Abidan

Abidan Organization

A force for order, not chaos. Reality. The Abidan Judges are tremendously powerful. The Judges and their support forces access the serene blue Way, taking care of the numerous Iterations that make up The Way and The Worlds.

Abidan Headquarters is located on Sanctum, Iteration #001. However, Makiel’s First Division: the Hounds moved to Outpost #01, aka Oversight, to improve on their ability to observe Fate.

There are seven Abidan Judges in the Court of Seven, plus Ozriel the Reaper, 008. The current Court of Seven Judges is the third panel of Abidan to maintain the Worlds.

• The first group of Judges ascended from Cradle aeons ago, some time after they built the Labyrinth. They created the Eledari Pact. All Abidan are sworn to uphold the Eledari Pact. However, the non-interference clause is problematic.
• The second group of Judges set up the Executor Program, which failed, sadly.
• This third, current Court of Seven Judges initiated the growth of thousands of new Iterations, because they had finally found a Reaper who could erase all fragments of chaos and corruption, if and when the world finally died.

The Eledari Pact

An ancient agreement between the original Founders of the Abidan — all of them originally ascended from Cradle. This pact both increases and restricts the powers of the Abidan. It is the tool that allows the Abidan Judges to control the power of the Way as they do. There are many rules in the Eledari Pact, but the most relevant one is the Abidan cannot use their powers to prevent the natural progression of an Iteration. If an Iteration, or World, is destined to die, then that’s a matter of fate. “Everything ends.”

Executor Program
The former panel of seven Abidan Judges created the Executor Program to work around the most upsetting clause of the Pact, non-interference. The Executor Program failed abysmally, as Duruman, The Mad King, will testify:

Daruman was chosen by the second Court of Seven to be among the first of what they were to call their Executors. He was an agent of the Abidan, but un-bound to the Eledari Pact, so he was not prevented from interfering in Fate. He and his four peers were sent to dying worlds, to defeat the threat from the inside and prolong the existence of the Iterations as long as possible. At first, the experiment was declared a success. . . . By this point, trust in the Executors was nonexistent. A second generation had already been appointed, but these had been raised from birth by the Abidan themselves, designed to be perfectly competent and loyal. Daruman was already considered a relic of an embarrassing past. (Bloodline ch 5)

The second group of hand-raised and loyal Executors failed, too, and the program was discontinued. So, as it stands, the Abidan, according to the Pact, cannot stop a global war from claiming billions of lives and destroying a planet, unless that war was started by outside forces or by a significant subversion of Fate. Abidan representatives only descend to correct a deviation of fate, though they're granted a certain freedom of action in doing so. This law exists both to preserve the natural balance of existence and to prevent the Abidan from settling down in lesser worlds and ruling like gods.

For example, Judge Suriel the Phoenix descended to Sacred Valley to arrest the ascended immortal, Li Markuth, who returned to rule as king. His crime: spatial violation and attempted domination of local inhabitants.

“Li Markuth was not permitted to return to this world. His attack was a deviation from fate, which I have reversed. When I depart, it will be as though your festival continued uninterrupted.” (Unsouled, ch 11)

Abidan Court of Seven Judges

There are seven Judges in the Court of Seven, plus Ozriel the Reaper. As for Adriel the Creator, nothing is known. The current Court of Seven Judges is the third panel of Abidan to maintain the Worlds.

• Makiel, the Hound - 001
• Gadrael, the Titan - 002
• Darandiel, the Ghost - 003
• Telariel, the Spider - 004
• Razael, the Wolf - 005
• Suriel, the Phoenix - 006
• Zakariel, the Fox - 007

Additionally

• Ozriel, the Reaper - 008
• Adriel, the Creator

Supporting Abidan

• Pariana of the Titans
• Kiuran of the Hounds

Enemies

• The Vroshir organization absolutely hates the Abidan Court of Seven and their Eledari Pact. They comsider the Abidan to be criminals themselves, and tyrants.
• Class-One Fiends are another threat to the Abidan, but there are only a limited number of them, and they are imprisoned on Asylum.
• The Abidan seems to be splintering from within. Perhaps they are their own worst enemy. Certainly, Makiel is not supportive of Ozriel, for one example.

Detailed info on enemies at Vroshir

Key Iterations

The Abidan oversee thousands of Iterations, or worlds, more fully listed and detailed at The Way and The Worlds, but some Iterations are central to the Abidan and to the Cradle series.

• Cradle #110 — Birthplace of founding Abidan and later, of Ozmanthus Arelius, who became Ozriel, the Reaper of the Abidan, 008
• Limit #216 — Where Ozriel was last seen when he stopped the The Mad King’s attack 200 years ago (Bloodline, ch 8)
• Outpost #01 - Oversight. Headquarters of Makiel’s First Division: the Hounds
• Sanctum #001 - Headquarters of the Abidan organization, except for Makiel’s HQ
• Haven #002 — Where the Abidan keep their treasures in a secure vault

All Iterations are listed and detailed at The Way and The Worlds