the oathgate in Kholinar

[lidrevan]

First time poster long time lurker. Love the work you guys do here.

So I was reading the Lhan interlude and came across this description. "They passed into the Circle of Memories, a round room with ten lamps on the walls, one for each of the ancient Epoch Kingdoms. An eleventh lamp represented the Tranquiline Halls, and a large ceremonial key hole set into the wall represented the need for ardents to ignore borders........."

Sounds a lot like the oath gate in Stormseat to me, with the round room, lamps and the key hole. Not sure if this has been posted before. Thoughts?

Edited September 30, 2014 by lidrevan

[Zea mays]

Welcome!

I believe you are quite right there. I half recall some snippet from Jasnah that says 9 of the Oathgates are "locked". The Kholinar one will probably be the first one our intrepid heroes try to open.

Also, you may wanna edit your post there to add a g .

Edited September 30, 2014 by Zea mays

[lidrevan]

Thanks.I found two other quotes that can back it up. I'll post later. Good eye for the typo

[Andrew C]

Interesting, I missed this and agree with you.

[Windrunner he/him]

What I find interesting is that the royal palace seems to have been built upon the Kholinar Oathgate. If they activate it, will the whole palace be transported? Because that sounds like a recipe for disaster.

[WitSpren he/him]

The Palace and church.     I am sure that the 11th lamp is a lock, but even if it is unlocked, it would take too much Stormlight.

[lidrevan]

  "Even today, Lhan could see much of the city, as both the temple and the high palace occupied a flat-topped hill."

P894 hard back

 

 

Then this from Dalinar.  Standing at the top of Urithiru.. " Now that he saw those pillars from this perspective, he recognized that there was one of them in Kholinar. It made up the dais upon which the palace and royal temple had been built"

P1070 hard back

 

So maybe Jasnah tried to use it right. But didn't have near enough stormlight to make it work because, A. she's not a full radiant (can't hold enough light) or  B. there is just so much stuff there now it's almost impossible. (the palace there and all the people.)

Edited October 1, 2014 by lidrevan

[AerionBFII he/him]

I hope somebody exits the gate in the middle of one of the queens parties... Maybe Rock or Lopen but mainly Lopen..

[king of nowhere]

i don't know if the oathgate would transport the palace. after all, it didn't transport the buildings in the shattered plains, nor did it transport the crem. but it still can be used to transport equipment. i guess there is a cognitive component about it. maybe ho activates the gate can choose what to transport. or only what sees him/itself as something that can be transported is actually transported.

[Windrunner he/him]

Well, yeah it didn't transport the buildings because none were actually built on the raised dais of the Oathgate. And once crem actually solidifies, it's just part of the ground.

[king of nowhere]

Well, yeah it didn't transport the buildings because none were actually built on the raised dais of the Oathgate. And once crem actually solidifies, it's just part of the ground.

I tought there were buildings on the dais too? but maybe i'm wrong. as for the crem being part of the ground, well, also a stone pillar can be part of the ground. the distinction between what's part of the ground and what's part of the palace can be a bit shacky. again, the only real distinction is cognitive. would depend if the spren of the palace sees itself as part of the place or not.

[Arondell]

I just checked the description and it is a bit uncertain whether there were buildings other then the central tower or not.  The initial description after Shallan first steps onto the plateau is a bit unclear.

 

 

This plateau was higher than most, so she could see Stormseat’s center arrayed around her. Pillars with crem accreting at their bases, transforming them to stalagmites. Buildings that had become mounds , overgrown with stone like snow covering a fallen log. In the darkness and rain, the ancient city presented a sketch of skyline for the imagination to fill in.

Sanderson, Brandon (2014-03-04). Words of Radiance (Stormlight Archive, The) (p. 998). Tom Doherty Associates. Kindle Edition.

 

This seems like it might be referring just to the plateaus around the oathgate.  Then there is a bit of description later.

 

 

Renarin and the majority of the bridgemen insisted on going with her. She couldn’t complain about that— this was a war zone. Shallan passed a lump on the ground, part of a large ring . Perhaps once a low ornamental wall. How would this place have looked? She pictured it in her mind, and wished she could have drawn it. That would certainly have helped her visualize.

Sanderson, Brandon (2014-03-04). Words of Radiance (Stormlight Archive, The) (p. 1000). Tom Doherty Associates. Kindle Edition.

 

So there is at least an implication that there are structures on the plateau other then just the central tower.  The dais wasn't that big.  It seems likely that there was something other then just the central tower otherwise why send multiple search parties out?  Unless visibility was severely limited which I didn't get the feeling was the case based on the first example.

[Aleksiel]

 

Yes, there was a hill up ahead, probably a crem-covered building.

 

 

Kaladin said, nodding toward the building. “What is this place?”

“Oh!” Bisig said. “Come on! We need to show you the tower—that Radiant girl taught us how to summon the plateau back, so long as we have you.”

 

Kaladin's PoV on the plateau after defeating Szeth. May be only living things and what they touch get transported through a gate.

[WitSpren he/him]

I do not think that would work.     Otherwise someone could leave a plateau where there was no pillar/building/statue/rock/any other structure and arrive at a plateau where there was one and end up being merged with that object.    Especially, in cases there the departing plateau was heavily packed like it was on the first transportation they did.