Questioner
Maybe a story about the Paths or lives of the first people who cycled on Cradle? Or something about how they evolved? (I'm talking before the Abidan were a group, so a really long time ago).
Will Wight
I have a potentially disappointing "spoiler" for you. ARE YOU READY? ARE YOU READY TO HAVE YOUR ILLUSIONS SHATTERED AND THE DISAPPOINTING TRUTH REVEALED?
...I've never thought about that. I've planned out the history of the Abidan and the development of most of Cradle's continents, as well as organized sacred arts, but I've never thought about how primitive sacred arts first emerged.
That's an untapped area for me.
Questioner
Is there any way to learn a different magic system of another iteration or are people limited to their native magic system? If the answer is no, is an iteration's magic system genetic?
Will Wight
People are not limited to their native magic system. Parts of it are genetic, but a character from another world might come to Asylum, for instance, and find that they were getting faint impressions or visions by touching objects. They are suitable to be a Reader.
Questioner
What are some popular idioms on cradle. Something like cradles version of "survival of the fittest".
Will Wight
This is a great question, but it's really hard to do. So I'm going to cop out by sharing with you some Yerin-isms that may or may not have made it into the series so far:
"Between a tiger and a rocky cliff" = Between a rock and a hard place.
“There’s always a higher heaven” = always a bigger fish.
“Hitched to the same wagon” = in the same boat.
“Eating from the same pot” = (see above)
“Flower” = sweetie/sugar. Her master used to say that to women. “Thanks, flower.”
Questioner
What's the most well known joke on Cradle?
Will Wight
Q: What's the easiest way to make sure your enemy dies before you do?
A: Go home, sell your sword, and wait.
Questioner
Are the sacred animals bound to their stage, or could one, asy orthos for example, advance further?
Will Wight
Sacred beasts can and do advance. However, they cycle naturally, so their advancement is different from humans. Orthos has been stuck at the Truegold stage for decades, and he has long since given up any hopes of reaching Underlord, even if his consciousness was stable enough to support the advancement.
Questioner
Has anyone ever taken in cradle ever taken a spectre as a remnant to advance to gold. If so what path were they on.
Will Wight
I'm sorry, I don't think I understand the question.
Questioner
Is/was there a country on cradle that leaves dangerous scripts/weapons around that children can accidentally use and kill themselves. And if so, how long did/will that country last before the population dies off?
Will Wight
I'm going to be honest: in most cultures on Cradle, child safety isn't a huge priority. Sacred arts schools often list their mortality rate, and a lower rate of survival is often considered a mark of a difficult, elite school for the most talented.
Most of the cultures on Cradle have techniques, constructs, or weapons around that children could use to hurt themselves. The sad truth is, you have to lose a LOT of kids before it affects the population. And most cultures respond by having more children, rather than protecting the ones they have.
Questioner
Can you create a new madra type by mixing two others together?
Will Wight
Yes, and in fact that's how most Paths work.
The classification of madra into aspects is purely a human invention to help them understand the properties of different Paths. You could combine water and fire madra into a burning, fluid, liquid power...if you figured out a way to do it.
Questioner
When it comes to the path of the stellar spear's gold sign, is it all their hair? Is personal grooming difficult?
Will Wight
In fact, it is only the hair on their heads. It used to be ALL their hair, and they altered their Path over the generations to change their Remnants so that it only armored the hair on their heads.
Questioner
What is the smallest Sacred Beast to achieve underlord status in cradle?
Will Wight
Nessandarius the Flea, Lord of the Bloodlight Path.
He has grown larger and more humanoid as he advanced, and after refining his body in soulfire, he now looks like a two-foot-tall hooded man.
Questioner
Ok will I need to know how old is Lindon and what is his birthday is
Also how Long is a day on cradle, a month on cradle, and a year on cradle
Will Wight
As for the time on Cradle, it's the same time as ours. Why? Because it's easier to tell the story that way. I don't want you to have to remember custom details for how long times or distances are.
So they're all the standard measurements.
Off the top of my head, I'm pretty sure Lindon is eighteen now. He doesn't have a birthday, so to speak. In Sacred Valley, they count every child's age up a year each new year.
Questioner
How would you, using cradle lingo in the blackflame empire, ask someone if they wanted to "Netflix and chill"?
Will Wight
In the Blackflame Empire, you'd likely be asking a girl if she wanted to come cycle back at your place. There's no benefit to cycling together, so it's just a thin excuse she's meant to see through.
Questioner
Would the body of a sacred artist over the iron stage retain it's heightened abilities if the artist core was cracked/permanently damaged.
Will Wight
In most cases, yes. Even if you're spiritually injured, your Iron body still functions. It's a physical change in your body. But there are Iron bodies, like Lindon's, that require madra. In that case, you wouldn't see much benefit from it. Indeed, it might make your spiritual injuries even worse.
Questioner
What is the most powerful path and what is the weakest
Will Wight
The most powerful and weakest Paths are difficult to answer, as that's largely a matter of opinion. I'll give you a very powerful one and a very weak one, though:
Path of the Untamed Spark. It revolves around nurturing a flame of life and fire that consumes anything living and is difficult to extinguish. It's a killing Path, and at its height it can depopulate cities.
Path of Shadeleaf. It's a purely aesthetic Path built around molding and folding shadow madra like origami to create pleasing shapes and displays. It has almost no other use.
Questioner
Has anyone ever had a child after ascending?
Will Wight
Yes.
Questioner
If Luminous Queen Sheia (or whatever her name is, you know, the one that keeps all the chains) and Northstrider had a baby, then that baby grew up and had a baby with the strongest elder, then the baby of those two was given the powers of the way, What would its spirit animal be?
Will Wight
An electric eel.
Questioner
what is a Cradle calendar like? I know that time basically works the same as here i.e. a day is 24 hours and a week is 7 days, but do the people on cradle count the days the same way as the do in travellers by counting the number of days to big days of each season? do they even have four season or is it more of a wet/dry season than winter/spring ect.
How many moons does cradle have? how many other planets are there in cradle's solar system?
Will Wight
Cradle has one moon, and it appears larger in the night sky than ours does. It's pocked with scars not just from ancient meteor showers, but also from the sacred arts techniques that have struck it over the millennia.
I haven't brought up the calendar in the main series because it changes so often. Sacred Valley had a calendar, the Desolate Wilds had a calendar, the Blackflame Empire has an official calendar and several more colloquial ones, and so on.
In order to keep it consistent in each region, I personally use a calendar based on year and season. That's not what they use in the world, though.
Questioner
What are some of the best entertainment professions?
I know light and dream mandra would be great but are there any other specialties such as madra that would create fireworks or balance mandra that would make spectacular jugglers?
Will Wight
There are entertainers with many different aspects of madra. Blood artists can sometimes give you physical impulses or emotions directly. There are actors on stone Paths who create their own scenery as they perform. Dream artists can store fantasies in a tablet, to be experienced by anyone. There are wind artists that can give you the experience of flying freely for a limited time.
Questioner
How do people on Cradle get information quickly for the average person? Does somebody come around on horseback delivering mail? Does somebody on a speed path run around delivering and picking up letters? Is there a portal system in place?
Will Wight
Most countries have some kind of a postal system run by sacred artists who can travel long distances quickly. Some of them use sacred beasts as mounts, but others do run it by foot. There are also communication constructs that can relay information over distances. Most of them are more like telegraphs than telephones.
Questioner
What is the Cradle analogue of a TV ? Like what do average people do to chill ?
Will Wight
What people do to relax on Cradle varies wildly depending on where you are. Some people have access to devices that record audio and video, so they have what is essentially a TV. For cultures with advanced dream tablets, they have accessible virtual reality experiences, and use those for entertainment.And of course they have books and games and everything else people did to entertain themselves before TV.
