Questioner
How would the Abidan deal with a sci-fi Iteration with millions of worlds?
Will Wight
When Suriel personally intervened in Harrow, it was because the Abidan were not prepared for Harrow to be infected with corruption at all. She decided to save as many people as she could. Limit was the world that was scheduled for demolition, its population evacuated and quarantine implemented. But Ozriel didn't show up to destroy it. The corruption spread until the Abidan weren't prepared to contain it, and that's when it spread through the Way into Harrow. So: if they were prepared to save a sci-fi world with a galactic empire, they absolutely could. It would be easier and far more organized than what Suriel did in Harrow. That said, civilizations with trillions of inhabitants and multiple inhabited planets are tethered very tightly to the Way. They're very stable and difficult to corrupt naturally, so they tend to be safer.
Questioner
Where in the Willverse would you want to go if you could visit one of your iterations?
Will Wight
Most of the settings I write about aren't places you'd really want to visit. I'm basically inventing the least comfortable places I can imagine. However, there's an ancient library in Cradle called the Dreamway. It's filled with thousands of dream tablets that each contain endlessly changing fictional worlds. Each tablet is essentially a virtual reality experience that crafts a new story on command. I'd want to go there. I'd probably, you know, die from neglecting my basic physical needs, but that's a nicer way to go than by visiting Valinhall.
Questioner
Who was the last person in sacred valley to reach gold before the events of the story?
Will Wight
That's a great question, but unfortunately I can't answer it accurately without getting into why the people in Sacred Valley aren't Gold anymore, which is a spoiler.I will say that one of the founders of the Heaven's Glory School was a sacred beast who achieved Gold; a golden-scaled dragon that breathed light and heat. Legend says he's still sealed beneath Mount Samara, ready to defend the School in its hour of need.
Questioner
Any Paths out there that relentlessly attack with little to no defense?
Will Wight
As they say: face is the place.The Path of the Last Breath, mentioned in Skysworn, both drains your own life to empower your techniques and destroy the enemy and attacks relentlessly with no regard to self-protection.There's also the Path of the Storm Lance, which focuses on channeling all of its power into Striker and Forger techniques that destroy the enemy before the enemy has a chance to resist. There is no problem they won't solve with a huge explosion.
Questioner
"What are prisons like in Cradle?
Will Wight
On the Iceflower Continent, far from the Blackflame Empire, there's a buried chamber chiseled into the heart of a halfsilver vein. Madra is dispersed as soon as it touches the air, and thirteen layers of script repel all aura. There are twenty cells, and no more than twenty prisoners. Imprisoned here are those who cannot be executed.
Questioner
More meta, but which Path or Iron Body would you choose?
Will Wight
As for which Path I'd choose, that's an interesting question. I initially thought I would go with the Path of the Cloud Hammer, because it is a force-based Path with fairly easy aura to cultivate and many broad applications. Plus, they can run on air.However, since then I've realized I'm lazy, and I would prefer a Path that required me to move less. There are summoner-style Paths that involve manipulating construct puppets, and I'd probably choose one of them.
Questioner
So, in Cradle, what are Sages exactly?
Will Wight
Sages are Archlords who have achieved [something special] that sets them apart from their peers. There are levels above Archlord, but Sages are actually more rare than the stage immediately over Archlord. It's easier to advance than to distinguish yourself and become a Sage.
Questioner
Many paths seem that all they need to do is hit somebody with one hit and the person dies, ex. Heavens Glory. It seemed like if somebody was hit, they die. What keeps underlords, sages, from being just one shot K.O. by a Jade or lowgold?
Will Wight
Within your body, your madra holds sway. This is why non-pure madra can't be effectively used in an Empty Palm style technique, because you can't just "inject" your madra into someone and expect it to do anything. It's also why fire Paths don't just set the air in their opponent's lungs on fire and walk away.The reason why a Heaven's Glory Jade can't just gun down an Underlord is an expansion of this principle. If your madra is sufficiently more powerful than your opponent's, it becomes hard for their Striker techniques to even hurt your skin. Often, the madra is simply dispersed when it touches you. The same is true for Forged madra--it can be dispersed by the natural madra of a more-advanced opponent.Ruler techniques will work equally on anyone, so they're usually what you use if you have to fight a more advanced opponent. However, there are some drawbacks.First of all, not every Path has a battle-ready Ruler technique. Second, Ruler techniques often take a long time to implement; you have to gather up compatible aura in the area and then activate it in a specific manner.It's also expected that an Underlord will have more powerful Ruler techniques than a Truegold, or will sense what is happening and dodge or disrupt it.As for Enforcer techniques, they of course work fine against higher-level opponents. But usually, someone more advanced than you will also get better results out of their Enforcer techniques. ml
Questioner
What does water turn into if left to gather madra for long enough like a stone will turn into a Titians bone.
Will Wight
Sacred pools, which are referred to differently in different lands, are actually fairly common. Titan's bone is almost mythical, because of how long it takes stone aura to condense in rocks and how deep you have to drill to excavate it. However, sacred pools, divine springs, and so on are commonly used to refine elixirs. They are often cultivated specifically in the gardens of powerful sects.Some believe that the deep ocean has the water with the most condensed and powerful aura, but that's difficult to judge. The power of water is of course overwhelming down there, but no one is known to have filled a container with deep-ocean water and returned to the surface without contaminating the power of the sample.
Questioner
I know you have said you are doing it and it might be in a book later, but i reallllllllly want a description of the steps of advancement and what each advancement does to the body/soul/core and the amount of power that seperates each advancement. If you say no to that.... what do you call the stage that this honoured one would have to be to leave Cradle
Will Wight
I can't answer any of this.However, the Sword Sage could have left Cradle had he wanted to. And there were still plenty of people stronger than him in the world.
Questioner
Are there any paths that utilize "space" aura like the rabbit, bat and mole in unsouled? (I can envision a path of the Infinite step. Highly focused on movement, mobility and field manipulation.)
Will Wight
Yes there are, and we'll get to see plenty of them...later in the series. Spoilers abound!
Questioner
What is the most reviled and infamous person in Cradle History?
Will Wight
One of the most well-known and reviled criminals in the history of the Blackflame Empire was a man named Gan Lo Zin, who operated the most well-known Remnant factory to be taken down and exposed.So-called Remnant factories kidnap children at Copper, then strap them to scripted devices and force-feed them scales. Their madra is cycled by force through scripts and madra devices, which is often inefficient, painful, and leads to long-term spiritual damage.However, this doesn't tend to matter. Because as soon as the children reach Jade, and thus leave stable Remnants of a high enough quality, they are slaughtered. Their Remnants are sealed and captured in boxes, to be categorized and sold to large organizations with a need for great quantities of bindings, dead matter, or Remnants for Lowgold bonding.When Gan Lo Zin was exposed, it caused a public outcry. It's estimated that he was responsible for the deaths of as many as thirty thousand people.However, when captured and questioned by the Skysworn, he maintained that he was far from the only one to operate such a facility. Outside the boundaries of the Empire, and even on other continents, he claimed that many large organizations ran their own Remnant factories.They were, he said, the inevitable price of progress.
Questioner
What would be Lindon's favorite series?
Will Wight
You know, I feel like Lindon wouldn't find Cradle to be his favorite series. He'd probably be reminded of all his unpleasant memories. He would enjoy Traveler's Gate the most, I think...not for the story, but for the existence of Valinhall, which he would see as easy, guaranteed progression.
Questioner
Is/was the fisher geisha married?
Will Wight
She was, and in fact I expect to go into slightly more detail in Skysworn.
Questioner
What path do professional sex workers follow? Are they in a house and ranked like the janitors?
Will Wight
Prostitutes often follow dream Paths, because dream madra can be used to alter appearances, induce emotions, and even find potential customers. In the Blackflame Empire, they are of course ranked. Everything is ranked. The top brothel is The Court of Roses, which caters to members of the royal family and influential clan leaders. The number one courtesan in the Court of Roses is Haru Mei, a woman on the Path of Twining Vines. She cycles aura of life and dreams, in a strange combination that helps her sense what others are feeling and manipulate those sensations.
Questioner
How would an underlord on the path of the white fox compare to the other underlords of the Blackflame empire?
Will Wight
When asked what Paths were the hardest for him to fight, the Underlord of the Cloud Hammer School said, "I despise beyond anything else the cowards who hide behind shadows and illusions. Let a true sacred artist come to me under the light of the sun and do battle. From anything else, I will flee; not because I fear the power of cowards, but because my time is too valuable to burn it away."
Questioner
Are there any sacred artists out there focused on conditioning their minds, not their bodies?
Will Wight
Madra flows through the body, so there are no Paths that don't affect the body in some way.
However, not every sacred artist lives by his fists.
The Path of the Diamond Sky focuses on polishing the power of the mind, until its practitioners have perfect memory, utter control over their emotions, and imaginations so vivid that some of them die inside self-created dreams.
Questioner
What is the average life expectancy of someone on the path of gluttonous avarice?
Will Wight
Adarsh is right.Some of them, of course, eat anything they can get their hands on. These are almost impossible to kill, as their bodies process the power they consume to protect them. But they often die on their own, as their organs will eventually fail so badly that Enforcer techniques can't preserve them any longer.However, some of them devour only the most valuable delicacies. Ancient Remnant dead matter processed by Soulsmiths to be edible, the delicately seasoned meat of a thousand-year-old Underlord-level sacred beast, or fruits of such pure power that they glitter like crystal.These practitioners might be rail-thin and live for centuries more than their counterparts. Their bodies also tend to take on strange properties.
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.
Questioner
If I wanted to be the greatest travelling musician in the Blackflame empire, what Path should I be following to make this happen?
Will Wight
If you wanted to be the greatest musician in Cradle, you would have a rival. She is known as Nightsong, though the legends generally agree that she was not born with this name.
She follows the Path of the Moonlit Flute, and her powers vary according to the storyteller. Some say that she played a song over a battle between two Sages who had hated one another for years, and they walked away friends. Only weeks later, the two were married.
It is said she rides a Remnant, but never the same one. She simply plays a song on her flute, and Remnants compete to carry her around.
