Are there any instances of sacred artists "selling themselves " into slavery at a coliseum to gain patrons and have a legal way to cultivate blood madra?
Most culturally acceptable blood Paths are medical, so it's not difficult to find sources of blood aura. Also, every living being generates some blood aura, so you can cycle a little wherever you are.
Cradle: Are there paths that grant tremendous power swiftly at the cost of later advancement?
The most common Paths for those who want to gain quick power at any cost are blood/sword Paths. It's a common pairing, because a battlefield typically has both strong sword aura and strong blood aura.The aura is powerful, as well as easy to create and cycle: you just have to keep killing people. The stronger the physical body, the greater the power of the blood aura. Virtually everyone who walks a Path of slaughter and bloodshed reaches Truegold quickly.The problem comes after that.First of all, you've killed a lot of people, so you've made enemies. They won't let you get away with enjoying the spoils of your evil Path.Second, even if you manage to slip away, there's no hiding that the power of your soul is drenched in blood. There are blood arts focused on healing, and others focused on strengthening the body, but it's easy to sense the difference between those and powers gained through murder. Peaceful civilizations won't accept you, and there are even laws in many places banning "evil arts," "slaughter arts," "demonic arts," etc.Therefore, because interaction with other people is difficult, it becomes harder to obtain the backing you need for the resources to cross into Underlord and above. As every further stage requires more and more resources, eventually you'll find yourself stranded and surrounded by enemies. That, or killed in combat.But it's not as though no one has ever succeeded in advancing along this Path...
What's the most advanced piece of technology native to Cradle?
There are cloudships far more advanced than the one the Arelius family use, and they have powerful onboard weaponry as well as long-range communications and detection.However, it's difficult to develop technology that works reliably everywhere in Cradle. Gunpowder might explode with too much force in an area where fire aura is strong, or destruction aura might cause an engine to burn too much fuel. There are patches of aura that block certain detection methods, and beings whose very existence can cloud a sacred artist's spiritual senses.
If the most pleasant iron body is asked, then what's with the most painful, except for Lindon's(if his IS even the most painful one)
It's hard to quantify the MOST painful Iron Body; is burning alive more painful than being torn apart piece by piece?Because those are both actual ways of developing an Iron body.There are some Iron bodies similar to Lindon's that involve being stabbed and cut over and over while you're being healed. There are others that involve adapting your body to fire, which basically means burning yourself one part at a time.
Screw Lindons wolverine body. The Drifting Iron body is the one for me. I imagine its for people whom want to fly ,glide, float or be a parkour ninja.
There's a similar Iron body for a Path that has rigid metallic wings as their Goldsign. They're not a wind Path, so it's difficult for them to fly, but if their bodies are light enough they can glide.This particular Iron body is from a sect of body-enhancing life artists that you might call ninjas.
What is the most pleasant and painless iron body type to develop?
The Drifting Iron Body. It involves undergoing a process to weaken gravity's hold on the body, making you lighter. The actual transformation process involves being woven into a silken cocoon made by refiners from plants that grow among the clouds. It feels like being suspended among hundreds of pillows for several hours a day over many weeks.
What's the biggest chain restaurant in cradle? Such as McDonalds.
Sungarden restaurants are all over a different continent. They have life artists that can grow tailor-made fruits and vegetables on command, so you're ordering from a menu of genetic options as much as a selection of dishes.
Where do you go for the best food in Cradle?
In many places in Cradle, it's difficult to tell, but everything in the Blackflame Empire is ranked for your convenience.The #1 rated restaurant in the Empire is the Dragon's Breath, a grill that specializes in unbelievably exotic meats. There, you can taste spiced sea dragon, butter-roasted Cloud Eagle, slices of butter-soft sashimi from tuna longer than a man is tall, and thousand-year peach wine.It's appropriately expensive. Many of the customers bring in the creatures their families have captured and pay to have them prepared by the high-class artisans on staff.
How do you actually make it to the end of a novel?
I ascend from Death to answer this one question, and this one alone, before returning to the grave.This is part of the process. I had many 20k stories before House of Blades, because that’s about the point where the inner critic kicks in and you realize what you’ve written isn’t as good as it was in your head. Now you’ve realized that the REALLY good story is a different idea entirely, or you’ve figured out that you can take the current story in a much better direction as long as you start over from the beginning.This feeling is not to be trusted. Those are lies whispered into your ears by Book Satan. If you switched ideas or started over, you would once again get about 20k in before facing the same situation.You cannot evaluate a story until it is finished. Give yourself permission to write a story that you feel is the worst thing ever. Finish it anyway. Push forward. This is where the hard work of writing comes in.Only when it’s finished can you actually start to judge whether it really is terrible or if it’s actually pretty good. You’re going to feel like it’s terrible throughout the whole middle of the process, and that’s natural. Just don’t let it stop you from putting words on paper.
What book or author would you recommend to someone who has read all of your books, preferring Cradle->House of Blades -> OKAK
I always have a difficult time giving recommendations. The only authors I recommend with no caveats tend to be very well-known. If you're not familiar with the wuxia / xianxia genre, that's what Cradle is, and there are some great examples over on WuxiaWorld.com. They're all fan translated and written daily, so there tend to be some difficulties with prose, but once you get used to it the stories can be off-the-charts hype.
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?
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.
Will, the Sword Sage praised the chief of the Heaven Glory school(not sure the name is correct). Does this mean that he has a perfect jade body, or whatever it is called. Or did he simply mean that his foundation is better than the ones of the other elders?
The Sword Sage didn't REALLY praise him, he just took it as praise.To a Sage, the Jades of Sacred Valley were like a bunch of blind monkeys swinging sticks around. He may have said "Nice swing," but he meant that in the context of a bunch of other blind monkeys.
At last, here's Worm! I was waiting for this! I thought people would bring up Worm characters immediately, and I was kind of prepared for it, but this took longer than I expected.
1.) Suriel vs. Projected Siberian
The real answer to this is that Suriel analyzes the structure of the energy making up the Siberian projection and--depending on the mechanics of how the power works--either severs it from the source or deconstructs it, destroying the projection.
However, I suspect you wanted a punch-em-up, so let's take that case.
The Siberian's hit isn't enough to break Suriel's armor, but it knocks her backwards. At which point Suriel realizes this, does some calculations with her Presence, and retaliates with a blow that should knock the Siberian into orbit.
It fails, because the Siberian disperses any kinetic energy directed into her. All that energy has to go somewhere, so it's either absorbed by the construct itself or vented into her surroundings.
If it's absorbed by the construct, then Suriel has no choice but to sever, disassemble, or overload the construct, again depending on the mechanics of the power. If it's vented into her surroundings, then Suriel hits her hard enough to send a square-mile chunk of the city into orbit.
2.) Suriel vs. Zion
This is more even than anyone else vs. Zion, because Suriel can counter his most overpowered ability: Contessa's power. Her Presence is connected to Fate and has similar capabilities, so they can both see what steps are needed to defeat the other.
This would be a fight that would threaten Suriel, and I could see her contacting other Abidan for help. In the end, if she had to fight alone, it would be a close battle. This is an enemy she would normally call Gadrael, Razael, or Ozriel for.
I believe she COULD take it, but it would be difficult.
3.) Simon vs. Skitter
This would be the most irritating power Simon has ever gone up against.
As long as we are talking Skitter and not Khepri, I think Simon would get it. She still doesn't have superhuman speed, so while she's commanding her deadly cloud of insects, he just runs up in bullet time and puts a sword through her head.
I wonder, if a prize was offered for your deathmatches, what would they ask for? I bet Simon would ask for a vacation or something like that.
He would ask for his mother and father back from the dead.
...but this is a fantastic question, and one I hadn't considered! If the Abidan were offering wishes, what would the characters want?
Urzaia would want to keep fighting where he could make a difference, ideally with Calder but he'd settle for something else.
If we assume Disney genie rules (no raising the dead, no mind control, no infinite wish loopholes), Simon would have to think and discuss with Caela first. I suspect he'd wish for all the lost Dragon's Fangs back, so that the Eldest would get off his back and let him do his many other jobs.
But he might surprise me.
Lindon would wish for a power-up, Yerin would wish for sacred arts knowledge (assuming resurrection is off-limits, again). Shera would wish for a box inside which time would stop and she could go take a break and nap whenever she wanted. Calder would also wish for increased personal power.
Kai would wish for the dolls to love him, and upon learning that his wish breaks the genie rules, he would instead wish for a new doll.
The Emperor would wish for a way to permanently destroy the Elders, would learn that it's essentially impossible, and would instead wish for the Abidan to take a more active role in keeping them suppressed.
How do the people on Cradle age? Is it similar to many other Xianxia's, where the lifespan increases with every new cultivation rank? If yes, how old could a person approx. get?
Regardless of whether or not their lifespan is increased via ranking up, they will live longer on average. Their immune systems and internal organs appear to become far better at combating pathogens and toxins. As they human body ages, its immune system weakens, but who knows if that is the case with an iron body?
Furthermore, the elderly do seem to cling to life rather tightly, as evidenced by the jai clan. Not to mention that they would be well along their paths, and very hard to kill in combat.
As is usually the case with raccoons, Family of Raccoons is correct. Below roughly Underlord, it's just that their spirits compensate for age really well. Living over 100 isn't too uncommon.
At Underlord, you actually start to age slower. It partially depends on your madra, but Underlords can live to be 200+.
More advanced sacred artists can live even longer.
To my soulsmith question.. I thought the hammer badge was for a forger? So why is it on the cover of soulsmith? Or am I dumb right now and not remembering correctly..
In Sacred Valley, a hammer represents a Forger. And only Forgers can be Soulsmiths.
Outside Sacred Valley, a badge with a hammer on it represents WHO KNOWS? I'M KEEPING IT A SECRET! BWAHAHA!
1. You mentioned that the blackflame emporer was the level above under lord. How much higher were the proper black fame family? 2. How big is the ninecloud court, compared to the blackflame empire now and at its height. 3. Were any of the dragons at the peak of the cultivation of cradle I.e like northstrider or Shia miara4. Who would win a war between ninecloud court of today and the blackflame empire of the dragons5. Finally has the loss of the blackflame family resulted in a reduction of territory? Have other states taken land from them now there is no longer a blackflame cultivator to be afraid of?
1.) Can't tell you, spoilers.2.) Can't tell you, spoilers.3.) No.4.) The Ninecloud Court of today. The Ninecloud Court existed back during this dragon empire, and they outlived it for a reason.
5.) Yes! Partially because Blackflame cultivators were scary death-weapons that are now gone, lending boldness to the border-states, and partially because the clans are still (fifty years later) pushing and testing the new Imperial clan, trying to get as much autonomy as possible. It's resulting in weaker borders due to a lack of cooperation.
However, the Naru clan are much better administrators than the Blackflames ever were, and the life of the average citizen in the Empire has improved over the last few decades.
The highest levels of the Ninecloud Court (like Luminous Queen Sha Miara) are on the same tier as the Dreadgods. They are capable of evaporating seas and obliterating nations singlehandedly.The dragons of the Blackflame Empire were scary, but not THAT scary.
Anyone else feel a little Zelazny in that post? It felt a little like "All roads lead to Amber." I loved the Amber books and the Abidan feels like a more universal scale of Amber, with the princes not necessarily being backstabbing power-hungry monsters. If I have to wait for Blackflame, this is how I would prefer to do it. Masterfully done as ever, Will!
*I* definitely felt some Zelazny in this post.
Among other things, the initial draft of this system owes points to Zelazny's Amber, Star Trek's Galactic Federation, and Bleach's Soul Society. It all drifted and evolved over time, requiring some gradual planning and re-planning. I couldn't even tell you how many drafts of this I went through before I even wrote House of Blades, much less now.
With Amber, I loved the idea of having powers that drew from different worlds, but I hated the idea of infinite universes.
Because if the possibilities are TRULY infinite, you can always pull from a dimension where your loved one never died. Or where you became Supreme Overlord of Earth. Or where there's a weapon that suits your exact needs at this precise moment.
If it's truly infinite, there CAN'T be one true world. Because there's always a version out there that is the exact same, except the deck of cards in your pocket is shuffled slightly differently.
So I knew pretty early on that I wanted a system of finite worlds, even if that number is very large. I'd rather have a Chronicles of Narnia multiverse than a Rick and Morty multiverse.
As for the order versus chaos thing, it's funny, because that didn't come from Amber. I had intentionally ditched that at the beginning, because "order" typically has really boring powers. Also, it's been done so much.
I came at it from a different direction: what powers did I want the Abidan to have?
I wanted them to have powers that were universal, so abilities that wouldn't fail them if they dropped into a world with a weird magic system. I also wanted them to be defensive and rules-oriented, and specifically I wanted them to be able to adjust the rules of the world.
So, you know, after a few years and a bunch of different versions, I finally admitted it: there's nothing more universal, defensive, and rules-oriented than "order." I was only trying to avoid the order/chaos duality because Zelazny and Modesitt did it.
Eventually, I gave in.
I was just wondering if that was the plan from the very beginning or if this idea of iterations developed as you wrote new books? Also are we going to be seeing new iterations, complete with different magic systems?
Ideas don't ever stop developing, in my experience, even unto the point where I was tweaking details before I released this post.
However, these basic mechanics were in place years before I wrote House of Blades. I didn't call them Iterations--that was a term I invented when I wrote Unsouled in order to give Suriel something to say other than "worlds" or "dimensions."
>Are we going to be seeing new Iterations?
One of my main goals in making this system was to create a framework in which I could write whatever stories I wanted. So if I want to do an interdimensional war that spans hundreds of worlds, I can. If I want to do a classic fantasy novel that never mentions the Abidan or any other worlds, I can.
But the reader, in the back of their mind, already knows some of the shared rules of this multiverse. YOU know what's going to happen when humanity is destroyed, even if the characters don't. YOU know how someone can read the future (Fate) and still end up wrong. That sort of thing.
1.) Are humans from each iteration biologically diffrent? (I asked this in the previous post)2.)Easy to deduce Amalgam is Simons World but i find it weird no myths of people ascending exist in this world and as well as in Asylum. (The emperor was the closest we got to an immortal there)
1.) They may be biologically different in some ways, but essentially no. Not in the Iterations we've seen, anyway.
2.) That's why Cradle is unique. The magic systems of the others don't naturally lead to someone ascending beyond the world.Especially not in Asylum. The Emperor had even a slight knowledge of the Abidan because he was such an exception to the rule; Asylum was specifically designed to be extraordinarily difficult to leave.
