Questioner
Lindon should have a harem. By now Mercy, Yerin,lil blue and Geisha would be in harem by now. Orthos would turn out to be female and Lindon's goal would be to show arrogant young lords why he is worthy of Emperor's jade like beauty sister.
Will Wight
Strange...this is exactly the plot of the sixth novel. Using the Emperor’s elixirs, Gesha is regenerated back into her young body, and she finally notices how heroic Lindon’s eyebrows are and falls for him. Little Blue gains a solid form and can now express her long-standing affection for Lindon, it’s revealed that Mercy is actually gone from the Akura family to look for a man strong enough to be her husband, and all this attention causes Yerin to realize her true feelings for Lindon. The Emperor’s sister begins to see him as a little brother until Lindon rescues her, and as she is carried away in his arms she realizes how much she’s missed a man’s strong embrace. Despite the fact that she’s physically stronger than he is, but forget about that.
The only thing you got wrong is Orthos. He’s not a female turtle, but his never-before-mentioned daughter is, and she’s so advanced that she is perfectly human in appearance and, of course, has beauty like a heavenly fairy. She has to continue the Blackflame bloodline, and Lindon’s the only one around...
I’m amazed you picked up on all that, considering how subtle the clues were in the previous books.
Questioner
Will, How many peopel have reached the same stage Northstrider has on Cradle. Currently we only know of 3, or is it 10?
Depends on whether all members of 8-Man Empires have reached the same rank, or if the woman Suriel singled out, who managed to get to Low-Gold when she was only 6 years old, exceeds the rank of her friends.
Will Wight
Hm. I don't think I can answer this with a worldbuilding story.
Therefore, I will sidestep with a story that sort of answers your question:
Reigan Shen is the creator and sole practitioner of the Path of the King's Key. Centuries ago, he consulted an oracle and grew to believe that he was destined to rule the world. He seeks to make that vision a reality.
He fought the Eight-Man Empire to a standstill, though they eventually drove him off. He has stolen Northstrider's prey. He is considered one of the Ninecloud Court's greatest enemies, though everyone below the Queen is instructed to treat him as an honored guest, should he arrive.
Only about six years ago, he finally slew his longtime rival. Though Lindon didn't know it, he felt the aftereffects of that battle in Sacred Valley.
OrgnlDave
Ooh, would it be really mean to ask what your biggest regrets in the Cradle system are? cough sword sage death cough
Will Wight
It’s not the Sword Sage’s death. My only regret regarding his death was not having Yerin in Book 2 clearly say “BOY THIS WAS SUPER WEIRD YOU GUYS,” just so people would know I didn’t make a mistake
OrgnlDave
I don't know, she doesn't really know what a Sage is capable of even still he doesn't seem like the type that would lecture a young girl on how his body works
Will Wight
Yeah, that’s why it wasn’t in there initially. But it confuses readers, which means I probably should have handled it differently.
The Last Reader
So is their another part the Heaven Earth Purification Wheel(HEPW) because Eithan's explanation for the name sounds slightly off
Will Wight
There is, but I'm not sure what you mean about Eithan's explanation.
Tievel
Quick one: how old was Jai Daichou?
Will Wight
I'd have to look at my notes, but if I remember correctly, like 120-130?
Tievel
Wow, younger than I thought
Will Wight
Yeah, not as old as people think. I will say, though, that I could be wrong about that because I don't have my character notes in front of me.
dyring
There was a quote in the books stating he had been underlord for over a century thou, I thought he became underlord late?
Will Wight
You could very well be right. Maybe he was 160-170.
Puppet Master
Hey Will, Valin short stories!
Will Wight
Will replied with this image.
Puppet Master
I think Calder is shallow and unrelatable.
Will Wight
I learned a lot about characterization in the EE series (and frankly I could stand to carry over more of those lessons to Cradle), and one of the things I learned is that people form very strong personal opinions about the different protagonists. One of the most common complaints against Shera is that she is shallow and unrelatable, because she’s effectively an emotionless superwoman, while Calder is more complex and relatable because he has more relationships. But then there are plenty of people who say the reverse.
It’s caused me to think about relatability and the role of the protagonist differently. Which is cool!
Diego
What would London, Simon , Calder and Shera say about Oreos? The classic since it would take too long with the others.
Will Wight
They would all say that Oreos are delicious, because they all have souls.
Lil' Blue
do we remember what Rank Li Markuth was?
Because Suriel called him a "Gold"
"With the same move he'd used on the children earlier, the boy drove his palm into the Gold practitioner's core."
Will Wight
Li Markuth was never intended to be just Gold. Suriel thinks of him that way mainly because to refer to him otherwise would have been confusing to the reader at that point. But now it's confusing to the reader retroactively.
The only logical step is to delete all the books and give up on Cradle forever.
You've persuaded me.
Zhanzy
Suriel mentions Li Markuth as Gold whereas we know he is greater than that and possibly an archlord so is this a mistake ?
Will Wight
That was me looking for an imperfect solution to a problem.I never intended Li Markuth to merely be Gold, which is why he says as much when he shows up, and of course Suriel knows exactly what his power level is. However, I didn’t want to throw new terms at the reader in book one, so I had her refer to him in the same way everyone else was.Of course, now it’s confusing. In hindsight, I should have said something like “The stronger practitioner’s core.”
Decadakon
hjorth
will said on reddit
that its not like the blackflames didn't have riverseeds and regen bodies
unless that info is wrong
and will forgot about that
Will Wight
He could practice Blackflame without a pure core. The pure core helps balance out the spiritual damage caused by Blackflame madra, but the treatment of the Sylvan Riverseed + medicine and/or rest could compensate for that. There are other ways around it.
Decadakon
So is there a reason the og blackflames didn't make use of a Sylvan riverseed
Will Wight
They did. They used all those methods.
Questioner
(paraphrased)
How do Sacred Beast's advance and when do they learn to shapeshift?
Will Wight
(paraphrased)
Sacred beasts advance differently than sacred artists. Notably in their interactions with soulfire. So at the Lord realm, they start getting limited shape-shifting abilities, which get less limited as they advance
Lil' Blue
(paraphrased)
So, when the Beast King got bathed in soulfire, was that the animal variety?
Your Benevolent Dictator
(paraphrased)
Wait really? So Jay long really could fix his face?
Will Wight
(paraphrased)
Neither Jai Long nor the Beast King are sacred beasts
Questioner
(paraphrased)
How are Sacred Beast's born?
Will Wight
(paraphrased)
So some sacred beasts start as normal animals that live long enough that they have been transformed by aura. Others are actually born as baby sacred beasts, like dragons. Or, in Orthos' case, dragon-turtles
Ruff
so i think dream madra can be refined to nightmare madra.... i think that is the only way that works.... unless its not meant to be literal nightmare madra and that the feeling of his madra is like nightmares but it still falss under a specific madra type. or at least thats what i thought. I thought there are so many prime madras (imagine as you will the prime colors that can be combined and refined into a whole bunch of other types of colors)
Will Wight
@Ruff I thought there are so many prime madras
There are, but different cultures and sects disagree on what they are. There are greater aspects and lesser aspects of madra. Greater aspects are universal and usually elemental, like fire or water. Lesser aspects are the weird things that practitioners can do to their madra over time to make it take on a certain quality, like making it sticky or in the shape of a snake. Lesser aspects are what make everything confusing.
I'll be going into this eventually in the books, but I haven't up to this point because A.) most characters aren't aware of this, and B.) I'm trying to find a way to explain it so that it makes the magic system less confusing instead of more confusing, which is what I'm afraid of.
Decadakon
Did u base ghostwater on Gatorade
Will Wight
Everything I write is based on Gatorade.
SomeWhoCallMe... Tim
How is Dross connected to Lindon?
Will Wight
Dross is now tied to Lindon. And effectively yes, he is a baby Presence.
SomeWhoCallMe... Tim
So a presence isn't exactly what Northstrider was trying to make, then?
Will Wight
A Presence is what he was trying to make, but he didn't entirely understand what it was or how to make one. He's fumbling in the dark. So he has focused on the capacity of the Presence more than its nature. He would think of it as a failed product even if he encountered Dross directly, because Dross doesn't have the limitless store of knowledge or processing capacity of one of the Abidan Presences.
SomeWhoCallMe... Tim
You do really well at writing the nuttier characters
Will Wight
I mentioned the other day that, in my D&D campaign, I chose to play a human fighter because it was the character I would normally choose last. This is why: I'm way better at playing nuttier characters, so I'm trying to stretch myself so that I can play the "normal" grounded characters more convincingly.
SomeWhoCallMe... Tim
Will, do you write because you're good at it, you like it, or a mix of both? Like, is it a way for you to pay the bills, or did you dream of being a writer when you were a wee lad?
Will Wight
There's a combination of factors, but the main thing is that I love stories. I always have. I'm just very passionate about storytelling. And this is the storytelling medium I'm best at, because I've always been skilled at writing.
I never expected to be able to write full time. I thought I would be scraping by for a publishing contract that would, someday, if I worked very hard, eventually land me a full-time writing position.
SomeWhoCallMe... Tim
I honestly expected Orthos to bite it, this book
I thought that Lindon was going to use Orthos' remnant to advance, for sure
Will Wight
The #1 response I got from my beta readers was "Man, I really thought Orthos was going to die this book."I had plotted and written the entire book with him living, but after that response I wondered if I should scrap my plans and rewrite the ending to have him die. Just because it would have had more emotional impact in the final scene.
SomeWhoCallMe... Tim
Man, if Orthos had gotten to drink from the Life Well, got some of that black flame damage healed, and was prancing around so happy because he was young again, and THEN died in the fight versus Harmony. It would have tugged my feelings, to be sure
Will Wight
That was the temptation, especially when all the readers said they expected it, so it wouldn't have come out of nowhere. Still, though, I wanted him around.
