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Wait a minute

Wait wait wait. There are seven [Judges in your blog posts], not nine!Did Will count wrong here? And why did I think there were nine?

Will Wight

Hahaha, I was wondering when someone would notice. I thought it would take longer.

There are eight Judges in the Court of Seven. It's been a real headache for them.

(There used to be nine, but Garbagiel, the Raccoon, was exiled and beaten for crimes against decency.)

I was going to wait until a few posts from now to point this out, but since you've already counted: Ozriel is relatively new. None of the other Judges were around when the Eledari Pact was created; they're the third to bear the mantle of Makiel, or the fourth Razael, or whatever.

This Ozriel is the only one there's ever been, but he didn't show up until the middle of the previous Suriel's generation. Before then, the Judges had to destroy worlds the old-fashioned way (by depopulating humanity), so it was messy. They could only keep a few hundred worlds protected and controlled, because chaotic fragments were so much more common.

But with a clean way to dispose of infected or expired worlds, they could expand their influence and protection more widely.

Nocturniquet

So by 'powers of the iterations themselves' we can sort of take it that you mean that each universe has slightly different physics which enable that magic system to function as it does.

If you leave your iteration, your powers should cease then, right? You would have to learn the new system's magic...

Will Wight

In some cases, yes.

Anything you learn to do that manipulates the power of the world no longer functions outside of that world. So a Traveler wouldn't be able to open a Gate when they're in another Iteration, nor would a Reader be able to sense anything special (because Intent is no longer a fundamental force of the world).

However, any intrinsic powers stay intact (for the most part). The dolls would still be able to talk and read the wind, Awakened objects would retain their properties, and sacred artists would still be able to use most of their techniques.

James A

Hi Will,I've got to ask. In this sort of multiverse of worlds with different magics, were you influenced by Sanderson at all.

Will Wight

I'm glad you asked that!

I knew everyone would assume I was just doing my own version of what Sanderson's doing, and I'm okay with that. People are going to think that regardless of what I say, and even if I *was* spinning off of his idea, I wouldn't be ashamed of that. It's a good idea.

But honestly, was I influenced by Sanderson's Cosmere? No, not even a little.

I idolize Brandon Sanderson, and I'm not above shamelessly cribbing from better authors.

However, in this case, I had a draft of the Abidan and their structure before Elantris came out. When he first announced his Cosmere, I was initially ecstatic: "Whoa! This is exactly what I wanted to do, and here's a big-time fantasy author doing it!"

...but I was a little let down. His worlds are different planets that are (mostly) in the same solar system, they're not different planes. And it's all predicated on a single omnipotent being shattering into pieces, which...if he's omnipotent, how does THAT happen?

While I'm a huge fan of all the Cosmere books, I'm not really that enamored of the Cosmere itself.

Plus, once I started reading Chinese xianxia novels (on which Cradle is based), I saw that they're practically all set in a vast multiverse. That was the final piece of the puzzle I needed to push me over the edge.

I owe a lot more credit to Zelazny's Amber, Magic: the Gathering, xianxia novels, widespread anime tropes, and the TMNT show I grew up on as a kid.

Captain Nemo

The posts on the Abdian were a great idea! I really like how you've fleshed out the common denominator among the magic systems a bit more. 

I am curious, though, about the specific ways that each magic system relates to the Way. I think you said that the territories were connected to Amalgam and that travelers could enter them through a connection to the Way (more or less). How do intent and aura/madra relate to the Way?

Will Wight

They don't really, at least not in the way you're asking.

You know how each room in Valinhall has some of its own unique rules and powers, kind of like a mini-Territory each? That's because it's stitched together from small fragments, and each fragment has its own different magic.

So every world has a unique magic system. These are the powers of the Iterations themselves, not the powers of the Way.

Havoc

If there are just 'thousands' of iterations, and each iteration lasts for trillions of years, there should be billions of years between iterations ending. 

What do the Abidan do to occupy their time in between?

Will Wight

I don't think I said trillions, did I? I think I said billions.

Either way, that's how long they COULD last. That's their maximum natural lifespan. It very rarely happens that an Iteration dies of old age, because they're tethered to the survival of humanity.

Most of the time, Iterations only last a few thousand years.

Let me put it to you this way: the Abidan have never shepherded a world from its birth to its full possible lifespan. An Iteration dying when humans die is still a natural death.

Tim

How many 'Hounds' are under Makiel's supervision, and how many Titans are under Gadrael's?

Will Wight

Thousands, but I couldn't tell you exactly how many.

There are more Titans than Hounds.

Adaen

I was under the impression that the Judges were solo in their jobs. But it does make far more sense that there are others providing similar work in those fields. And the Judges are the head of each Division.

Now does each division follow the same Path? Or is it simply their path dictates which Judge/Division would best fit them?

Will Wight

Yeah, there are tens of thousands of Abidan, but only seven Judges. That's why Suriel says that normally a deviation like the one on Cradle would be beneath her; normally it would be handled by a grunt in Sector 11.

Only the Abidan from Cradle follow a Path at all. 

They decide which divisions you can join by which core skills of Way manipulation you've mastered. If you're a powerful healer but crappy at reading Fate, they won't let you join the Hounds. There's a minimum test for each one, as well as a test for mastery.

That's Gadrael's deal, by the way. Most of the other Judges have mastered several other areas, but he hasn't even passed the minimum requirement for any division other than his own.

He's just THAT good at it.

Lyrian Rastler

Does Chaos have tangible elements as well, like creatures and stuff, or does it something that occurs when the balance of the way is offset? Also, is there an equivalent of The Way for Chaos as well?

Will Wight

Sort of, yes! We'll go into that in the books eventually.

Rhys

How big is the ninecloud court, compared to the blackflame empire now and at its height.

Will Wight

In general, the Ninecloud Court is on a completely higher level than the Blackflame Empire, even at the Empire's height. The dragons were more powerful than they are today, but they were far from being able to contend with a Dreadgod, as the most powerful individual in the Ninecloud Court can.

Mike

If the world is so large.... does gravity not work the same way in this universe?

Daniel

The planet may be hollow or it may be made of less dense matter or the gravitational constant could be significantly lower in the universe or yeah it could be magic. Though if humans exist it must have some relation to the basic model or they wouldn't be human.

 

Will Wight

Daniel's right.Part of the answer is "magic," and part of it is how this world developed differently because of magic.

 

a few moments later....

Two users now argue at length about the subject of the physics of such a large world.... we skip to Will's next comment.

Will Wight

Since it looks like this has become a real discussion, I'll give a real answer!

I made Cradle very big. Why? A few reasons.

First, a lot of wuxia and xianxia stories do it so they can scale up to ridiculous numbers. Where first the character thinks a huge city has ten thousand people, later a huge city has ten BILLION people.

Also, they're so special they're not just one in a million, they're one in a TRILLION! And they go from crossing a thousand miles in a single step to a hundred thousand miles!

So in part, it's an homage to the genre.

In part, it's so that I can set other stories in the same world and they've never even heard of the people, places, or events in Lindon's story.

And inpart it's to illustrate that this isn't Earth. The Iterations are Narnia-style "worlds," not different planets, but since it's a whole new universe each time, they are ALSO different planets.

I wanted a way to show that without putting a second moon in the sky, so "greater surface area and population" it is.

***

As for the mechanics of it: I said "Magic" earlier, but that basically boils down to "This is how vital aura works."

Vital aura is the power of the world that sacred artists harvest and use to strengthen their madra. It's the spirit of the world, basically. It makes what would otherwise be an uninhabitable planet, habitable.

The planet IS less dense than earth, but because of its huge volume, it's more massive. Gravity is much greater. Humans are supported by madra from birth in part because otherwise they wouldn't be able to adapt to the gravity.

You have other problems too: does this less-dense core spin fast enough to create a magnetosphere? Wouldn't continents bigger than Earth's just be massive deserts everywhere except immediately along the coast? Wouldn't the surface of such a planet be wracked by storms?

Vital aura!

I'll get into it later in the books, but for me building this world, aura served a couple of functions. First, it allows people to adapt to what would otherwise be very harsh natural conditions (Sacred Valley and the immediate surrounding areas have, so far, been very mild. Conditions will accelerate as we get deeper into Cradle). Second, vital aura is generated by natural forces AND it changes natural forces.

I'll continue showing how it works in future books, but the bottom line is that aura allows me to have thriving ecosystems where everything is fire-aspect: trees with burning fruit pollinated by insects with wings of flame, and so on and so forth. Same in the depths of the ocean and on the tops of clouds.

It's magic. But it DOES work consistently according to a set of rules, and it DOES interact with physics.

However, I'm not as attached to real-world physics as Brandon Sanderson is. He enjoys figuring out the physical implications of every nuance in his magic systems. I do not enjoy that, so I will not be doing it.

If there's a gap between real physics and magic, I'll be filling in that gap with magic. Not physics. Just a personal preference.

Jeremiah

You may not enjoy figuring out how magic interacts with and is subject to physics, but I would feel sure you wouold enjoy the fact that Sanderson has done so.

Will Wight

Jeremiah, what I like and appreciate is all the thought and planning that Sanderson puts into developing his magic system, and how clear the rules usually are. AND what an impact they always have on the surrounding society.That's cool, and I know from experience that it's very hard to do.But as for him figuring out all the details of how his magic interacts with physics...no, I don't really care.Harry Potter magic doesn't interact with physics, and yet each individual book in the series has a very tight magic system (the series as a WHOLE doesn't, because some magic introduced in a later book could have solved problems in an earlier book, but each book on its own is very consistent).As long as the rules and abilities are clear to me, great! I don't care if they're consistent with known physics or not. Where does the extra mass go when Professor McGonnagall turns into a cat? Magic.

April

I may be weird, but yes, things like that bug me. Less in fantasy as the author can say "because magic" and it works (though some take that to an extreme, which usually is enough to turn me off from a book) but in sci-fi that is a definite deal-breaker)

   

Will Wight

Apparently that's a pretty common view, April, and that's fine!

I'm just saying that MY tolerance for physics-defying shenanigans is pretty high, as long as it's consistent within the work. If a character survives getting hit by a tactical missile and then is threatened by a knife, Will is not happy.

But if we're getting into the realm of "Dragons could never grow that large because their bones couldn't support their own body weight," or "A conjuration spell could never work because it adds mass to the universe," then I don't care.

It's fantasy. Magic > Physics.

Will Wight

Adriel, the Creator

The first seven Judges inherited their power and titles. Only Ozriel and Adriel are the exceptions: Ozriel because there has never been a Reaper before him, and Adriel because there has never been a Creator since.

Adriel is a myth to the modern Abidan. Some of their oldest records posit his existence, but he vanished before the Eledari Pact was signed. The strongest pieces of evidence for his existence are indirect references left behind by the first Abidan Court.

The Judges can defend, maintain, and alter Iterations. They can combine fragments into new worlds.

But only one person could, according to legend, design and create Iterations out of whole cloth: Adriel. He created new worlds, introducing fresh pieces into the cycle of existence.

His weapon, the Hammer of Adriel, is sometimes used by the Abidan as a symbol of creation.

Will Wight

Ozriel, the Reaper

When a world lives too long and drifts from the Way, only one person can terminate the Iteration without scattering corrupted fragments that threaten other worlds.

For most of the history of the Abidan, there was no Ozriel. They eliminated worlds the old-fashioned way, and most of their manpower was spent defending Iterations from chaos-corrupted fragments. Ozriel reduced the threat of corruption to such a degree that the Abidan could spread their manpower to an unprecedented degree. Where once it took hundreds of Abidan to protect and maintain a single Iteration, now that same team could supervise an entire Sector of ten or more worlds.

However, the entire system of the current Abidan now hinges on one man.

Where most Judges are rule-abiding and structured by nature, Ozriel is not so rigid. He often challenges Abidan laws and traditions, trying to change and improve the policies of their organization. He might have succeeded by now if he were willing to relinquish control and cooperate with others. But, traditionally, he has never been much of a team player. When others don't agree with him, he tends to do exactly what he wants anyway.

As the one individual in existence with a world-erasing superweapon, he's used to getting his way.

And now he's missing.

Will Wight

Zakariel, the Fox

The Way governs space, separating universe from universe, but its branches reach into every Iteration. Foxes use these branches like tunnels, slipping through the Way to reach their destinations without the headache of physical distance.

Virtually every Abidan has some ability as a Fox--at least the minimum spatial control required to enter and leave an Iteration. But only the best and fastest join the Fox Division: the heralds, scouts, and couriers of the Abidan.

Each Zakariel has always been fickle and unpredictable, perhaps as a side effect of the ability to travel anywhere at any time. This generation's Zakariel likes to meddle, as a godlike child with her toys. She tests the bounds of the Eledari Pact with her actions, and the Foxes beneath her have grown unruly and undisciplined. She has been chastised before the Court of Seven many times, but her personal power and ability have kept her from being pressured out of her mantle.

She is also an insatiable collector of anything she finds intriguing. Legendary weapons and rare creatures are displayed in her collection side by side with adorable stuffed animals and interesting leaves.

Will Wight

Suriel, the Phoenix

The power of the Phoenix is the power of restoration. An Abidan of the Phoenix Division can use the Way to return order to a system, restoring it to prime condition. Phoenixes are used as mechanics and engineers as often as healers, and are prized on any battlefield.

Though skilled Phoenix Abidan are rare, and their division small, they are also very durable. A Phoenix is said to be the second-most difficult of the Abidan to destroy (after a Titan), since powerful Phoenixes can regenerate even from total destruction.

The Phoenix herself, Suriel, is the only entity capable of restoring the condition of an entire Iteration at once. This can cause irregularities for both the Spiders and the Hounds, so she is required to notify Sector Control prior to temporal reversion.

Ozriel is well-known as the most powerful Judge since the first generation of the Abidan Court, and possibly of all time. However, he has no ability as a Phoenix. He has made it a point to befriend both the previous Suriel and this one, holding their talents in high esteem.

Will Wight

Telariel, the Spider

The Spiders essentially function as the Abidan intelligence network. They spread their awareness through the Way, sensing deviation and disorder all throughout existence. Spiders maintain the system of Sector Control, through which Iterations are divided into sectors in order to make them easier to manage.

Inter-universal communication between Abidan is also handled by the Spiders, so they have a reputation as the busiest Division. However, they are also known as the weakest in combat, so they are usually left to roles in support and management.

A Spider may be hard-working, but the Spider is lazy, disreputable, and prone to leaning on the perks of his position. Telariel has long ago reduced his personal responsibility to only handling communication between Judges, which rarely requires his personal attention.

When Ozriel vanished, Telariel cast his laziness aside and bent his full attention to the search. He was soon forced to admit defeat. Ozriel took steps to hide himself from the detection of the Way, and the Spider's skill is nothing next to the Reaper's.

(After receiving the blow to his pride, Telariel retreated back into seclusion. To sulk.)

Will Wight

Darandiel, the Ghost

Just as the other Judges supervise the life and health of a world, someone must oversee the process of universal death and rebirth. The Ghosts watch over the broken fragments of worlds, guiding the development of new Iterations and protecting them from malign influence during the vulnerable cycle of destruction and creation.

As Hounds tap into the power of Fate and Titans into the power of protection, Ghosts manipulate the force that binds existence to the Way: conscious will. This is an esoteric power that, depending on the situation, can be either overwhelmingly powerful or totally useless.

Darandiel is rarely seen in Sanctum, the headquarters of the Abidan. She and her Ghosts spend most of their time beyond the Iterations, shepherding the birth of new worlds and defending old ones from the chaos of the void.

Will Wight

Gadrael, the Titan

The Way is fundamentally a force of protection, a barrier against chaos and destruction. Gadrael is the embodiment of that concept.

Titan Abidan are the defenders of the Abidan worlds, raising shields and barriers against creatures of chaos and against the enemies of the Court. Whenever the Abidan need a world quarantined, a weapon sealed, a prison reinforced, or an attack turned aside, they call on the Titans.

This generation's Gadrael was rescued from a dying world, then raised as a son by Makiel. His loyalty to the Hound is total.

He once had a reputation as the weakest Judge, due to his lack of skill in any discipline but his own. Other Judges typically have expertise in more than one area; Suriel, for instance, is an accomplished Fox (who excel at instant travel) and an able Spider (who detect deviations in chaos). Makiel could have inherited the post of Razael the Wolf instead, had he desired to do so, and Ozriel was skilled enough to fulfill the duties of any Judge but Suriel.

Gadrael cannot read Fate, he can barely cross through the Way, and his combat power is lower than many ordinary Abidan.

But his barriers are flawless.

Gadrael is is the sturdiest protector in existence, a one-man fortress, an immovable object, an impenetrable wall. Worlds under Gadrael's protection can rest easy, but there are thousands of Iterations under the purview of the Judges.

And the Titans cannot be everywhere at once.

Will Wight

Makiel, the Hound

The story of each universe is written in Fate.

Fate governs the natural lifespan of each Iteration. It isn't a detailed plan that determines every action of each person, but rather a force like gravity that pushes a world toward a healthy life ending in that Iteration's natural death.

Since humans tie the universe to the Way, people figure prominently in Fate. One individual life is unlikely to affect the destiny of an entire Iteration, but their actions might be a necessary step toward a world's continued existence. Or its end.

Makiel and the Hound Division of the Abidan supervise Fate. They tap into the Way to read the past and the future, and to deal with any deviations that may jeopardize one or more worlds.

Makiel is something of a leader among the seven Judges, though the Eledari Pact technically gives him no authority over his peers. This is a tradition continued from the original Makiel, who first realized the need for such a pact and organized its creation.

He is rigid and inflexible, utterly dedicated to the enforcement of the rules that protect existence. This mindset has led him to clash with Ozriel, who tends to value his own will over externally imposed guidelines. He has tried many times to recover the Scythe and Mantle of Ozriel in order to pass the title to a different, more worthy bearer, but the Reaper has eluded or defeated him at every turn.

Will Wight

The Eledari Pact: An ancient agreement between the original Court of Seven that both increases and restricts the powers of the Abidan.

Agreements and restrictions are inherently ordered, so this pact is the tool that allows the Abidan to control the power of the Way as they do. There are many rules in the Eledari Pact, but the most relevant one is this: the Abidan cannot use their powers to prevent the natural progression of an Iteration.

They cannot stop a global war from claiming billions of lives and destroying a planet, unless that war was started by outside forces or by a significant subversion of Fate. Abidan only descend to correct a deviation, though they're granted a certain freedom of action in doing so. This law exists both to preserve the natural balance of existence and to prevent the Abidan from settling down in lesser worlds and ruling like gods.

Will Wight

The Way: The source of order, the Way is a force that spans all of existence. Its presence protects against the destructive and corruptive influence of chaos, and its nature sustains reality.

An Iteration dying is part of the Way. Death is meant to be the end; this is part of the cosmic order. Only when an Iteration lives too long does it becomes a danger.

When a world's population drops so low that it weakens the influence of the Way, but not so low that the Iteration breaks into fragments, that is when corruption sets in. Chaos seeps into the world, infecting it, subverting the laws that govern reality.

At this point, the Abidan can destroy the remaining population, thus removing the Iteration's last hold on existence. But now the world will break into fragments, and those fragments are tinged with chaos. They might crash into other Iterations, infecting them, or combine to create worlds that are corrupted from the very beginning.

There is only one being capable of erasing a universe from existence entirely, without breaking it down into fragments.

And he's missing.