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DJflopdog

Can an advanced enough sacred beast, who has transitioned to human form, change back into beast form at will? The dragon monarch Seth for example.

Will Wight

Somebody advanced enough can. Seth definitely can. He can do whatever he wants. But, it's somebody like Sophara from Ghostwater, the Underlady, she doesn't have a dragon form. She does, but she would have to spend soulfire and time slowly making herself back into a dragon. And, that would be an inefficient use of time and soulfire. So, it would be difficult. Even and Archlord, it's not easy. But a herald, or above, so a monarch, a herald or monarch, those can shift all the time. And shift. And shift.

Questioner

What is a piece of cut content that you fully fleshed out, but never found a good spot to put in the books? Besides jade cycling techniques, that is.

Will Wight

Well, I shared a lot of that before, I guess, Bloodline I think.  I shared some of the things I had thought about there.  There's a lot of paths that I made.  I think one thing - this is funny, but I made a full character sheet for Charity, Akura Charity.  So the owls thing, that's a real technique.  I know all the techniques in The Book of the Silver Heart.  I have a character sheet for Pride too somewhere, but, you know.  It's Pride.  Charity though, I have names for her weapons and artifacts.  I have some elaborate stuff, and we just never got into it.  Maybe I'll shove it into the nest book.  She still has a role in the series of course.  So maybe I'll elaborate on that.  So that's one thing.  I have character sheets for quite a number of people, but Charity is one that I was looking through my notes the other day, and I was like, huh.  I fleshed out her path.  And I never really did a whole lot with it.  

So, anything else... Another piece of cut content...  Oh, there is a lot of setting stuff.  A lot of Serpent's Grave.  Even in Elder Empire.  I actually built the Gray Island, for the Consultant Headquarters in Elder Empire, I built that in Minecraft so I would have a map for it.  I just went into creator mode in Minecraft and built the whole thing.  Built the docks, built the different traps, and the underground chamber, and all that stuff.  I ended up losing that map because I transitioned computers and didn't back it up.  So I was really salty about that.  So that's another thing; there's a few setting things that I fleshed out then didn't get to include, because of course I, instead f lingering on settings, blow past them at the speed of light.  So there's stuff with Blackflame City and stuff with Serpent's Grave that I came up with, then just didn't use.  I do that a lot with characters and settings; come up with details for them that are probably never going to come up.  There's a few sages that I think are super cool that are probably never going to come up.  Just a few paths they get to use that are (aren't?) cool.  There's also some that I initially had that overlap with another character or they just aren't that important.  So there was one guy that was on a sun path, and he was conjuring... It's kind of like Heaven's Glory but taken to the utmost extreme, because he's a sage.  So yeah, a few things like that.  

One of the first things I did in Blackflame actually, was I went through and defined all the monarchs, and the most prominent heralds and sages and stuff, because I wanted to know who the most powerful figures in the world are.  I did this in Elder Empire too; I went and elaborated on the regents and guild heads in one document in order to define the setting and the magic system.  That's one thing I really enjoy doing, and I recommend anyone do it if you are trying to write a progression fantasy sort of setting where people scale in power, is if you define the upper end of the system really quick, even to yourself, it can help you answer questions you didn't even know you had.  Somebody asked me earlier, how do you get past being stuck, and the answer I am sorry to say, is really just write nonsense.  Write the best scene you can think of.  Well, I don't know what to write.  To bad, keep writing.  Write as though someone is holding a gun to your head so words keep coming out of your fingers.  So that's how you do it.  Another answer that I'll elaborate on is you want to know more about your story.  One of the ways to do that is to answer questions to yourself.  Defining powerful people in your magic system is another way to answer questions you didn't even know you had.

So, one of the first things I did for Elder Empire, which I didn't do this for Cradle, mainly because I just went through and I had a file that's literally called powerful people of Cradle, and I just went through and outlined all the monarchs and their relationships to one another, and their factions, and what continent their on, their most powerful and loyal sages and heralds, all that kind of thing.  So, I went through and did all that around Blackflame, when I was really trying to define the setting, and of course I had done a little bit of that already, because 3 of the monarchs show up in Unsouled, so clearly I had done some of that already, but I finished the documentation there.  And in Elder Empire, I wrote a scene with the Emperor and the first generation Champions, uniting the world.  And of course at least of those first generation Champions became a regent.  And I didn't know anything about Estyr Six at the time; I just thought about a woman with long hair, and a black coat, and three lizard skulls that she was levitating around her with her powers that I thought was really cool, and because of that image, I fleshed her out into one of the major people in the setting.  And that ended up helping me fill in history of the setting that I didn't know I needed, and the dominoes sort of fell, and that inspired me and gave me some gaps to fill in later.

Questioner

Yerin at the end of Bloodlines vs Estyr Six

Will Wight

You know, there are some things that Yerin can do that Estyr Six doesn't have a good ability to block.  Like, Estyr Six is an extremely powerful telekinetic, probably one that could give Yerin trouble.  But at the same time, Yerin's now a suedo-herald, working on a conceptual level, so she's able to fight on some of the same tiers that Estyr Six can, and she can shoot what are effectively laser beams.  And Estyr Six doesn't have a good way of blocking laser beams.  So I'll have to give it to Yerin.  Mainly just a compatibility issue.  Now, there are problems that Estyr knows how to solve that Yerin does not, not that she is not capable of doing that, because there is some of those that a herald would probably be capable of solving, she doesn't know how.  Also, Estyr Six's power set is a lot more similar to a sage's.  So yeah, a little bit of a nuanced answer there.

Questioner

Do objects forged with authority become more powerful if the person who made them gains more authority afterwards?

Will Wight

Yes, they do.  So, the question there is, if someone with authority makes a powerful, monarch level weapon, or a device like the Abidan would use, and they gain more power afterward, does the item also gain in power?  And the answer is yes, it would.  So honestly, the same thing is true of bloodlines.  So if someone inherits a bloodline power from a herald, and that herald then advances to monarch, that bloodline power will then get stronger.  It is more that, conceptually you are a descendent of this person, then it is you inherited it genetically.  Because of course they are not genetic powers, they are spiritual programs.  So yeah, that's the answer.

The Last Reader

at what point in advancement do you become immortal (Herald,Monarch, Abidan)?

Will Wight

Archlords live a really long time, and Heralds are essentially ageless.

Questioner

What sort of an Army from Cradle would it take to conquer our world?

Will Wight

One Herald. One Herald because anything we could do to him he would be immune to. He would be able to affect large swaths of terrain at the same time. You couldn't nuke him, you couldn't do anything. There's no amount of physical force that would work. He can affect us, we can't affect him, that's it.

Decadakon

Do heralds tend to follow monarchs because a monarch is needed to help them advance or just cause they're OP.

Will Wight

Heralds: spoilers, read and find out.

Questioner

If Cradle unified and managed to raise a group of 100,000 heralds, each of whom managed to advance to monarch at the same time, could they kill the Dreadgods?

Will Wight

Yes. The current monarchs could kill the dreadgods. They could find a way to do it. It's not an impossible problem. It is something they are reluctant to do because it would cause a lot of other problems.

Nate K

What resources have you used to help organize your thoughts? Do you just use bullet points/notes or do you have something more sophisticated like character sheets/diagrams/maps/etc...?

Will Wight

So I always have to sketch out a map. Those of you who have been around a long time know that I hate maps. There are many reasons why I hate maps, I think each is more compelling than the last. But, I can't stand maps, I don't like them, I really don't. But I do have to know where things are in relation to one another, so I always sketch out some kind of really rough map and so I do that and I keep that and that is something that I definitely do. Also, I have things that are like character sheets, so I definitely keep information. I have a document on my laptop, that's called "Powerful Figures of Cradle," and so I have all the Monarchs listed and all the Heralds and all the Sages and what continent they're on and what their  allegiances and so I make sure I have all of that done. And, like I said, when I was working on magic systems, I did go through and put together a form for them. But, I don't really do that. Mostly, I just use bullet points and word documents and I just write my thoughts down. Bullet points, mostly, that's what I do. I list things, I keep things saved in different note files.

Ray745

So in the Uncrowned King tournament there are 8 Monarch factions, 8 sets of teams, 8 factions giving gifts etc, etc. However, everyone believes Northstrider died 6 years ago. Everyone also knows Northstrider has no faction of his own, so it's not like the Arelius faction which still has people who are able to choose competitors and give out gifts to the other teams. If the 9CC truly believed NS to be dead, as the 9C Soul stated, then why would they have a NS team in the tourney? Who would have been selecting the competitors or giving gifts? The Beast King? It doesn't seem to me like they are together in any official way, just friends and allies. Has this ever been brought up before? Was everyone not surprised to see 4 full teams of Underlords for NS before he showed up at the beginning?

Will Wight

It was more of a surprise that House Arelius showed up.

There are lots of unaffiliated Heralds and Sages who compete under Northstrider’s banner, so it was always expected that they would show up in his name until one among them ascended to Monarch.

Questioner

Who would you say was or is the most powerful Herald on Cradle?

Will Wight

I don't know. I actually don't know how to answer that.

Questioner

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?

Will Wight

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.

newdecadesameme

Can they use magic hunger ruler technique room to make compatible remnants for herald advancement ??

Will Wight

No, that’s not how it works, but it does have other uses than those shown…

Questioner

Is sound madra a thing

Will Wight

Sound manipulation is based on air madra, but there are certainly Paths of musicians that carry their techniques through music. At least one of them is a famous Herald who I would like to feature or at least reference in the books eventually.

Questioner

What are the lifespans of the different advancement stages?

Will Wight

You get into the hundreds of years, easily 200 years as an Underlord. 100-200 years more as Overlord. Archlord would be high hundreds. Functionally, people on Cradle don't ever live to their maximum lifespan. The more advanced into the sacred arts you go, the more risks you start taking. So then at Sage and Herald it's functionally an unlimited lifespan. It's not technically unlimited and you'd live for several thousand years before you died. There're ways to extend that though. If you wanted to live forever you could.

Nugget Monkey

Have any sacred artists on a pure path ever advanced to a high stage, like sage or herald or above?

Will Wight

No, not really

Nugget Monkey

Do you think if the Heaven and Earth Purification Wheel was common knowledge pure paths would be equally viable as a path choice, and pure paths would be more developed by now?

Will Wight

I don’t think so, no

Questioner

As we know Monarchs are pretty much immortal however do they age to a certain age before their age stops  completely?

Will Wight

Yeah! The whole idea behind advancing to Herald and then to Monarch is sorta their bodies get perfected in a way. So the only reason Sha Miara didn't immediately age up was just because her inheritance works differently. That's all. A normal advancement would be, it would age them forwards or backwards as necessary and their body would stabilize.

Questioner

Would the top damage weapons from our world stack against Cradle?

Will Wight

They don't. At the level at which you are still affected by purely physical attacks, so Lords and below. Even Archlords would be affected by the artillery or military weapons to a degree. But they can react so quickly, and then they can throw missiles from their hands, a feasibly unlimited number of times, so they can break our stuff we can't break them. It would still be very difficult to beat an army led by lords, but you could. You could fight them. That's something where superior technology could even the odds to a degree. But once you get beyond Lord, to Sages, Heralds, and Monarchs, any one of them just wins. No interaction, Sages teleport you into space, what are you gonna do?

pepski7

Will said that Lindon would have won if he'd tried from the start.

Eithan would have won the tournament if he wanted to.

Will Wight

Lindon would have had the edge if he’d been trying from the start, but that’s not a guaranteed win.

If we’re ignoring plot concerns and going purely based on who I think would win if we just locked everybody in a room, then I think it’s Lindon against Yerin 60/40.

But that’s if it’s a surprise, as it was in canon.

With preparation, knowing who his opponent is, Lindon definitely beats her because he can practice against her better than she can practice against him.

He also most likely beats Mercy, IF there’s a fight in which she goes all-out before he faces her. If not, she has the edge because she knows what he’s capable of but the reverse isn’t true. And while he has Dross and guesswork, she has Charity, Fury, and Malice.

Lindon would have a hard time beating Sha Miara or Sophara in a tournament setting in time, preparation or not. He would have to advance to Overlord to beat Sha Miara, and against Sophara he’d need what he had in canon: an opportunity to see her fight a bunch of different opponents + time/resources to test his techniques and drain madra from a bunch of different opponents himself.

Eithan, as he said, had a chance of losing to Mercy, Sophara, or Sha Miara. When he beat her in nine seconds, that’s because he basically had to (which he alludes to in the book). If he misses the full combo, so to speak, she has a chance to come back and win.

He beats Lindon, just…straight-up. He’s better than Lindon, more powerful, most of Lindon’s unique advantages don’t work against him, and there’s no way Dross could simulate him accurately.

Yerin doesn’t realistically win against Eithan without pseudo-Herald (in which state she beats everybody), but she and Ruby wouldn’t be motivated to attain that level if her opponent was Eithan.

So anyway, TL;DR, probable winner is Eithan.

If you want to make money at the racetrack, you should bet on the favorite.

HOWEVER, that’s not guaranteed, even for him. Nobody has a 100% win rate no matter how good they are, and there are rules and restrictions in this game.

Also…

The problem with asking “who would win?” is that it ultimately comes down to the author’s interpretation and decisions. You’re really guessing what the author is going to do.

And, given that it is a story, Eithan was never going to win. Simply because the guy who’s better than everyone else easily breezing through and winning and saving the day isn’t a very interesting story.

Realistic, though.

t3tsubo

Would the Underlord level Eithan (that faced Sha Miara) really beat Overlord juiced up Sophara as she was in the finals though? I suppose yes if he advanced to Overlord himself, but if he did advanced I would have assumed he wins the tournament 100% easily

Will Wight

Yeah, in that case he’d have to advance and would be favored to win.

Not 100%, though, because roided-out Sophara is so juiced up as to permanently damage her spirit. Which Eithan wouldn’t do, so she would have the advantage in raw stats.

But, you know, Eithan would still most likely win.

Arch

What would a monarch level piece of equipment/weapon be like, seeing as a monarch level binding would be virtually unheard of, would it be dozens of interlocking herald bindings, or maybe something touched by the way?

Will Wight

A Monarch level piece of equipment would indeed touch on powers beyond Cradle.