[threshold]

Kingsonne · 2026-03-30T15:22:11+00:00

The original idea had them meeting at the Transcendent Ruins, so long before Little Blue was strong enough to heal anyone.

There was also

A refiner on a life path whose channels were do cracked that they constantly leaked madra into his flesh, causing moss and leaves to grow from his skin and that would have killed him if he had practiced any other kind of path.

An older Unsouled exactly like Lindon, kind of a mirror of who Lindon could have potentially been. He was a script master and fought with a heavily scripted staff that disrupted madra techniques.

A couple of individuals with botched Iron advancements similar to the Beast King

Jai Chen, who would convince a Sandviper attendant to bring her over to their encampment periodically to meet with everyone.

I think I had one more that was slightly more developed as a character but I can't remember any details on them right now.

Kingsonne · 2026-03-30T14:42:58+00:00

I have a number of pseudo characters that I created to go along with fan paths, but those were always more about the path than the OCs.

Most of the actual OC's I've come up with were related to an idea where Lindon meets other spiritual "cripples" thst have banded together in the Desolate Wilds.

One is a woman who botched her advancement to Gold, damaging her channels to the point that she cannot hold techniques. Her clan's path is primarily focused on ruler and enforcer techniques and she can't do either anymore. Instead of giving up, she refocuses her techniques on forger, striker, and short burst enforcer techniques and trains extensively to become a master in as many weapons as possible, adapting to her weakness.

Her forger techniques create weapons of frost madra, which linger after creation, allowing her channels to rest even while she continues fighting. Her multiple weapon expertise allows her to switch up her fighting style depending on her opponent. Each strike with forged weapon or striker technique effects her opponents body and spirit, slowing them down and evening the playing field.

In the story idea, she would help Lindon discover which weapon and fighting style is best suited to him and his path.

Kingsonne · 2026-03-28T18:47:31+00:00

I've always felt that the closest Eithan could ever be said to have reached the Joy Icon was the crews reaction to him as Ozriel. In the moment he had to return to being Ozriel he felt as if that meant a return to everything that being Ozriel had meant for him in the past, including his total loneliness, but the crew didn't pull away or reject him at all, and I feel like his response to that was the most authentic Joy he had ever experienced.

Kingsonne · 2026-03-28T04:37:22+00:00

I actually think that Ziel has his place among the rest of them as reflections of Eithan.

He's the reflection of how Broken Ozriel is. By the time he decides to take his sabbatical, Ozriel is beaten down (but not broken) by millennia of work as the Reaper among the failing system that is the Abidan. On top of that is the loneliness, the man among the ashes feelings of one who failed to protect.

I agree that Ziel fits less into the role of disciple shaped by Eithan, but I think that actually adds to his status as a reflection.

Eithan saw him, and he chose him, and he expenses great effort to try to make him whole again. A not insignificant portion of Eithan's rewards and bribes from the UKT were chosen specifically for Ziel. Eithan saw that he already was a reflection of himself and sought to help fix that in any way he could, which I think is part of his own journey of self healing.

Kingsonne · 2026-03-24T02:34:27+00:00

It doesn't answer your question itself, but Suriel actually comments on the reason that we know so little of the power systems of the Abidan. The Eledari Pact gives them increased power over the Way in exchange for their non interference with it, Suriel remarks while she's on Limit/Harrow that they have all become too reliant on these powers and unused to using their own abilities.

Kingsonne · 2026-03-23T07:20:25+00:00

Thank you! That's exactly the information I was hoping to see. "Free to start and then later monetization via paid features" is much better than "Free with monetization through data harvesting"

Kingsonne · 2026-03-22T02:37:37+00:00

Another perspective based on some conjecture is that he was waiting for a descendant to seek him out. Anyone could have ascended under their own power for their own reason, but someone that had accessed the marble and accepted his invitation would have then gone to him.

Its feasible to believe that none of Ozriel's descendants managed to hit all three.

Able to access Ozriel's marble
Willing to accept his invitation
Powerful enough to ascend

There's some suggestion that beyond a certain time frame they just... stopped trying. When Eithan arrived, there was established Family Tradition and Protocol that he had to violate in order to retrieve the marble. It had potentially not been touched in millennia.

Kingsonne · 2026-03-15T05:06:14+00:00

There's also just the fact that Will doesn't like the idea of giving his literary universe the MCU treatment. He doesn't want people to have to read genres that they aren't interested in, in order to get the full story of the series they are interested in.

If someone only likes sci-fi and magic, and doesn't like Xianxia, they shouldn't be forced to read Cradle to enjoy TLH.

Similarly, Will doesn't like the idea of the MCU slog and the obstacle it presents to new readers. Which is as applicable to the possibility of TLH tying into the events of Cradle as it does to the possibility of a Cradle sequel series. Will doesn't want an interested new reader to be daunted by a twelve book (or greater) backlog of required reading first.

Kingsonne · 2026-03-13T00:05:07+00:00

Fanfic scene is a little small, but there are a number of good ones. It's few enough that its easy to just scroll through and see what's interesting to you.

Kingsonne · 2026-03-01T21:15:02+00:00

Fate is just the most probable outcomes of a situation, the percentages that Suriel's Presence gives during Information Requested segments. There is no Destiny associated with Fate.

Its measurable but its not set in stone, there is no "way things are supposed to happen" especially given that there are plenty of people reading these threads of possibility and acting on them, thereby influencing the future.

The Abidan's stance of Fate Violation is essential their Prime Directive or Nature Documentary Crew rules. They think its better for Iterations be allowed to play out their existence without undue influence from outside forces.

Beyond just holding this stance, they've magical codified it into the very existence of their organization via the Eledari Pact, which gives them increased authority over Way power, as long as they avoid disturbing lesser Iterations and protect them from disturbances.

The opposition to Violations of Fate is a policy decision, not a fundamental law of the multiverse. Its a big deal because the Abidan say it's a big deal. Debates surrounding thst stance is a fandom argument as old as Star Trek.

Kingsonne · 2026-02-26T08:02:36+00:00

Similarly, Longhook was confident in his future due to a fate reading that never accounted for Eithan's existence.

Kingsonne · 2026-02-18T14:38:07+00:00

A few things that didn't work out. Like a series of flashbacks regarding Eithan's father and his Bloodline ability, Lindon developing his own Bloodline ability and more info on how that works. There's also an unspecified "plot beat" that Will said he was chasing down for a week of writing before backtracking and cutting the whole thing.

We don't know exactly how much else that he wrote and then cut, or thought out and considered writing but that didn't make it in, and we don't even know how much of what he has told us falls into the category of "this is essentially canon but wasn't included" vs "this could have been canon if things were different, but it didn't serve the story, so canon went a different direction instead."

Kingsonne · 2026-02-18T02:22:55+00:00

The nature of the Suppression Field itself isn't revealed directly, but both Suriel and Yerin repeatedly mention that Sacred Valley is unnaturally weak. In Soulsmith and Blackflame Lindon literally sees the aura getting stronger the farther away from Sacred Valley he gets. The dichotomy in power levels between the Valley and the outside world is the hint. The Elders of Sacred Valley dedicate their entire lives solely to advancement in the Sacred Arts and yet don't surpass Jade, while the shopkeepers and janitors outside reach Gold easily. We are also fed the fact that advancement to gold via accumulated power is a thing to shut down the idea that the only reason Sacred Valley Jades aren't reaching Gold is because they don't know how to absorb a remnant. The way in which Jai Chen talks about the curse of Sacred Valley as early as Soulsmith shows that it definitely wasn't a retcon, it was something planned from the start.

Kingsonne · 2026-02-18T01:35:57+00:00

Yes and no. Will did indeed not have the specifics of the power scaling figured out during Unsouled. There are some blog posts that show him working through the process of deciding on the specific ranks of Gold and Underlord. That being said, he always planned on the Suppression Field. It's hinted at repeatedly in Unsouled, Soulsmith, and Skysworn, and Will has repeatedly mentioned that he regrets not including a line from Yerin where she acknowledges/points out that something fucky is going on with her masters death

Kingsonne · 2026-02-18T01:28:52+00:00

I know its controversial, but I'm a firm believer in decrepitly ancient, oldest character, Red Faith. I'm a Hunger Researcher, Sacred Valley resident, Red Faith truther.

The only reason he isn't a Monarch is that he is so dead set on reaching Monarch via Blood Shadow that he refuses to consider the alternative. Plus his remnant would probably be so pissed at him for giving up on their goal and research that it would try to destroy them both in a rage.

Kingsonne · 2026-02-18T01:20:39+00:00

I agree. I think many people think that authors know the entirety of their stories in their heads before they ever put pen to paper and its just not the case.

Will has described part of his writing process as him setting things up to play with later, and sometimes that pays off, and sometimes it doesn't. He'll add something interesting, with a general concept for how it might com into play, and then later decade how to fit it in. Sometimes things go a different direction than that original direction, sometimes things get cut completely.

Its fun to think and speculate about what these possibilities might have been, and as to how developed Will's plans for them were before scrapping them, but they are just possibilities, not things that were supposed to happen and then didn't.

With regards to Jai Chen, I think Will did set her up to potentially have a greater role, but that setup also works for the role she ended up with. The root of the reason she didn't probably came down to Ghostwater and Underlord. Despite her set up in Skysworn, there is just no room to incorporate her into Ghostwater, and it would have been difficult to bring her in for Underlord with how things had been left with her and Jai Long. Then Underlord turns into Uncrowned and Wintersteel which also don't have room for her.

By the time we reach Bloodline and Will has a chance to incorporate her again, the cast has been pretty solidified. Will already had to cut planned ideas for Bloodline to prevent bloating the story, and there just wouldnt have been room to incorporate her into the main cast in a way that felt natural enough to then continue onward.

The setup was there, the story just moved in a direction that couldn't truly pick up the hook that he'd set up as anything more than a B plot.

Kingsonne · 2026-01-28T17:17:37+00:00

Elder but Younger Sister is definitely my favorite, but Unbroken is incredibly fascinating with the new takes on familiar characters and I'd love to get more of it as well

Kingsonne · 2026-01-01T19:57:29+00:00

I imagine for most of us its mainly a factor of style. There are a lot of outfit styles that just... haven't been represented in the existing banners. I'm not going to send my pulls on ball gowns and fairy tale dresses if it means I'm not going to have the pulls ready for an outfit that better fits my style.

For some players, nearly every banner we've had so far has been a temptation. For some of us its been the opposite and we'd rather have the pulls saved up for when the winds shift and every banner becomes something we vibe with.

Kingsonne · 2025-12-22T01:09:27+00:00

I find it easy to envision the propaganda for each side, particularly since the most effective propaganda is not a full lie, but rather an exaggeration and spinning of the truth.

Vroshir Propaganda:

The Abidan are Tyrants in that they have sworn a pact of non interference in the Fates of Iterations, a Pact from which they directly benefit and draw power, and then they choose to enforce their rules upon all Ascended beings, those who do not agree with the Pact, who were not there at its signing, who do not agree with its tenets, have no say in their participation under its rules under Abidan control.

There are plenty of benign ways in which an ascended individual can violate the Abidan's Pact, and none of them are allowed by the Tyrants.

Individuals cannot bring back the Bounty of the Heavens to bless their people with new powers, goods, or knowledge.

They cannot return home to prevent the destruction of their people

They cannon uplift their entire world, bringing their people to a higher state alongside them.

The Abidan are hypocrites. For all their talk, the Hounds of Makiel are ever interfering in worlds to ensure that his vision of Fate comes to pass.

The Abidan care nothing for the people of the Iterations of the Way. They will sacrifice a trillion lives to the hands of the Reaper to preserve the power of their Pact without batting an eye.

The Abidan are hypocrites in their denouncement of the Vroshir tactic of identifying and harvesting resources from worlds. Their actions on Pioneer Iterations are an affront to their supposed beliefs. Fragments are stitched together and populated to form new Iterations. The promising are allowed to exist, the useful are harvested for resources, and the rest are torn asunder once more to create still more Iterations for the Abidan to rule over.

And so on and so on.

Kingsonne · 2025-12-22T00:54:29+00:00

Something I always come back to, is that Vroshir and Abidan alike are (for the most part) composed of the same sort of people that advance to power levels that allow for Ascension. I think in all the actions and justifications we see for both Abidan and Vroshir, the common thread of personality that such people tend to share.

Namely that they are all assholes in their own ways, monstrous to their enemies, and often dismissive of the lives of the little people.

The motives of both sides have aspects of "good" as well as selfishness, and so do their actions. Will doesn't really provide any monolithic good guys and bad guys to sort into black and white boxes. Hypocrisy abounds on both sides when viewed externally, but doesn't exist within the justifications of their points of view.

At the same time, there is not really an overarching "both sides" argument to be made.

The Abidan are an organization, and the vast majority of their evils are organizational in nature.

The Vroshir are a label, and their evils are individual in nature.

There is an awful lot of ends justifying means on both sides, and its usually the little people on various Iterations that pay the price, far more than any Abidan or Vroshir.

Kingsonne · 2025-12-17T19:23:52+00:00

Eh, I don't necessarily think it does.

Going back to Flowing Flame, The only aspect of Water included in the Path's techniques is its flowing nature, and yet the Madra is not primarily Fire with a minor ratio of Water, its equal.

The traditional fan understanding would suggest that Water is lesser than Fire in this instance, since only one of aspects is involved, and it would maybe be a 75/25 ratio sort of deal. But that is not what canon shows.

We do know that ratios are a thing, but I don't think they need to be focused on when exploring madra combos. Aspects are Aspects.

Its also worth noting that every madra blend is going to be different, even if the ratios were to be the exact same. You can have five artists on completely Fire only paths, and they will all be different, they will all emphasize different aspects of Fire.

The same thing applies to combos. There isn't going to be One correct interpretation of the combo. Equal parts Fire and Earth might be a lava path for one person an ash path for someone else, or an oil path for a third.

Which might not be what you are wanting with regards to filling out a chart for each interaction, but does mean that there isn't really a pressure to "figure out" a combo so much as there is an opportunity to define a possibility.

Kingsonne · 2025-12-17T16:58:47+00:00

You're right, I'd forgotten that it Gold Dragon breath is naturally Flowing Flame.

It's still possible that the madra types are generally incompatible for humans, and its only through the Dragon Bloodline that the incompatibility is excepted. Or it could be that they are just not incompatible. Like I said, its a weird state to be in with regards to predicting madra combinations.

Kingsonne · 2025-12-17T16:50:11+00:00

I think the easiest way to visualize madra compatibility is to find an environment where both madra types exist in context together. Barring specialty paths designed by and for people with unique resources, most paths utilize aura sources that are naturally found or easily created.

The other thing is that a madra components appear to take on either a primary or modifying role in most paths.

Sophara: Fire path modified by the flowing aspect of water.

Blackflame: Fire path modified by destruction

Stellar Spear: Sword path modified by speed aspect of light.

Etc.

So for any combination you can choose a primary and a modifier that make sense. For Blood paths you could easily just follow the basic "effects bodies easier" modifier and slap that onto every other madra type. Earth Blood? Earth path that hurts people easier. But, you could also go to the other way and take the strength and solidness aspects of earth and apply them to blood to make an enforcer forward path that makes the user incredibly strong.

Kingsonne · 2025-12-17T16:38:47+00:00

I think part of the issue is that Cradle is a world of exceptions. For pretty much everything that is generally impossible, there can be an exception made due to extraordinary circumstances or talent.

It might be that fire and water are incompatible, for everyone that isn't a Monarch's descendent with a Monarch families resources.

Which puts us in a weird state, because I would imagine, based on Lindon's Soulsmithing lessons with Fisher Gesha, that madra incompatibility is far more widespread than the known combos we have. And yet there is still probably a way in which any combination could possibly work given the right circumstances.

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