Questioner
Is the Way universal, or can recognizable reality exist beyond it?
Will Wight
The influence of the Way anchors worlds in reality by providing structure. Consistent, recognizable rules. In some of these worlds, even forces like gravity or time work differently, but they do work consistently within the world. That's the influence of the Way.When the Abidan first started exploring the "shape" of the Way, they found it like a branching river, with Iterations like boulders in the stream. Outside the Way was the void: a hostile emptiness dotted with the fragments of broken worlds and populated by strange, unknowable creatures that sought to break rules and disrupt order.The farther you travel into the void, the more recognizable reality crumbles, until you cease to exist. Even these fiends of the void, incomprehensible nightmare beings, can only exist somewhat close to the Way, because existence itself is a function of order.However, when the Abidan organized, they determined that they would explore the scope and breadth of the Way. They followed each branch to its ending, until the power of the Way grew too thin to sustain them. Then they turned back.They found that the Way WAS finite. It had an end. They've mapped it like a three-dimensional spider web, like a branching skeletal ball. In and among its branches is the endless, infinite void.But their theory says that the Way should be infinite. There's no reason it should ever be contained, and indeed they've never seen it end; they've only followed it as far as they could.Some believe that the Way stretches across an endless cosmic darkness, and this is the only place it has pooled thickly enough to sustain life.Others believe that our Way is only one of many, and that there are other collections of reality out there. Perhaps an infinite number.
Questioner
Has anybody on Cradle every left their world to go to the moon or another planet?
Will Wight
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.
Questioner
I would like to know about the ethno-geographical population distribution across the BlackFlame Empire and surrounding continent.
Will Wight
I'm going to try and respond to the general questions about ethnicity in Cradle, though I can't guarantee I'll hit all of your points. I'll try to answer the spirit of the question!Humans did not evolve independently on Cradle. The Abidan initially thought they did, as the first Abidan came from Cradle; they ascended out of the world only to discover many others, most with humans that were virtually identical.Naturally, they assumed that Cradle was the first world, but upon further investigation determined that it was not.They have never been able to conclusively prove what the first world was.The Blackflame Empire (and the whole continent) has a similar ethnic makeup to our east Asia. The genetics get a little muddy when you factor in sacred beasts that can breed with humans, as well as Paths that alter bloodlines, but that's a general rule of thumb.The Arelius family comes from a different continent. Their family is, as you might imagine, Caucasian in extraction.
Questioner
Why does thus far everyone seem to speak the same language and very similar dialect? Even the people in the Sacred Valley, who have been isolated for centuries, seem to speak the same language as is known throughout the Blackfire Empire.
Will Wight
Looks like the Sage has covered this in detail, but I'll throw in my two cents: we're still largely in the same region, but even then, I've thrown in some different accents. Fisher Gesha, Lindon, Yerin, and Eithan all speak in a different vernacular, and I imagine them as having subtly different accents.It's all *largely* the same because we haven't left the country, and because language has spread further than we might imagine based on our history in our world. For one thing, most of this world used to speak the same language (I'll probably get into the specifics of that at some point). It's drifted over the years, but less than you might think thanks to fairly widespread communication. Even though Cradle is a harsh world, a single sacred artist can travel much farther than a single real person, and nomadic tribes are common. There are also dream techniques for transferring language, which allows them to transfer speech much more efficiently.As for Eithan's accent specifically, he spent his childhood in the Blackflame Empire. He speaks the local dialect better than Yerin or Lindon do.There are, however, multiple languages in Cradle. As the world expands, we'll run into them.
Questioner
How do monarchs have babies on Cradle? Do they just appear instantly at the nine months stage? Do they rocket out of the womb at mach 9? The core is right below the navel, which is where a baby would be. Does this effect the baby or it's own developing core?
Will Wight
The children of Monarchs are born just like anyone else. Monarchs are not only extremely powerful, they are also skilled at controlling their power; they're not going to harm their child unless they want to. When the baby is within the womb, the Monarch's own spirit protects it, and it is born normally. Monarchs have smoother and easier pregnancies than most women, due to their superhuman resilience. The children of Monarchs are often born with special advantages. Some bloodline legacies (powers inherited through lineage) are from sacred beasts that have taken human form, but others come from Monarch ancestors.
Questioner
Is the a cycling technique that aids digestion?
Will Wight
The Path of the Crimson Furnace has developed a cycling technique that they use in conjunction with their Iron bodies to eat as many spirit-fruits and sacred elixirs and pills as possible. They gorge themselves on sacred beast meat and sacred herbs, and then digest as quickly as possible. Their Iron body involves stuffing yourself to bursting and then using life madra to accelerate your body so that you digest it quickly. After about two weeks of this, combined with some pills they have developed for the purpose, your body becomes able to do it naturally. It's a great all-purpose Iron body; they are able to receive further benefits from elixirs that improve the body, and much of what they eat strengthens them and makes them tougher. The only downside is an accelerated metabolism: now they HAVE to eat all the time. At Jade, they have a cycling technique to go along with it. It allows them to milk further benefits out of restorative pills and elixirs, and extracts aura from the things they eat, improving advancement.
Questioner
What do people do on cradle who don't pursue sacred arts?
Will Wight
To a degree, advancement in the sacred arts is an act of survival. Almost every adult on the planet is at least Iron, because that's essentially the minimum it takes to interact with the world on a normal level. However, many of Cradle's people don't consider themselves "sacred artists" per se, because their life does not revolve around the pursuit of advancement. Aura and madra are still a part of their lives, but not personal power and achievement. Cradle certainly has farmers, but farmers who can pull the rainclouds closer with Ruler techniques. They have chefs who can determine your tastes by reading your feelings, doctors who can diagnose you from across the room by sensing your blood, and carpenters who shape wood with their spirits.
Questioner
How would a meal of the same ingredients be different if made from someone of higher rank? Suck as Turkey. Assuming a culinary path, how would that Turkey differ when made by a low-gold, underlord, sage, or Herald?
Will Wight
I'm not sure if you're talking about the level of the chef or the level of a sacred turkey. So I'm going to answer both.The problem with eating sacred beasts is that they get more intelligent as they advance. Most cultures have the same taboos against this as they do against cannibalism.However, there are a few exceptions. Some powerful individuals don't care about the rights of those weaker than them, and will consume sacred beasts regardless of their intelligence. Other cultures have no taboo, but make sure that the beasts have died of natural causes. And sometimes when sacred beasts are born instead of awakened from advancement, they have all the power and none of the intelligence. Though this can be hard to prove.So in the latter case, where you might have a Truegold-level sacred turkey with the intelligence of a normal bird, let's assume you ate it. It's going to be very tough, so it's difficult to cook, but if you prepared it perfectly, you would find it to be an intense experience. The concentrated blood aura in the body gives the meat a powerful flavor that you might find physically uncomfortable until you get used to it. When processed with the appropriate herbs, it can be delicious...although usually served in small portions.It can also help to refine the body, strengthening you and promoting physical health.As for a chef, here's what they say in the Blackflame Empire:A Lowgold chef will prepare you a wonderful meal.A Highgold chef will cook you the best dish you've ever had in your life.A Truegold chef will serve you your new favorite food.
Questioner
What do Judges do when they retire?
Will Wight
That depends on the Judge. Many of them do drift into the shallow void, knitting fragments together into miniature Territory-like lesser worlds. So effectively yeah, they can take up world-knitting. Others return to their original worlds and live like gods; they may have given up their Mantle and weapon, but they're still extremely powerful beings. Most of them go to live in Sanctum, the home world of the Abidan. They take up advisory positions in the Abidan organization, though they're not allowed to wield any authority.
Questioner
How did the Sage of the Endless Sword become a Sage?
Will Wight
As an Archlord, the Sage of the Endless Sword was blessed enough to cross swords with a sword-wielding Monarch without getting obliterated. Swearing not to waste that opportunity, he tracked down an ancient Remnant called Memory, on the Path of a Thousand Dreams. She made sure his recollection of the fight would stay fresh, so he could experience the feeling of the Monarch's power every day as though for the first time. He began traveling from sword Path to sword Path, sensing their techniques and trying to develop a power closer to that of the Monarch's. As an experienced refiner, he also tracked down natural treasures attuned to the sword: spirit fruits, sacred herbs, and the parts of sacred beasts that gathered sword aura. ...this is where the story gets spoiler-y, but long story short, this quest led to him distinguishing himself as a Sage. Sorry for the anticlimax, but I have to dance around the details of how one becomes a Sage. Still, I hope that's enough.
Questioner
What are the fundamental tenets of aura theory on Cradle?
Will Wight
It's actually very different from culture to culture. We've spent the entirety of the series so far in the western half of the Blackflame Empire, so culturally it's all very similar. They see it as different though everything in nature radiates a different kind of power, and these can be blended and molded in order to shape your own madra. Other cultures see aura as one connected force, the spirit of the world, which takes on different forms (aspects) as it weaves through nature.
Questioner
Time-wise, does Lindon's adventure occur before, after or simultaneously to Simon's?
Will Wight
Traveler's Gate takes place slightly before Cradle, and Elder Empire takes place after Cradle (or at least after where Cradle is now). I don't want to lock myself into anything more specific than that.
Questioner
Is there a limit to how many times a core can be split?
Will Wight
Technically no, but it isn't terribly efficient. You lose a little energy in the split: if your core was a 100 before, you're not splitting it 50/50, you end up with let's say a 49/49.You have to build both cores back up over time before you split it again, if you want it to work well.
Questioner
How would the Abidan deal with a sci-fi Iteration with millions of worlds?
Will Wight
When Suriel personally intervened in Harrow, it was because the Abidan were not prepared for Harrow to be infected with corruption at all. She decided to save as many people as she could. Limit was the world that was scheduled for demolition, its population evacuated and quarantine implemented. But Ozriel didn't show up to destroy it. The corruption spread until the Abidan weren't prepared to contain it, and that's when it spread through the Way into Harrow. So: if they were prepared to save a sci-fi world with a galactic empire, they absolutely could. It would be easier and far more organized than what Suriel did in Harrow. That said, civilizations with trillions of inhabitants and multiple inhabited planets are tethered very tightly to the Way. They're very stable and difficult to corrupt naturally, so they tend to be safer.
Questioner
Where in the Willverse would you want to go if you could visit one of your iterations?
Will Wight
Most of the settings I write about aren't places you'd really want to visit. I'm basically inventing the least comfortable places I can imagine. However, there's an ancient library in Cradle called the Dreamway. It's filled with thousands of dream tablets that each contain endlessly changing fictional worlds. Each tablet is essentially a virtual reality experience that crafts a new story on command. I'd want to go there. I'd probably, you know, die from neglecting my basic physical needs, but that's a nicer way to go than by visiting Valinhall.
Questioner
Who was the last person in sacred valley to reach gold before the events of the story?
Will Wight
That's a great question, but unfortunately I can't answer it accurately without getting into why the people in Sacred Valley aren't Gold anymore, which is a spoiler.I will say that one of the founders of the Heaven's Glory School was a sacred beast who achieved Gold; a golden-scaled dragon that breathed light and heat. Legend says he's still sealed beneath Mount Samara, ready to defend the School in its hour of need.
Questioner
Any Paths out there that relentlessly attack with little to no defense?
Will Wight
As they say: face is the place.The Path of the Last Breath, mentioned in Skysworn, both drains your own life to empower your techniques and destroy the enemy and attacks relentlessly with no regard to self-protection.There's also the Path of the Storm Lance, which focuses on channeling all of its power into Striker and Forger techniques that destroy the enemy before the enemy has a chance to resist. There is no problem they won't solve with a huge explosion.
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.
Questioner
More meta, but which Path or Iron Body would you choose?
Will Wight
As for which Path I'd choose, that's an interesting question. I initially thought I would go with the Path of the Cloud Hammer, because it is a force-based Path with fairly easy aura to cultivate and many broad applications. Plus, they can run on air.However, since then I've realized I'm lazy, and I would prefer a Path that required me to move less. There are summoner-style Paths that involve manipulating construct puppets, and I'd probably choose one of them.
Questioner
So, in Cradle, what are Sages exactly?
Will Wight
Sages are Archlords who have achieved [something special] that sets them apart from their peers. There are levels above Archlord, but Sages are actually more rare than the stage immediately over Archlord. It's easier to advance than to distinguish yourself and become a Sage.
