Recent entries

doctordirt03

Will we see Eithan x Lindon's mom?

Will Wight

Probably not, I mean, you know, I could twist myself, I guess.

technodecno

Any creatures on Cradle inspired by creatures from Subnautica or other games?

Will Wight

Yes. Ghostwater's whole aesthetic was, you know 'cause I love the underwater theme in general. The leviathans he went out and fought in the water were 100% modeled on Subnautica characters.

rmulli

Who has the biggest butt in the entire Willverse?

Will Wight

The Wandering Titan, the humanoid Dreadgod. He's kinda got a shell. So, I think that's probably my answer.

jacktrowell

I still think that it was a narrative error to not have any character in the story mention the question earlier than that.

Not revealing the reason, just somebody asking the obvious question "how did a bunch of jades manage to kill a sage ?" (plus the similar question about Yerin managing to handle a Sage Remnant while only at Jade level at the time), even if followed immediatly by something like "I suppose they used some kind of rare poison ?"

Anyway the matter is now settled until we get more information.

That said, I really enjoyed the book and it's only one small flaw in a very good serie, please continue the good work, we are legions awaiting for Wintersteel now. ;)

Will Wight

Yeah, one of my big regrets was not having Yerin say something about it in Soulsmith.

Ragnrok

I actually thought that was intentional, and I liked it.

Yerin is a very focused and direct character. If Lindon had a larger knowledge base at that point then it would be in character for him to spend months wondering how the heck a bunch of Jades killed a Sage, but Yerin isn't one to waste her time questioning reality. A bunch of Jades poisoned and then killed the Sword Sage, so it must be possible, because it happened, so why waste time dwelling on it?

Will Wight

That was my thinking at the time; I thought it was consistent with her character not to question it, because they did it and it happened and now the question is what to do next.

I wish I had made her question it just because it would have saved me headache since then.

Brynovc

I guess we won't see anymore "how did a bunch of jades kill a sage" posts. And I loved the blooper about this!

SeNoyerSoublier

Am I hallucinating or did we also learn tim is named Adama?

Will Wight

You can’t know how TIMpted I was to put the letters T-I-M in his name somewhere. Like Atima. Problem is, I couldn’t come up with anything I thought sounded cool...and also I assigned him a name a while ago, and I felt weird about changing it for a fan meme.

But I was very tempted.

SeNoyerSoublier

I had a slight tinge of disappointment we didn't get an orthos epilogue, but damn book 8 can't come soon enough

Will Wight

Yeah, I wanted to do an Orthos epilogue. The problem was that the training for the tournament and the tournament took up the better part of a year, so the Orthos epilogue would have had to take place basically a year after the prologue. Which means I would have had to go into detail about what had happened to them over the intervening year.

It was just a lot to end on, so ultimately I decided not to include it in this book. I was sad about it, though.

caffeine-overclock

A few days ago, I asked how bindings are powered/recharged here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Iteration110Cradle/comments/d95b8u/how_are_bindings_recharged/

The consensus was that bindings work as they are described in Soulsmith, where Lindon creates his own water: his core is basically drained from the effort of "activating the binding," where that madra is converted to water madra.

The critical detail being that Lindon's own madra is drained from him into the weapon to activate the binding.

So far, so good.

Then, in Uncrowned, we see Yerin activate an Archlord weapon. The explanation we're given is that her new diamond channels kept her from being destroyed by using it two stages too soon. I guess if it's an enormous amount of Yerin's madra being ripped out of her into the weapon, this explanation makes sense, except...

Where did Yerin get all that Madra?

It's described as consuming the enormous arena stage, and being so much that Lindon's arm was ripping at the seams trying to control it all.

Has Yerin been using the HEPW? I can't imagine her having all that madra in her cores, especially after a long fight with Lindon.

Will Wight

The madra can come from the substance of the construct or from the madra forming the binding itself, which is how independent constructs work and why they cannibalize themselves over time.

Since Yerin can’t afford to subsidize an entire Archlord technique with her own madra, she puts as much as she can into activating and controlling it, and the rest of the power comes from the sword itself.

Which will cut down on the sword’s lifespan unless it receives serious maintenance.

caffeine-overclock

Yessss thank you!

So if Eithan wanted to activate an Archlord binding, and hypothetically also had diamond channels, he could do so without damaging it?

Will Wight

He could! Technically any Underlord can, if they have some way to handle the stress it puts on their spirit. It’s just usually better to have a weapon you can control and activate consistently with no risk.

TheWanderingBeard

Does the Arelius bloodline power become obsolete after monarch?

Or will Eithan be able to see/hear even further than other monarchs if/when he makes it that far?

Will Wight

Spiritual perception and the Arelius bloodline power work differently. Spiritual perception is able to feel spirits, madra, and aura; basically spiritual powers. The Arelius bloodline power extends your physical senses.

Decadakon

The Akura family tree must be very confusing.

Will Wight

Yeah, the age dynamic is indirectly addressed in Underlord. And I think I have a line in Uncrowned about Fury and Mercy being half-siblings.   Also yes, I did draw an Akura family tree and it is really weird.

ZelkovaMoontree

Was the valley reducing people’s ranks to jade already a planned thing?  

Will Wight

Sacred Valley draining people’s power over time has been a thing all along.

True Ruler of None

Did Reigan Shen give Eithan only a model of a ship and not a real ship?

Will Wight

No, it's a real ship.

Okazaki

Timoran Adama, Let it be canon

Will Wight

Make it so.

Argent

What would be your rapper name, Will?

Will Wight

Will Nye the Writing Guy

Will Wight

Yerin's sword is a jian and it's one-handed. People on Cradle prefer to use one handed weapons so that they have one hand free for techniques.

Questioner

Simon vs. Elder Whisper

Yerin vs. Elder Whisper

Five-Tailed Fox

Elder Whisper is a master of illusion. I think Yerin could break out of it but I dont know if Sacred Animals can advance like Trugold to Underlord. Ill say Whisper wins.

With Simon, he should be dead as he has no experience with illusions.

Will Wight

The Five-Tailed Fox gets it.

Sacred beasts CAN advance just like humans can, though of course their process is a little...weirder.

There is a power in Valinhall that can break illusions, but Simon doesn't have it yet, so he dies.

Will Wight

The Aurelian Emperor ruled Iteration 112: Asylum.

Nocturniquet

With this interaction with the readers who constantly point out things they notice, or suggest ideas or desires for the plot...do you find yourself affected by it in such a way that you change your plans for the plot at all?

Like suppose something in this post sounds great but you change your mind about doing it. Is it because of your own plans or is it something a reader said, or a combination of both?

Will Wight

I do change my mind based on reader response, but it's usually not a direct correlation.

When I hear from readers, it gives me an idea of what they expect from the series. Which helps me better understand how to play on those expectations.

For instance, let's say I was planning to kill Lindon in Book 3 and have a new main character take over (I was at no point planning on this). Reading all of these comments might at first make me go "Ha! No one expects this! I'm doing the unexpected!"

...but I would very shortly realize that the reason they weren't expecting it is because they're reading for Lindon's progress. If he stops making progress, they'll stop reading.

Then I would change my mind.

As for suggestions, I can't remember ever hearing someone suggest something that I hadn't already considered. However, sometimes hearing it out loud makes me reevaluate; maybe someone will suggest an idea I've already rejected, but they make it sound workable, so I'll consider it again. Or they'll suggest an idea I'm actually planning on doing, but hearing it from someone else makes it sound lame, so I reconsider.

It's a very fluid process.

Justin

I wonder, if a prize was offered for your deathmatches, what would they ask for? I bet Simon would ask for a vacation or something like that.

Will Wight

He would ask for his mother and father back from the dead.

...but this is a fantastic question, and one I hadn't considered! If the Abidan were offering wishes, what would the characters want?

Urzaia would want to keep fighting where he could make a difference, ideally with Calder but he'd settle for something else.

If we assume Disney genie rules (no raising the dead, no mind control, no infinite wish loopholes), Simon would have to think and discuss with Caela first. I suspect he'd wish for all the lost Dragon's Fangs back, so that the Eldest would get off his back and let him do his many other jobs.

But he might surprise me.

Lindon would wish for a power-up, Yerin would wish for sacred arts knowledge (assuming resurrection is off-limits, again). Shera would wish for a box inside which time would stop and she could go take a break and nap whenever she wanted. Calder would also wish for increased personal power.

Kai would wish for the dolls to love him, and upon learning that his wish breaks the genie rules, he would instead wish for a new doll.

The Emperor would wish for a way to permanently destroy the Elders, would learn that it's essentially impossible, and would instead wish for the Abidan to take a more active role in keeping them suppressed.

Will Wight

The Steelborn body is just what Yerin's Iron body is called. Steel isn't a rank over Iron.

I changed from the materials ranking system to reflect a difference in how you advance at Underlord level. Up to Truegold, you're just adding to and refining your madra. There are Remnants involved at Gold, but there don't HAVE to be; TECHNICALLY you could cycle all the way to Truegold without ever bonding a Remnant.

It would take you hundreds of years and a ridiculous amount of unnecessary work, but you could do it.

Whereas Truegold to Underlord is achieved differently.

Brian

Wouldn't it technically be a Lord?

Overlord in Traveler's Gate makes sense since they're lords over all the other lords in a part of the kingdom. They're literally over lords.

But it seems strange to me to have an Underlord and Overlord but no Lord ranking, nor any lordly classes to be under or over.

Will Wight

You've traced my thought process accurately, Brian, but I'm considering one other factor.

Just like Lowgold, Highgold, and Truegold are sub-levels of the Gold stage (or "stages of the Gold realm"--I'm still working on the terminology), Underlord, [THIS ONE], and Archlord are the three stages in the Lord realm. So I'm trying to stick with the pattern of made-up compound word involving the suffix "-lord."

I'm just trying to keep the terms relatively consistent so that they're somewhat easier to keep track of.

It also breaks down neatly into a chart, should I ever get down to making one of those.

Incidentally, how do you feel about Underlady / Overlady?