There's no way this is a coincidence

[Frustration he/him]

I was looking at the interactive map and timeline, and I realized something.

Urithiru and the Nightwatcher Valley line up almost perfectly North to South.

That means that the Highstorm hits both of them at the same time, and at that moment all of the Bondsmith spren are Connected.

 

Do I have the faintest idea what happens, or what this could possibly cause? No, but I refuse to believe that this just happened to be the case.

Something big is going to come of this.

[alder24]

Interesting, maybe that's why Urithiru was placed where it is? This might not only connect all three Bondsmith sprens, but also Bondsmiths themselves.

[The_Milkgod]

Hmmm interesting. Someone needs to ask Sanderson about that during a Q&A.

[Primeival Chaos he/him]

Maybe that is a way that Ishar could be cured? Take him into the highstorm when all 3 bondsmith spren are connected?

[Marabout]

We may learn more when Moash bonds the Nightwatcher

[Quantus he/him]

8 minutes ago, Marabout said:

We may learn more when Moash bonds the Nightwatcher

I hate you for voicing that possibility... I was so blissfully happy and ignorant of it's existence.  

[Frustration he/him]

1 minute ago, Quantus said:

I hate you for voicing that possibility... I was so blissfully happy and ignorant of it's existence.  

You think it's a possibility?

[alder24]

11 minutes ago, Marabout said:

We may learn more when Moash bonds the Nightwatcher

Just no... What part of Moash "unites" people except hatred of fandom?

[Quantus he/him]

11 minutes ago, Frustration said:

You think it's a possibility?

As far as surprising but not new/undeveloped characters to take up the mantle, he could make sense.  Also a big theme in the modern Desolation is the blurring of the traditional battle lines; people talk about Orders going to Odium and talk abotu UnMade coming over to the Radiants as a 4th Bondsmith, but everybody seems to assume the UnConnected Nightwatcher will stay on Team Protagonist. 

EDIT:  Especially now Odium is now held by one of the Nightwatcher's Mother's tools.  She might consider him far less objectionable than Rayse.  

9 minutes ago, alder24 said:

Just no... What part of Moash "unites" people except hatred of fandom?

I mean, thats one of the more traditional ways.  But dont ask us, it's up to the Nightwatcher.  

 

 

EDIT: to the OP topic, that line also goes right through the Purelake (another theorized Cultivation hotspot that has a supernatural response to the storm. Curiouser and curiouser. 

Edited February 2, 2023 by Quantus

[Frustration he/him]

6 minutes ago, Quantus said:

EDIT: to the OP topic, that line also goes right through the Purelake (another theorized Cultivation hotspot that has a supernatural response to the storm. Curiouser and curiouser. 

That is true.

Hm. I'll see if there's anything else there.

[Quantus he/him]

Just now, Frustration said:

That is true.

Hm. I'll see if there's anything else there.

If that's 1/4 planet circumference from the Origin, that line might also be the point where the Highstorm is at it's largest, in terms of being right there when the Storm pulse reaches both poles and rings the planet at it's largest.  

[alder24]

40 minutes ago, Frustration said:

Hm. I'll see if there's anything else there.

It also goes through the Reshi island of Abri.

39 minutes ago, Quantus said:

If that's 1/4 planet circumference from the Origin, that line might also be the point where the Highstorm is at it's largest, in terms of being right there when the Storm pulse reaches both poles and rings the planet at it's largest. 

You can turn on lines of latitude and longitude on this map. This Urithiru-Valley line seems to be around 4 degrees west of the prime meridian. Roshar is in the southern hemisphere. So that would still mean 1/4 to reach both poles?

I do wonder how Purelake can just fully drain into pits in the ground just before Highstorm. If I understand it correctly, Highstorms should have a low atmospheric pressure and that should make water rise, not drop.

[Quantus he/him]

10 minutes ago, alder24 said:

It also goes through the Reshi island of Abri.

You can turn on lines of latitude and longitude on this map. This Urithiru-Valley line seems to be around 4 degrees west of the prime meridian. Roshar is in the southern hemisphere. So that would still mean 1/4 to reach both poles?

I do wonder how Purelake can just fully drain into pits in the ground just before Highstorm. If I understand it correctly, Highstorms should have a low atmospheric pressure and that should make water rise, not drop.

Assuming the Origin is on the equatorial line so the Storm matches the meridians and passes both poles together, then for the Tower-Valley line to be at the peak of the ring the Origin would need to be 90° off, regardless of the hemisphere.  But if the Origin is off the equator, then the Tower and Valley may never actually be in the Storm at the same time (outside of the Weeping, if that counts).  

[Frustration he/him]

The entire area in Shadesmar is called the Sea of Souls.

That's giving me strong Elantris vibes.

Also

Spoiler

Valerie Mastkevych

Was there something special at Urithiru before the city was built?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO.

Adam Horne

I like that question, I hadn't thought of that.

Brandon Sanderson

I actually had thought about that one.

YouTube Spoiler Stream 2 (June 3, 2021)

 

Edited February 2, 2023 by Frustration

[AquaRegia he/him]

On 2/2/2023 at 3:03 PM, Quantus said:

Assuming the Origin is on the equatorial line so the Storm matches the meridians and passes both poles together, then for the Tower-Valley line to be at the peak of the ring the Origin would need to be 90° off, regardless of the hemisphere.  But if the Origin is off the equator, then the Tower and Valley may never actually be in the Storm at the same time (outside of the Weeping, if that counts).  

Just WILD.  That is such a completely different way of envisioning the travel of the Highstorm than I had!  I'd always been in the camp of the "modern" Alethi Stromwardens in imagining it as a constant pole-to-pole ring, rotating over the surface from east to west.  Admittedly (now that I think on it), that image has the disadvantage of requiring the poles (or, at least, two antipodal points) to be "constant Highstorm" areas.

If your interpretation is correct - that the Highstorm literally "originates" at a single point and spreads outward in all directions - it would be an ever-widening circle for the first half of its journey, then a decreasing circle for the second half, disappearing at the "AntiOrigin".  Sorry if that sounds redundant (or remedial), but I'm a reasonably smart guy who just never pictured it that way, and my mind is moderately blown.

In either case, though, I think there is significant textual evidence of the Highstorm being aligned more or less north-to-south as it crosses the continent of Roshar.  This supports the idea that either 1) the axis of rotation of the single constant Storm ring lies at or near the poles, or 2) the Origin and AntiOrigin lie at or near the equator.

By the way, @Frustration, I love this idea and definitely agree it's likely to be important.  Another feather in your cosmere cap!

Edited February 6, 2023 by AquaRegia
typo

[lacrossedeamon]

They also talk about building Urithiru “the place closest to Honor” and we still don’t know the exact meaning of that (at least I don’t). Could it be elevation related? Near where Cultivation hangs out? Does Honor have a secret shardpool?

Also is it weird that Nightwatcher’s Valley and Cultivation’s Shardpool aren’t collocated?

[ScavellTane]

so the Highstorm expands as a ring from the Origin and then essentially recedes once it passes Urithiru?

[Frustration he/him]

1 hour ago, ScavellTane said:

so the Highstorm expands as a ring from the Origin and then essentially recedes once it passes Urithiru?

That's one theory.

Personally I back the Highstorm being a straight line from pole to pole that circles the world.

[Quantus he/him]

22 minutes ago, Frustration said:

That's one theory.

Personally I back the Highstorm being a straight line from pole to pole that circles the world.

That model never really made sense to me, and the more information we get the less it seems to work.  The ancient Radiants (that knew more) thought it came from the Origin, even though modern Stormwardens think it's a continuous wave.  When not in a highstorm, Dalinar feels the Stormfather's presence in the direction of the Origin, rather than a variable location tracking a constant circling storm.  

Admittedly, the first thing that made me assume it was a pulse from the origin (besides the legends of the Origin itself) was how it weakened so dramatically as it crossed the landmass.  But that doesnt prove much since a real storm could just pick up more steam once it got back out over the sea and weakened only as it hits the continental landmass.  

[alder24]

What if, and just hear me out, the Highstorms are "the ups" of Honor's wave/tone? It has a period of 2 Rosharian years, 1000 days, and the Origin just pulsates with pure tone of Honor. Every time the wave reaches the high point, it sends a Highstorm out.

 

Also I think Coriolis Effect would have something to say on how Highstorm spreads on Roshar.

[Eluvianii he/him]

The ring theory does make more sense when you consider Highstorms don't come at regular time intervals, they even mention that as an inconsistency in the books. Now, it's true that if that's the case, the Origin would have to be in a very specific place for the storm to align perfectly north to south at Urithiru at the Valley, but what if it's the other way around and those places are there because the storm forms a line there? Tbh I can't defend this since I can't remember how old the storm is supposed to be.

[Frustration he/him]

Just now, Eluvianii said:

I can't remember how old the storm is supposed to be.

The Storms predate the Shattering

[Letryx13]

On 2/2/2023 at 0:10 PM, Frustration said:

I was looking at the interactive map and timeline, and I realized something.

Urithiru and the Nightwatcher Valley line up almost perfectly North to South.

That means that the Highstorm hits both of them at the same time, and at that moment all of the Bondsmith spren are Connected.

 

Do I have the faintest idea what happens, or what this could possibly cause? No, but I refuse to believe that this just happened to be the case.

Something big is going to come of this.

Yeah, this seems way too much to be a coincidence. 
 

Also, I have no idea why this came to me as I was reading this post, but an idea occurred to me. Is it just me, or does the Night Watcher seem like the weakest of the BondSmith spren? The StormFather is probably the strongest, since he’s the soul of the storm that makes it possible to live on most of Roshar.  The Sibling is the actual city of Uritheru, capable of suppressing the power of the Fused, and making the tower livable. That doesn’t seem as powerful as the StormFather, but still pretty impressive. And then the Night Watcher grants small wishes and curses people. Do you think she’s capable of more, or is that all she can do?

[Frustration he/him]

5 hours ago, Letryx13 said:

Yeah, this seems way too much to be a coincidence. 
 

Also, I have no idea why this came to me as I was reading this post, but an idea occurred to me. Is it just me, or does the Night Watcher seem like the weakest of the BondSmith spren? The StormFather is probably the strongest, since he’s the soul of the storm that makes it possible to live on most of Roshar.  The Sibling is the actual city of Uritheru, capable of suppressing the power of the Fused, and making the tower livable. That doesn’t seem as powerful as the StormFather, but still pretty impressive. And then the Night Watcher grants small wishes and curses people. Do you think she’s capable of more, or is that all she can do?

I actually made a theory about that

https://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/117279-what-does-the-valley-do-sa-5/

[alder24]

12 hours ago, Letryx13 said:

Also, I have no idea why this came to me as I was reading this post, but an idea occurred to me. Is it just me, or does the Night Watcher seem like the weakest of the BondSmith spren? The StormFather is probably the strongest, since he’s the soul of the storm that makes it possible to live on most of Roshar.  The Sibling is the actual city of Uritheru, capable of suppressing the power of the Fused, and making the tower livable. That doesn’t seem as powerful as the StormFather, but still pretty impressive. And then the Night Watcher grants small wishes and curses people. Do you think she’s capable of more, or is that all she can do?

Is it weak? She is able to manipulate identity and connections of people, and with bond this can be even bigger. Stormfater with a bond can do more than alone, and the same would be true for Nightwatcher. It might not seem that powerful at first, but I bet with a Bondsmith she would be able to do very impressive things. 

But Stormfather is the strongest entity on Roshar except shards, he holds the biggest shattered piece of Honor.