garlick Posted April 4, 2018 Posted April 4, 2018 I'm a little confused about the shattered plains. My head cannon since WoR has been that the shattered plains is not what it was presented to be. With Shallan asking Andolin to slay this rock to find out its part of a building. Then Andolin used that hint to sneak up on the parshendi that were chanting by cutting into a building and using it to circle around. Add in the fact that Shallan was able to see the pattern of the city to draw out the map and pinpoint the oddity to figure out where the oathgate was placed. I came to the conclusion that it was a forgotten city. Thousands of years of high storms depositing crem with no upkeep eventually turned it into what we see as the shattered plains. Am I missing something. As I read posts people still use them as examples for instance I recently read one where someone theorized that one reason the knights foreswore their oaths.... Oathbringer spoilers below Spoiler That the shattered plains where a smaller scale devastation of how they destroyed their old planet. And that was proof they could destroy a planet. I'm not on board with this just an example. There's been alot of instances where people still speak of the plains as shattered. I'd like to know what you guys think. Did I read to much into this. Was there some sort of shattering to the city that caused it to be abandoned? If so how did it still keep the pattern Shallan recognized. I would really like to get my head cannon right.
RShara she/her Posted April 4, 2018 Posted April 4, 2018 We should probably get this moved to the OB forum. But basically, yes, there was a city on the Shattered Plains, Stormseat, aka Narak. It was shattered at some point between Aharietiam and the Recreance (we think). Some of the buildings remained, and were eventually covered over in crem. The pattern Shallan figures out is related to how they were shattered--they were shattered in a (6? or 8? fold) symmetrical pattern. So she was able to extrapolate the shape of the plateaus once she'd seen one iteration of the pattern. The city that was built on the Plains was also shattered, but enough of it remains to figure out some of how it was laid out. And the plateaus those remnants are on would still follow the pattern of the shattered plateaus, anyway.
garlick Posted April 4, 2018 Author Posted April 4, 2018 That kinda makes sense. I just assumed the pattern was due to the old cities being built with cymatics (I think that's the word)in mind and that was what she picked up on. But I guess it wouldn't make sense to build a city in the grand canyon to be able to have the tops of the towers be ground level.
Draigon Posted April 5, 2018 Posted April 5, 2018 Shallan does recognize that the pattern of the city is likely a cymatic pattern, just like all the other dawn cities. The shattering of the plains is something like that cymatic creation but at an extreme level. Imagine a strike to the center of the city which is so strong that vibrations shake apart all the surrounding area. You still have a cymatic pattern, just much larger and likely not as controlled as whatever created the original city pattern.
Leyrann Posted April 5, 2018 Posted April 5, 2018 Just to make sure it's clear: The Shattered Plains are much bigger than just Stormseat. Stormseat was merely the city at the center.
Subvisual Haze Posted April 6, 2018 Posted April 6, 2018 Ooooh, I just figured out the best crazy awesome theory! What Shattered the Plains? Stormseat itself! For you see Stormseat was actually a floating city! Just like Navani's fabrials that make platforms float and Urithiru's magical elevators, the fine people of Natanatan realized that the best way to avoid the damage of a highstorm is to just float your city over the top of the stormwall. "Stormseat" indeed! I bet there was a fabrial linked platform at Urithiru which would sink or rise to produce the opposite effect on Stormseat. When everything went crazy (Honor dying, the Sibling withdrawing, Urithiru's magical systems progressively failing) the magical gravity fabrial that kept the city floating in the clouds suddenly suffered a catastrophic failure. Down went the city, crashing right into the middle of the plains and creating the shattered pattern of today. 2
Leyrann Posted April 6, 2018 Posted April 6, 2018 2 hours ago, Subvisual Haze said: Ooooh, I just figured out the best crazy awesome theory! What Shattered the Plains? Stormseat itself! For you see Stormseat was actually a floating city! Just like Navani's fabrials that make platforms float and Urithiru's magical elevators, the fine people of Natanatan realized that the best way to avoid the damage of a highstorm is to just float your city over the top of the stormwall. "Stormseat" indeed! I bet there was a fabrial linked platform at Urithiru which would sink or rise to produce the opposite effect on Stormseat. When everything went crazy (Honor dying, the Sibling withdrawing, Urithiru's magical systems progressively failing) the magical gravity fabrial that kept the city floating in the clouds suddenly suffered a catastrophic failure. Down went the city, crashing right into the middle of the plains and creating the shattered pattern of today. That probably wouldn't create the cymatic pattern though, and I'm not sure how that would work with the Oathgate. Otherwise it's a nice crazy theory.
Subvisual Haze Posted April 6, 2018 Posted April 6, 2018 8 hours ago, Leyrann said: That probably wouldn't create the cymatic pattern though, and I'm not sure how that would work with the Oathgate. Otherwise it's a nice crazy theory. Thanks I think the distinction here is that the Shattered Plains themselves may not have been directly formed by Cymatics. I'm propsing they were symbolically struck by a hammerhead that was already in a Cymatic shape (Stormseat), the result of which generated a Cymatic derived blast pattern? 4
Leyrann Posted April 6, 2018 Posted April 6, 2018 19 minutes ago, Subvisual Haze said: Thanks I think the distinction here is that the Shattered Plains themselves may not have been directly formed by Cymatics. I'm propsing they were symbolically struck by a hammerhead that was already in a Cymatic shape (Stormseat), the result of which generated a Cymatic derived blast pattern? This is next level.
Draigon Posted April 6, 2018 Posted April 6, 2018 The Oathgate plateau throws a bit of a monkey wrench into the idea, as interesting as it sounds. The Oathgate plateau doesn't fit the pattern. It's the whole reason Shallan is able to zero in on it when Feld points out her drawing as incorrect. Their theory at the time is the plains are like broken plate where the Oathgate plateau is like an etched circle which breaks apart from the rest of the pattern. I tend to believe that this is because Oathgates don't like to be moved and are incredibly hard to actually destroy. I do like the idea, I just don't think it fits. Further information from Brandon would be nice. Either in book, or a non-troll answer. Unlike the following which as far as I can tell is the last thing he's said about it aside from in book. Quote Questioner [PENDING REVIEW] My friend has a theory: The Lord Ruler is the one that Shattered the Shattered Plains. Is that a possibility? Brandon Sanderson [PENDING REVIEW] I won't discount it out of hand. Mostly just so that he can keep arguing with you guys. source
Subvisual Haze Posted April 6, 2018 Posted April 6, 2018 Yeah, although we still lack data to make the full picture clear. It's important to note that Shallan was able to identify the Oathgate platform as deviant to the pattern of the whole plains, but that doesn't mean it was the only deviant point. Shallan had only mapped a route direct route in from the west ending at the Oathgate (which was on the SW corner of the city). We don't actually have an accurate map of the very center (what Narak looks like) currently. We can see the pattern around it, but whether the city itself fits the symetrical pattern is still an unknown. ...and will probably remain an unknown Shallan's purpose in mapping the plains was to find the Oathgate, investigating the Plains them-self and their history has been pushed to the back-burner for now.
Angsos Posted April 6, 2018 Posted April 6, 2018 I thought I remembered something about Jasnah thinking was another oathgate there and she thought it destroyed. It was near the end of the book, I think Navani was talking.
Draigon Posted April 9, 2018 Posted April 9, 2018 The Oathgate in Narak, the shattered plains, or Stormseat, depending on how you want to name the place, is the first Oathgate to be used in the series. It's the one Jasnah was looking for. I was about to say it was the first to appear in the books, but I think we actually get an inside look at the Kohlinar Oathgate during an interlude before we know what we're seeing.
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