In Underlord when Eithan gave Lindon the Archstone, had he stolen it from the Blackflame vaults, or negotiated with Naru Huan to get it?
You'll find with a lot of the things that Eithan does, that it's not simply one or the other. Who are we to say whether it was theft, or whether it was clever negotiation, or whether it was simply charm that got him the archstone? I think he would probably say that it was all things.
At what level can a royal madra user transfer their power?
That is sort of a weird question to answer because there is really only one line that does that and its the royal line. So, at what level? I mean, they are all Monarchs kind of by default. In order to design a system like that you'd probably have to be a Monarch. I suspect you could do it if you had Sages cooperating, but it would be difficult.
Did you read Coiling Dragon?
Coiling Dragon was one of the original cultivation novels I read. I don't know if it was my first, it was one of my first. And I really liked it. It was funny, because it was kind of pitched to its original audience as a more Western style cultivation story, and it abandoned that very quickly.
Do Iterations typically only have 1 habitable planet tying them to the Way or are there multiple in the Iterations' corner of their universe?
Yes. Typically, Iterations only have one habitable planet. No, that's not true. One inhabited planet. So that is typically the case. But that doesn't mean they only have one habitable planet and it doesn't mean that none of them have multiple inhabited planets. So there are some, definitely.
What is Fury's title?
I wish I could answer that question. It's a good question. But I actually do have a list of things that he was called, because he was, like I mentioned before, he was considered a god of war, a herald of war in some cultures. So I actually have some nicknames for him, I just don't remember. It's stuff like that, stuff about him being - yeah, Goku. That's his nickname.
Why do Sages get titles, but Heralds don't?
Heralds do. They just are unofficial. Sages get titles because, they do. It's cultural. I don't know. It's to indicate what kind of Icon they manifested. So, it's more individual whereas Heralds are less defined by what exactly they can do. So that really is the answer.
Have you watched Warrior on HBO? The main is how I now picture Lindon in my head.
I have not. Moving on.
Will we ever get a full map of Cradle with the continents and major territories listed?
That depends! That actually depends on whether someone else makes one. As I have said many times in the past, I hate maps. I hate 'em. Cannot stand maps. In a previous life, I'm pretty sure a map killed my family- and probably me as well. I'm imagining a brutal map massacre, as in a massacre perpetrated by a map. So I just don't like maps. They have insulted me forever and I will have my revenge by not making them.
What flavor do you wish Oreo would add to their catalog?
Hmm, flavor. That I wish Oreo would add to their catalog. Hmm.
Happiness.
One late night, Mercy and Dross gather everyone together to play a roleplaying tabletop game. What game do they play and how do they play it?
Alright, I'm probably not going to answer that in the spirit that it was asked. But I can tell you what everybody's- I can probably make up what everybody's D&D class would be. Like, which D&D class would they all pick. So, I can pretty comfortably say that Lindon would be a wizard and Yerin would be a fighter, like, that's pretty clear. Because wizards are just, you know, the best class. And fighters are, Yerin would be very happy.
Artificer would be good too, that's true. I haven't actually run an artificer, so I haven't tried it for myself. But thematically they fit. But I think he would go wizard because he'd be going with what's the class that's going to be the best later, and I think that's pretty undisputedly the wizard.
So, and then I think Yerin would really enjoy the idea of attacking four times when everybody is only attacking once or twice. That's kind of her jam, if you will. Let's see. Eithan, bard. Hands down. I think that's probably the easiest one. Mercy, probably cleric. Orthos would be eating the pieces, I think.
[very in-depth analysis on Will's Gaming Channel]
And then, who else? So Orthos eating the pieces, and then Dross is DMing, 100%.
Was there any anime influence on Cradle.
Y...yeees, but I don't have any specifics for you. A lot of people are like, it's clearly inspired by Naruto. Which, in a way, I guess it's- the magic system was not, oddly enough, even though it seems like it should be. But specific elements, some of the elements work. But it was really more of a, I admire Naruto a lot, but it's not something I-
Do you like Dark Souls?
I do. I do like Dark Souls. Dark Souls 1 made it into my game of the decade list out of personal enjoyment, I don't remember what number it was but Dark Souls 1 is my jam. And I played that game a million times. None of the other Dark Souls really did it for me, neither did any of the other Dark Souls versions that FromSoftware put out. But, number one, I just really love. Never, just, like I played through the others and they were fine. I don't even think I made it through any of the others. So, yeah, but I really loved Dark Souls 1. There's the answer.
How do Makiel and Gadrael bond as father and son?
They play catch. Just like you would imagine. Just like, kind of a stereotypical father and son relationship. Is Makiel literally Gadrael's father? No. But they definitely [portal decisions]
So they play catch. They play catch with moons. They just sort of- they have really big mitts. Just throw moons at one another. Kind of like, you guys seen Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann where they're just throwing galaxies like frisbees? I know you all have. I know you know exactly what I'm talking about. That's exactly what happens. It's like that, but with moons and giant baseball mitts.
How far away are the nearest pair of scissors from you?
Did somebody put you up to asking that? Somebody asked, "How far away are the nearest pair of scissors from you?" They are in my hand. That is how far away they are. Who told that? Did people really, do you guys know this? Somebody told you, oh, Sam told you. Yeah, I always have scissors. And I did, indeed, have scissors right there. So, I do almost always have scissors within arm's length.
Why does Naruto have the best shonen ending?
Don't do that to me. I know what you're doing. I see. Someone asked me why does Naruto have the best ending of any shonen series, and it's because the person in question knows that I could talk on that topic forever, because I do not like Naruto's ending at all. So, uh, trying to set me off.
Does Mercy have a mental enhancement? Her Path seems to involve a great deal of multitasking.
Yes she does. She does. It's not as clear and dramatic as ghostwater.
Is there an afterlife on Cradle, or is it just Remnants and spirits and nowhere else after death?
I will answer that with a question: is there an afterlife in real life? Hmmmm, who knows. I really don't go into the afterlife of what actually happens- the metaphysics of what happens in Cradle, or in the Willverse, or with the Abidan too much. Mainly because that tends to be a contentious topic among people that think I'm promoting something or selling them... something. So I don't really intend to go into that. So, death is the great mystery.
You've mentioned in the past the possibility of hardback books at some point, but nothing definitive. With the more recent (presumably good) sales numbers for Wintersteel and Bloodline, have you given any more thought to this idea? Do you think there's enough interest to justify some kind of limited Collector's Edition through Kickstarter or something once you conclude the Cradle series?
The sales numbers are indeed good, no more need to presume, I can confirm that the sales numbers have been very good. We did hit #1 in the Kindle Store for Wintersteel and Bloodline, already, so yes they have been good.
About the hardcover thing. Yes, I have considered doing hardcovers. We actually recently did a test run- a very limited number of copies, fifteen copies or something like that, of a test hardcover. We did that, and then I have the only existing Traveler's Gate- House of Blades hardcover. So we've considered that, it really has to do with getting printings- doing printings, getting enough people. There's kind of some concern over whether or not anyone would want that, whether we'd sell enough to justify the cost of doing a printing. Since we have to do limited print as opposed to print on demand, which is what we do with the paperbacks, it would probably be paired with a Kickstarter or something. So, you do at a certain tier, then we would have hardback copies of the book, I don't know.
Yeah, like a Collector's Edition kind of thing. And then we'd probably do new covers and- probably. But that's really all, completely up in the air. So I can't be held to anything about that. But that's most likely what would happen, is we'd probably do some sort of special edition.
Will Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann have an influence on Abidan fights?
As a matter of fact, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, the classic 2007 anime, will have absolute influence on Abidan fights because all Abidan fights will be done in giant mechs.
When Lindon absorbs the memories that Dross filters through his consume technique does he also gain useful knowledge and skills from the target's memories?
Yeah, sort of. Dross filters them, so he can absorb the memories, he can absorb the skills to some degree. It's kind of like a half-formed, half-baked information and Dross filters it to him at the rate he can handle. So, it's not exactly like absorbing somebodies skill, but it's kind of partially like that.
