What can Dream madra do besides read Fate? Are Time and/or Space actual madra aspects?
Dream madra affects thoughts and perception.Space madra is somewhat different than most aspects; it's not shaping madra INTO space, as that makes no sense, but there is a way to develop madra so that it affects space.
Are remnants capable of having a society? Is there anywhere with particularly intelligent remnants and what do they do on a daily basis
Some of them are intelligent enough and capable of forming a society, yes. However, they're still Remnants: they're bound by the nature of their madra and the impulses that drove them when they were formed. So they don't interact as naturally as people do, no matter how intelligent they are.On a daily basis, they pursue "food," or compatible madra suitable to maintain their form and advance them. Some of the more intelligent Remnants have renewable sources of madra--which means human communities--where they can get their power, either from stealing scales or from making deals with humans.
How does life madra affect other kinds if madra it is mixed with?
Life madra is strange. It's widely known on Cradle that your experience and the aspects of your Path affect how you perceive aura. Some types of less-tangible aura--like destruction, for instance--can't be detected by some people at all. These are usually the aspects that deal with intangible concepts. Therefore, in theory, life madra would be difficult for the average person to perceive. But it isn't. This is believed to be because we are all acclimated to life aura ourselves, as living beings, and because we're surrounded by plants and animals even before Copper. Life madra interacts with the force that animates a living being. HOW it interacts depends on the Path and the technique. Let's take life and fire, for instance. One Path might have a flame that uses life for fuel, consuming the target even underwater. Another Path might have a flame that ignites a life-fire and gives you inexhaustible life aura, meaning you have more energy and heal faster. It's a weird one.
If Lindon were to die and release a remnant, would he in fact produce two remnants because of his two cores, a single hybrid remnant, or two conjoined remnants?
It would be a conjoined Remnant, not two Remnants. It would be unstable at first, as the pure madra began to dilute the Blackflame madra, but would eventually stabilize.It would be less powerful and aggressive than a full Blackflame Remnant, but it would be less likely to randomly attack people, which would probably increase its likelihood of finding a food source.
What are some of the coolest Cycling techniques on Cradle (like the one that increases madra regeneration, or maybe a technique that would make Ruler techniques easier, or a technique that acts like a Halfsilver Ring, etc.)
There's the Endless Revolving Cycle technique, which focuses entirely on madra regeneration, to the exclusion of all else. Their advancement isn't as fast, and they can't put an enormous amount of power into their techniques, but they can effectively use sacred arts all day long. They have to use elixirs to strengthen their madra channels in order to withstand the strain of constant use.
What's another absurdly weak or isolated place on Cradle and what would their Lindon look like?
There's an underwater, sealed-off city at the bottom of the Trackless Sea that's surrounded by much more prosperous civilizations of aquatic sacred beasts.
The human population inside this city has developed mostly independently, just like Sacred Valley. Their Lindon would be anyone who, for whatever reason, couldn't master water aura and the Ruler techniques required to go outside the city.
That person would be like someone in our universe who can't use a car...not just someone who can't drive, but someone who is unable to get inside an automobile.
Is everyone a Sacred Artist on Cradle, or does every community practice Sacred Arts in some way, for example, is it possible on some remote island there would be people not practising Sacred Arts?
When people in Cradle call themselves sacred artists, what they're really saying is that they're actively pursuing advancement. They cycle aura every day, they practice their techniques, they hone their craft, and so on.
So while madra would be a part of everyone's everyday life, and while everyone has technically attained some advancement level in the sacred arts, not everyone is a sacred artist.
If you made a cradle/EE/ TG videogame, what type of videogame would it be? (FPS, RPG etc etc)
Survival RPG. More like Breath of the Wild than Skyrim.
Is there an infinite amount of madra types?
Yes.
Is there a path from cradle that only has one technique?
Yes.
I would like to know about the ethno-geographical population distribution across the BlackFlame Empire and surrounding continent.
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.
What were the original blackflames goldsign?
A dragon's tail. They often used it when fighting.
Are there any madra viruses in cradle? Like the same way a virus in real life is basically a random peice of DNA which uses cells to replicate itself, are there techniques which implant themselves in someone’s spirit and force a copy of themselves? And if so, would they differ by stage and advancement?
There are techniques like this, but they aren't as overpowered as you might think thanks to a simple rule: your own spirit is sovereign within your body.
It's the same reason why a water or blood artist wouldn't just stop your heart instantly. They can't. Your spirit is far stronger inside your body than anyone else's madra.
You can overcome that by a huge difference in power: a Herald could stop a thousand Underlords' hearts all at once. But techniques that insert themselves into enemies' bodies tend to degrade very quickly and do limited damage.
What's life like for the average person in Sanctum? Are they living it up in a post scarcity universe, or are they still doing the 9 to 5 grind?
People in Sanctum have their basic needs met in a peaceful, prosperous world, but their society is engineered so that everyone has the opportunity to play a part. The Abidan see people as a valuable resource, so they've done their best to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to provide a benefit to society.
Some people choose not to, of course. And some people hate doing what they're best at, but they do it anyway. People are people.
Where in your collective works would I go for the spiciest dish? As a corollary, how much trouble am I in for?
Cradle. There's a pepper that grows in chambers beneath active volcanoes, where fire aura is most intense.
Even if you just took the plant out of that area and brought it to the surface, you couldn't go within five hundred yards of the pepper without the heat being so intense it would make you turn back.
This is what those above Archlords use to season their food.
What sports do they play in cradle?
Most sports are combat-related (in some way), but there are a few that aren't. One sport involving getting a ball into a goal revolves around two teams of six people, each positioning themselves strategically on their half of the field. They have to use the sacred arts to maneuver the ball into the opposing goal without letting it touch the ground.Most of the rules exist to prevent them from attacking their opponents.
Can new types of madra be made artificially? Like if somebody invented the computer on Cradle would it collect computer madra?
All aspects of madra are essentially human interpretations of aura. You might notice a unique blend of aura around a computer, and you could break it down into storm aura and dream aura or what have you, or perhaps you could find a way to cycle it into your own madra and create what you called a "computer Path." What would you be able to do? I'm not sure. That sounds like a confusing blend of madra.
Does the board game of go exist on Cradle? If not, what is the closest existing analogue?
It does not, but Cradle's a large world, and there are alternatives. There's a game a cross-hatched board where you place your pieces at the intersecting lines and they grow more powerful each turn they survive (indicated by replacing the pieces with different colors). The name for it, in the language of the locals, translates to "garden of beasts."
What’s the most popular holiday in the blackflame empire? What does it celebrate how do the people celebrate it?
They celebrate the Emperor's birthday every year with parades that throw scales into the audience. They also celebrate the Empire's founding...although the date for that changes depending on where in the Empire you are.Some people celebrate the founding of the current Empire, after the Blackflame family's fall. Others celebrate the founding of the original human empire, and still others celebrate the founding of the ancient dragon empire (although this date is highly disputed).
Are there any sacred beasts (besides dragons) that could go toe-to-toe with a Monarch or a Dreadgod?
There's Juwei, the Ghostwalker Fox, who has tricked Monarchs and escaped. There's a single Monarch-level dragon--known by some as the god of the desert--who has a centuries-old feud with Northstrider. There's Nightsong, the musician on the Path of the Moonlit Flute, who is either a sacred beast herself or has strong inhuman blood.
