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Diego

 Are all these humans born in these diverse worlds biologically different? For example if say Simon/Calder were transported to Cradle could they start cultivating? or can they not simply because their bodies are different from humans in that specific world?

Will Wight

If Calder, for instance, was teleported to Cradle, he would find the Intent strange and alien. It would make his powers as a Reader unpredictable, and perhaps even a liability.However, his invested and Awakened items would still work the same as they would in Asylum.He *could* start training in the sacred arts, though his soul would be incredibly weak. So weak, in fact, that his body might not even be able to support itself in Cradle's atmosphere.But if he did survive long enough to strengthen his soul, then yes, he could become a sacred artist.

Tristan

Not sure if this has been answered already, but does madra regeneration get affected by the size/depth/whatever HEPW embiggens of a core? Eg does Eithan take the same time to refill his oversized core as any other Underlord given identical conditions or does he have to wait a proportionally longer time for his madra to refill?

Will Wight

A bigger core takes proportionally longer to refill. Someone else asked how Eithan refills it. Good question! Unless I cut the scene, you find out in Underlord.

Questioner

Eldest Nye versus Suriel 1.0- the prior bearer of Suriel's mantle. In Valinhall. Since I feel location would be important there, maybe. When they give up a mantle does that make them more or less human?

Will Wight

Eldest Nye vs. Former Suriel

They're more human when they pass on the mantle, and they lose access to the former extent of their powers.

However, this only means that he would be unable to tear Valinhall apart with the force of her will alone. He'd still have his millennia of experience and skills, as well as his personal power.

However, he's scarred from killing people so he would likely stall, which the Eldest Nye would not do, and the Eldest has the backup of the entire House.

In the end, I don't think the Eldest has enough firepower to kill even a mortal Suriel. In the end, Suriel 1.0 would probably just find a method to cut through the Way and leave.

Will Wight

I'm glad you enjoy them! They're fun for me too, they just take a long time due to sheer volume.

I find it easier to be imaginative within constraints. So when someone asks me "What's the Cradle equivalent of a piano?" I tell myself that I have to give them a satisfying answer. I can't just say "There is none," or "It's a piano," unless there's a story reason to do so. I have to actually invent a Cradle piano.

Which is fun. It makes me consider avenues of the worlds that I hadn't considered.As for your trying to be imaginative, it's not like my systems are the most original magic systems ever designed. I just give myself permission to have fun with it.

I start with what general kind of magic I want the people to use. For Traveler's Gate, I started with the idea of an extradimensional mansion where you went for martial training. I knew I wanted the House to exist, so then I built a world where extradimensional training grounds were commonplace.

For Elder Empire, I started by knowing that I wanted a world where significant objects held automatic power through their significance. Excalibur wielded by King Arthur would have automatic power BECAUSE it was Excalibur and BECAUSE it was King Arthur's sword. Then I worked out from there.You can do that too. And there's nothing wrong with using principles from known magic systems; madra is basically just elemental mana.

My main weakness is that I throw in everything but the kitchen sink. Every idea I can think of goes in. There are more Territories than necessary, for instance. Too many Guilds. Reading, Awakening, Soulbound, etc. are more complicated than they need to be, and could probably be separated into two systems. Vital aura is essentially elemental energy, but by trying to integrate it into the madra system I accidentally made it muddy and unclear.

No approach is perfect, but I like mine because it's fun. My magic systems might be too unintuitive or complicated, but they're colorful and fun. That's my priority over a logical, fully hammered-out, and ultimately simpler system.Of course, the Holy Grail is a simple, intuitive system that nonetheless fires your imagination and can be used to create as many fun and colorful situations as you want. And toward that distant goal, we all strive.

Terrible

How does the Horseman replicate energy systems from worlds he visits? If that is too spoiler-y, then how do ice madra techniques differ from water madra techniques?

Will Wight

That is too spoiler-y, but I can answer your ice/water question. Ice aura and water aura are different powers. Why? Good question, RAFO.

Garbagiel the Raccoon

1. If reaching copper allows you to see the madra around you, what would a copper see in the worlds of House of Blades or Elder Empire?

2. With a mixture of madra and intent, could someone create an invested or awakened object that followed a path?

3. During his travels, did Valin get mocked a lot for his nye cloak?

4. You mentioned that it is very difficult to awaken a gun, but how difficult would it be to create a gun/gunpowder based path?

Will Wight

1.) Nothing. Copper's change allows you to see aura, which (for the most part) only exists in Cradle.

2.) If a Reader and a Soulsmith joined forces, they would be able to create some crazy self-aware objects, yes.

3.) He didn't wear one.

4.) Unnecessary. Why would you need chemical accelerant when you can launch projectiles with your mind?

Questioner

Metaphysical Great Elders can rip one apart on the molecular level. You said the strongest Cradle character could solo them. Do they have defenses against that?

Will Wight

Yes, they do have a defense against that. At a certain point, your spirit gets strong enough that your madra gives you essentially complete control over your own body. You can resist forces that would affect you directly.

Also, at that level, they have access to powers other than madra that can fight against the Great Elders.

Questioner

What are some of the best entertainment professions?

I know light and dream mandra would be great but are there any other specialties such as madra that would create fireworks or balance mandra that would make spectacular jugglers?

Will Wight

There are entertainers with many different aspects of madra. Blood artists can sometimes give you physical impulses or emotions directly. There are actors on stone Paths who create their own scenery as they perform. Dream artists can store fantasies in a tablet, to be experienced by anyone. There are wind artists that can give you the experience of flying freely for a limited time.

Questioner

Reddit: Will has actually said that he didn’t consider the “evolution” of sacred arts when creating the system

Will Wight

Hold on there, Skippy. I don’t remember saying that, but I probably did. I trust your memory more than mine, and also it’s true that I didn’t consider the evolution of sacred arts. However, not considering the evolution of the system means I didn’t decide who first practiced sacred arts, or where that term comes from, how the different stages became measured and codified, etc. I do know where the first Remnant comes from for a Path. Sacred beasts leave Remnants, and sacred beasts advance naturally over time. So you might absorb one of these wild Remnants that’s compatible with your own madra. Also, natural spirits (like Little Blue) are sometimes born from convergences of aura, and they can be bonded. They’re basically Remnants that no one died to leave behind. Third, people sometimes capture Remnants and feed them different types of madra or keep them in certain environments of aura until they adapt. This is intended to create a certain kind of Goldsign until your sect or clan or whatever grows large enough that you have a reasonable supply of Remnants from your specific Path.

Questioner

Is Ozriel's madra still pure?

Will Wight

No. No, its not pure madra anymore. Although, right now he could pretty much mimic any Cradle power system he wanted. He could kind of do the effects of whatever he wanted, but its not still pure, no.

Kaileonis

So each iteration has a natural life cycle, and humans are the ones that fuel it. Does that mean that the present, and ancient, Abidan are based from different iterations? Or their iteration are simply seem to be eternal since they have so advanced that their human presence that have access to the Way have made their iteration unnaturally healthy past their natural cycle

Will Wight

Most of the first generation of Abidan were from Cradle, because its magic system encourages ascension. Nowadays, most Abidan are born in the advanced worlds they control (especially Sanctum, their headquarters). However, most "wild" Abidan still come from Cradle.

Questioner

Is storm madra an aspect of wind madra?

Will Wight

Storm is just kinda what they call lightning aura. It's just lightning. So there are storm paths, thats aren't necessarily completely lightning aura. They're also wind, and maybe force, or water. So Tiberian Aurelius followed a storm path in the sense that it was mostly lightning, but he also had aura aspects from a lot of other things that you would find in storms. So storm path and storm aura are often used differently, and i know that's confusing and weird, but there are cultures on Cradle that I didn't think it was organic for them to just call it lightning or electricity. I thought it would be more poetic or they would probably say storm.

Diego

I re-read Unsouled and noticed that in case of complete system collapse a few worlds would still be protected including Asylum. I'm going on on the obvious and thinking the Elders are scary even to the Court of seven and could possibly play the same role as the Court does but for chaos.

Will Wight

Yes, that's why Asylum is a protected world. If they get out, they're scary.

The Abidan intended it to be a temporary holding cell to imprison the Elders until they had fully corrupted the world, at which point Ozriel could destroy it.

Which wouldn't kill the Elders, but would drive them back into the void. So it was really just keeping them off the streets for a while.

Then the Emperor came along, and humanity has prospered beyond what the Abidan ever expected. That tethers the world more strongly to the Way and strengthens the prison, weakening the Elders. So Asylum has held on much longer than anyone anticipated.

The Elders, by the way, don't want to be trapped there OR cast back into the void. They want to escape into other Iterations, which is exactly what the Abidan don't want.

Back in the day, the Elders could have depopulated humanity. They didn't; they kept just enough alive to make sure the Abidan wouldn't obliterate the place while the Elders looked for a way out.

Questioner

How did Ozriel develop two different madra types, one destruction, one pure?

Will Wight

He reset. So, when he reset his new body and came back to Cradle his madra type once again started as pure, like everyone does. Therefore, he this time he decided to keep it there because he didn't want to do destruction again. He was like 'alright, this is another aspect that is compatible with my path, but its not destruction because I don't like that guy.'

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

Also, what path would be best suited to creating an army of forged madra garden gnome soldiers?

Will Wight

Path of the Clay Walkers.

Life and stone. They craft clay golems from special clay and other materials, kneading their madra into the dolls and bringing them to life under their control. It's not an especially powerful Path, but it's useful for a variety of mundane tasks.

Like creating a parade of garden gnomes.

lysanderslair

Lindon mentioned the healing with the ironheart uses more madra. Is this more total madra to heal the same wound or more like Ironbody uses 5 mana points per second for 240 seconds. Ironheart uses 20 mara points per second for 4 seconds to heal same wound.

Will Wight

I'm not going to lie to you: it's been a long day, and my eyes kind of glaze over when I see numbers.

The Bloodforged Iron body was really intended to fight intruders to the body, particularly poison, and it heals as kind of a secondary effect. In simple terms, the Iron Heart makes that secondary effect stronger.

Polycore

Will Wight

There are no Paths that are not based on garlic madra to some degree. Vampires are not welcome in Cradle.

Questioner

Can all madra be converted to hunger madra?

Will Wight

No.

chrisisbest197

When Calder first meets Ozriel in OKAK I kind of expected him to be a little more...angry. I mean Ozriel and the Abidan literally imprisoned Calder and all the other humans with these hellish monstrosities for all of eternity, with zero consideration for their suffering. And then on top of that Ozriel threatens to wipe them all out if the Elders escape, which by the way would not permanently kill the elders so the humans still get the short end of the stick.

I just expected Calder to at least be more mad about it. Kinda like how he stood up to the emperor regarding the prison.

Will Wight

You know, I actually wrote a draft of this conversation in which Calder lost his temper and challenged Ozriel more directly.

I changed it because it didn’t feel organic to me, when I read it in context. It felt like he was powerlessly raging against something he had no ability to influence.

I also thought it read more like what the younger version of Calder might have done than the current Calder who’s focused on saving the world from an imminent crisis.

But I did consider it! And I do think getting angry at the injustice could have been consistent with Calder’s character.

I just ultimately decided the reaction in the final version was MORE consistent. But you be the judge! (Or the Judge...)

chrisisbest197

It's not that I think it wasn't consistent, it was actually a very cool headed response to someone who is basically a god, which shows some growth. It's just that I think it would have been interesting.

It could have even been Calder just calmly pointing out how badly the Abidan fucked the people of Asylum lol. Also now that I think about it, it also seems like a similar situation to the incarnations in Travelers gate.

Will Wight

Hahaha yeah, it is similar to the Incarnations. I like that mechanic of people going crazy with power.

I agree that it would have been cool to have Calder point it out to Ozriel’s face, especially since Ozriel basically agrees.