if you then assume we're talking about the Greek gods as they are portrayed in modern fiction, at a similar power scale to the Monarchs, then, sure, it depends on how strong you draw all the characters.
Where does the planet of Cradle rank in the broader multiverse when it comes to powerful combatants?
Oh that's a good question. So, as you know the Cradle is known for producing more Abidan candidates. That doesn't necessarily mean the most ascendants, so the most people who ascend from their world. That is, it might mean that, but it doesn't necessarily. It means the means the people who ascend that are compatible with the Way and able to join the Abidan and fill their criteria. There are quite a few people and quite a few methods throughout the multiverse of ascending without meeting their criteria. So, either they're not super compatible with the powers of the Way or they're just not good enough. Like if you, for instance, created a machine that allowed you to ascend beyond or dimension or if you slipped out of the cracks of a poorly established fragment that was attached to your world, for instance. Then you would not qualify to be one of the Abidan but you would still have technically ascended past your world so that is what Cradle is really good at.
In terms of powerful combatants, they are still high. That is, especially, there are, as we will go into potentially later, there are different ranks of worlds and they can handle different amounts of, for lack of a better term, I'm not sold on the terminology yet, so forgive me if this is kind of rough around the edges, but there are worlds that have a higher capacity for energy than other worlds do. And Cradle is not the highest of that which is why it's called Cradle. So they are not at the highest level of that even among the mortal worlds, it is not at the highest level. However, it is entirely focused around combat so the people who ascend from Cradle, especially those who were Monarchs, they are known for being very strong especially at the lowest level. As soon as they ascend, like the lesser, the lower ranks of Abidan kind of have to walk carefully around them. And they tend to join the Wolf division so they tend to be the fighters. That's kind of the answer. So where does it rank around power levels? Relatively high but not the highest.
What five things could you not live without?
1.) The four elemental crystals that keep nature in balance, without which all of humanity would be scoured from the face of the planet by constant natural disasters.
2.) The ring I inherited from my great-grandfather that tells me what every child wants for Christmas.
3.) My artificial heart.
4.) The collar that keeps me from transforming into a werewolf every night.5.) Terraria on PC.
