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Characters / Cradle Series Abidan And Vroshir

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Abidan

    Abidan in general 

A force of unrelenting order throughout the Way who protect the innocent... or a group of merciless tyrants who smack down anyone who defies them. Either way, they are unquestionably the most powerful organization in the Way.

  • Alien Non-Interference Clause: They signed the Eledari Pact with the Way itself, which grants them great power but limits their ability to interfere in Iterations. They mostly only act to stop other ascendant beings from conquering worlds.
  • Angelic Beauty: In the process of ascension, most make their bodies into the perfect ideal of their Iteration.
  • Because Destiny Says So: They do not make major changes to a world's Fate, including that world's fated end. This is the main point of contention between most of the Abidan and Ozriel.
  • Gold and White Are Divine: Abidan (except the Reaper) all wear skin tight full body white armor, and most division headquarters are huge golden pyramids.
  • Heavenly Blue: The Way Between Worlds is described as a textured river of blue, and is both the source of power and the medium through which Abidan travel between or within Iterations. It connects all healthy Iterations like a tree.
  • Immortal Breaker: Since the Abidan's enemies are usually completely immortal, their weapons work on a conceptual level, destroying them at their Origin. For instance, Makiel's sword cuts at branches of Fate, limiting his enemy's actions.
  • Immortality: All members of the Abidan ascended from lesser realities (or are from higher realities but still reached the minimum power requirement), and they are all ageless, and immortal unless killed.
  • Non-Indicative Name: The Court of Seven has nine Judges. Adriel left before the Eledari Pact was signed, so he presumably predates the name, but Ozriel signed the Pact later, leaving eight active Judges out of seven.
  • Really 700 Years Old: It takes most people centuries to gather enough power to ascend from their Iteration and reach the minimum power requirement to join the Abidan, and all the Judges have held their positions for thousands of years.
  • Renaissance Man: Each member of the Abidan belongs to a Division with its own specialty, and have a star rating to indicate their strength. Many also have star ratings for one or more other Divisions. For instance, Kiuran the Hound is a one-star Titan, and most Judges have top ratings in at least one or two other Divisions. Others are extremely specialized.
  • We ARE Struggling Together: The Judges themselves don't particularly like each other and work separately as much as possible.

The Court of Seven

    Adriel 

Adriel, the Creator

The mythical creator of the Abidan, he disappeared (or died) long ago. He is represented among the Abidan with a Hammer.

  • Benevolent Precursors: He predated the Abidan Court, and he was the only one who could create Iterations whole (other Abidan need to stitch parts of other Iterations together to make one).
  • The Power of Creation: He was the only being said to be able to create Iterations, rather than stitching them together out of fragments.

    Makiel 

Makiel, the Hound, First Judge of the Abidan Court

"If we are to walk this path, we will walk it together. All of us."

The leader of the Hounds, he is charged with ensuring that the flows of Fate are not disturbed. A very methodical and stoic man, he has a horrendous relationship with Ozriel.

  • The Ace: Considered one of the most powerful judges, he could basically do all the Hound's work on his own. He's also talented in multiple other areas. He is the only Judge to rival Ozriel.
  • The Chessmaster: He makes sure Fate runs smoothly. According to Suriel, his plans span eons.
  • Given Name Reveal: In Waybound right before he sacrifices himself to bring back Ozriel he reveals that his original name was Tommess, which he had given up when he took up the mantle of Makiel.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: He saw the Scythe as an essential tool to the Abidan, too important to be wielded by one man. So, he made duplicates. Unfortunately, they are stolen and given to the worst person possible.
  • Hypocrite: He's more than happy to lay the full blame for the war with the Vroshir at Ozriel's feet for disappearing, even deflecting responsibility for accidentally arming The Mad King with the very weapon that made that war possible by saying he was trying to find a way to fill the void left by Ozriel in his absence. So what does he do as soon as Ozriel returns and is under the Court's direct control? Why, try to get him killed, of course.
  • Magnificent Bastard: He is more than willing to manipulate Suriel to do what he thinks is necessary for the Abidan.
  • Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: As of the end of Dreadgod, he deliberately turns a blind eye to an attack from The Mad King that has a high probability of getting at least one of Suriel or Ozriel killed so thoroughly that they won't even be able to leave their mantle for a successor, all because the loss of Ozriel would make it too costly for the rest of the Abidan to try Makiel for inadvertently giving The Mad King a weapon of mass destruction and strip his power and rank.
  • Oh, Crap!: A very muted one, but when he discovered that not only has the duplicate Scythes he made in secret been stolen, but they've been combined into a version that's very close to the original and was sold to the Mad King.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: While he can be a bit of a jerkass at times, when he finds out that Lindon, Suriel's favored human, has accidentally been set on a course that would disrupt Cradle, he proposes a plan that would accelerate Lindon's growth, getting him out of Cradle faster without harming him, in order to avoid stepping on Suriel's toes.
  • Silver Fox: Unlike most Abidan, he retained the wrinkles and greying hair he had as a mortal, and looks to be in his fifties.
  • The Stoic: He seldom has anything other than a neutral expression on his face.
  • Uriah Gambit: There's no love lost between him and Ozriel, but there's also only so much he can do without the support of the rest of The Court of Seven, especially seeing as Ozriel had a hand in building their main prison and so could probably escape if left to rot. So he decides to let The Mad King take care of his problem for him.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: His duty is to watch over the entire multiverse, and the suffering of the un-ascended people of any individual world is beneath his concern; even the survival of Cradle itself is ultimately a minor point to him. So, he knocks over a chain of dominoes that lead to the early awakening of the Dreadgods, because that'll get Lindon ascended quicker, creating a powerful new soldier in the war for reality.

    Gadrael 

Gadrael, the Titan, Second Judge of the Abidan Court

"You will stand trial for this. But for now... nothing will touch you."

An Abidan firmly in Makiel's camp. His Titan division is in charge of protecting worlds, and the Titan himself is known for picking something to protect and then making sure that absolutely nothing can break it.

    Darandiel 

Darandiel, the Ghost, Third Judge of the Abidan Court

"We're all going to die."

A quiet, mysterious woman in charge of the Ghost division, who watch over the death and rebirth of worlds, conscious will, and time manipulation. She is most skilled in understanding energy systems.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: Because the scope of her mantle is the most esoteric in the court, she comes across as rather odd.
  • Ethereal White Dress: Unlike the rest of the judges, she wears a ghostly grey dress into battle.
  • Stealth Hi/Bye: She has a tendency to just... be somewhere where she wasn't before. Even the other Judges have trouble keeping track of her.
  • Sparing the Aces: She casually folds up a Vroshir and puts her in her pocket because her workings were interesting. When the Vroshir struggles, Darandiel notes that the alternative is execution.

    Telariel 

Telariel, the Spider, Fourth Judge of the Abidan Court

"I suppose you're going to insist on making me work, aren't you?"

The Abidan spymaster, in charge of tracking deviation and disorder throughout the Way. Telariel himself appears as a proper gentleman, complete with cane and glasses.

    Razael 

Razael, the Wolf, Fifth Judge of the Abidan Court

"Stop talking and help me!"

The champion of the Abidan, the warrior who can fight like no other.
  • Dramatic Thunder: When she is angry, blue lighting flashes across the sky.
  • Flaming Hair: Has flaming red and white hair.
  • The Rival: Sees herself as Ozriel's rival, since, like him, she could have wiped out an entire iteration on her own even before ascending. It doesn't help that she was runner-up for her position after Ozriel, who took a different mantle. He barely seems to notice her.
  • Tsundere: She spends most of her time yelling about how much she hates everyone. Her Presence spends much of its time explaining that she's actually happy that they're around.
    Razael: I should have left you to die!
    Razael's Presence: [My host is pleased that she arrived in time.]

    Suriel 

Suriel, the Phoenix, Sixth Judge of the Abidan Court

"I'm pleased to have descended personally, Wei Shi Lindon. I can show you some limited details of your fate, if you are willing to see them."

One of the Judges of the Abidan and leader of the Phoenix devison, the she repairs and restores those who are lost. At the start of the series, she is searching for Ozriel, who has gone missing, but stops by Cradle on a whim and saves Lindon's life.
  • Arboreal Abode: When Suriel shows Lindon a vision of her home, it appears to be made of living wood.
  • Brought Down to Badass: At one point several Vroshir trap her in a fragment cut off from the Way, denying her access to her authority and power as a judge. They find out the hard way that Judges are chosen for their personal power; even with nothing external to draw on, she destroys them near-effortlessly.
  • God's Hands Are Tied: To a certain extent. She has a degree of freedom when it comes to individual lives as long as the larger Fate of the world isn't affected, but she can't risk things with larger effects and has to focus on the greater good in ways that often keep her from doing everything she would want.
  • Heavenly Blue: In addition to using the Way, Suriel has huge blue fiery wings and gives Lindon a marble containing a blue flame of Restoration.
  • I Was Just Passing Through: She arrives on Cradle because she isn't sure where else to go. While there, she randomly decides to check for Fate alterations, notices the Li Grand Patriarch returning, and stops him. To her, it is little more than picking up some trash on the side of the road, but she saves countless lives.
  • Parental Substitute: Lindon compares her to a mother figure several times, being calmed by her presence and encouraged by what she might think of him. It says a lot about Lindon's family that he feels more motherly affection from an immortal being who would watch him die than his actual mother.
  • Purple Is Powerful: Has large purple eyes with mysterious scripts circling through them.
  • Spanner in the Works: Allowing Lindon to keep his memories and defy his Fate is not a violation of Abidan protocol; even if Lindon beats all odds and ascends from Cradle, the Fate of the world would be unaffected. However, when Lindon runs into Eithan - whose fate is also altered - everything starts going haywire.
  • World of Technicolor Hair: Has bright green hair, which is not unusual for her iteration.

    Zakariel 

Zakariel, the Fox, Seventh Judge of the Abidan Court

"Quick, let's go!"

The Judge of communication, travel, and scouting. She takes the form of a young woman and is generally considered unreliable.
  • Devious Daggers: Wields a dagger in combat, and seems to prefer stabbing her enemies in the back.
  • Do Not Call Me "Paul": Raziel and Ozriel both call her "Zak," which she insists isn't her name.
  • Immortal Immaturity: Despite being millennia old at least, she acts like a petulant child. Even non-ascended mortals have trouble taking her seriously.
  • The Rival: Has a rivalry with fellow Phantom Thief Iri the Angler.
  • Space Master: Every ascendant being has some ability of spatial travel, but Zakariel is by far the master. She can attack a thousand people at once, all while preventing any unauthorized travel out of an Iteration.
  • What Could Possibly Go Wrong?: Agrees to the creation of the Reaper Division even though she believes that they will all eventually go crazy and turn on the Abidan, because she thinks they can't make things worse and they could be entertaining while they last.

    Ozriel 

Ozriel, the Reaper, Eighth Judge of the Abidan Court

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zbjkj8z7j2381.jpg

"We have to change, Suriel. If I didn't act, it would all stay the same."

Eighth Judge of the Court of Seven, the Reaper eliminates dying worlds. He has gone missing, which is especially problematic because he is irreplaceable. Suriel's search for him sets off most of the events in the series.

  • The Ace:
    • The only Abidan Judge to rival Makiel, he had immense talent as everything but a Phoenix (AKA a Healer). When Suriel asks her Presence for a list of people who could defeat him in a straight fight, it responds with "not found."
    • Even the fiend that lives inside of The Mad King is terrified of Ozriel.]]
    • In Reaper we learn that he's so much The Ace that he could technically do every Abidan Judge's job except for The Phoenix herself. Naturally he is dissatisfied with this.
    • Almighty Janitor: He calls himself the greatest janitor in existence, which is literally true. The first Icon he summoned as a mortal was the Broom Icon, and his job is to clean up dying worlds.
  • Big Entrance: Ozriel's "signature" is to pop into an enemy iteration, wave his hand, and blow up all their orbital defenses at once.
  • Broken Ace: In reality, he is this; he's lonely and can't handle the weight of having to kill so many people for the greater good.
  • The Chessmaster: He has been masterminding the events of most of the universe for at least centuries; his disappearance was merely the most obvious event. In particular, he left a marble with a message for his Arelius descendants, which causes major changes to the Fate of Cradle when combined with Suriel saving Lindon.
  • Curb-Stomp Battle: In Dreadgod he single-handedly destroys a fleet of Vroshir ships, easily killing even their strongest combatants, while unarmed and partially depowered.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: Unlike the other Abidan, Ozriel wears black armor, and his Mantle looks like liquid shadow.
  • Don't Fear the Reaper:
    • His job as a Judge is to destroy universes without leaving a trace; however, he does this to help people, as these universes are corrupted by Chaos and can cause other, uncorrupted universes to become corrupted as well.
    • In his brief appearance in The Elder Empire, he explains quite a few important things to Calder, apologizes for how terrible Calder's world and life are, and promises to give them as much time as possible before he'll be forced to step in and kill everyone. It's also a sharp contrast to Jyrene insisting that he's a merciless executioner.
    • In Reaper, when the Mad King appears the entire world trembles in fear, and every oracle with any real power screams. When Ozriel unveils himself, the world instantly calms.
      Sage of Calling Storms: He's here.
      Reigan Shen: Who?
      Sage of Calling Storms: The Reaper.
  • The Dreaded: To both his enemies and many of his allies, either because they are terrified of him or because they find him annoying. Or both.
  • The Gadfly: Deliberately annoys his more stodgy enemies and allies alike with his seemingly flippant attitude and annoying smiles.
  • Hidden in Plain Sight: He has in fact been with our main characters as far back as Soulsmith. He has been living under a veil created by The Mad King and going by the nickname that his mother called him: Eithan.
  • I Just Want to Have Friends: One of the main reasons why he returned to Cradle was to find people who could keep up with him and be his True Companions rather than the, at best, Friendly Rivalry he has with the other Abidan judges. Every step in advancement he made from his early childhood on alienated more and more people to the point that when he reached his peak he was utterly and completely alone. He desperately wants to fix this.
  • Lonely at the Top: While he is one of the most powerful people ever to live, he found that it brought him nothing but loneliness. He works to remedy this situation, both for himself and for the future of the Abidan.
  • Major Injury Underreaction: When Gadrael (one of the physically strongest Judges) hits him in the face to get him to shut up, he pretends to think Gadrael was giving him a massage.
  • Mystical White Hair: As a mortal Ozmanthus had long blond hair. As Ozriel it is white.
  • The Omniscient: He can see and hear (and every other sense) everything, everywhere, and he usually knows when people are talking about him. The other judges seem to have developed the habit of just referring to him as him, so he won't eavesdrop or pop up out of nowhere.
  • Overly Long Name: His full name was "Ozmanthus Tiberian Mereithan Arelius." Variants of all three of his first names show up in the Arelius family of the modern day.
    Ozriel: Always hated it. Such a mouthful. My mother called me Eithan.
  • Shout-Out: Whole-scene setup to one in Waybound. After a long, drawn-out fight against the Mad King (while unarmed), Ozriel finally reaches his limit. The Mad King comes in for the final blow... and Ozriel dodges one last time. In other words, the most powerful character in the setting, after drawing out a fight as long as he possibly can, appears to show weakness... then dodges at the last second with the line:
    Ozriel: You didn’t expect me to stand there and take it, did you?
  • Sinister Scythe: His Scythe is the tool used to eliminate dead worlds rather than allowing the corrupt pieces to fall apart and infect the rest of the Way.
  • Supervillain Lair: The fortress he obtains for himself and the Reapers is made out of a Floating Continent fortress that was used in an ancient war. It failed then, and [[Haunted Castle everyone died]. He names it "The Grave."
  • World's Best Warrior: Multiverse's best, actually. According to Suriel's Presence, there is no known being who could defeat him in a straight fight.

Other Abidan

    Kiuran 

Kiuran, Hound of Makiel

One of Makiel's Hounds, sent to Cradle to give the Monarchs instructions.

  • Always a Bigger Fish: He is the bigger fish—or rather, his organization is. After seven books of the Monarchs doing whatever they want so long as they don't interfere with each other, Kiuran shows up and treats them all as children. He probably can't fight all of them at once, but they can't fight the Abidan as a whole.
  • Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: By the standards of the Abidan, he is no one important, basically a mid-ranked detective. By the standards of Cradle, he is the strongest entity in the world. He's at least as powerful as a Monarch, and that's without getting into the rest of the organization backing him.
  • Loophole Abuse: He offers to close one off. The Eight-Man Empire assumed they'd be immune to Penance, because if one of them dies they'll just replace the victim. Kiuran tells the winner that if one of the Empire is chosen as the target, Kiuran will kill the other seven himself in order to fulfill the "kill off a Monarch" spirit of the action.
  • Smug Snake: He's the most powerful entity on Cradle and knows it. Yerin briefly considers using Penance to kill him because he's just that annoyingly smug.

Vroshir

    Vroshir in general 

An organization dedicated to the destruction of the Abidan. In theory. In practice, basically anyone who opposes the Abidan is labeled Vroshir, regardless of their actual goals and alliances.

  • Arcology: Since the Way is created and maintained by human
  • Affably Evil: The low-level people who live on Vroshir worlds seem friendly and welcoming, and promise that anyone can leave after a quick security check... unless you have something they want. Then they start getting violent. Not to mention that it seems like the high-level Vroshir who own the worlds can do absolutely whatever they want at any time; one guard implies he might be killed for getting defeated by a new ascendant.
  • Green Aesop: The biggest problem with their organization is that they are causing, essentially, ecological damage on a multiversal scale. Individual Vroshir might be perfectly nice people who take care of their worlds and never harm a soul, but by interfering with other Iterations they are constantly creating Chaos and damaging other worlds. If the Abidan disappeared, the Vroshir would destroy the entire Way out of sheer short-sighted greed.
  • Monster Town: One of the Vroshir homeworlds is inhabited by normal-looking people living alongside things that sound suspiciously like vampires and Slender Man.
  • Moral Myopia: Just like on Cradle, a number of Vroshir seem to be of the opinion "you are preventing us from murdering whoever we want, that makes you tyrants."
  • Planet Spaceship: Since the Way is created and maintained by human Will, to maintain a stable existence outside the portion of the Way controlled by the Abidan, the Vroshir plunder worlds not just for their natural resources but for their people. Iri the Angler and the Mad King each have [[Arcology fortresses made of whole Iterations]] and populated by billions of people.
  • Shining City: One of the Vroshir homeworlds is described as being like something from a fairy tale, with rainbow skies and floating islands.
  • The Usual Adversaries: "Silver Lords" are the most common type of Vroshir, known for having varied powers; the only thing they all have in common is a silver crown. It's implied that the crowns grant power somehow, as even the Abidan find the idea of defeating all Silver Lords impossible.

    The Mad King 

Daruman, the Mad King

One of the most dangerous Vroshir, he is usually confined to his his home iteration. He has spent millennia plotting the destruction of the Abidan.

  • Ax-Crazy: He is by all accounts insane, and does not hesitate to destroy entire worlds.
  • Demonic Possession: He's possessed by a Chaos Fiend.
  • The Dreaded: Not only is he powerful enough to be dangerous to an Abidan judge, but he is more than willing to commit cosmic genocide to strike at the Abidan.
  • Fallen Hero: Was once part of an Abidan division that helped fix Iterations that were about to collapse. Then he imprisoned a Fiend of Chaos in his body.
  • The Good King: He was the greatest king of his world, a wise warrior-prince who ruled for centuries and only stepped down after he finally found a successor who he deemed worthy. As the Mad King, he rules over the Planet Spaceship Tal'gullour, built from the remains of his own Iteration, though whether he is still a benevolent king is unclear. His last act is to beg the Judges clemency for his people, so at the very least he still wants the best for them.
  • Greater-Scope Villain: The main antagonist of the Court of Seven, but he doesn't appear until book seven (more than half way through the series) and is mentioned for the first time in the third book.
  • Know When to Fold 'Em: Not so much him as the Chaos Fiend inside him. Rather than facing a resurfaced Ozriel it flees through a portal back to Tal'gullour, dragging The Mad King with it.
  • Omnicidal Maniac: He erases several Abidan worlds in his effort to destroy the Abidan.
  • Reality Warper: His mere presence in a reality warps it, causing people to go insane and machines to break down.
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning: Being possessed by Oth'kimeth gives him burning red eyes.
  • Skeletons in the Coat Closet: His armor is made from the bones of Oth'kimeth's physical form.

    Iri 

Iri, the Angler of the Crystal Halls

She used to be a thief in her mortal life, and she hasn't stopped since becoming an immortal.

  • Mark of the Supernatural: During her ascension from her Iteration, her eyes were marked with shining blue triangles in her irises, and her hair is electric blue.
  • Money Fetish: In a sense; she loves collecting artifacts for the sake of owning them, not using them.
  • Phantom Thief: She is a renowned thief who managed to steal from Makiel.
  • Refuge in Audacity: She's known for stealing from the Abidan and she stole the replica Scythes from under Makiel's nose.
  • The Rival: She and Zakariel regard each other as rivals in stealth and thievery.
  • Semantic Superpower: Her signature tool allows her to rewrite aspects of an object's reality, such as its location.

    Gerravon 
A Silverlord that steals biological specimens from the Abidan world of Spawn.
  • Multi-Armed and Dangerous: His power manifests as giant hands that he can use to pick up entire rainforests.
  • Oh, Crap!: His reaction to Ozriel appearing right behind him.

Fiends of Chaos

    Fiends in general 

Conceptual monsters born from the chaos of the Void, they each act according to their own twisted nature. Since each Fiend is unique and defies categorization, they are instead ranked on a logarithmic scale. Class One Fiends are at least at the level of Judges, while Class Five are near the average Abidan.

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