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This line of thought came from another thread, but it seems like it warrants its own discussion. I was looking into what possible levels of ozone could be generated from Zephyr for use as an oxidation agent for spore bullet impact charges, but I'm finding that even the amount in smellable ozone might be creating a host of problems. Ann says that Zephyr spores give off a smell like lightning, which is one of the things she finds nifty. The characteristic smell of lightning often is the result of ozone forming. The issue with this is that ozone is hazardous. Here's a snippet from the Wikipedia article: Assuming I'm reading this correctly, if you can smell it, it's probably damaging your lungs (sorry Ann). Because of the nature of the spore seas, rain falling on the Zephyr sea is by definition, sea level and breathable air. Longterm exposure, even at very low levels of ozone causes all sorts of problems (ouch, sorry Ann). An article by PubMed Central found here https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4427716/ also notes "A characteristic property of ozone odor is the fact that it is easily addictive" (ouch, ouch, sorry Ann, but this explains a lot). I'm not sure on the decomposition rate of ozone at ground level compared to the generation rate of the gasses of the Zephyr sea, but all this together seems to be a substantial concern for residents of the Zephyr sea, particularly for anyone who frequently works directly with Zephyr. It might not be gassing them, but this doesn't seem insignificant. I'm guessing Brandon will try to avoid playing the card he did for Scadrial, "they are just genetically resistant to metal poisoning". Sorry for everyone that likes Ann, based on this amateur prognosis. I'm pretty sure the plan for Zephyr is to serve as an emergency air supply for the space age. If the air it generates had hazardous gasses in it, that could cause problems, but not insurmountable ones. I'd guess a filtration unit should be able to filter the larger trioxygen molecules from the breathable air until it decomposes into dioxygen, so that wouldn't cause issues directly. Thoughts? Anything I've missed? I'm not an expert on the matter by any means. Presumably the spore cycle that Xisis is studying at the bottom of the Crimson Sea somehow has to account for air generation above sea level... right? If this "smell of lightning" isn't ozone, then what is causing it?

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