Questioner
it's mentioned there is only one underlord in the desolate wilds, and only a handful in the blackflame empire, so who is the underlord in the wilds? Assuming someone from the cloud hammers or the 5th unmentioned sect, or another unmentioned sect?
Will Wight
The Cloud Hammers are a relatively small sect, but they produced an Underlord and have a pretty good chance at a second one, so their influence is growing in the Blackflame Empire. And the Arelius family is far bigger and more important than the Jai clan branch from the Desolate Wilds. I should have explained that better in the book, using clearer terminology, and I apologize for that. The Jai in the Wilds are the unimportant. The cast-offs. The only reason the main branch of the clan got involved with them at all was because of Eithan's actions, as well as Cassias' and Jai Long's. Otherwise, the main branch would have let them die alone and never noticed or cared. EDIT: And the Cloud Hammer Underlord stayed out of the events of Soulsmith because he considered squabbling for prizes with Golds beneath him. If Eithan had stayed longer (cough cough if the books were longer cough cough), then the CH Underlord would have made an appearance.
Questioner
Word of Will response to :That's a different take on it than I had. At this point, I'm not considering Lindon's personal growth as much as his team's. You've got the sword master with what I assume will eventually be 6 sword arms sticking from her back, the strategist with no outstanding combat strength, and I'm thinking Jai Long and Jai Chen, as well. Overwhelming destructive power was actually missing from their group. Besides that, Lindon's second core is the air of mystery and the unexpected for me. Curious what he's really able to do with it later.
Will Wight
"You've nailed my thought process. My priority is to balance his eventual team more than Lindon as an individual."
Questioner
How are everyday tasks handled?
Will Wight
Different places in the world handle the basic necessities of life differently. Some places have sects that focus entirely on farming or whatever, but other places prize independence and self-sufficiency. Those sacred artists value the ability to provide food, resources, and basic societal infrastructure for the people that depend on them.
Questioner
Would a fire path be one of the fastest way to level up? All you would have to do is stand next to a barn-fire and absorb the ambient fire manna it would give off, then refine it. On that note how different would the manna type be, between different types of fire. A hearth-fire warming a family home in the winter, with all the "happy" connotation that come with it, compared to like an arson attack destroying someone's home and possession and just everything that they have worked for. Both are fire but you get what I mean.
Will Wight
A fire Path would not be the fastest way to advance, because the aura would be slightly rarer and harder to collect compared to, say, earth or air. But it's still very fast, as are all the Paths that draw from aura easily found in nature.
There WOULD be significant differences between those two Paths! Fire from different Paths could take on different qualities depending on how it's used an where it comes from; you could have a gentle flame that spreads slowly and provides lots of even warmth, versus a violent flames that consumes rapidly and burns out quickly.
Questioner
How will Lindon act the first time he meets someone weaker then him? While Lindon has gotten to what I would call half-iron (his cores are half the size they should be so he levels them up faster then he normal would, and only one avenged to iron) and that makes him stronger then most people his age in the Sacred Valley. Knowing that and meeting them while stronger then them are different. I bring this up because out side of a few people everyone we have met seems to have no trouble "bullying" those weaker then themselves. I know this is a might makes right society but still part of the honor of that system is to ingore/protect those weaker then you. If you only follow those "laws" when other are watching you then that's not honor its saving face. When will we meet people who follow these codes of conduct not for themselves or for "face" but because they believe in them?
Will Wight
This is 100% a spoiler.
Questioner
Who does all of the farming in Cradle? In a society so focused on martial martial abilities. Who would waste time on farming? We know the population of Cradle is many times greater then Earth. So tens of billion of people need to eat. The only real solution I could think of is if there are Paths that happen to both greatly help agriculture and has combat potential. Or as we saw in book two slavery.
Will Wight
There are Paths that are used for agriculture and irrigation, they're just usually low-key. There's a (very) brief reference in Blackflame to the Redflower family, who are in charge of feeding the Empire. By law, they are neutral in every conflict, and anybody who starts a fight with them or tries to pressure them will soon regret it.
Questioner
Do we have a rough time scale of when Ozriel became part of the Abidan?
Will Wight
I'm still trying to decide whether or not the time scale is important enough to have Suriel explore it in the books. But it was several thousand years ago.
Questioner
What conditioner does Eithan use?
Will Wight
He has an entire team of refiners who do nothing but make his hair products.
Questioner
How does advancing work with Soulfire in the Lord stages?
Will Wight
You'll find out!
Questioner
What would happen if Eithan tried using his Madra dissolving technique on Yerin's Blood Shadow parasite?
Will Wight
I'm not sure if I can answer this.
Questioner
How many techniques can a Path have?
Will Wight
No limit, really. But it's not like knowing more techniques is necessarily an advantage.
Questioner
How are scales made and what are they? An inert Forger technique for storing power?
Will Wight
Scales: pretty much, yeah. It's a way to store inert power. They actually take more concentration and skill to make than normal Forged madra, which we'll (probably) go into in Skysworn.
Questioner
How did the Blood line powers originate and how come the Jae Clan don't have any? Are they not one the "Great Families?"
Will Wight
Not everyone inherits a bloodline legacy. Higher-level sacred beasts can take human form, so some people have sacred beast lineage that gives them certain innate supernatural abilities. That includes the Arelius family, but not the Jai clan.
In most cases, a bloodline legacy means that you're naturally inclined more toward one Path than another, though. Your madra might not be entirely pure, even at birth.
The Arelius are an exception to that.
Questioner
So ozriel was born in sacred valley. A great disaster came from sacred valley and killed the dragons. Was ozriel this disaster?
Will Wight
I have never confirmed that Ozriel was born in Sacred Valley. Nor have I confirmed that he wasn't.
Questioner
The other Raccoon Families have brought up a good point about Gokren, the Sandviper TrueGold. Does BlackFlame hold the power to incinerate not only the human, but their remnant at the same time? Or was it just because Orthos is a walking trash compactor and ate Gokren and his remnant?
Will Wight
No, I just skipped the scene with Orthos and Lindon dealing with the Remnants. The technique didn't destroy the Remnants; I just looked back over the scene, and they kill the guys and then the text skips ahead five minutes.
I had intended to imply that Lindon and Orthos spent five minutes cleaning up the Remnants, but I didn't state that. It's an oversight on my part. I should have said something specifically.
Questioner
Are some people in cradle aware of other world with normal people in them?
Will Wight
Yes, there are people on Cradle aware of the existence and nature of other worlds.
Aru
Ooh, a questions for Will page. I'll ask a question. This is more relevant to writing than any of your books though: Where do you go to find good beta readers? I hate pushing qualifications and saying "You must be this good to read my writing!" , but I've learned you can't just take advice from anyone, otherwise your story will turn into something you didn't want it to be. Maybe it's my fault and I'm just not good enough at sorting the good advice from the bad, but if you've got a link to a magic El Dorado for people who can give good criticism, I'd appreciate it.
Will Wight
The best thing I got out of my Master's program was a lot of experience both giving and receiving feedback. I learned a lot about how to take feedback, which feedback to take, and how to sort through people's responses to the work.
The key to understanding people's feedback (in my experience) is that Neil Gaiman quote: “Remember: when people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.” In terms of picking beta readers, you want people who will tell you the truth about their experience as a reader. Then you can decide how to apply that to the book. If they're people who read and they'll share their experience with you honestly, it's good feedback.
Questioner
Would linden have won if he was allowed all of the constructs against the Jai clan?
Will Wight
Probably, but he knew he almost certainly wouldn't be allowed. It was a long shot.
Questioner
Oh by the way is Akura Mercy a refiner or is studying to be one, or did she just have easy to use healing/medical elixir with her in the Skysworn exam.
Will Wight
She just keeps some on her in case of emergency.
For the record, I'm still CONSIDERING doing a story in Sacred Valley after Lindon left. I just have to be careful how I do it, to avoid the dreaded spoilerinos.
As for before Lindon left, that's not a bad idea. Or even before Lindon was born.
Questioner
so what's yerin's bra size?
Will Wight
Having never picked out a bra myself, I don't fully understand bra sizing. Therefore I'm going to go with the safe answer and say I don't know.
