shinovar differences from roshar

[grayhicks]

i've been listening to words of radiance, and i have been trying to work out why shinovar, and the shin, are so different from the rest of roshar. not just physically, but so radically different in culture. i can see why many of the ethnic groups and nation are different, like how different the reishi isles are from alethkar, but a lot of that can bee explained by geographical location: the reishi isles are nearly idyllic paradises, save for the highstorms. alethkar is a firmly developed vorin nation, as is jah keved, with long standing societal constraints formed over the centuries of a developed large nation. but all these groups still hold several constants. walking on stone is a way of life, completely normal to the point of un noticed by people. stormlight is used to infuse gems for light and to power fabrials, always has been, at least to everyone knowledge, spren are everywhere, a natural part of the world and how people experience it. but the shin are none of these things, and are the only ones. they refuse to set one toe on stone, to alter it in anyway. to get metals for smelting, they trade for soulcasted scrap. its alluded to that they see spren as sacred or holy, same as the horneaters (though i might just be inferring that part), yet there are no spren in shinovar, according to rysn during her trip the valley nation. and they find the use of stormlight for something so mundane as to provide light to be a blaspheme. so what is it about them, their land, with its actual earth grass, earth livestock, earth trees, that makes them see the whole world outside their one, little, sheltered kingdom, as a blasphemy?

[Omniforce he/him]

In the case of revering stone, it's theorized this may have something to do with the mountains that stop the highstorms from affecting them. Personally though, I think that in the past they had strong connections to the Knights Radiant and the Heralds. Nale mentions to Szeth that the Shin worshiped the Heralds as gods. Not to mention the fact that the majority of the honorblades are held by the Shin. Their current beliefs reflect this; their reverence for stormlight and spren could stem from the respect towards the heralds and radiants.

[grayhicks]

yet, what about the seeming lack of spren in their valley? szeth mentions spirits of stone. are there only stone/ground/earth type spren there, that only appear around rocks?

[Yata he/him]

I link the Highstorm's Investiture strench the boundary between Realms and make Spren visibile when they try to extend in the physical. So Shinovar without be periodically hit by an Highstorm has It's boundary stable enough. So there are spren like in any other Place by they are unseen.

This could change with the eternal storm