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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

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?

Will Wight

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.

Tievel1

Will, what would you change if you had to do Cradle over?

Will Wight

There's a lot (as with all the books I've ever written), but I can hit the highlights off the top of my head. I would keep the series only in Lindon's POV, perhaps in first-person, or maybe in third and then just do one POV from Lindon, one from the bad guy, and maybe a brief interlude from Suriel.

EDIT FOR CLARITY: This means no Yerin or Eithan chapters, for instance.(edited)I would change vital aura, maybe getting rid of it entirely, but at least defining it more clearly. Not because it doesn't work now, but for the sake of removing ambiguity and increasing clarity.Basically I would streamline the whole thing so it's more immediately clear.Also, I would give Lindon more of a personal connection to the world and everything he's doing.So lots of general changes. There are specific things I would tweak, but mostly in the service of this general style change so that everything feels more immediate. I feel like it would increase the impact of the stories.

I would change vital aura, maybe getting rid of it entirely, but at least defining it more clearly. Not because it doesn't work now, but for the sake of removing ambiguity and increasing clarity.

Basically I would streamline the whole thing so it's more immediately clear.

Also, I would give Lindon more of a personal connection to the world and everything he's doing.

So lot of general changes. There are specific things I would tweak, but mostly in the service of this general style change so that everything feels more immediate. I feel like it would increase the impact of the stories.

Questioner

What are the fundamental tenets of aura theory on Cradle?

Will Wight

It's actually very different from culture to culture. We've spent the entirety of the series so far in the western half of the Blackflame Empire, so culturally it's all very similar. They see it as different though everything in nature radiates a different kind of power, and these can be blended and molded in order to shape your own madra. Other cultures see aura as one connected force, the spirit of the world, which takes on different forms (aspects) as it weaves through nature.

Questioner

Do Iterations have driving wills that shape their magic systems or is it just the randomness of fate or their unique connection to the Way?

Will Wight

There's different aspects of each iteration that determine... In a way, and I probably will change this terminology, but in a way it's like which icons they are sort of closest to or more attuned to. And then it sort of sorts itself out from there. The actual specific rules of the magic system design themselves. It's not like somebody sits down and does it specifically. But, it starts off a lot more vague but connected to certain broad concepts and then it settles into a set of rules over time. Usually that's how that works.

Questioner

Is there any way to learn a different magic system of another iteration or are people limited to their native magic system? If the answer is no, is an iteration's magic system genetic?

Will Wight

People are not limited to their native magic system. Parts of it are genetic, but a character from another world might come to Asylum, for instance, and find that they were getting faint impressions or visions by touching objects. They are suitable to be a Reader.

Questioner

Has there ever been anyone on cradle who "messed up" their path yet still ascended to the Monarch level? Say someone who, out of ignorance, got a poorly matching iron body, or cultivated a really weird mix of auras.

Will Wight

This is a great question. I like this question.

The Beast King is a Herald (right below Monarch) who was crippled as a child while attempting to gain his Iron body. He refocused his Path into communicating with animals, using a mix of life and dream aura. Despite being unable to walk, he ended up befriending some truly ancient sacred beasts, and with their help baptized his body in soulfire and ascended to Underlord.

He's now many levels above that, and can walk just fine, but without the foundation of an Iron body he's physically not as dominant as his peers.

However, he's guarded by enormous behemoths from the deep places of the earth, so it balances out.

Ira

How did they make it to the island on the ship without crashing.

Will Wight

When they were making it to the island on the ship-I assume you're referring to the chapter one of Underlord-they made it to the island on the ship. They had enough fuel and cloud aura and cloud madra to make it there no problem. And then they were making it back and none of them had any cloud aura, which Renfei did. So they didn't have a reserve of cloud scales or anything, she just powered it herself. So therefore, they're flying black without Renfei, they only have pure madra, blackflame madra, sword madra, and shadow madra on board. And none of that powers [the ship? buckshit?]. There you go.

Reigan Shen

What purpose do Dross' core and Madra channels serve? Can he actually cycle with them?

Will Wight

That was all part of Dross evolving from a construct to an independent spirit. Without some form of madra channels, he wouldn't be able to process power. He cannot cycle aura, though technically Lindon could cycle aura to him. If he wanted.

Andrew

Okay, I'm a bit confused on how Cradle has that many people living on it. I know Will said that the planet is bigger and that vital aura helps to keep people alive, but I'm still not sure how it has such a huge population if there are so many dangerous conditions(monsters, remnants, kill-happy people, poisonous plants, etc.) and how there doesn't seem to be much large-scale agriculture(at least from what we've read). Is there agriculture that we haven't seen? Are they completely immune to disease? Is the planet just ridiculously huge(many times bigger than earth) to the point where that stuff could happen and still support a population of billions?

Will Wight

It has many times more surface area than Earth.

Also, as B pointed out, we haven't seen any REALLY civilized places yet. We'll see a city in Blackflame, but even that will be a relatively small, isolated city.

Thanks to vital aura and the power of madra, there are lots of inhabited places in Cradle that would be uninhabitable on Earth. For instance, there are cities on the bottom of the ocean. And on the surface of the ocean. And on the clouds.

Daniel

The inside of a volcano? The top of a rainbow? The back of a turtle? In a glacier? On a glacier? Under a desert? Suspended on a moon beam? Floating on sunlight? Deep under ground?

Will Wight

No moonbeams. And I would describe the city floating on sunlight as walking on sunshine, woah-oh-oh.

Anon

On the topic of the planet Cradle and vital aura. Is the planet called Cradle because it's great for cultivation? OR is there another reason like some awesome being in the center who is not yet hatched / or is being suppressed? Such an incredible entity might be the source of the vital aura that makes Cradle such an great place to cultivate. 

Also, will Lindons double cores allow to for things like ascending to gold with black dragon madra and then raising the second cool to iron thus adapting Lindons blood forged body in a way the original human dragon path cultivators could not? 

Also, is the Black dragon path madra another way to consume and process the madra other paths? 

Will Wight

1.) It's called Cradle because it's great for cultivation, but there are often double meanings in Abidan designations. The Elder Empire world is called Asylum, which means protection, but it is also has...other implications.

2.) No, that specific chain of events will not happen.

3.) No.

rdmooch

I have not posted on here before, but with book three coming out Monday I though I would list some of the questions I have about the Cradle series. Learning about the world and magic systems of fantasy books is one of my favorite past-times. Not all of my questions are meet to be taken seriously they are just fun little things my mind comes up with.

1. Who does all of the farming in Cradle? In a society so focused on martial martial abilities. Who would waste time on farming? We know the population of Cradle is many times greater then Earth. So tens of billion of people need to eat. The only real solution I could think of is if there are Paths that happen to both greatly help agriculture and has combat potential. Or as we saw in book two slavery. 

2. How will Lindon act the first time he meets someone weaker then him? While Lindon has gotten to what I would call half-iron (his cores are half the size they should be so he levels them up faster then he normal would, and only one avenged to iron) and that makes him stronger then most people his age in the Sacred Valley. Knowing that and meeting them while stronger then them are different. I bring this up because out side of a few people everyone we have met seems to have no trouble "bullying" those weaker then themselves. I know this is a might makes right society but still part of the honor of that system is to ingore/protect those weaker then you. If you only follow those "laws" when other are watching you then that's not honor its saving face. When will we meet people who follow these codes of conduct not for themselves or for "face" but because they believe in them?

3. Would a fire path be one of the fastest way to level up? All you would have to do is stand next to a barn-fire and absorb the ambient fire manna it would give off, then refine it. On that note how different would the manna type be, between different types of fire. A hearth-fire warming a family home in the winter, with all the "happy" connotation that come with it, compared to like an arson attack destroying someone's home and possession and just everything that they have worked for. Both are fire but you get what I mean.

Will Wight

There are a lot of responses to these questions, and I'm not confident in my ability to parse every one of them, so I'm just going to answer your questions as best I can. And I apologize if someone else has already done so.

1.) There are Paths that are used for agriculture and irrigation, they're just usually low-key. There's a (very) brief reference in Blackflame to the Redflower family, who are in charge of feeding the Empire. By law, they are neutral in every conflict, and anybody who starts a fight with them or tries to pressure them will soon regret it.

2.) This is 100% a spoiler.

3.) A fire Path would not be the fastest way to advance, because the aura would be slightly rarer and harder to collect compared to, say, earth or air. But it's still very fast, as are all the Paths that draw from aura easily found in nature.

There WOULD be significant differences between those two Paths! Fire from different Paths could take on different qualities depending on how it's used an where it comes from; you could have a gentle flame that spreads slowly and provides lots of even warmth, versus a violent flames that consumes rapidly and burns out quickly.

Evan

Let us not forget that Eithan the OP Underlord is a janitor/sewer keeper. 

So clearly people either follow mundane Paths, or perform mundane services in addition to their path. E.g. little girl cutting stone blocks with her fingers when Lindon/Yerin get to the Five Factions camp.

Will Wight

Different places in the world handle the basic necessities of life differently. Some places have sects that focus entirely on farming or whatever, but other places prize independence and self-sufficiency. Those sacred artists value the ability to provide food, resources, and basic societal infrastructure for the people that depend on them.

Havoc

Do any iterations have civilizations that exist across multiple planets? Would something like the Star Wars galaxy be more strongly connected to the Way since there is so much sentient life?

Will Wight

And yes, absolutely! Sanctum is one such Iteration, where they have many populated planets and enjoy a strong connection to the Way.Barring external factors, worlds like that will live until the natural expiration of that universe, so billions of years.

MountainKing

Are there any iron bodies that can affect the soul?

Will Wight

Yes, there absolutely are. So there will be iron bodies that will be more resistant to spiritual attacks. So an attack of madra will do more than an aura technique, and there will be some that would interact with aura differently, that's a potential iron body. There could be iron bodies that effect the processing of madra, but that gets kind of weird, because at that point it overlaps with a change in your cycling. So that's really the domain of the Jade cycling technique.

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.

MountainKing

Is creation madra a actual type of madra?

Will Wight

Good question; creation madra is NOT a type of madra, because there is no creation aura, which is kind of a philosophical debate in Cradle. Why does the act of destruction release aura, but acts of creation do not?

Questioner

Do you have tons of notes on a magic system and slowly reveal more over time, or is the creative process more organic in how they develop?

Will Wight

A little of both. I usually start out with a ton of detailed notes and then let it develop from there.

Vital aura, for instance. I know exactly how I wanted aura to work, but I had trouble describing it clearly in Unsouled, so I started tweaking the rules and principles in later books and let it deviate from what I originally intended and found difficult to explain.

...although in doing so I kind of tripped over my own feet a little bit, because describing it only gets more difficult when you change your mind, but oh well. Live and learn.

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.

mozz-pout

Just realised. Daruman could have destroyed every single star in the universe of Cradle and no one on the planet should have seen it before months if not centuries.

This book about humans punching with the force of a Tsar Bomba is now ruined.

Will Wight

Fluffy McMelon

I don't think that's an actual explanation. Light exists everywhere along the path it takes. For example the moment before I see a star the starlight is, say, a foot in front of my eye. All that light in the night sky literally exists in the sky before you see it. That's why if you turn off the sun earthlings wouldn't notice for 8 minutes. The light pre-8 minutes is already in transit and moving. Deleting the universe outside in doesn't turn off the distant lights first because their light is just as close as all the other light you're about to see.

Will Wight

I realize we’re talking about magical physics here, so any explanation is as good as any other, but no joke I did consider this when writing the scene.

The idea is that anything removed from the Way is removed from causality. It’s not that the rest of the Iteration was destroyed as we usually think of destruction—i.e. reduced to its constituent components—but that it ceases to exist. It’s not real anymore.

So it’s not that those stars WERE giving out light that is now in transit to us, it’s that those stars were reduced from real to not real and therefore never gave off any light.

I’m aware that this is a nonsense concept and we’re talking made-up rules here, but that is the ruleset I’m working with!

Questioner

Is there a sylvan seed for every aspect of madra? If not, what aspects can become seeds?

Will Wight

Here's how I see sylvan whatever seeds. I see them as natural spirits that form from centers of especially pure aura. So anything where it's not capable, where that wouldn't happen naturally, I suspect there would be no sylvan blade seed for instance like why would there be that many swords occurring naturally, that sort of thing. In general, I think most aspects do indeed have their own little blue equivalents, little green, little purple. Little green is the healer.