[OB] Urithiru depiction

[Solant]

Throw in a talking axehound and you have Roshars version of the Scooby gang.

[Wonko the Sane]

10 hours ago, Araz said:

Those weird glyphs around the map are awfully suspicious, I wonder what they mean.

Those aren't glyphs -- at least, not in the Vorin sense. They aren't symmetrical, for one.

It's hard to tell, with the image quality, but it looks to me as though each one is composed of multiple distinct characters written horizontally; probably an alphabetic language. My first suspicion would be that this is some sort of Dawnate script, perhaps even the Dawnchant itself; it feels most appropriate. It's just as possible, though, that this is the proto-Vorin ancestor of languages like Alethi and Thaylen, so it'll be worthwhile to scan them for any recognizable Thaylen-looking graphemes. Someone should get @Harakeke and co. in here to take a look; they've got a lot more experience at this than I do.

What they mean, though, is much easier to guess at. There are ten of them, and they are more or less aligned with each of the kingdoms depicted on the map. It's fairly likely that they translate as the original names of the Silver Kingdoms, or perhaps the cities containing the Oathgates. It's technically possible that they're actually something like the heralds, essences, surges, Radiant orders, etc. -- there are, after all, quite a few sets of ten on Roshar -- but it seems pretty clear that each word is meant to line up with a specific kingdom, so I'm confident in my guess.

[HoidsRock]

Oh this is so awesome. 

Is that a mink or a lion?  Let's ask Adolin

Quote

[Adolin inspected] a faded painting on the wall.  A fanciful picture, with animals from mythology.  He recognized a few from the children's stories, like the enormous minklike creature with the mane of hair that burst out around and behind its head.  What was that called again?

This is of course right before he kills Sadeas so he probably didn't revisit the subject.

Anyway, that makes me think that this is lion (what I thought when I read WOR) but that the "minkness" of the drawing is similar for the reasons described above.  Artists started with what they knew (a mink) and added what should be there for a lion--bigger, fiercer, and a mane.

November 14 is arriving at a pace usually reserved for Christmas.

[Marethyu316]

It's interesting that the grass appears to be the kind that you would only find in Shinovar.

[Varion]

I agree with @Belzedar that the people in the bottom are representations of the Heralds. The major clue for me is the flame following them out of the perpendicularity, and which most likely signifies Damnation. We know that in Rosharian mythology, Damnation is assumed to be an inferno, and so this would be an obvious sign to any Rosharin, in the same way that Hell is signified by flames in christian art on Earth.

The scene would therefore be a depiction of a new Desolation. And if that is Jezrien on the right, then they could be honor spren coming to meet him. 

[Isaiah Zayth]

On 11/2/2017 at 4:20 AM, Extesian said:

 

If the lion was Honor, the dragon was Odium, and the vine was Cultivation, I get the impression that Cultivation worked behind the scenes while Honor directly opposed Odium. No idea if the artist intended that, but if he/she did then it's interesting to consider what that would imply about the character of the Shards.

Edited November 4, 2017 by Isaiah Zayth