WoR Shallan and Jasnah trip to the shattered plains

[Aryon he/him]

Hello,

A friend of mine is reading WoR and he asked me a question that I couldn't answer.

Why did Jasnah and Shallan decide to make the trip in Red instead of the trip in White?

They would arrive by the alethi side instead of the parshmen side and it's quite shorter too.

[Treamayne]

3 hours ago, Aryon said:

Why did Jasnah and Shallan decide to make the trip in Red instead of the trip in White?

They would arrive by the alethi side instead of the parshmen side and it's quite shorter too.

Shorter by distance, not by time (and Jasnah was in a hurry). WoK Ch 74:

Spoiler

“Good. Then go pack our things. We’re leaving tomorrow on that ship I chartered for you.”

“We’re going to Jah Keved?”

“No. We need to get to the center of it all.” She looked at Shallan. “We’re going to the Shattered Plains. We need to find out if the Parshendi were ever ordinary parshmen, and if so, what set them off. Perhaps I am wrong about this, but if I am right, then the Parshendi could hold the key to turning ordinary parshmen into soldiers.” Then, grimly, she continued. “And we need to do it before someone else does, then uses it against us.”

“Someone else?” Shallan asked, feeling a sharp stab of panic. 

They had to use a ship anyway to leave Kharbranth (no overland pass from the city to the Continent - part of why it stays independent). 

The overland trip Shallan took was weeks of travel - so an overland trip, even from Karanak (the closest port) would be at least three times the distance overland (and had they made it to New Natanan as intended, the overland trip would have been even shorter than Shallan's). So, even with the voyage, the trip they chartered would have been at least twice as fast as the version you are asking about, especially when you consider how many detours it would take to find bridges to span the multiple rivers and tributaries. Zoomed map:

Spoiler

Shallan's landfall is shown here.

Hope that helps.

[Aryon he/him]

Thanks for the answer, very precise! One more thing: how can a ship survive an highstorm on the sea? I mean it seems dangerous compared to the trip on the land.

[Treamayne]

5 hours ago, Aryon said:

Thanks for the answer, very precise! One more thing: how can a ship survive an highstorm on the sea? I mean it seems dangerous compared to the trip on the land.

This one is actually answered in-book - I do not see any WoBs about it.

Spoiler

WoR Ch 1:

Quote

They were within sight of the distant mainland, sailing parallel to it. In fact, they’d docked at port last night to shelter from the highstorm that had blown past. When sailing, you always wanted to be near to port—venturing into open seas when a highstorm could surprise you was suicidal.

WoR Ch 6:

Quote

Two days back, they’d even been forced to weather a storm in a cove along the coast. Jasnah and Shallan had gone ashore to stay in a fortress maintained for the purpose—paying a steep cost to get in—while the sailors had stayed on board.

That cove, though not a true port, had at least had a stormwall to help shelter the ship. Next highstorm, they wouldn’t even have that. They’d find a cove and try to ride out the winds, though Tozbek said he’d send Shallan and Jasnah ashore to seek shelter in a cavern.

 

Hope that helps.

[alder24]

14 hours ago, Aryon said:

Hello,

A friend of mine is reading WoR and he asked me a question that I couldn't answer.

Why did Jasnah and Shallan decide to make the trip in Red instead of the trip in White?

They would arrive by the alethi side instead of the parshmen side and it's quite shorter too.

Simple answer, ships are always faster than moving on foot through a cold, desolate wasteland. Ships are really fast - that's the reason they were the main means of long distance transportation before the invention of trains. People were settling mainly alongside sea coasts, rivers or lakes to have access to fast ships.

[Aryon he/him]

Thanks to everyone for your answers!