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  1. Here's a hypothesis, let's say that a regular city from Earth from Earth got hit by a Highstorm, how bad would the damage be? Would the city stay standing relatively unscathed, would it be completely blown apart or something in between? I just want a rough guesstimate. For a more specific example, how bad would it be on a port city like, say, Boston?
  2. I’ve been wondering about this one, partially because I feel like this will play a part in Book 5 (theory coming soon): How does the Stormfather slow time for someone in the highstorm? We saw this a little bit when Taravangian Ascended, that a high concentration of Investiture dilates time around those present. Also, how long can this last? The Stormfather says not too long, so let’s say a few seconds. But how long does that feel to the individual? For Kaladin, it was just a few minutes, but could it be longer?
  3. The Stormfather said that a Highstorm naturally cycles higher and lower in the sky and will at the highest point engulf the top of Urithiru. The last Highstorm we saw was at end of RoW, a few days before the end of the book yet before the 10-day countdown began, and Kaladin described it as being just below the rooftop. So in 10 days, the Highstorm will likely envelop the rooftop and make for a great battle scene! The timing of the contest is important, as the Stormfather may be able to extend time in Dalinar's last moments of the fight (if Dalinar does indeed serve as his own champion). He may ask for this if, say, he becomes severely wounded. It would be very interesting to see Dalinar take a pause in the fight and be able to think it through, and given the additional Investiture from the Tower (and potential Investiture from the Valley if the Highstorm lines up with both locations simultaneously— see linked topic below), then he'd have a lot of time to work with. The only problem is that Odium set the date and time of the contest, and he probably knows when the next storm will be, so does he want a Highstorm for the contest? If so, why? Perhaps Odium has done this so that he can command the Everstorm to meet with the Highstorm at this moment, causing a WoR-level phenomenon that we saw before. This is just speculation, so maybe we won't see any Highstorm, but we've seen either a Highstorm or the Everstorm used in the last battles since WoR, so it would only make sense for us to see them used again.
  4. From the album: Art of Sasha R

    I had a LOT of fun painting this one, though I was nervous about accidentally spoiling something as I was only starting the Oathbringer at the time of painting this. I'm definitely painting more of Stormlight in the future. Maybe Jasnah... or Pattern? I'd love to be commissioned for official art for the future books, that would be the dream! I also welcome any feedback and critique, both for artistic execution and lore, but keep in mind that there had to be some liberty in putting together Urithiru so low and close to the Shattered plains and Horneater Peaks, for the sake of making the focal pieces clustered [Urithiru + Stormfather above the Shattered Plains] in the center of the painting as requested, for custom book sleeves with for all 4 books. Their spines, when put together, show the center of the painting. "The most important step a man can take. It's not the first one, is it? It's the next one. Always the next step."
  5. What do y'all think would happen to traditional Shardplate and it's wearer if they were caught in a Highstorm with no shelter? Sorry if this is answered in the books, I'm only halfway into WoK. This question has been bothering me though, and I couldn't find any answer in the forums.
  6. Could you take the gemheart of one of those huge, island sized greatshells, and then capture the Stormfather in it? Could you use this gemstone to create a fabrial that would allow a virtually infinite amount of stormlight to be harnessed at will? Huh, I seem to have come up with a theory on how to destroy Roshar, I guess.
  7. Better bring in my patio furniture before this highstorm hits...
  8. So during highstorms, do folks have to go to specific parts of buildings? They talk about buildings being abandoned during storms and people being confined a lot, but so many are stone you’d think they were safe to move around in.
  9. From the album: General SA Art

    So this is one of my favorite scenes in OB (Chapter 31), with Kaladin deflecting the highstorm, surrounded by windspren. Kind of like Moses opening the Red Sea, eh? XD (Just recovered from the long lull without OB art. There’s just so much to draw!) Something to match this scene:
  10. On a careful reread, I rediscovered a conversation between Szeth and Nale, where Szeth refers to Nale as "Aboshi, a deific honorific previously reserved for the Spren of the Mountains..." From this I gather the obvious, that the Shin honor those spren as Gods, but what are these spren? Do they represent a spren for each mountain; a spren for all the mountains, or many spren in the mountains? Based on the sentence, I see them/ it as being powerful and large spren, since Szeth does not seem to treat all spren with equal reverence. Are these mountain spren why walking on stone is Sacred? We need more info on this. Have any of you addressed this before? Thanks.
  11. emu

    The Highstorm

    From the album: Shalladin

    Another old piece in which Kaladin feels guilty after finding out about Shallan's brother while they shelter during the Highstorm.
  12. There's been a lot of speculation about what the secret was that destroyed the Knights Radiant, as well as speculation into the causes or mechanics of the Desolations and the Oathpact. I have a wild theory that connects the two. There's probably a thousand things wrong with it, and even I see a bunch of holes and leaps in logic, but hopefully it will at least be entertaining. It starts with a WoB exchange I saw posted in another topic earlier today by Steeldancer, so credit goes to them for finding this quote: So we know that the Heralds all being present on Roshar causes another Desolation to occur. The question is, why? Well let's consider what we know of Worldhopping, because that is essentially what is happening. Spren (and perhaps originally the Listeners themselves) come from Braize to Roshar. Other worldhoppers transition between the Cognitive realm and the Physical realm using Perpendicularities. Other WoB have confirmed that perpendicularities could be caused by a massive amount of Investiture. I believe it was confirmed that Jasnah essentially did a miniature version of this to return to the physical world. My theory is that the Heralds act like Investiture lodestones. If they stay long enough in the world, there is a kind of critical mass that occurs, creating enough of a perpendicularity for Odium's forces to transition en masse into Roshar. This is basically how the new Everstorm worked. Once a critical mass of Fused Listeners was reached, they were able to call the storm. I believe the Everstorm itself is Odium’s perpendicularity on Roshar, at least this time around. We know it carries Voidspren with it, and could be what allows them to come into the Physical realm in large numbers. We also know that it was created by a large number of Fused (ie, Invested) Listeners pooling their energies. That sounds like a recipe for a perpendicularity to me. Now what if the Highstorm works in the exact opposite way (which would make sense, since they are reversed in every other way). The Highstorm is described by (suspiciously colour-obsessed and oddly familiar) “Zahel” as “invested to the hilt and looking for somewhere to stick it.” (As an aside: god bless “Zahel”). The Highstorm disperses Investiture. It takes a huge amount, maybe enough to form a perpendicularity, but then spreads it out across literally the entire world. I submit that this was its primary purpose (because remember, the Stormfather has been tasked with keeping the Highstorms coming, and presumably Honor would have some reason for unleashing these things periodically upon the world). My theory is that there are other ways to enable (or hasten) a Desolation. Perhaps with sufficiently concentrated Investiture, Odium can create a workaround, or at least speed things up, with less time between Desolations. The Highstorm is a check against this by dispersing Investiture, whereas the Everstorm keeps it concentrated (which is which it doesn’t infuse gems with Stormlight). So Honor works to prevent (large) perpendicularities from forming, and Odium tries to create more. Smaller perpendicularities ensure that the two worlds will never be entirely isolated, but might not facilitate a lare-scale invasion. The Oathpact, then , could be an agreement. Honor creates a bargain by which Odium has a shot at Roshar every once and a while. Honor essentially creates the Honorblades as a controlled means of opening a path between worlds by way of highly concentrated Investitute (which could be why Syl refers to Szeth using a dangerous amount of Stormlight with the Honorblade). At the same time though, he makes them double as a means of fighting against the very invasion they facilitate. Odium, in turn, agrees not to just come over to Roshar and destroy it himself, an agreement that binds him even after Honor's death. So how do the Knights Radiant fit in? Well we already know that they were not intended by Honor. They were the result of the spren taking it upon themselves to mimic what he had done. They mimic the Honorblades, which are presumably involved with the Oathpact (see above). What if, unintentionally, they have re-created certain aspects of the Oathpact as well, as a side effect of the nahel bond? The Heralds, when concentrated on Roshar, kicked off Desolations. The Fused, when concentrated on Roshar, kicked off the Everstorm. And for however many centuries, human beings, Invested to the hilt, as it were, were concentrating themselves in a specific location: Urithiru. What if this was enough to, if not cause the Desolations, at least exacerbate them in some way? What if it created enough of a perpedicularity to allow some of Odium's forces onto Roshar in a consistent manner, like a door propped open even between the Desolations. Spoilers from Edgedancer: To me, this seems like the kind of revelation that would utterly crush a group dedicated to sacrificing for the good of all. To learn that they and their spren had in fact been causing or at least hastening/worsening the Desolations, that all of their efforts and sacrifice were only perpetuating a cycle of endless violence, I could see that breaking them, and causing the Recreance.
  13. So, we know that Dalinar is planning on using his bond with the Stormfather to meet with the rulers of the nations. This would, by his plans, be at the next Highstorm. This plan was presumably made prior to Shallan's confrontation with Re-Shephir. Kaladin arrived at Urithiru on the tail-end of a Highstorm. His arrival was hours after Shallan's confrontation. So... did Dalinar meet with the rulers at this last Highstorm? Considering this was the end of part 1, is it possible that one of the interludes will be the Highstorm meeting, perhaps from the PoV of one of the rulers?
  14. I think it's been well established in Oathbringer that Urithiru, or at the very least its upper levels, are above the Highstorms. Such that there are baskets for lowering sphere's to infuse. They seem to make this point several times. My question, then, is why is there crem on top of the tower at the end of WoR when Dalinar goes out to talk to the Stormfather? If rain does actually fall on top of the tower, then I personally wouldn't have considered it above the storms. Note that I'm not referencing Dalinar's assumption that the trapdoor was held in place by crem. I think it's possible that the door was sealed intentionally. I don't want to just come out and make that assumption though, because obviously there is some crem on the tower.
  15. I apologize if this has been proposed before (my searches didn't find it), but I think that Shinovar is the last remnant of Roshar's original, Earthlike ecology. My theory is as follows: Once, the Rosharan super-continent was Earthlike, with Shinovar at its eastern end. Then Odium sent the Everstorms, which began to erode the western part of the continent. In response, Honor sent the Highstorms, which laid down crem, creating new lands to the east. Over the course of the millennia, the original continent was eroded away up to Shinovar, while a new continent was created. Meanwhile, sea creatures began to migrate onto the new land (possibly with help from Honor or Cultivation) and, with the help of magic, evolved into chulls, axehounds, skyeels, and the rest. Now Shinovar is all that remains of the planet's original ecology. In addition to geology and the storms, this theory is supported by the fact that most of the non-Shinovaran wildlife of Roshar does not seem physically possible without the help of magic. In real life, a large land invertebrate like a chull would be crushed by the weight of its own exoskeleton, even in a lower-gravity environment like Roshar's (remember the square-cube law). Brandon has confirmed that chasmfiends require spren to survive, and I suspect that something similar is going on with the more mundane greatshells. Thus, these life forms must postdate all of the ambient magic that currently exists on Roshar. Moreover, there's Hoid's comment about the orphaned etymology in the term "axehound", which seems to imply that hounds once existed on Roshar but have been forgotten.
  16. We know that Nightblood can feed on stormlight, but what would happen if Nightblood was tossed into a highstorm?
  17. To sail into a Highstorm was suicide... Started this one at 11:30 this morning and I'm finishing up now, just 7 hours later. Pretty happy with the fast turnaround =) Let me know what you think! And if you like what I'm making, follow me on Instagram! @grantmhansen. there will be more of it coming!
  18. So up until now, I've been working under the assumption that the light in Shadesmar is coming from the origin, which lies somewhere east of the continent. I have no real reasons to discount this, but I do have some good reasoning to supporting my next idea: So we know that Shadesmar is basically a flattened representation of Roshar in the Cognitive Realm, and it is affected- to a large extent - by people's perspectives. We have also seen that Stormlight appears as light in the Cognitive Realm. Also, knowing that Highstorms do have some kind of representation in Shadesmar, and that they always come from East to West, I think that the 'Sun' in Shadesmar is actually the Cognitive reflection of a Highstorm, and that it is more or less always 'in the distance to the east' until a highstorm actually strikes, at which point it manifests in the direct vicinity of the observer. Basically, I believe that Highstorms dont really 'travel' through Shadesmar in the same way as in the Physical Realm, but that they exist in two distinct forms: either 'in the distance' as the Sun (the massive source of investiture should manifest as a huge light) or in the specific locale of a person who is Physically in a highstorm. To elaborate further, if a surgebinder entered Shadesmar immediately after a highstorm, he/she would see only the Sun to the East, and no Cognitive representation of the highstorm to the west. I'm still thinking about how Kaladin's vision relates to this (he flew over the continent, presumably attached to the Cognitive Highstorm?) but I think it should still work. That would also explain why shadows go the opposite way for people who are in Shadesmar or connected to the Cognitive strong enough: It's a natural result of their connection to Stormlight and the Cognitive idea of Highstorms coming from the east.
  19. Hi guys, I am writing this post to expose a theory I worked on for a while, recently I got some new possible contros and I developed a derivated theory of the main one (but that I like very very less). The core concept of the theory for both the main and the derivate ones is that an Highstorm is actually a perpendicularity...a mobile one (to be honest I think it better to say that an Highstorm has a Perpencidularity at its inside) Pros: - An Highstorm spreads Stormlight...Investiture that comes directly from the Spiritual Realm (many WoB about Stormlight as lightbulb to the spiritual realm), a perpendicularity is a place where the Realms are spiked and the Spiritual is "in contact" with the phisical. - Shadesmar seems really poor of Stormlight, another clue about the direct travel Spiritual->Physical (with maybe some minor leak in the Cognitive, that may be the origin of the proto-Spren) - The Perpendicularities we saw are all in a liquid state and may be part of a greater waterpool (often called water of live in certain Cosmere Culture) and the Hightstorm is actually a great amount of water (as every storm's cloud) compressed together. The Highstorms help to grown plants and have some benefit to the living healt (I think it's the reason the "Herald's wisdom" suggest to go out in the Highstorm to wash) fitting well with the "water of life" concept - The phase where the Spheres get the Stormlight is actually the same phase when Listeners can obtain a new form and the phase where people willing or unwilling are slightly pulled out of the Physical (the "calm eye" of the Highstorm). - Roshar is a place where the boundary between the Realms are less strong, what is better than a Perpendicularity that regularly pass over the whole planet ? Contro: - We never actually saw a mobile perpendicularity The previous part is common by both the Main theory and the Derivate one. Now I will talk about the difference between the two: Main theory: Adonalsium's design We know that Adonalsium explicity created Roshar as we see it, We know that the Listener predate the Shards there and that the Listener were created by Adonalium to fit the Roshar's ecology. As other Rosharans' beings the Listener are quite dependant from the symbiosis with a Spren. My idea is that Adonalsium left on Roshar as part of his design a great "Investiture Vault"(I see it as a willing analogue to the Ruin's stolen power) to put in place the Invested Highstorm as a tool to made the Spren's birth naturally possible. The bounday between Realms are weaker and the Mind of the physical being may more easy influence-gave birth to the Cognitive beings (thanks also to the higher level of Investiture). A specific Adonalsium's Splinter was put in charge or developed on his own the purpose to carry and manage the Highstorm (of course I am talking of the Rider of the Storm). Pro to the main theory: - Roshar's ecology seems to be strictly dependent from Stormlight - Roshar's flora/fauna is high developed to the Highstorm (this is actually a doutbful pro, because the Highstorm may be a regular uninvested powerful Storm in the Ancient time) - This would fits to the theory who saw the Purelake as a Shard's Perpendicularity along with Horneater's peaks and leave a place for the Highstorm as other source perpendicularity Contro to the main theory: - A recent WoB said that is possible to create a Spren from Stormlight while isn't possible to create it from Preservation's power because it comes from a different WoB. This suggest that Stormlight is from one of the shard that are actually parents of the Radiant Spren (without put an exception like "Adonalium's Investiture as untainted Investiture may be used corrupted with an Intent and be used as Shard's Investiture) - The presence of an huge amount of Adonalsium's Investiture is something never saw in other places of the Cosmere and in my opinion it would be cause a Manifestation of Investiture to arose on Roshar (like if a Shard was Invested).... I actually think that the Fabrial aren't from H&C but this is quite an external topic in this theory. - The Drominad System's essay seems to point as First of the Sun as an unique case in the Cosmere, where you can find a perpendicularity without a Shard on the planet. This may be semanthic, but actually on Roshar the Adonalsium's perpendicularity may be masked by the presence of H&C or it's not so relevant because you may actually use the Shards' perpendicularities Derived theory: Cultivation's will Cultivation is the Stormlight's source (I have another topic in working called "Stormlight isn't of Honor"). Pros to the derivate theory: - More in line with the Shard's investiment on a Planet - Stormlight has healing and growing proprieties on large scale, this seems to fit Cultivation's mandate/Intent - If the Purelake's theory is false, we have a good candidate to the second Shard's perpendicularity on Roshar (thanks to the guys who informed me that the Purelake's perpendicularity is a theory not a confirmed fact) - It doesn't need to put exception to the Cosmere's mechanics Contros to the derivate theory: - How the hell Did Roshar's survive before the Shards' arrive ? I would really know your opinions about... Soon or later I will wrote all my Roshar's model PS: If you find some horrible grammar horror in the theory please let me know it...I will fix it as soon as possible
  20. I looked over at the coast, saw a cluster of clouds forming almost to the horizon, and my legitimate first thought was "Highstorm!"

    © None

  21. Now this is a theory that is mostly based on speculation but I wanted to see what other people think of it. Warning mindless rambling may happen at times, just stay with me. Now lets get to it. The Oathpact. We don't know much about it but I will quickly summarize what we do know. It is an oath by the Heralds that returns them to Roshar with each desolation Whenever the heralds are not on Roshar they are tortured It has been in effect for a long time- "Centuries, perhaps millennia" The Oathpact was broken The enemy who is most likely Odium was bound by it Honor is the one who most likely initiated it While that isn't much to go on I'm going to talk about not only how it effects the heralds, but also how that may have effected the Rosharian ecosystem, specifically the starting the highstorms. Now I'll start with a simple explanation of how the Heralds are important in the oathpact: I believe that they may have become bound to Odium. Now this would explain why they are tortured, after all what else would an entity literally named Hatred do to it's enemy's? Now the reason I was lead to this conclusion was in part because of the fact that shards tend to behave according to the principle of intent. (http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/369-theory-the-principle-of-intent/) Now Torture is not Honorable, and I would love to hear anyone argue otherwise. But Odium is more than capable of torturing people. In fact he probably does it for fun. I mean if you hate someone then you want to torture them so it fits his personality perfectly. Now I hope I haven't lost you because this is where it gets interesting. What if Honor, Cultivation, and Odium were all originally on Roshar? Now Odium hates everything, or at least he probably does. So Honor and Cultivation, in order to create a society that wasn't constantly in danger of being destroyed, they had to get rid of Odium. So give odium something to focus all his hate on, preferably something he knows that you like (the heralds) and give him his own planet and then hope he leaves yours alone. And if he ever comes back make him bring back the Heralds. It's like giving the bully at school your toy and then just pulling out a different one after he leaves. Now Odium Isn't stupid so I'm sure he threw in some of his own conditions, namely getting to leave a small part of himself on Roshar mainly in the form of voidspren. Now that probably seemed like a good deal, after all what could things with no, or at least very little, physical form do? Well a lot as it turns out. Odium could insert the voidspren into the listeners and take control of them, like how Ruin uses hemalurgy. But every time he moved enough of his sentience to Roshar to control the listeners, then the Heralds would return to. This would explain why they always show up right before a desolation, and also why leaving just one of them could end the desolations, Odium still has one of them to Hate. And perhaps having only one of them return stuck Odium in a sort of limbo. He couldn't fully leave because he didn't have all the heralds but he also couldn't return because he couldn't bring the heralds with him as they were already their. Now all of this ties into highstorms because when Odium returned the first time Honor needed a weapon to fight back with. So give the heralds the ability to access surges(the spren) and give them readily available fuel to power those surges(stormlight). Now I know their will be those who say "well what makes you say that?" "why couldn't there have always been highstorms?" Well the answer to that is that Roshar was once much more earthlike. Shinovar across the whole planet kind of deal. This would explain how there were humans in the first place. Shards have access to a lot of knowledge about the workings of the world. Don't believe me, go read what Sazed writes in the Hero of Ages. My point is Cultivation and Honor wouldn't put something as vulnerable as Humans on a land where everything is constantly buffeted by storms that are as big as a continent and as powerful as, well huricane times ten. Therefore Highstorms must come after humanity and since the Heralds were the first of humanity... well you get the point. Shinovar is the only part of Roshar sheltered from the Highstorms and that is the reason it is so earthlike. Sinovar did not evolve to become earthlike. everything else evolved to weather the storms. I know there isn't much evidence to support that but it's the best theory I could come up with so feel free to poke holes and give me feedback.
  22. Before I describe my theory, allow me to quote a short conversation that happened in the 27th page of the legendary "Hidden Things in Map of Roshar?" thread: It's really hard to interpret that any way except as the sun setting in the West, like on Earth. To add to Weiry's proof that the Roshar sun sets in the west, here is a quote from Way of Kings: So, if Roshar's sun rises from the east and sets in the west, just like Earth, that should conclusively disprove the belief that Roshar rotates in the opposite direction from Earth, right? Not quite. You see, the etymologies of the words "east" and "west" aren't based on Earth's rotation (obviously, since Earth's rotation wasn't widely accepted as fact until about two hundred years ago). The word "east" comes from the Proto-Indo-European word for "dawn", while the word "west" comes from the Proto-Indo-European word for "evening". So in a cultural sense, "East" is wherever the sun rises, and "West" is wherever it sets. The rotation shouldn't matter other than in a relative astronomical sense (i.e. if there are astronomical observations suggesting the rotation is different from the majority of the neighboring heavenly bodies, then "East" and "West" might be switched depending on context). We'll get back to the East-West issue later. But now let's talk about the highstorm and its relationship with Roshar's planetary rotation. Basically, Roshar's rotation should influence the rotation of the highstorm via Coriolis effect. Since the highstorm deposits crem, which forms the Roshar continent, the shape of the continent should be based on the rotation of the highstorm. So, since the Roshar continent appears to have a shape of a counter-clockwise spiral, then the highstorm must rotate in a counter-clockwise manner. (Yes, I'm aware of the Julia set-derived pattern that matches the Roshar continent. I took part in that hunt.) Now, the Roshar continent is in the "southern" hemisphere of the planet (where "south" is defined by the Rosharian maps we've seen). If a storm rotates in a counter-clockwise direction in the southern hemisphere of the planet Roshar, and if the sun rises in the direction of the Unclaimed Hills and sets towards Aimia, then one of three things is true: The "southern" hemisphere is actually the northern hemisphere, with the Frostlands near the equator and the Steamwater Ocean near the north pole, and the planet is rotating counter-clockwise. (Problematic.) The storm is a high-pressure anticyclonic storm in the southern hemisphere of a counter-clockwise rotating planet. The Frostlands is near the south pole and the Steamwater Ocean near the equator as implied by the Isasik's Shulin's map. (Possible and non-controversial.) The "southern" hemisphere is actually the northern hemisphere, with the Frostlands near the north pole and the Steamwater Ocean near the equator. The storm is an anticyclonic storm in the northern hemisphere. The planet is rotating clockwise. (Possible, but weird.) The first option is problematic because the equator of Roshar should be the warmest part of the planet since it doesn't have an axial tilt, so the Steamwater Ocean should be nearer to the equator and the Frostlands should be nearer to one of the poles. The second option fits the data. An anticyclonic storm is a storm that rotates contrary to the planet's rotation and forms around a high-pressure system. This could be why the great Rosharian storm is called a "highstorm". Another anticyclonic storm you may have heard about is Jupiter's Great Red Spot, which is incidentally the inspiration behind the Rosharian highstorm. The possibility of the highstorm being anticyclonic solves our problem because it allows the highstorm to move in a counter-clockwise direction, creating a continent with a counter-clockwise shape that we are looking for, while still being in the southern hemisphere. But you should know by now that a Skaa Theory won't stop at the reasonable, neat, and boring explanation, right? In another excellent science-related thread, Leiyan was able to deduce (with the help of Peter) that the three moons of Roshar--Salas, Nomon, and Mishim-- revolve once a day around Roshar in highly elliptical retrograde orbits, whose apogees are always oriented towards the sun. Now think about that a bit. Usually moons that have retrograde orbits are irregular moons that were captured by the planet instead of being formed with the planet. What are the chances that all three Roshar moons are irregular, that they all have the same orbital period, and that they all have similarly oriented retrograde orbits around Roshar? Peter suspects that Roshar's three moons were placed there artificially (i.e. by design), because even he is weirded out by their orbits. But there is uncertainty in the way he said it, so I won't consider that a definitive WoP. Besides, I feel there's a better explanation: What if Roshar originally rotated in the same direction as its three moons' orbit, but at some point reversed and started rotating in the opposite direction? This does sound weird, yes. But believe it or not, I got this idea from a planet in our very own solar system. Astronomers believe that Venus' strange clockwise rotation had not always been the case. Instead, Venus started its existence rotating counter-clockwise just like almost everything else in the solar system, but this motion was reversed over billions of years because of the sun's tidal effects on Venus' thick atmosphere. If this was also true for Roshar (or if Roshar's rotation was reversed by some other cause), then it would explain why it rotates in the opposite direction of its moons' orbit (because it changed its rotation in the past), and it would mean that the third option I listed above is correct: Roshar is currently rotating in a clockwise direction, so the Roshar continent and the highstorm are actually in the northern hemisphere, with the continent "flipped" and highstorm coming from the west ("west" from the point of view of a pre-reversal Rosharian). The solar gravitational forces that caused the rotation reversal could have affected the moons as well, which may be why all three have their apogees towards the sun. Now, if the planet Yolen (where the original Shards were from) rotates just like Earth in a counter-clockwise direction, then the Shards would've had the notion of "North" as being the direction to the left of someone on the equator facing the rising sun. So the Shards who moved to Roshar (and any Yolish Worldhopper migrating there) would orient themselves so that "North" is where they expect it to be given the movement of the sun, putting the continent on the "southern hemisphere". They wouldn't realize that the planet is rotating clockwise and that their orientation is therefore upside down. Just as RShara said. As a matter of fact, there is another clue that the rotation of Roshar is different from Earth's, but it's pretty subtle and will only be noticed by people who are familiar with Greek mythology, or people like me who enjoy looking up the origin of words. And it is in fact what lead to the title of this post. If you look at the table of Essences (as I've done so many times, inspiring numerous crackpot theories along the way), you'll notice that Zephyr is associated with the Herald Jezerezeh, who in turn is (mistakenly) associated by many Rosharians with the Stormfather, the bringer of the highstorm. The highstorm is symbolically important to the Order of Windrunners, the Knights Radiant of Jezerezeh, the Herald of Zephyr. Have you seen it yet? "Zephyr" is the Greek personification of the West Wind. The highstorm comes from the same direction where the sun rises, what the Rosharians call East. Why, then, are they associated with each other?! What a mess! For more than a year now I've been looking for a good reason to turn the Roshar map upside down and reverse its directions, as I knew a Zephyr storm ought to be coming from the West. It was almost driving me nuts, to be honest. Good thing I rediscovered Leiyan's moon thread the other day and remembered Venus' strange rotation. "He bears the weight of God's own divine hatred, separated from the virtues that gave it context." -Chapter 71 epigraph, Words of Radiance There's one last thing I'd like to show just in case you're still skeptical. Here's a tiny quote from the Book of Mormon (which Brandon presumably has read ): We know that the Shard Odium is supposed the represent the wrath of God, the aspect of Adonalsium that gives punishment. We also know that the events of WoR led to the creation of a second storm, a storm that promised destruction, summoned by the Stormform Parshendi to punish the humans. A storm of Odium. Which direction did that new storm come from? West, as a modern-day Rosharian would think? East, as a hypothetical pre-reversal Rosharian would have thought? Based on the symbolism of the east wind, an east-originating storm would fit the ominous nature of the Everstorm better, I think. But whatever the direction of the Everstorm may be, something was wrong. "We must wait. The storm will blow the wrong way, after all. Or is it all other storms that have blown the wrong way, and this one will be the first to blow the right way?" -Venli, Interlude 13, Words of Radiance
  23. Ok, so from what I understand from the moons thread, the moons of Roshar are three in number, have very similar orbits with a period of one day, and orbit in the opposite direction as the sun(from the perspective of Roshar, I'm not advocating a Rosharcentric view of the universe). In addition I believe it was determined that they are quite small and have extremely elliptical orbits. This makes me wonder about tidal forces. IIRC there was WoB that the seas didn't have much tidal variation. This would make sense. With such a short tidal cycle and such small objects distributed across the sky, there wouldn't be much work being done on the sea water. However, seas are not the only thing affected by tidal forces. The atmosphere is as well. On Earth this is what drives some of our prevailing winds IIRC. I would expect the gaseous atmosphere to be much quicker to respond to tidal forces. However on Roshar the tidal system would likely be much more complex with 4 bodies pulling on it (the sun has a tidal effect too) and all in a synchronized manner. My theory is that over time, the tidal forces on the atmosphere result in a sort of resonant pattern of super-waves, resulting in the highstorm(s). Supporting points: 1. We know they are periodic. The Stormwardens can predict them mathematically. It would appear they have a period of 1000 days? 2. The moons are almost certainly placed in those orbits by design. Whoever placed them there may well have had a thing for resonant patterns(see cymatics and the dawncities) 3. Highstorms travel from east to west, same as the moons This may not be the strongest of theories, but it seems there's something there.
  24. I’ve looked for an answer to this question, but haven’t been able to find one. Apologies if it has already been discussed to death. I don’t have a theory to associate with the following observation, but am wondering: it is significant and, if so, do we have enough information to make sense of it? During the highstorm when Eshonai bonds the stormspren, Szeth also attacks the palace in an attempt to assassinate Dalinar. During this sequence, the Stormfather, Syl, and Pattern become extremely agitated. When I read the scene for the first time, I was so caught up in the atmosphere that I didn’t notice the possible overlapping. From the beginning of the chapter “The One Who Hates,” it is clear to the reader that the ongoing highstorm is Eshonai’s highstorm but not that Szeth is on the way. Eventually, based on Syl’s reaction and the narration, Szeth appears to be an agent of Odium. Starting off, in Kaladin’s storm dream, he speaks with Stormfather: Stormfather seems to be referring to Odium and the Everstorm that Eshonai will set into motion by bonding the stormspren and converting other Parshendi in a later storm. Pattern also agrees that something is off: And when Syl finds Kaladin, she also expresses alarm: Kaladin immediately begins to evacuate the palace, even though he still doesn’t know what is happening. It’s still not clear to the reader that Szeth is there. Syl's quote that "He's coming" still seems to refer to Odium. Once they reach the hallway where the spheres have been drained, but right before they see Szeth, Syl comments: Finally, we (the readers and characters) know that an assassination attempt is happening. When Kaladin tries to explain Szeth’s powers as deriving from the Nahel bond, Syl is adamant that he is something else, either having seen the honorblade, his use of stormlight, or not sensing a spren. Syl later points to Szeth’s blade as particularly troubling: What I don’t understand is why Syl makes the connection between the other ominous events and the arrival of Szeth. She clearly says “He’s here” in reference to Szeth when they find him during the evacuation. She’d already said “He’s coming,” but it seemed much more tied to the stormspren bonding and Odium. I know there are theories about Szeth having a connection to one of the unmade re: "the screams" as well as concerns about consuming so much stormlight. Is this Sanderson just writing an awesome chaotic scene or is there a clue in there?
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