Cradle World: The Abidan (Part 4)

3/29/2017

The Seven Judges of the Abidan Court
(The Wolf, the Phoenix, and the Fox)

Razael, the Wolf
The Way protects, but it also strengthens. The Wolves are the Abidan combat division, and each of them commands formidable destructive potential. While most other divisions are filled up by Abidan from Sanctum and the other core worlds--and thus essentially born into the Abidan--the Wolves pride themselves on taking "wild" recruits.
Most Wolves were renowned warriors in their original worlds, and they carry those powers with them into battle.
As Gadrael is the Court's shield, Razael is their sword. She is the unstoppable force, the heavy artillery unleashed against the greatest of the Abidan's enemies.
   Before the rise of Ozriel, it fell to the office of Razael to destroy worlds as completely as possible. Razael therefore considers herself something of a rival to the Reaper.
   Ozriel does not return the sentiment.

Suriel, the Phoenix
The power of the Phoenix is the power of restoration. An Abidan of the Phoenix Division can use the Way to return order to a system, restoring it to prime condition. Phoenixes are used as mechanics and engineers as often as healers, and are prized on any battlefield.
Though skilled Phoenix Abidan are rare, and their division small, they are also very durable. A Phoenix is said to be the second-most difficult of the Abidan to destroy (after a Titan), since powerful Phoenixes can regenerate even from total destruction.
The Phoenix herself, Suriel, is the only entity capable of restoring the condition of an entire Iteration at once. This can cause irregularities for both the Spiders and the Hounds, so she is required to notify Sector Control prior to temporal reversion.
Ozriel is well-known as the most powerful Judge since the first generation of the Abidan Court, and possibly of all time. However, he has no ability as a Phoenix. He has made it a point to befriend both the previous Suriel and this one, holding their talents in high esteem.

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.

***
At last, Suriel makes her appearance! Hi, Suriel!

Next Time: Ozriel, the Reaper

...and Adriel, the Creator.

-Will

155 Comments

New recruit of the fox division

4/9/2017 07:01:55 pm

Will are you Adriel

Will link

4/10/2017 08:29:23 am

Don't make me banish you from time and space for asking too many questions.

New recruit of the fox the division

4/10/2017 09:39:25 am

YOU'VE GOTTA CATCH ME FIRST *warps out of your reach through the way*

Aaron J.E.

4/9/2017 07:09:00 pm

The Creator? That sounds a little OP.

4/10/2017 11:50:32 am

It is, which is why

**SPOILER ALERT**

he isn't around.

Reaper

4/9/2017 07:25:12 pm

Hey Will, long time lurker here, decided to post. Always look forward to reading about the Abidan! I have read lots of books over the years, but your series are definitely a breath of fresh air(Maybe even from the wild :D. Looking forward to Blackflame! I have a theory that when you finish the posts about the Abidan, you'll be ready to release it! Keep up the great work man.

4/10/2017 11:50:52 am

Thanks! I hope your theory turns out to be correct!

Adarsh

4/9/2017 07:39:04 pm

What is this, dost thou tease a ninth member of the Court of Seven?!?!?

So if Simon managed to ascend, would he become a Wolf? And how far away is he in terms of power from the weakest of the wolves?

Jerry

4/9/2017 07:57:13 pm

I'm going to guess LIGHT YEARS away from ascending. Remember that the Emperor could smite all the incarnations at once, and unless he was secretly an ascended being, it would seem that Simon is way way behind even that.

So unless he masters valinhall and becomes the next traveler.. He's got a ways to go.

4/10/2017 11:52:43 am

Yeah, the Emperor has enough power to ascend past his world. The only reason he hasn't is because he's in Asylum, which is effectively a prison.

We haven't seen anyone in Traveler's Gate strong enough to do that.

But if Simon DID get to ascend, then he would end up as a Wolf, yeah.

Otarin

4/10/2017 12:01:22 pm

Would the emperor have ascended and ditched his planet had he been able to or would his sense of duty have kept him there?

4/10/2017 12:44:41 pm

He wouldn't have left on his own. He may have tried to take a team into the Way, or tried to cast the Elders out.

4/10/2017 07:15:01 pm

Didn't Valin ascend past Amalgam(Kinda)?

Yosef

4/10/2017 12:50:00 am

It looks to me that the relationship between Razael and Ozriel is similar to that of Guy and Kakshi. Only Ozriel might not humour Razael the way Kakshi does with Guy.

4/10/2017 11:53:53 am

Kakashi's cooler than Ozriel.

Because Kakashi's Cool stat is at maximum. Madara wishes he were as cool as Kakashi.

Enkidu

4/10/2017 02:31:11 pm

Ozriel is your creation, so you can't say he's cooler for fear of pride.

So I'll do it for you.

Ozriel is cooler than Kakashi.

He might not be cooler than Itachi, but he's got Kakashi beat.

Ruan

4/12/2017 02:29:52 pm

I'm sorry. But Kakashi cooler than Guy? No... Guy sensei is by far the coolest Naruto character. Naruto Chapters 667 to 668 (and further I guess but I can't remember where the scene ends). Hard work trumps talent.

4/12/2017 08:00:14 pm

I mean, you've got to give him points for sheer eyebrow power.

But you can't defeat Kakashi in a contest of pure coolness. He was the result of a lab experiment designed to create a character too cool for human minds, but he breached containment and is now a threat to the entire world.

4/13/2017 02:58:17 pm

Kakashi ascended to the ultimate end of the path of cool.

Gumburcules

4/10/2017 02:06:41 am

This has probably been discussed before but have given any clues at all through the books of where Ozriel could be? Like maybe the most powerful being in existence could be hiding out amongst the babies?
Love your books Will, interesting world building and magic systems and your character development just gets better and better.

4/10/2017 11:54:31 am

Who knows?

But I will say that I'm revealing a lot more clues about Ozriel in Blackflame.

Thisguyiknow

4/11/2017 08:53:28 pm

My guess, as of well mostly things said in the first book, Elder Whisper is Ozriel.

Garbagiel the Raccoon

4/10/2017 05:06:26 am

Really starting to question Will's ability to count at this point.

Fox, wolf, spider, reaper, hound, titan, phoenix, ghost, and now creator?

4/10/2017 05:44:03 am

What are you talking about?

One plus one plus a bunch of other numbers I fell asleep how many was that...

...equals seven!

Family of Raccoons kidnapping Sylvester Stallone

4/10/2017 07:45:29 am

I'm starting to see why the progress meter isn't number-based...

Reddan

4/10/2017 06:57:13 pm

...equals a number that can reasonably be approximated as seven.

Isaac Xander

4/10/2017 08:17:26 pm

You said the court had seven members. That doesn't necessarily mean that every branch of Abidan is represented by a seat on the court. The Creator is not there for obvious reasons, but what other Abidan don't have seats?

Polycore

4/10/2017 08:42:56 am

AND yourself of course :D

Family of Raccoons in space

4/10/2017 10:41:42 am

Our lord Garbagiel was driven from the court after..... The incident.....

One day he shall return and claim what is his, rest assured. The trash shall be taken out....

April

4/10/2017 05:44:22 am

I've been wondering for a while, but haven't asked as I assume you will not answer, but decided to ask anyway; with whom did the Abidan make this pact?

4/10/2017 11:55:04 am

Between the seven original Judges and the Way.

Nlcyurniqquet

4/10/2017 05:53:50 pm

Making a pact with an inanimate object makes no sense unless of course the Way and all iterations are just cognitive thoughts inside the Creator's mind at which point it would make sense to make a pact with it assuming the Way is how higher beings communicate with the Creator if it communicates at all.

4/10/2017 08:19:52 pm

I really really REALLY like the idea of the way being able to manifest. Like an Incarnation of the way... Please make that a thing

4/11/2017 08:43:17 am

@Nlcyurniqquet:

The pact seems more like a way to do things than an actual contract. Kind of like how the Jedi work. The more in tune with the force and the more they act in concert with it, the stronger they become.

Patrick

4/10/2017 06:47:03 am

So by this point I assume that Ozriel is considered more powerful than the rest of the current judges, but possibly not stronger (or just as strong) as the original judges? What happened to them (the original judges who made the pact)? If they had just retired from their positions, they're still just as strong as they were originally (minus their mantles) and presumably immortal right? So there are a few impossibly powerful beings who created the current system just hanging around somewhere? Or did they die?

Sorry, so many questions.

4/10/2017 11:56:26 am

Possibly. Most of them are confirmed dead, but there are a few that could be lingering around.

They can't compete with the current Judges, lacking mantles and weapons, but they haven't lost any skills or knowledge.

If, hypothetically speaking, they still exist.

4/10/2017 12:05:02 pm

Awesome. Thanks for taking the time to answer these Will. Can't wait for Blackflame.

4/10/2017 08:22:12 pm

What could POSSIBLY kill a group of immortal nigh omnipotent beings?

Daniel young

4/11/2017 12:50:14 am

Off the top of my head...
1 each other
2 another group of immortals
3 raw unadulterated chaos

4/10/2017 06:50:53 am

Sorry, two more questions: Now that Ozriel is around, what does the wolf division do exactly? Are they actively on the borders of the abidan space attacking threats or are they the one's who dealt with the Elder's before they were bound or ?

4/10/2017 11:57:27 am

We'll get into that much more as the books progress, but the bottom line is that the Wolves fight against rivals of the Abidan. So yes, unbound Elders, yes rival organizations, and yes people who ascend out of their Iterations and don't listen to reason.

4/10/2017 08:24:45 pm

It sounds like there's only one Reaper, and he mostly deals with entire iterations. The wolves deal with groups or individuals beneath the Reapers metaphorical pay grade

Family of raccoons laying siege to the city of carthage in order to prevent hannibal from crossing the alps in the dead of winter, catching roman forces completely by surprise and allowing him to march his armies through italy unchallenged

4/10/2017 08:06:57 am

Here's something I've been wondering: you mentioned that creating a path around guns would be pointless, but then how are sword paths even remotely viable? It seems like the best paths would focus on long-range capabilities, and have techniques or an iron body that greatly enhance speed, allowing them to stay out of range. It doesn't matter how good a sword is if it can't land a hit.

Also, how are armies organized in times of war?
Are soldiers required to change to a standard path for uniformity among the ranks, arranged into divisions of people with similar skill-sets, or thrown onto the field with no regard for paths?
Are officers determined by merit or cultivation level?
Are more powerful sacred artists fielded first or last, as using them early could allow more control of the battlefield, but they don't want to risk the shame of being seen defeated.
Do coups often follow wars? As the conflict would likely create powerful sacred artists to challenge the ruling power.

4/10/2017 08:27:18 am

It depends on what you mean by "best" Paths. Best Path for what? Best Path for killing a sword artist, sure.

However, the real answer is that in this world, a sword isn't a short-range weapon.

The nature of sacred arts in this world means there aren't armies as we know them. It's pointless to mass together a bunch of people when one enemy who's advanced enough could kill all of them unopposed.

War-level combat is a lot more about matching experts with experts. This is a world where it's even viable for wars to be settled by duels; if their Underlord beats your Underlord, and you don't have anyone else as strong or stronger, you might as well surrender.

There are squads and divisions divided by specialty function and ability, which we'll get into. Also, Carthage must be destroyed.

Family of attack badgers (raccoons busy attacking carthage for mollusk blood to make purple dye, a priceless commodity of the ancient world, and a symbol of wealth and power in the roman empire)

4/10/2017 10:37:29 am

That seems strange, as all previous examples of conflict (heavens glory, jai clan) show the leaders more than willing to throw weak fodder at their enemies, because if they go and fight themselves, they risk losing face, or appearing weak (pride/appearance of strength being a pillar of the culture here) Wouldn't kings and lords want to avoid this as much as possible? Sending low-rank fodder to fight their low-rank fodder (enemy kings won't want to risk themselves needlessly either, after all) seems like a preferable alternative, especially since if your fodder survives, they will likely become stronger from the fighting.

4/10/2017 11:47:50 am

An Underlord loses face when he HAS to go deal with a group of Golds, because he's lowering himself to their level.

If the enemy doesn't have an Underlord of their own, he doesn't have to deal with them at all. The threat of him doing so is enough.

If they keep defying him, then he would lose more respect and reputation by allowing them to continue hurting his interests unopposed than he would taking care of them himself.

So basically, if you're not roughly equal to the enemy in strength, you don't fight.

If you ARE roughly equal in strength, as you say, fights are usually carried out by the lower ranks. It's not normally duels between the upper-level people, I was just using that as an illustration of where the real power is. It's a viable strategy, but it's not common.

4/10/2017 11:48:08 am

And furthermore Carthage must be destroyed.

4/10/2017 02:34:04 pm

Huh? What's with the quotes by Cato the Elder? Is that a subtle way of pointing out a possible plot point, or just a social commentary about moder/ancient politics?

Family of raccoons returning from the punic wars after razing Carthage to the ground and salting the soil upon which it once stood. Soon we shall meet with the legions of Marcus Crassus and head to Parthia.

4/10/2017 02:58:14 pm

Will could be referencing the fact that Cato ended all of his speeches with "Furthermore, I am of the opinion that Carthage must be destroyed."

But I wouldn't put it past Will to be hinting something.

4/10/2017 03:54:29 pm

It's just a joke because he was mentioning Carthage in his titles. Anyway, let me close out my remarks by reminding you that Carthage must be destroyed.

4/10/2017 04:45:06 pm

I don't quite think that I understand, who exactly do you want destroyed?

Shane

4/10/2017 08:10:23 am

For some reason, I think Lindon and the Fox would get on well together.

4/10/2017 12:04:03 pm

I've wanted to write a scene with the Fox for years now.

With anybody really, but mainly between Ozriel and Zakariel. Because Zakariel irritates all the other Judges with a smile on her face, but the only one who gets on HER nerves is Ozriel.

4/11/2017 04:56:30 pm

Yeah, the minute I read about the Fox I thought "She sounds like fun". Sounds a little bit like Lindon too...packrat, likes to meddle and tries to push the rules to their boundaries. I'm looking forward to finding out more about her. Keep up the good work Will!

4/10/2017 12:05:08 pm

Fun fact: probably the first scene I wrote for this series, when I was working out the Suriel storyline, was a dialogue between Ozriel and Zakariel.

Kaileonis

4/10/2017 02:56:11 pm

Will we get to enjoy that scene that you wrote about?

4/10/2017 03:55:11 pm

Probably not, no. I originally wrote it for Elder Empire.

George

4/11/2017 02:15:42 am

"Because Zakariel irritates all the other Judges with a smile on her face,.."
Do you mean that she is smug about everything, and has to rub in the faces faces of the other judges every time she knows something that they don't

Nitin

4/10/2017 08:19:40 am

Adriel? Is he the first Abidan?

Did anyone work under Reaper or was he one man machine?

Sanctum is home of Abidan or is it a world of ascended beings? Or both?

Titan tanks
Phoenix healers
Wolf dps.

There goes our raid!

4/10/2017 12:01:04 pm

Adriel: You'll have to find out in a few days, won't you?

Ozriel: The Reaper is a one-man band.

Sanctum is home to the Abidan AND people who have ascended beyond other Iterations, but mostly it houses the Abidan and the civilizations that support them.

Titan tanks
Wolf DPS
Phoenix healers
Fox...rogues?
Ghost bards
Spider scouts
Hounds don't raid, they're in the RP servers solving crimes
Reaper OP, needs nerf.

TL;DR - balance team, wtf

4/10/2017 01:03:23 pm

Ozriel is like one of the bosses from Dark Souls 3 except he one-shots the entire world your standing on instead of you.

4/10/2017 02:44:39 pm

*Ears Perk*

Few days you say???

I'm happier than a family of raccoons after the return of Garbagiel!

4/10/2017 03:13:48 pm

A few days? I can now die in peace. Or not, I still need to read Blackflame after all :D

4/10/2017 03:56:38 pm

A few days until the Adriel post, guys. Don't get your hopes up.

Ozriel is like one of the bosses from Dark Souls except that his hit boxes are only as wide as the universe.

4/10/2017 05:35:08 pm

Will, that's just a regular dark souls boss (looking at YOU Smelter Demon!)

And Enkidu, I don't want to say anything definite, but you'll never find a picture of me in the same room as the notorious raccoon family who destroyed Carthage.

Finbar

4/10/2017 08:53:43 pm

So if Ozriel attacks you you need to dodge-roll out of the Way?

Garbagiel the raccoon

4/10/2017 10:09:29 pm

I'm not gonna risk a parry on that guy!

Iceman

4/10/2017 08:54:20 am

I noticed that all of these Abidan blog posts say they were written on 3/29. Is that a bug, or did you write them all on that day and are just hiding them and revealing them every few days?

4/10/2017 11:48:40 am

I wrote them all on that day and am releasing them every few days.

Alex

4/10/2017 08:57:53 am

why not make it that life is responsible for the health of the iteration and not just humans. You can just say the reason why a lot of the worlds that are becoming chaos ridden have many humans on it is because they are persistent and are good at adapting. you can even say the reason that the worlds live long enough to become chaos ridden is because of said humanity's ability to survive.

4/10/2017 11:48:58 am

I could have done that, yes.

Madeline

4/10/2017 09:36:58 am

Will, are you planning on only releasimg Blackflame after you finish posting all these posts about the Abidan?

4/10/2017 11:50:08 am

I wrote all these posts on the same day, so the release of Blackflame and the distribution of these posts really have nothing to do with one another.

But I will run out of posts before Blackflame is released.

Light link

4/10/2017 12:17:09 pm

Will, you have 7 days to release Blackflame. Otherwise, I Shall Seal the Heavens.

4/12/2017 07:17:34 am

So 9 days?

4/10/2017 12:36:49 pm

Has any asked before what was Ozriel's real name?

4/10/2017 12:44:07 pm

No, and no one's asked me Suriel's real name either.

4/10/2017 01:05:23 pm

Well what are they?

And as a side note why do all their names end with -el? Is that a culture thing?

4/10/2017 03:09:10 pm

@Adarsh They sound like angelic names. You probably may have heard of Razael, from game called Blood Omen: Soul Reaver, protagonist name is Raziel. Almost had the same character trait, and his soul devoruing sword.

Kabbala also has 7 archangels, but has different names to most of their angels.

4/10/2017 03:33:09 pm

To be honest, I didn't think it mattered with Suriel. That name is old and she is not from cradle. If there is someone writing cradle's history, Ozriel likely is listed there. I wonder if his real name has already been mentioned or it might appear in coming books.

4/10/2017 04:02:49 pm

I made up seven archangel names.

Razael, Suriel, and Adriel at least have all already been used--I found out through Google; I have no idea what Blood Omen: Soul Reaver is--but I made all of them up according to general angel mythology.

Kaballah, Jewish tradition, and some Christian tradition holds that there are seven archangels, but their names vary wildly, so I came up with ones that sounded cool.

In the original draft of this universe, they had taken the titles of seven actual archangels, but I eventually nixed that. The angel names stuck because A.) I had gotten used to them, and B.) they're a court of seven holier-than-thou celestial judges, and naming them like archangels reinforces that point.

As for why the angels have names ending in -el, it's because in Hebrew, the -el ending refers to God. So it has an "of God" or "of the Lord" or "God's" connotation.

In this universe, it's because it was an ancient naming convention they used because it sounded authoritative.

Devin

4/10/2017 02:51:49 pm

How would a fight between the Reaper and the Wolf go?

Also, could a retired Judge craft a new mantle and weapon to be on par with a current Judge? And if so, did Ozriel craft his own mantle and weapon?

4/10/2017 04:04:42 pm

Ozriel crafted his own weapon, but I don't think the mantle (I'd have to check my notes to be sure, but I don't think so).

A retired Judge could not (in theory) craft his own mantle and weapon to be on par with a current Judge, because you couldn't do it secretly. The Abidan would notice the rare materials and the huge conflux of power it would take to create something like that.

It's also difficult for anyone but the Abidan to do it because it requires materials and magic from multiple worlds.

Diego link

4/10/2017 05:11:51 pm

I wonder what would happen if someone made a territory out of a cradle fragment? O.o

Also on a side note I still think I'm all for camp Ozriel. Try to help the little guys! :D

Justin

4/11/2017 02:30:58 pm

Would that mean that it would be slightly easier to do on Amalgam?

4/13/2017 03:38:30 pm

Simon crafting his Mantle confirmed

Nocturniquet

4/10/2017 06:07:49 pm

So far Will seems to always paint Ozriel in a good light as if he is noble and one of the good guys.

I think we will slowly begin to see him as the villain of the overall universe for a few reasons.

He has an absolutists goal that cannot currently be achieved because the government forbids it. If the abidan were removed from the picture or overthrown then Ozriel would be free to enact his ideals.

Will confirmed there are non-abidan entities that illegally use the Way and/or are opposed to the abidan. Makes sense that Ozriel could rally or lead these people against the Abidan.

If this is the case I find it to be great writing because in most stories the villain simply is and we never get to experience his rise to "villainship" in real time. It's always as if the main characters are fighting to stop the master plan or fix the world after the villain has almost fully succeeded.

This way we start off with Ozriel as a good intenioned character who slowly goes too far.

4/10/2017 07:29:32 pm

Maybe, but i don't think so for 2 reasons. First of all it seems like he is on decent terms with Suriel, and we have seen that she is one of the good guys. Second of all, his goals have always been to help more people, and somehow i just don't feel like he's one of those people that will burn the world down to try and re-build it better.

4/10/2017 08:46:57 pm

The dialogue between Ozriel and Suriel could always change, with them slowly growing distant because of Ozriel slowly corrupting himself. Also, keep in mind that every (believable) villain thinks himself in the right, and if Ozriel is utilizing Chaos AND the Way (as is my personal theory) he could be becoming corrupted enough to destroy an iteration or two. Especially with Chaos driving him. It is the opposite of the Way after all. By its nature it wants to destroy.

Jay

4/11/2017 08:34:03 am

Great idea, Nocturniquet! I'm really excited about this possibility. Everyone's a hero in their own story and so on, and seeing this play out would be awesome. Have a cookie!

4/12/2017 08:04:00 pm

I can't comment on ultimately what role Ozriel will play in the story, because obviously that's a spoiler.

I will say this: I'm painting him that way now because that's how Suriel sees him. She sees him as ultimately good-intentioned, maybe a little arrogant, but the system has some good points too.

Her viewpoint and yours might change as the series goes on.

Maybe he'll be even MORE of a good guy. Who knows?

4/11/2017 01:08:01 am

This has been rumbling around in the back of my head for a while, and I'm not sure how it's relevant, but I think it could be important. Chaos is not the antithesis of order, chaos is the antithesis of nothingness. To me, chaos is raw, formless, ever shifting energy while order is something you apply to chaos in order to give it structure and form and bind all that raw energy into something new and solid. Which overtime will break down and be released back into energy as per the ever changing nature of chaos. But nothingness is the one thing you cannot forge any form of energy into thus it is the only thing chaos cannot touch.

4/11/2017 04:26:23 pm

On a bit of a Suriel kick here with these questions:
How many years has the current Suriel been alive?
Is she as strong/skillful as her predecessor? (Is that a useful distinction or are all the judges really close together)
How well did she know her predecessor?
What other court roles could Suriel have filled if she wanted?
Was/is Suriel a "wild" Abidan, or did she come from Sanctum (or another place like Sanctum)?

4/12/2017 08:15:38 pm

1.) Age:

...I won't lie to you, I don't know. I haven't invented that answer yet.

2.) Skill:

She's more temperamentally suited to the role of the Phoenix than her predecessor was, but they both had different strengths and weaknesses. All in all, they were basically on the same tier.

3.) Familiarity:

She worked alongside him for many years. They were very familiar.

4.) Roles:

She has skill in almost all the other roles, but she's only Judge-level as a Phoenix. That's pretty common.

Most of the Judges excel in one area, though they're skilled in several others. The only exceptions are Gadrael, Makiel, and Ozriel: Gadrael because he's useless in every area but one, Makiel because he has the skills of a Judge in two areas, and Ozriel because he's good at everything. Except healing.

5.) Wild or not?

She did ascend from an Iteration on her own; she's not from Cradle, but she's not from Sanctum either. She mastered her original magic system before rising into the Abidan and eventually making her way onto the Court.

Before she was a Judge, she was personally acquainted with both Ozriel and the previous Suriel.

DiAlpha

4/12/2017 10:17:49 pm

I believe she says the sector she comes from in book two. Which if we're assuming sanctum is sector 1 then yes she is wild. And I believe Will has stated which she can do in these posts somewhere

Bryce

4/11/2017 05:32:20 pm

Post on 2/22, completed draft.

Week 1 - Take a break
Week 2+3 - Read it over and edit
Week 4+5 - Beta readers look it over
Week 6 - Reading and possibly implementing suggestions
Week 7 - Take a Break
Week 8 - Read it over and edit
Week 9+10 - Beta readers look it over
Week 11 - Reading and possibly implementing suggestions
Week 12 - Take a Break
Week 13 - Read it over and edit

Week 14 - Release - Last Week in May

So, am i close? Dont really know what your process is. =)

4/12/2017 08:04:33 pm

Pretty close, except take out all the breaks and add in a lot more rewriting.

Alo

4/11/2017 11:04:47 pm

Is there a personification / anthropomophication (?) of The Way? Of Fate?

4/13/2017 01:44:22 am

Will, how many people of Northstriders level would it roughly take to defeat weakest member of The Wolves?
I know that suitability is a huge factor in a fight, which is why i don'T expect a definite answer.

4/13/2017 04:55:52 am

Assuming the weakest of the Wolves, i.e. someone who has no other powers besides those of the Abidan and little combat experience but they're trying to work in the Wolf Division anyway...

AND assuming we mean "beat in a fight" rather than "kill"...

Northstrider might be able to do it in a 1v1. There's a wide gap between the least of the Abidan and the Judges, plus people who are weaker than Northstrider could still technically ascend.

4/13/2017 09:32:17 am

Do you ascend simply after reaching a certain level, or is it only possible after gaining an enlightenment of a certain laws of the universe, kinda like Linley did in Coiling Dragon later in the books?(For example, Profound Laws of Earth)
If it is the latter, could technically a copper ascend by understanding a certain amount of laws, or is that, already, not possible, because mastering such laws allows you, immediately, to reach a higher cultivation rank even if it is an unconventional way.

4/14/2017 09:42:41 am

I imagine it's a lot like the transition to iron for Lindon though. If someone weak ascends too early it probably limits their future growth. Or maybe the iteration the weakest Wolf came from allows early ascension so he's not all that strong yet.

Hey Will another question: What stops immortals from mastering different magic systems from different iterations? (Like in disguise so they don't disturb fate too much)

4/14/2017 05:01:29 pm

@George: It's more like mastering Laws than pure cultivation, but no a Copper couldn't do it.

@Diego: Yep, you nailed it. The weakest Wolf is from an Iteration other than Cradle (so he might have to leave a lot of his power behind) and has just started learning to tap into the Way.

What stops immortals from going to another Iteration and learning the magic system?

The Abidan. There's nothing in the rules of the universe to prevent that, and indeed one of the rival organizations of the Abidan is made up of people who do this.

4/15/2017 06:24:10 am

Will, does one, though, by mastering a law raise one's cultivation stage, or does the same stage remain, yet the strength increases immensely, thus making that person as strong as someone from a higher stage?
It is, after all, often seen that the MC of various Xianxia novels is stronger than people of much higher ranks, if we take Cradle system, then it could be a an Underlord defeating a Sage.

I, personally, dislike it, as it makes the whole ranking system almost worthless. Why build it, when you completely disregard it later on.
You made Lindon, a Copper, defeat a Truegold, though, but the difference is that you used an understandable reason for the shocking result, namely the carelessness of the Truegold(showing the back to an enemy without checking his status).
I hope, when similar scenes come up, you keep using methods that don't seem over the top, like him using some overpowered technique, which One-shots him.

4/15/2017 11:17:35 am

Will,

Not sure if you planned it from the beginning or not, but I think it's awesome you've thought out so much of the structure/organizations of the Willverse. You mentioning that another organization iteration hops to gain more abilities is really cool and shows an amazing level of foresight. I had kind of assumed that the organizations other than the Abidan would basically remain formless/anonymous as they currently have nothing to do with the story. I like that you have fleshed out your universe a lot more and have thought out many of these details. Very cool.

4/15/2017 03:29:24 pm

I hope that Will stays true to Will and writes the books as he thinks they should be written :p I don't think of this as a xianxia series I think of it as a will wight series that he loosely classified as xianxia or inspired by xianxia

4/21/2017 06:08:13 am

@Patrick: Thanks!

@Otarin: Me too. I'm not trying to write a "true" xianxia so much as a fantasy series with xianxia elements. I started closer to xianxia, but it will branch out further and further as the series continues.

@George: Yes, there will be people of lower ranks capable of defeating people at higher ranks.

However, you won't have the situation you find in a lot of cultivation novels where the MC has the strength of someone five stages stronger than him, and then six stages stronger, and then seven stages stronger, until at a certain point he's just the strongest and you might as well stop comparing his cultivation level.

[SPOILERS FOR MARTIAL WORLD]

In Martial World, for instance, the main character is at Revolving Core, but he can kill sixth-stage Life Destruction experts like it's nothing. That's literally six levels above where he is.

...so his cultivation level is totally irrelevant to his strength. If that's true, why have cultivation levels at all? Why not just say X is stronger than Y because he's better?

I agree with you, and we won't see that. There won't be Jades going around killing Sages (except under very specific circumstances, HMMMM?).

But, for instance, you might see a particularly skilled, suitable, or lucky Lowgold defeat a Truegold.

Family of Raccoons attempting to rally the broken Australian troops in the great emu war

4/13/2017 01:12:58 pm

Will, I was rereading the house of blades, and something occurred to me: Why did Damasca take the yearly sacrifices from their outlying villages instead using criminals on death row? Just seems like it would be easier, and would greatly reduce to chances of, say, having Damasca's outlying villages begin to conspire against the throne.

4/13/2017 06:03:15 pm

I find it likely that with Naraka travelers able to summon hounds that can smell murderers, most of them are caught and executed too early. But really they should just store them away for the sacrifices.

Illar

4/14/2017 08:42:08 am

Perhaps the definition of sacrifice is key. Something of value must be given up and a condemned prisoner has no value to those preforming the sacrifice.

4/14/2017 05:02:32 pm

It started off as a way of bringing the whole country together, making sure that everyone shared the pain of the sacrifice so that everyone would feel how important it was.

And, over time, it just became tradition.

FoolRegnant

4/13/2017 03:44:19 pm

So, does each Abidan division have an internal power-ranking? Does the Abidan have a specific set of ranks below Judge, or is it organized more organically/decentralized?

4/21/2017 06:01:56 am

There are ranks below Judge, and there are specialized positions as well.

The different Divisions are organized differently, but there are some common ranks.

4/13/2017 10:09:06 pm

I have a question regarding Sanctum. Why was Sanctum chosen as the iteration to house the Abidan headquarters when the first Abidan came from Cradle?

4/14/2017 05:41:39 am

I believe Will has mentioned that Sanctum is a multi-world universe (i,e, with space and multiple colonized planets). This means that Sanctum won't fall apart until probably either the sun burns out or something similarly disastrous happens, which likely won't be for billions of years, so even losing a single planet wouldn't cause the universe to splinter like a normal single-planet universe would. If the Abidan were somewhere like Cradle, a single doomsday-level asteroid would cause them to have to move and the planet/universe to go into chaos.

4/14/2017 10:33:32 pm

But that is how Sanctum is now. Considering that the founding of the Abidan was eons ago, what did Sanctum look like then. Was it already a universe populated by interplanetary humans or was it like our reality where humans are stuck on one planet. So my question is, eons ago if Sanctum had only one planet populated by humans, what made it special enough that the first Abidan wanted to make it the headquarters of a multi interation organization.

Sean K

4/19/2017 09:00:32 am

I'm sure that SOMEONE on cradle would be able to sense the asteroid coming, then contact someone else that could punch the rock back into space before it hit.

Even if the asteroid did hit with a Yucatan level detonation, Cradle is big enough for it to not drastically affect things world-wide. For some reason I see Cradle as the size of Neptune. I'd guess the Aura of the world helps reduce the gravity to something tolerable (about earth level). The planet itself has so much aura, it pushes outward fighting gravity.

4/14/2017 11:37:59 am

You don't put your headquarters near the recruiting office. Sanctum is the current, but Cradle is the future. It is one of the most reliable source of Abidan recruits. If something eliminated all of the Abidan in one fell swoop, Cradle still has a chance to produce more beings capable of ascending. Consolidating your power on Cradle is putting all of your eggs in one basket. Which might not be the best idea.

4/14/2017 11:06:41 pm

That's not necessarily true. While it is true that those born in Cradle have a higher probability to ascend than other iterations, Sanctum is a multi planetary iteration with a vastly bigger population than Cradle. So in absolute terms Sanctum would produce more recruits than Cradle despite the lower probability of the population to ascend. Also from the last few posts Will has written, I get the impression that most Abidan come from Sanctum itself. One reason I came to this conclusion is when Will said in one of his comments that wolves take pride in recruiting from "wild" iterations. This implies that the other Judges and their divisions prefer to recruit from Sanctum and if not Sanctum then the more "civilized" iterations. So it seems to me that the Abidan already have some of their most important eggs in the Sanctum basket, the headquarters and the source of the bulk of their recruits.

-X-

4/16/2017 12:29:45 am

Don't know if anyone will see this ask the way down here but since lots of people on here seen to like Sanderson I thought I would point out a nice bundle on humble bundle.https://www.humblebundle.com/books/brandon-sanderson-book-bundle
You can get done books and audio books with some of the proceeds going to charity

-x-

4/17/2017 04:06:48 pm

reread my comment (which I typed on my phone) and it looks horrible. What I was trying to say is Sanderson books seem to be a good fit for people who are visiting this site. The website HumbleBundle.com (which I often use for books and steam games) currently has a bundle of Sanderson books available at https://www.humblebundle.com/books/brandon-sanderson-book-bundle. The books are usually available in PDF, ePUB, and MOBI formats. Enjoy

for $1 you get
* Firstborn/Defending Elysium
* The Emperor's Soul
* Legion
* Legion: skin deep
* Warbreaker Part 1 audiobook
* Elantris Part 1 audiobook
* Mistborn Adventure Game
$8 gets the above plus
*Sixth of the Dusk
*Shadows for Silence in the forests of Hell
* Perfect State
* Warbreaker Part 2 Audiobook
* Elantris Part 2 Audiobook
* Terris: Wrought of Copper Players Guide & Mistborn World
Resource
and finally $15 or more gets you all the above and
* Snapshot
* Dreamer
* The Hope of Elantris Audiobook
* Warbreaker Part 3 Audiobook
* Elantris Part 3 audiobook
* White Sand Graphic Novel
* Alloy of Law: Mistborn Campaign n Setting & Game Setings

FAMILY OF RACCOONS RETURNING FROM THE PUNIC WARS AFTER RAZING CARTHAGE TO THE GROUND AND SALTING THE SOIL UPON WHICH IT ONCE STOOD. SOON WE SHALL MEET WITH THE LEGIONS OF MARCUS CRASSUS AND HEAD TO PARTHIA.

4/16/2017 08:45:09 am

Will, what exactly is the ranking system for Cradle?
Nothing
Copper
Iron
Jade
LowGold
MidGold
Highgold
Underlord
Overlord?
Also, at what level are you going to have finished you book?
Lastly, how many levels forward do you plan on getting Landon in Blackflame?

4/16/2017 03:29:14 pm

From what I remember reading it goes:

Foundation
Copper
Iron
Jade
Low Gold
High Gold
True Gold
Underlord
Overlord
Archlord
???
Sage - At one point Will said the emperor of Blackflame is two tiers below the Sword Sage which puts him at Overlord.

It was mentioned that Lindon is almost on par with Book 2 Yerin by the end of Blackflame, which makes Lindon between Low Gold and High Gold.

An observation about the Emperor I'm wondering is that if he is only Overlord, what the hell is an Archlord? This must mean Blackflame is one of the smallest empires on Cradle, and that the real world powers are run by people stronger than Archlord, people strong enough to keep a continent-spanning empire intact. This is because Will also said both the Sword Sage and the Blackflame Emperor would die to Sha Miara's guards before they ever got close to her. This also means there are a few tiers beyond Sage we have yet to even hear about. I'm guessing the elite tier people on Cradle are at tier 15 since that allows 3 tiers beyond Sage and it's a nice number.

4/19/2017 08:55:33 am

I believe it was said that Yerin would actually have to try a little bit to defeat Lindon by the end of blackflame. I think that just means that he's Jade, and actually knows some techniques that work by then. A Jade can be a threat to a low-gold, as in the low-gold has to but SOME effort into the beating.

Also, Will did speak about Sages. Most people on Cradle will have heard of a Sage and kind of know the power a Sage can get to. The three shown to Lindon by Suriel? Those are LEGENDS! Also most NO ONE (less than 99.99%) on cradle can truly grasp what kind of power they possess!

I like to think of the tiers as follows:
Foundation - copper/iron/jade
Gold - Low/High/True
Lord - Under/Over/Arch
????
Sage - Probably broken into levels
????
????
LEGEND - This is where the three shown to Lindon are.

Each of the ???? I'm sure can be broken down into three 'tiers' if you will. but they tiers probably stop mattering as much after you get past Sage.

The ACTUAL family of raccoons

4/16/2017 07:58:57 pm

IMPOSTER!!!!!

Raccoon referee

4/20/2017 09:54:37 am

Only Garbagiel, our Lord and saviour, can solve this conflict now

4/20/2017 12:16:28 pm

The OP is an imposter! Do not let this charlatan fool you, my omnivorous hordes! The name of our noble comrades shall not be sullied by these peddlers of falsehoods!

4/21/2017 06:00:31 am

I can't tell the difference between these raccoons; they're all wearing masks!

4/16/2017 10:52:03 am

Will, is it a coincident that the Wei Clan was taught their skills by A or several FOXEs, and that there is a Division with the same name.
I'M rather scepticall, though, as both concentrate on completely different skills; while the one focuses on illusions, the other one on spatial control.

4/16/2017 11:31:10 am

Well, the Abidan originally came from Cradle, so the names of their divisions come from animals that exist in Cradle and were significant there.

Other than a distant cultural connection, no, there's no tie between the Wei Clan and the Fox Division.

Kevin

4/18/2017 10:06:16 pm

When is you next post going to occur.

4/19/2017 06:17:45 am

Seems we've run out of talking material.
Need next book, or at least next post.

4/19/2017 06:06:53 pm

Hey Will you said u finished Blackflame and are just proofreading and editing grammar errors right? Or did i just dream that? Anyways just curious cuz i check here everyday just to see if u have an update on the book, another short story or these cool background posts. Any idea if your close to a Blackflame release or at least a week more cuz that way i can probably get more sleep at night instead of stressing my F5 key. :D

OP gets it :D

4/19/2017 06:17:18 pm

yes plz... just need to know if it wont be this week.... so I can stop checking till next week.

4/21/2017 05:55:32 am

I'll be putting up a post about that later today, Diego, but the short answer is: "I finished a draft a few months ago, but it turns out I had way more to do than just proofreading."

Long answer:

"I finished a draft a few months ago, but it turns out I had WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY more to do than just proofreading."

Your mom

4/20/2017 07:39:01 am

Hey asshole, release the book.

Really?

4/20/2017 09:25:59 am

You shut your time mouth!

4/20/2017 12:07:03 pm

I agree with Jonathan!

4/20/2017 12:21:26 pm

That's not quite how writing books works, mom. How many times do I tell you that calling authors names doesn't actually make the book finished?

Do I have to tell dad to change the Wi-Fi password again?

4/21/2017 05:53:51 am

I'll release the book when YOU release the girl! Alive and unharmed!

4/21/2017 12:16:46 pm

Hmm, I really have a problem with that statement?

Blackflame for ONE little 'girl' ?
Aren'T you thinking a bit too little about the book?

Coldsteel

4/20/2017 06:16:13 pm

Will, I've been an avid reader of fantasy and sci-fi for over 40 years now and somehow you've managed to firmly implant yourself as numero uno in my favorite authors hierarchy. That's no small feat, trust me, because I've read many, many thousands of books over that time. I've read all your books and watched you grow by leaps and bounds as a writer with each one. Now, I eagerly look forward to each new book.

You're so young and so talented with such a blazing imagination. And the right kind of imagination, too. The fun kind. The kind that makes your work a real joy to read. And the bonus is, you write fast enough that I'm not going to die of old age waiting for your your books come out. Something that can't be said for the likes of that lazy poseur Rothfuss who likes the trappings of being a writer but doesn't really like to write.

Now, I have a theory about Ozriel and it will be interesting to see if I'm right (eventually). We know that he developed his own path. We also know that he died and returned to life in a labyrinth (somewhere). We also know that a massive labyrinth forms the foundation of Sacred Valley. And this labyrinth is full of secrets and treasures. Could they be one and the same? It's hard to believe in coincidence in books like these. I also find it fascinating that Sacred Valley is being protected from the outside by powerful individuals and that the outside world has, for the most part, forgotten it even exists. I think perhaps there's more to Sacred Valley than meets the eye. Am I right?

4/21/2017 05:59:20 am

Reading your kind words is like swallowing a baby koala: it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Thanks, Coldsteel!

I realized a while ago that what I wanted, as a reader, was a bunch of fun, lively stories that didn't take themselves too seriously, had a bunch of magic, and were released regularly.

And that's what I try to write!

As for Sacred Valley...

You COULD be right. You certainly could be.

Sanger

4/21/2017 06:53:52 am

As of right now I definitely agree with Coldsteel. Having read some of the greatest SciFi/Fantasy series to exist(In my opinion) from the likes of, Robert Jordan, Sanderson, Feist, Pierce Brown, Patrick Rothfuss, Isaac Asimov, I would definitely say since picking up your books you have made it to my list of top ten.

Thank you again, and it's definitely a joy to see you grow as an Author.

******Is Lindon the reincarnation of Ozriel?******a

4/21/2017 02:59:05 pm

Ozriel is still very much alive so Linden's not him reincarnated. That said, it appears there are some very interesting parallels between the two so far.

1. Cradle is home to both.
2. Both founded their own path.
3. Both died and returned to life (Linden twice, actually).
4. Sacred Valley may have been a locale they both had in common.

There may be others. I can't wait to see where Will's headed with all this.

4/21/2017 06:59:35 am

Will, I finished rereading the travelers gates trilogy, and I have another round of questions for you:

What are the seven stones? I see them references a lot, typically as some kind of swear.

Why is the number seven so prominent in your books? (Aside from it being the best number, of course)

Why don't valinhall travelers wear full plate, or at least mail? It has been proven that these types of armor do not impede mobility (videos of people doing complex gymnastics and flips in full armor are awesome, btw) and are not particularly heavy. Given the territories trouble with drawn-out fights, having conventional armor would enable them to conserve abilities like stone or ghost armor for much longer. And if they were wearing tartarus steel armor, then they would be nigh indestructible.

Is a damascan infantry sword closer to a gladius or a longsword?

Finally, would it be possible to get more details as to the measurements of the various dragon's fangs? I've wanted to do some comparisons to real-life greatswords in order to discern how practical the designs of the signature weapons of valinhall actually are.

Namely, details like the precise length and thickness of the blade, exact shape of the blade, size and style of the guard, and weight of the blade.

4/21/2017 11:51:49 am

I assume they don't wear armor because the stress it would be put under whilst they were using their valinhall powers would damage the armor significantly(Imagine punching someone while using steel/stone, any gauntlet around your fist would explode). Also, i think that Tartarus Steel is much rarer than you think. I mean Alin didn't even have that, so i doubt damasca would shell out for that.

Golum

4/21/2017 08:19:34 am

The precious, gives me the precious

4/21/2017 10:28:28 am

You seem hungry, here, have a snickers bar! (Throws Golum a snickers).

4/21/2017 01:19:10 pm

*sniff sniff*
*munch munch*
This not precious, man try distract Golum. Man have precious? Yesss yesss man have precious. GIVES US PRECIOUS!!!! (Lunges for Sean K)

4/21/2017 02:32:58 pm

Will, I've been meaning to ask:
Does the (much-anticipated) release of Blackflame come with anything like a doctor's note, to get me out of work for a couple days to read it right away?

Because I'm not going to lie, that would be stupendous.

4/21/2017 02:35:49 pm

That's what I should do! I was trying to decide who to dedicate this book to, since all of the friends and family who actually help me with the book already have a book dedicated to them.

"To all employers everywhere: please excuse your employee from work for the next 24 hours, as he/she has come down with a bad case of literitis."

--"Doctor" William L Wight III

...or I could see if I can find a tenth person I care about.

4/21/2017 03:00:25 pm

Patient presented with extreme exhaustion and bleary eyes. Was confused about what day, and in fact what year, it was.

A box of elbow macaroni, masquerading as a multidimensional being, mistaken for our Noodley Master...

4/29/2017 06:47:13 am

And so Mahasamatman (He preferred to drop the Maha- and the -atman, however, and called Himself Sam), His essence honed by thousands of incarnations, His fires strengthened by the Rakasha and His consciousness stretched by His time in that golden cloud called the Bridge of the Gods, drew His Aspect about Him, and, perceiving The Way for the first time, ascended beyond the world.

He may be known thusly: His mantle is in the shape of a great wide belt of shells, pink and yellow in color; His weapon a wand dispensing Universal Fire; His armor a seamless white glove upon His right hand only, which extends all the way up His arm and across His shoulders, wrapping His neck and rising tight and smooth about His entire head.

Thus, were the Abiden born...

kxk link

5/14/2017 12:13:11 pm

What the hell??????
Also, now that Blackflame is released, does Will really HAVE to do OKAK, or can he just finish Skysworn first?(Please answer!).

In which we ramble on.
And by we, I mean me.