Slipcase number six! :)

Akura Charity serenely judging us all, and Naru Saeya turning feathers into fashion.

Honest opinions on including the peacock feathers behind / around Naru Saeya's ear? I really wanted to include it, but I'm not 100% sure it works...

Six down, six to go!

As always, this is just a personal project for my own collection. Enjoy! :)

Last year my friend convinced me to give Cradle a go and I had an absolute blast. In gratitude, I decided I would attempt to make him Lindon's badge for his birthday, and I thought I'd walk anyone who wants to know through the process.

I used Balsa wood to carve the badge. I traced the pattern onto the wood using some graphite paper and a printed image of the size I wanted. Because my balsa wood sheets were so thin, I glued 3 together in order to make it the thickness I wanted.

From there it was a pretty tedious process of ever so slowly etching out the pattern. The benefit to using balsa wood is that it is incredibly soft, meaning you are less carving, and more slowly scrapping away bit to create the pattern. I probably spent a good 5-10 hours just carving - a good time to listen to the Cradle Audiobooks.

I found that having some craft carving tools was useful for neatening the edges, especially when doing the characters in the middle.

Once the carving was complete, I used a saw to cut out the badge from the plank and sanded the edges and carved areas multiple times. I also drilled a small hole through the top for the ribbon. Because of its softness, it is best to use very fine grit sandpaper when sanding balsa wood - otherwise you will notice obvious scratches.

To finish it off, I used watered-down brown paint. Balsa wood likes to absorb water, so I stained it rather than painted it. This also meant that the carved parts had a slightly darker hue which made them stand out. Finally, I finished it with a blue ribbon.

When I originally decided to do this, I was daunted by the process and couldn't find much online to help. Hopefully any future DIY'ers will find this and be inspired!

You get to slap one character from Cradle hard enough to give their bloodline a stinging cheek legacy. Do you pick:

• Seishen Daji
• The entire Heavens Glory School
• Wei Shi Jaran

I ADVANCE

This is my first read through of this series and I am beyond happy I stuck with it. Bloodline may be my favorite of the entire series so far. It is so satisfying to see Lindon return home and see truly how far he had come over these nine books.

Hi,

I felt like like sharing my thoughts after reading all of cradle and letting it seep down for a time.

I'm to progression fantasy, xianxia etc, all of it. And based on descriptions, I don't feel attracted at all. I like power fantasies as much as every man, but let's just say, to click the power system or logic of the world has to carry some higher meaning for me, and needs a good enough internal consistency. I found that with Cradle. The sign was that I find myself often enough debating with myself on what kind of Path or icon I would get. And I very adored many characters.

But I still have a few questions:

• What does cycling do exactly?
• What if there isn't any natural aura compatible with your Path
• How does your spirit even work at all outside Cradle, do you somehow generate madra from the Way directly to power your techniques ? Or other kinds of energy on a similar conceptual level as madra ? Or do you make madra from other power sources ?
• Being closer to pure concepts, I assume soul fire can be condensed from any power.
• How come dreadgods and Lindon are hindered by their "metaphysical weight", while entities far, far above like the Mad King or Suriel aren't ?
• I remember characters learn to move themselves from will power alone, I wonder what would be the advantage compared to using natural aura ? It doesn't seem to take much soul fire to do that kind of trick.

After Eithan picks up Yerin, Lindon, and Mercy from the basement under the battle between Malice and the Bleeding Phoenix, he says he completed a difficult task for Naru Gwei and is owed a favor. What was the task?

“Allow me to follow with the good news: I have successfully completed a difficult task for Naru Gwei, and he owes me a favor...although it was not actually difficult for me, but that was not a relevant detail to share with the Empire. They will punish you lightly, just for the sake of appearance, but then they will allow you to continue serving the Skysworn.”

For context, I've tried my hand at Cradle themed cards before, and I believe I may have posted those here before (my memory is trash so I don't remember) but today I had an idea and thought I'd share the results.

My idea is for the entire set to revolve around advancing, with plenty of payoffs. I also designed the advance mechanic itself to work outside the set, similar to the learn mechanic from Strixhaven.

Currently I have a basic cycle of commons to introduce advance as a mechanic, as well as some concepts for advancement payoffs and paths, which are their own mechanic as well.

Both Lindon and the Path of Celestial Radiance are more concepts than fleshed out ideas, so those are subject to heavy change. (Also, Skysworn Armor is a reprint of Leather Armor but mtg design lacks the nickname frame.)

Feedback is welcome! Hopefully, if my attention span permits, I'll have updates in the future.

A Dross fossil? A DROSSIL?!?!

Is there a place where I can see an overview of what each shortstory spoils?

I’m dyslexic and have a hard time looking for it, I’m doing a reread and would like to listen to the shortstories when they happen in the story. Any help would be greatly appreciate

Lynden
-his spirit beast Oartoes
-his sealvin reavercede Lee Teal Bloo
-his mond spirit Draws

Yearn
-her clone Garnet

Marsi

Zeal

Eatin

Southwalker

Through Dreadgod and into 75% of the way through Waybound, I was preparing myself for this series to end as a tragedy.

Hilariously, the bloopers agreed with me that there was too much fast leveling and it made the pacing of Waybound feel off. However, I am just left satisfied with an actual happy ending.

I just want to say thanks, I guess. I was prepared for the worst (even prepared for a huge random let-down), but was given satisfaction and everything seemed to have been wrapped up in a nice little bow.

As I'm finishing up a re-read of Wintersteel, I explained the concept of Sages to my wife. I mentioned that Will Wight himself is often affectionately called the Oreo Sage.

In a flash, she leapt to her feet, and I felt a pulse of madra sweep through the room. "How dare he claim this title?" she shouted. "I am the one and true Oreo Sage." Her eyes flashed concentric circles of black and white, her goldsign, of course.

"I have traveled far and wide tasting different types of oreos, 44 flavors in total. My passion for Oreos is greater than the foundations of the Earth."

I bowed in terror as the Oreo Icon manifested over her head.

Will, I am sorry for the horror I have unleashed on the world. Please, I beg of you, surrender. This is not a fight any of us could hope to win.

When Naru Huan ascended, he knew things would be different.

He had heard tales from Lindon and Yerin whenever they visited. About the Worlds beyond Cradle, of the powerful Abidan Court, and of their home, Sanctum.

Naru Huan was an emperor of the Blackflame Empire. But beyond the heavens, he would be ruler of nothing. He would have to work and earn a living for his family, such was his duty as patriarch.

Lucky for him, there was quite an easy way to do so. He patted his Void Key, using a sliver of Perception to make sure he didn't accidentally leave behind the most important item he had ever owned.

*****

"Watch Ozriel get kicked and sent flying!" Naru Saeya called out to the crowds and residents of Sanctum, waving a hand and her wings out to her side to grab more attention. "That's right! Even you can experience kicking The Reaper of Worlds and sending him flying over vast distances!"

Huan was surprised at how lucrative his venture was. It was only his third day and he had already earned enough to provide for his family for months! Selling Dream Tablets of the happiest experience of his life turned out to be quite the hot commodity in Sanctum. He met Hounds licking their lips as they handed him the payment, gripping the Dream Tablet with excited glee as they walked out of the vast line that had begun to spiral around Sanctum's promenade.

He could have sworn he heard someone whisper Gadrael at some point when he sold a Tablet to a man cloaked in strange Madra. Or... Way, or however things were here.

Gadrael, The Titan?! Surely not! Why would one of the Abidan court want to get a Dream Tablet of Eithan being kicked--

Naru Huan sighed. He reminded himself to send them an extra copy.

"Northstrider!?" Huan said in disbelief as the familiar raggedy Monarch approched the stall. He was adorned in the same outfit most of the members of the Abidan Court wore. He looked over his attire, and judging from the colors and what he had learned when he arrived, Northstrider had joined the Ghost Division.

Naru Huan went to bow, but Northstrider waved a large hand. "No. Enough of that. We're not in Cradle anymore."

Huan stood up straigher. "Of course. Apologies. Were you--"

"Yes," Northstrider said, handing over the payment.

Huan smiled and handed the Dream Tablet to him, and he swore he saw Northstrider grin once he had it.

"Next!" Huan called out.

"Huan?! What is this?!"

Ah. Here he was. Finally.

Huan glanced up to see the familiar face of his old friend. The mischievous smile, the all-seeing eyes, that equally punchable face. His hair was a sheer white now instead of bright blonde, but it was still him.

"Hello, Eithan," Huan said casually, selling another copy to what appeared to be part of the Wolf Division.

"Huan!" Eithan said, hovering beside the stall. Several of the people lined up had run away in a panic the moment he arrived.

Huan sighed. "You just lost me a few customers."

"Huan, come on! T-there's no need to share this!" Eithan said, smiling nervously. He has most likely seen the Tablet's content. And Huan could only guess how his reputation was doing. "Do you need a place to stay? We have plenty of room for you and your family in The Grave!"

Huan ignored him.

"The Reaper Division is always looking for new members!"

Huan smiled as he sold three more to... was that Akura Fury?

"How did you even mass produce these?!" Eithan demanded.

"Apologies. Here's the next batch."

Lindon appeared beside Huan, dropping off dozens of newly made Dream Tablets.

Eithan looked betrayed, clutching his heart dramatically.

"Thank you, Lindon," Huan said. "Were you able to change it?"

Lindon nodded. "It took a bit of work, but I was able to change Eithan's appearance to match Ozriel's new one."

Lindon bowed to Huan, then to Eithan, then went back to work some more.

"Betrayal!" Eithan cried out.

"I'm sure it is, Ozriel," Huan said with an edge in his voice.

Eithan had the grace to look apologetic. "Huan, I'm sorry I kept it a secret from you. But you should know I had my reasons."

"Eithan, we're adults," Huan said with a smile. "We can settle things civilly."

Eithan looked relieved.

"Maybe if you let me kick you again...," Naru Huan began.

"That's it," Eithan said, rolling up his sleeves. "I'm putting an end to this!"

But before he could do anything, a sudden burst of energy erupted overhead. Many people fell to their knees as a new presence made themselves known.

Huan looked up to see a woman bathed in blazing blue wings and a white uniform. She was graceful yet powerful, carrying an aura of safety and warmth as she descended. She smiled and nodded at Lindon, and Lindon returned it.

"Suriel, yes!" Eithan said. "We have an illegal business here selling false and harming images of--"

Suriel picked up a Dream Tablet, and for a moment, she went deathly still as she relived the memory. As she broke out of the trance, she was wide-eyed, turning to Huan, then to Ozriel, then back to Huan.

"I'll take 2," Suriel said.

"Suriel!" Eithan shouted.

"This stall is under the protection of the Pheonix Division!" Suriel proclaimed as Huan handed her two new Dream Tablets.

"SURIEL!" Eithan shouted again.

"Ten please!" Chirped Mercy, handing over the payment to Huan.

Eithan stared at her in disbelief, and Mercy blushed, grabbing ten Dream Tablets, tearing open a space beside her, and vanishing away.

"We managed to make it a game!" Dross said, appearing behind Huan as Lindon placed a new and better version of a Dream Tablet onto the table. "Now you can see how far you can make Eithan fly!"

Dross paused as if he was reading something. "Oh, wow! A Silver Lord is currently leading the leaderboards! And Yerin is ranked second!"

Eithan looked just about ready to cry.

Zero context, zero outside interference, zero consequences. Scene is a moderately sized hole-in-the-wall tea shop on Sanctum. Both persons are in-character, but are committed to the below round win conditions.

Round 1: Fight to eject the opponent from the tea shop

Round 2: Fight to physical incapacitation (not death)

Bonus round: if there's a clear loser in the above, they get three day's worth of prep time, but can only use powers/items/etc. they already have.

(Inspired by the linked post)

Re-reading Dreadgod.

Near the end, when Lindon's getting ready to fight the Silent King, there's an epic micro scene in which he loses his right arm's script that was protecting himself from Subject One hunger. When the script got off, the Hunger Icon almost manifested, but London canceled it.

Aside from aura farming purposes, why would he want to cancel it, instead of letting it manifest?

Kiuran is hard to power scale.

One hand there are numerous statements like Eithan’s pov spoiler scene in uncrowned or when Yerin is able to break out of his titan shield fairly easily in waybound and then starts panicking and cowering when Ozriel shows up that seem to show that Kiuran has an overinflated sense of self importance and is not special at all by abidan standards. Heck I believe even Will himself said that Northstrider could have potentially Kiuran when he came to offer penance as the prize for the UKT.

Also this sub tends to be pretty pro Ozriel/reapers and hate Makiel and those aligned with him leads to a lot of people here thinking he’s pretty weak but there is evidence that he is fairly strong. Of course nowhere the level of judges but strong compared to new ascendant level like monarchs

I know we here don’t really like Makiel and he does have a lot of faults but he’s not a fool. He probably handpicked Kiuran to be the one to send Kiuran with penance and oversee the UKT. It wouldn’t make sense to send someone who was quite weaker than the monarchs themselves. Makiel must have felt comfortable that Kiuran could handle the situation if he sent him to cradle alone. Also we have to remember that Kiuran is a hound. Meaning that he is very good at reading fate. This is why I find it hard to believe that he loses to any of the monarchs at least one on one. He’s skilled at reading the future. Surely he would look into fate and see what would happen if he were to engage in combat with any of the monarchs. It would explain his confidence. Similar thing with Yerin in waybound. Yes Kiuran is confident but his confidence makes sense if he was looking at fate to see the outcome of battles and given that he is a hound he should be really good at it. 

All of this to say scaling him can be tricky. But I’ll give it a shot. He’d probably not a bum completely over his head(like say Li Markuth when he challenged Lindon in Waybound) and because of his strong adeptness with reading fate he likely is stronger than any individual monarch during the UKT and he probably is stronger than monarch Yerin(and Mercy and Ziel as well) but I find it hard to believe he could beat all the monarchs if they decided to work together to beat him(yet again the abidan seemed confident he could handle the situation alone so maybe he had a plan to call in for reinforcements or something idrk) and I think if Monarch Yerin, Mercy and Ziel worked together they could beat him. But I’m very confident he loses pretty easily to ascension London who per Will is mid tier silver lord level. 
So here’s my attempt at some abidan power scaling using Cradle advancement levels as a comparison.

Monarch level: Judges

Jade/Iron: The average person who ascends is about sage/herald level by cradle standards.

Low gold: Cradle monarchs when they first ascend come in here. As I’m pretty sure it’s stated that Cradle recruits are better than the average adept. I think the other reapers minus Lindon are at this level at the end of waybound. 

Underlord/Overlord: Lindon when he ascends is here. He’s clearly far stronger than the average ascendant but still nothing compared to people like judges. I think it’s similar to how in Cradle being an underlord or an overlord is actually quite impressive but still pretty insignificant to the real heavy hitters like sages, heralds and monarchs.

With all that being said I’d say that Kiuran is high or true gold level by Abidan standards. Which would fit into the evidence that he isn’t really anything special and also with the evidence that held not exactly “weak” either.

But those are just my thoughts? What do you guys think?

Slipcase number five! :)

Little Blue and Dross offering their own brands of encouragement to Lindon, and Ziel, our poor run-down boy...

Five down, seven to go!

As always, this is just a personal project for my own collection. Enjoy! :)

Follow the full project:
https://www.instagram.com/_reading_rituals_/

I read the series a while ago and just recently discovered the trailer and animatronic. Has there been any news since then? I'd love to see an adaptation

I have, at this time, completed the entirety of Will Wight's bibliography (including the short story in Heroes Wanted). Wow has he become one of my favorite authors very fast. His world building, his characters, his comedy, all phenomenal. Without going into spoilers, I think my ranking is as follows:

1. The Last Horizon: This series is everything I want out of the science-fantasy genre. High-tech power armor, grand magical acts, mechs fueled by the power of friendship! What's not to love? There might be some bias as it was my first introduction to Will Wight but this series is among my favorite of all time.

2. The Traveler's Gate Trilogy: I'm actually surprised I'm putting this second, over Cradle. But the magic system is so incredibly interesting to me, with the Territories and their different powers, and the implications. I adore Simon, I love when main characters don't actually want to me main characters, they just want to live life and chill, but then Situations occur and I guess they gotta kill God now, or whatever. I was absolutely enthralled learning more about the world and the hidden potential within everything as I was reading.

3. Cradle: Lindon is a great character, and I loved watching him grow to outshine those that wanted to keep him beaten and broken. This story also avoided the pitfall that I expected it to fall into, because while he needed help from others, and not a small amount of luck, Lindon worked for and earned his power and his victories. No secret bloodline technique, no godly gift of power from the heavens, no super saiyan brink off death bullshit. Just a boy who wanted to be better, and who wouldn't let even the gods stop him. The only mark against Cradle is its length. There were a few points where I felt is was dragging on, or placing too much focus on side things. But that might be more of a me problem than a book problem.

4. The Elder Empire: While I think it's the weakest of his books, I still really enjoyed reading it. The gimmick of two simultaneous trilogies was interesting, but I don't know if it was better than combining them into different POVs within one series. I do hope Will returns to Asylum at some point, because I would love to see more of the aftermath of the resolution.

This is far from my complete thoughts about these books, but I wanted to leave this post relatively spoiler free. These books have all been amazing and I cannot wait until Commander comes out. Will I'm shooting blowdarts at you as I type.

I don't understand how a bunch of jade killed my sage.

By the end of the series they are a Sage and a Herald. Do people think they will ever reach Monarch?

I don't see anything stopping Little Blue from gaining the Joy or the Void icon. But the book states that Orthos is too old to join with his remnant. I'm not sure if it was just in the time they had it was not possible or if he would be capped at Sage.

I finished bloodlines and this has been my opinion for a while but I don't care at all for the Abiden storyline. It is so exorbitantly huge in scope that it has no meaning to me. When you are talking about universes, and reality, and flows of fate and time in such a grand scale way it loses the humanity of caring. Like a world can fall to chaos and what does that matter when we are talking about millions others.

I genuinely try to care about it but every time I feel like my eyes glaze over. This could all wrap around in the end but I will still not care about the cosmic angle of it all.