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Questioner

What other food sources exist in Valinhall? Since Kai could disappear deep within the house for long periods of time, he obviously didn't need to come back to the garden, do what else is there?

Will Wight

The deep part of the House contains some spoilers, because presumably I'll want to get into that when we return to Traveler's Gate, but there ARE other rooms with food in them.There are animals in the house that can be caught and cooked, and there are edible mushrooms that grow in many rooms.

Questioner

Which is stronger, Elysia or Ragnarus.

Will Wight

I don't know how to do a battle of one place against another. In a war, obviously Elysia would win, because Ragnarus is uninhabited (OR IS IT?) and Elysia has a ton of soldiers.But I will tell you that, when I'm writing the books, I think of Valinhall, Ragnarus, and Elysia all on the same tier.

Questioner

What's the most unconventional weapon of Valinhall?

Will Wight

By accident, Valin once created a living whip. He was trying to improve on the whip, which isn't really a combat-capable weapon, by weaving together Nye cloth with threads from other Territories that he found could move independently. He ended up creating a squirming, wriggling length of leathery rope that indeed could end up killing someone in the right hands, but only if it was in a helpful mood. He tried various methods of increasing its intelligence, perhaps in an attempt to make it an advisor, but ultimately gave up. It's currently in storage.

Decadakon

Was valinhall someone else's pocket world?

Will Wight

no, but similar in nature.

Questioner

Are Incarnations as powerful as a Traveler can become?

Will Wight

Essentially yes, but there are many measures of "power" depending on the Territory. Incarnations aren't necessarily the most skilled, or the best at using the powers they can call upon.

Questioner

How do you probe your with to use the valinhall toilets

Will Wight

I don't understand this question except for the words "Valinhall toilets," so I'll answer what I can! The Valinhall toilets are basically bottomless outhouses. There appears to be nothing down there at all, forever, but no one dives deep enough to find out. Only the waste goes down. Also, the bathrooms are haunted.

Questioner

How do Asphodel Travelers heal?

Will Wight

For the most part, they're like herbalists or folk doctors. They find, cultivate, and use plants that have healing properties.

Questioner

Who would be a good matchup for Valin?

Questioner

I have trouble matching the Cradle power scale to other realities too, because the Cradle scale only works relative to its own magic system.I have some minor characters who might be a good matchup for Valin, but they won't be introduced until Blackflame (or possibly the next book, depending on where I end up). So...spoilers!

Arch

I wonder what Simon what do if he could re do it?

Will Wight

If he kept his current memories? Tell Leah what was about to happen and get her to stop it, murder Cormac with a knife, and then head to Valinhall.

Lil' Blue

He would still go to Kai? Not Indirial?

Will Wight

No, he’d head to Kai and then negotiate with the doll.

Questioner

What would happen to the Crimson Vault if it had inhabitants?

Will Wight

The Vault itself is actually the tip of the iceberg. There's much more to Ragnarus than Leah or any of her ancestors ever discovered.

Questioner

Do u have a name for Amalgams energy Traveler's use or does each territory have a different energy that's used or do they adapt to Amalgam?

Will Wight

The Territories each have their own small, half-formed magic system, and Amalgam is kind of the container in which all of those are mixed.

Questioner

If all of your protagonists had to take the SAT's and the GRE's, who would score the best? Who would score the lowest?

Will Wight

For everyone on his list, we have to assume that they don't get questions that are impossible for them to answer. Like questions relating to Earth's literature or technology.

Yerin would score the worst, as she's illiterate and would have no idea what to do with the tests.

Simon would be second-worst. His parents only cared about his education until the events of the HoB prologue, when he was eight years old. After that, the only math skill he exercised was counting, and he rarely wrote anything besides his name.

Calder is next up. He received a noble education, thanks to his mother, but not early in life. He would score better in math than in English (assuming we translated the fictional Imperial language he actually speaks into English), and his scores would be decent in both categories.

Leah would do better than Calder, but not much better. She's extremely well-educated, but to the limits of her time period and world.

Lindon's education is more suited to standardized tests; he actually learned math and linguistics (obviously he's not speaking English, as none of these characters are) from textbooks, and while his scientific education is either not applicable to our tests or is downright wrong even by Cradle standards, his mathematical and language skills are solid.

Shera would do the best. Gardeners got a great education and she has a well-trained memory and a precise mind. She would score higher than any of my other protagonists.

...if she could be bothered to finish the test.

Questioner

Any plans to release more short stories set in the Travelers Gate universe?

Will Wight

Plans, yes! But I always end up delaying those plans for another book...

Questioner

Have we actually seen the strongest beings in the Traveler's Gate universe?

Will Wight

No.

Questioner

Is it theoretically possible to have a connection to all territories or are some bloodlines or tests incompatible with each other?

Will Wight

Theoretically yes. It's not realistic simply because most of the tests involve spending large amounts of time in the Territory. And also you'd have to be connected to Travelers of each Territory who were willing to administer the tests, which most Travelers probably wouldn't be.Ragnarus is the only one that would be difficult, because it's limited to the descendants of Queen Cynara.

Questioner

Has the power been shown so far in the Traveler's Gate series? Or would that be too spoilery?

Will Wight

I don’t think it has, but I’m not 100% on that.

Questioner

Using a sinister vibe integrate Barbie horse into travelers gate world as a fragment realm.

Will Wight

The air swirls in front of you with a vibrant pink light. Startled, you take a step back, but the light soon snaps into a recognizable shape: a pink-edged doorway into another realm. An endless, perfectly flat field of plastic grass stretches out before you. The clouds seem painted onto the sky. A glossy horse turns to stare at you--it seems to be covered in brown chitin instead of hair. Its eyes bulge as though it can never blink. A woman stands next to the horse, her hand on the animal's mane. Her smile seems to wear her. She looks like a mannequin wearing the face of a human woman as a mask. Though you lock eyes, she says nothing. Her teeth clack together as though she tries to speak, but cannot. You turn from the portal and run. It's best to let a Traveler deal with this.

Questioner

What is a useless item that can be won in valinhall

Will Wight

A fork with one prong bent. Valin once dropped it, and the inhabitants of the House hoarded it like a treasure. It's just a fork.

Questioner

In the traveler's gate series, are there any other territories yet to be discovered or lost to the ages?

Will Wight

The best I can do is, "Almost certainly yes."

Questioner

Tell us about the most dangerous piece of furniture or collection of furniture in the house of blades.

Will Wight

Never question the dominion of the Devouring Sofa, whose hunger is never sated and whose thirst for blood is never quenched.