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Lil' Blue

It's there to placate people like you!   People who care about cool moments over the overall narrative.

Will Wight

No, it was there for the purpose of the overall narrative. Not for the moment-to-moment payoff. It was there to have Lindon lose, to show the gap between him and a Truegold, to have him lose an arm, to advance Eithan's plan, to change the landscape with the Jai clan, and to demonstrate Eithan's existing relationship with the Skysworn.

I mean, I understand not liking the fight itself

But it was there for a reason

Lil' Blue

Your Benevolent Dictator

Lil' Blue

Will Wight

Lil' Blue

I was being glib there.

What I meant was "people would feel robbed if they didn't get a cool fight for that."

Will Wight

Questioner

What would be a popular tale/story/folklore that people would tell their children to scare them in the world of cradle?

Will Wight

The Lonely Wolf.Once, there was a wolf pup born as the smallest in his litter. He wanted nothing more than to be close to his brothers and sisters, but they would shove him out of the den every night, where he would shiver alone in the cold. Every morning, he would try to get close to them again, but every night he was pushed out of the cave once more.So it was that when a tiger walked into the den and devoured the whole pack, he missed the lonely wolf pup.The lonely wolf survived, but he was even lonelier than ever. He tried to join another pack, but they too rejected him. He tried to join a flock of birds, but they flew away. Schools of fish fled when he approached the river.He wandered through life alone, and the years passed. Then the decades. Then the centuries.The lonely wolf had become more than a simple beast. The shadows responded to his desire to get close to others, and now they hid him. At last, hidden in the shadows, he could slip into other packs and pretend to be one of them. None of the wolves, not even other sacred wolves, ever saw more than a flickering shadow.But in a way, he was lonelier than ever. Now he could stay close, but not close enough. No one could see him, nor treat him as part of their family. He was nothing but a ghost, drifting through the lives of others.The loneliness grew until it became an ache, then a pain. Then a hunger.And he thought of one way to be closer to his fellow wolves.The first time he swallowed a wolf pup, he finally felt that burden on his soul lighten. Now that there was another wolf inside his skin, his loneliness was relieved. But only briefly.When his stomach was empty again, he swallowed another wolf. Then another. He worked his way up the pack until he was alone again.Then he found a village.Like a creeping shadow, the lonely wolf moved through the homes, looking for someone to join him inside his body. He started with the infants, and when they had all joined him, he moved his way up to the little children. Only when the entire village was with him did he move on to the next village.So at night, as the firelight flickers, keep watching those patches of shifting shadows at the corner of your eye. It might be the lonely wolf, just looking for another friend.

Questioner

What conditioner does Eithan use?

Will Wight

He has an entire team of refiners who do nothing but make his hair products.

Arch

But if Lindon X yerin does happen i would hope it would be really unhealthy awkward because neither of them know what a relaionship really is.

Will Wight

Frankly, this is the part I'm struggling with. Because neither Lindon nor Yerin are well-equipped for a healthy relationship, pairing them with anyone is going to result in significant emotional conflict.  

Which, for most stories, is great! Organic character conflict is awesome. But it also takes time to do it justice, which means I'll be cutting space that would otherwise go toward The Sacred Arts Adventure Hour and spending it on Lindon And/Or Yerin's Love-Time Troubles, which is a...steep transition to make 6+ books deep in a series.   So...working on it!

Arch

Who is the most powerful being on a cannibal path in cradle?

Will Wight

Hmmmm...I don't know, rain check.

Questioner

The reason for Lindon being labeled Unsouled was amazing. I don't want to spoil anything but it's so true about the limits we put on ourselves, other people's expectations of us and how we live our lives. Is this mindset, this possibility blindness, inspired by something or someone close to you?

Will Wight

Not anything specific that I can think of, just the knowledge that usually the thing that most shapes my opinion of myself is the story I tell myself about who I am. In order to change my thoughts, I have to change that story first.

Questioner

If a person breaks an oath and is strong enough to influence aura around them, are the consequences permanent, or temporarily manifested where the oath is broken?

Will Wight

Technically permanent, but there are ways to mitigate or avoid the consequences over time.

Michael Johnson

What path would you follow if you lived in Iteration 110?

Will

I'm not sure, but probably the Path of the Cloud Hammer. We haven't explored it much, but it's very versatile.

Questioner

How does aging work as you advance?

Will Wight

For the Lord realm, your body is re-forged in stronger soulfire each time you advance, so your body is made more like it was in your prime. If you were younger than your prime, you would look older, and older people look younger. Then, from there on, you age more slowly. It gets stronger each time you advance, but it only happens when you advance, so basically Jai Daishou's only hope of living significantly longer would have been to hit Overlord. Which he accepted that he couldn't do.

duke_shadowfall

Did Eithan know his own identity the entire time? Or did he only realize after the marble cracked??

Will Wight

Yes, he did. There were some things that he had sealed from himself; memories and abilities that he had sealed away but he was aware of his identity.

Okazaki

i missed the conversation, but yes, sages can advance.

Questioner

Quick question Will, did Lindon keep the axe? I don't see any mention of it after the fight

Will Wight

I intended for Lindon to keep the axe, but I wrote several versions of that scene, and it looks like I left that out. Oversight on my part, sorry. I'm already preparing a file with a bunch of typo corrections, but I didn't know if adding a line might be too much of a change.

Questioner

I mean....only if you didn't intend for him to keep it? Don't let us talk you into having him keep something lamer than what you were planning down the line!!!

Will Wight

Oh no, he’s definitely keeping it. I’m just trying to decide whether to add the line or retroactively reference him picking it up in the next book.

Lil' Blue

Would anyone in Cradle have powers that mimic Za Warudo?

Will Wight

No, no time freezing on Cradle. After Cradle, sure.

Questioner

I've got one, we have Orthos as a Sacred Beast Turtle, but are there also Sacred Beast Tortoises?

Will Wight

Sacred beast tortoises: no. In the language they're speaking, there's no distinction between the word for turtle and the one for tortois. *or tortoise, even

Questioner

"What are prisons like in Cradle?

Will Wight

On the Iceflower Continent, far from the Blackflame Empire, there's a buried chamber chiseled into the heart of a halfsilver vein. Madra is dispersed as soon as it touches the air, and thirteen layers of script repel all aura. There are twenty cells, and no more than twenty prisoners. Imprisoned here are those who cannot be executed.

Icoret

I'm rereading the books right now, and I've got a question about Sacred Beasts. Sorry if this was in the books already and I missed it, that happens a lot for me. Eithan mentions that when he was young he had a breeding pair from a lineage of sacred beasts. Does this mean all sacred beasts have kids that are also sacred beasts?

Will Wight

I wouldn't say all, but in general yes. Snowfoxes from Sacred Valley started off as one fox that lived long enough to advance, but now it's a whole race of little snowfoxes that are sacred beasts from birth.

The Last Reader

Who was the most powerful ant and what was his Path?

Will Wight

It’s a good question, but unfortunately this is another one of those I can’t answer right now. I don’t have that planned out, so I’d have to make up the answer, and I don’t have the energy at the moment. Rain check. This is why I occasionally do “ask me world-building question” events: so I can give each of these creative questions the time and energy they deserve for a fun answer. Sadly, I only have time for a boring answer right now. Sorry!

Questioner

If Lindon were to die and release a remnant, would he in fact produce two remnants because of his two cores, a single hybrid remnant, or two conjoined remnants?

Will Wight

It would be a conjoined Remnant, not two Remnants. It would be unstable at first, as the pure madra began to dilute the Blackflame madra, but would eventually stabilize.It would be less powerful and aggressive than a full Blackflame Remnant, but it would be less likely to randomly attack people, which would probably increase its likelihood of finding a food source.

Arch

In how much detail have you outlined the future of the cradle series, and possibly travellers gate series if that is to continue?

Will Wight

Questioner

Would you rather be a herald or a sage?

Will Wight

Sage. You get to do more cool things. I want to be able to talk in bold text... it'd be amazing.