Exthalion

Weren't their veins of gemstone that ran through the rock, presumably down to the storm level? Every highstorm might serve to recharge the thousands of tons of diffuse gem which could keep powering the infusion.

This may have already been stated and I missed the thread, but I had a thought about the possible origin of the Sibling. I don't have a lot of textual evidence, but I will do my best. To simplify in the most criminal way: Spren are the cognitive manifestation of something people think about or experience. The Stormfather is the "memory men create" of the Almighty. So what is as big a thing in the mind of humans as god? Themselves What if the Sibling is, rather than the shadow of a god, the sibling of humanity, the cognitive manifestation of their thoughts about themselves, mankind, civilization as a whole? When Uritheru was occupied by a significant fraction of humanity and they had a common concept of what being human meant it was powerful and sane. But as the kingdoms and cultures formed the idea that brought it about became weaker and less coherent. Humans weren't trying to harm it, but they would be, in effect, ripping it apart into lesser spren manifestations of each group. Its current state may be the result of that wounding, or something it did to protect itself. The current state of humanity on Roshar is still very fractured, but as people start to come together again the idea of a unified humanity could also gain traction. As Dalinar continues to "unite instead of divide" and "bring men together" the very state necessary for this pan-human Spren to grow strong again could reoccur allowing it to return.

Might the curse then be the fact that they aren't pared properly? We have seen that most of the main characters can be both intelligent and compassionate, and that their intelligence informs how they practice their compassion.

I am sorry if this isn't much of a theory, or if it has already been advanced, but a thought occurred to me while reading WoR. We know a certain character asked for a gift of the Nightmother which swings back and forth daily. He and everyone around him is convinced that the "gift" was increased mental ability and act according to the insights produced on days where it is strong. However, what if that was the curse? What if it was the quality he expresses on his "off days" which is the true capacity to save the world? This quality is compassion, which grows almost crippling when his mind is weak. This quality seems to be the one which is actually moving the world in a positive direction. It was Kaladin's compassion which allowed him to speak the Third Ideal and bring Syl back from death. It was Jasnah's compassion toward Shallan that led to the latter growing as a Knight, and Shallan's compassion which redeemed so many of the deserters. Do you think that that the certain charter's intelligence is only a false path, divorced from Wisdom as it often seems to be? P.S. I wasn't sure about the spoiler policy so I tried to keep thing vague. I can edit for clarity if need be.