Harmony Help The Stormwardens

[Adamir he/him]

Stormwardens agree among themselves that there is only one Highstorm that continuously travels around the world. It is predictable - they have a basic speed and direction, and can thus anticipate when it will strike various locations. But the end of Words of Radiance changed all that.

 

Until we have Stones Unhallowed, we can only speculate on what the ending means. There are two possibilities that come to mind;

 

1. The Highstorm has been pulled out of its current route and transported to the Shattered Plains; the Stormwardens are going to have to re-calculate everything, taking into factor timezones, how fast they can receive news of a Highstorm before said news becomes out of date, etc.
2. There are now two Highstorms going around the world. Alongside the Everstorm, that means there is now triple the usual amount of damage - far more if you take into account the fact that the Everstorm moves in the wrong direction. This also greatly increases the chance of a Highstorm-Everstorm collision. The Stormwardens will have to calculate a total of three different Highstorms.

In conclusion... Harmony help the Stormwardens.

[spencer12347 he/him]

I thought there was more than one high storm?

[DreamEternal]

The Stormfather himself said that the Everstorm would circle the world like the Highstorm, implying there is only one.

Also, to nitpick, the title of book three will most likely be Oathbringer, since Brandon currently thinks Dalinar's flashbacks will be more appropriate there than Szeth's. Such a pity, since Stones Unhallowed is in my opinion a much better, more enigmatic title, and more in line with former titles. Well, at least we will get to see the Nightwatcher and Shshsh. Or not.

[Bort he/him]

I guess the Stormwardens were wrong, although it'll be interesting to see the consequences if you are correct.

[DreamEternal]

Wrong? About what? The Stormfather confirmed there is only one Highstorm.

Edited June 30, 2015 by CognitivePulsePattern

[Adamir he/him]

Wrong? About what? The Stormfather confirmed there is only one Highstorm.

Unless, as I suggested, he created a second Highstorm.

[natc]

Well, think about it. The thing weakens drastically upon reaching Shinovar, yet it's always at full force when it returns. It implies, even if there is only one storm, that there is something that pumps the force up at every cycle. So Stormfather can probably manipulate them directly.

He could be making a second storm, or maybe whatever it is he does at the origin just doesn't normally happen during the Weeping on light years. And the "storm" is actually still in motion.

Just babbling really. What I'm now wondering is what keeps the Everstorm going after it passes Shinovar's mountains from the opposite direction.

[spencer12347 he/him]

There is more than one if you reread Dalinar's conversation with the Stormfather, he specifically says highstorms not highstorm and that it will occur less frequently most likely that there is one everstorm and multiple hgihstorms. Also every single time they mention a high storm they say a highstorm never the high storm, implying more than one. 

[Adamir he/him]

I can't remember exactly where it was, but in one of the Shallan flashbacks it stated that Stormwardens believe there is only one Highstorm.

[Oudeis he/him]

Actual storms, as they pass over open water, gain power. Presumably, something similar is happening here. So once it leaves Shinovar, it gains in power until it crosses the continent again.

 

It's also possible that, as has been alluded to, there's not one eternal Highstorm, just one Highstorm a year, that dies just before the Weeping, and a new one starts up four weeks later. Otherwise it's really weird that the Highstorm would just hover in one spot on the far side of the planet for four weeks. In which case, maybe the Stormfather simply generated the new year's Highstorm a bit early, so there's still just the one Highstorm.

[ParadoxicalZen he/him]

I'll re-read the ending again after work but i could have sworn that the Stormfather summoned the Highstorm earlier than the natural spawn time due to the imminent arrival of the Everstorm. I believe the Stormfather was even commenting to Kaladin (or someone anyway) just before his fight with Szeth on how summoning the Highstorm early was to initially slow the Everstorm down (to buy time or at least to try stop it) ergo Kaladin's fight with Szeth in the middle of the two raging storms because it was all he could do.

 

In that case, I'd say it would most likely be the first scenario but even then, the Stormwardens never got their predictions to 100% accuracy (I think it is something to lines of more often than not). I'll edit this post later with the relevant information when i find it (I think the part with the Stormfather is right before the Everstorm manifests if anyone beats me to it).

[Orlion Blight he/him]

I'll re-read the ending again after work but i could have sworn that the Stormfather summoned the Highstorm earlier than the natural spawn time due to the imminent arrival of the Everstorm. I believe the Stormfather was even commenting to Kaladin (or someone anyway) just before his fight with Szeth on how summoning the Highstorm early was to initially slow the Everstorm down (to buy time or at least to try stop it) ergo Kaladin's fight with Szeth in the middle of the two raging storms because it was all he could do.

 

In that case, I'd say it would most likely be the first scenario but even then, the Stormwardens never got their predictions to 100% accuracy (I think it is something to lines of more often than not). I'll edit this post later with the relevant information when i find it (I think the part with the Stormfather is right before the Everstorm manifests if anyone beats me to it).

 

You are correct, the Stormfather does bring a particularly strong Highstorm to clash with the Everstorm. 

 

I imagine the Stormwardens will have to worry about getting lynched by angry riots. Not only will they have failed to predict the Everstorm, but architecture in Roshar is such that the Everstorm, by coming the opposite direction of a Highstorm, will cause a whole lot of damage in its initial run alone.

 

So, yeah, Harmony help the Stormwardens.

[Navi]

Well, think about it. The thing weakens drastically upon reaching Shinovar, yet it's always at full force when it returns. It implies, even if there is only one storm, that there is something that pumps the force up at every cycle. So Stormfather can probably manipulate them directly.

He could be making a second storm, or maybe whatever it is he does at the origin just doesn't normally happen during the Weeping on light years. And the "storm" is actually still in motion.

Just babbling really. What I'm now wondering is what keeps the Everstorm going after it passes Shinovar's mountains from the opposite direction.

The Origin is in shinovar maybe

[ParadoxicalZen he/him]

The Origin is in shinovar maybe

 

If i remember rightly, the (Highstorm) Origin is far out in the Eastern ocean, beyond the shattered plains whilst it has been speculated/theorised that the Everstorm will originate/spawn (or used to originate in past Desolations, if it even happened in past Desolations o.O) in an Origin far to the West, past Shinovar, in the Western ocean, similarly to the Highstorms. If this is the case, perhaps both are diametrical to each other and are opposite sides of the planet. Would be an interesting thought if Shinovar was the Origin 'cause i don't think Cultivation would take too kindly to that much destruction on her garden x)

[hoser he/him]

The Highstorm that the Stormfather rushes occurs during the weeping, so there may be only one. 

A brilliant member has hypothesized that the Highstorm is similar to the shockwave of an explosion. 

If the map of Roshar we see is all on one hemisphere then a Highstorm could start at the Origin and weaken as it heads west, converging on a point opposite, to the west of Aimia.  The oceans are named differently on the leeward and windward sides of the continent, suggesting that there is a huge distance between the sides of the continent.  

I baselessly speculate that the storm brings a swell with it as it converges, creating a huge whirlpool at the anti-Origin where currents redistribute the water lower down.  This idea comes from the Wandersail story, but there are issues with the credibility of the story, as I can't imagine how the Wandersail could make it back to continental Roshar, having to sail against the Highstorms (although maybe during the Weeping?). 

As for the stormwardens, they seem to serve the nobility and maybe rich traders.  With Dalinar and co warning governments of the untimely highstorm and various other apocryphal events, I imagine the nobility would hold off on beheading the stormwardens until they see what's up.  Once the Everstorm hits, people will have bigger problems and are unlikely to blame the Voidbringer transformation on the Stormwardens.  Basically, I don't think the Stormwardens are among the common people to be lynched and the people they are with will have been warned of events before the impact occurs.  If there were a danger to the Stormwardens, they seem to have a communication network, so they could provide each other advance warning. 

Honestly, though, I don't understand why there is more than one stormwarden, as one set of calculations could cover the entire continent.  A spanreed network could link people to pass on the information. 

[Arondell]

Well the most relevant comment from Syl regarding the Highstorm at the climax of WoR made me think that there was just one storm that the Stormfather hurried along.

 

 

“A highstorm ,” Kaladin said, shooting up through the sky after Szeth. “The red storm is from the Parshendi, but why is there a highstorm coming? This isn’t the time for one.” “My father,” Syl said, voice growing solemn. “He brought the storm, rushing its pace.

Sanderson, Brandon (2014-03-04). Words of Radiance (Stormlight Archive, The) (p. 1031). Tom Doherty Associates. Kindle Edition.

 

Also the Stormfathers comments at the end sound, to me, as if there is a single Everstorm.  Since it is of similar design to the Highstorm it also inclines me to think there is only one.

 

 

THE EVERSTORM. IT IS A NEW THING, BUT OLD OF DESIGN. IT ROUNDS THE WORLD NOW, AND CARRIES WITH IT HIS SPREN. ANY OF THE OLD PEOPLE IT TOUCHES WILL TAKE ON THEIR NEW FORMS.

Sanderson, Brandon (2014-03-04). Words of Radiance (Stormlight Archive, The) (p. 1070). Tom Doherty Associates. Kindle Edition.

Edited June 30, 2015 by Arondell

[spencer12347 he/him]

But 3 sentences later the Stormfather mentions high storms. 

 

REGULARLY, LIKE HIGHSTORMS, THOUGH LESS FREQUENT. YOU ARE DOOMED. 

This seems to me that there is more than one highstorm and that the everstorm is going to be less frequent is because there is only one while multiple high storms will still be happening.

[ParadoxicalZen he/him]

But 3 sentences later the Stormfather mentions high storms. 

This seems to me that there is more than one highstorm and that the everstorm is going to be less frequent is because there is only one while multiple high storms will still be happening.

 

I think when he said Highstorms in this instance, it was more in the context of referring to Highstorms in general, as in; 'Highstorms are a regular occurrence on Roshar'; 'the past few Highstorms have been quite bad' etc. etc.

[hoser he/him]

Purely speculation, but each Highstorm might be a separate occurrence.  There might still be only one at any given time.  It seems to me that the Realmatic discontinuity (or whatever it is that has Kaladin feeling no pain and talking to the Stormfather) at the center of the Highstorm could be unique, but the storms are spawned anew each time. 

Edited June 30, 2015 by hoser