Light sources in Shinovar

[ReadAndFindOut]

We know fire is incredibly dangerous on Roshar because of the increased oxygen level in its atmosphere, which most of the world overcomes by using invested gemstones to provide light. However, those gems become invested in highstorms, which don't really impact Shinovar in any significant way. What do the people of Shinovar use for light?

[Weltall]

Shinovar still gets highstorms (and thus stormlight) even though they're not nearly as violent as in the lands further east. We know they've got plenty of access to stormlight since Szeth trained with the Honorblades long before he was declared Truthless and that requires a good supply of infused gems. Szeth does think that the Alethi custom of using infused gems for mere illumination is profane but that doesn't necessarily mean they don't do that in Shinovar. Until we get a better sense of Shin beliefs we can't really predict what would be considered an acceptable use, but I can imagine a couple ways that they could use stormlight lamps without falling afoul of whatever strictures Szeth had in mind when he made that thought.

Plus as mentioned, fires are easier to start on Roshar but they're not massively dangerous and we've seen plenty of examples of fire being used throughout the books. Humans have known how to control fire without burning their homes down around their ears for millenia, there's no reason for it to be any different in Shinovar.

[RShara]

Fire isn't that much more dangerous on Roshar. There's  higher oxygen, but probably not enough to cause dramatic effects. The greatest problem in higher oxygen environments fire is wildfires, and I don't think Shinovar is ever dry enough to have that be a significant problem (they still get highstorms, they're just weak and rainy). As long as they're careful with their combustable materials, they should be able to use torches or candles and the like. I'm pretty sure we see darkeyes and other lower-dahn folk using them in the books.

[Yata]

If I don't remember wrong Szeth considere Stormlight as holy and using it for illumination as a blasphemy (this from the TWotK's prologue)