Nightstar The Bright

Joined 5 November 2023
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A slaver must provide the reason someone was sold into slavery when he sells the slave, it is illegal to lie.{{book ref|sa1|4}}
 
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Roshar does have larger flora. Some trees, including the aforementioned [[dalewillow]], have trunks made of stone while others, such as the [[jella]], augment their wooden bark by accumulating crem. Like rockbuds, they withdraw their fronds into the trunks when sensing danger. There are also species such as [[makam]] and [[cobwood]], which appear to be sturdy enough to sustain highstorms without added protection.{{book ref|sa1|33}}{{book ref|sa2|66}}
 
Rosharan grass is known to move away from disruptions or vibrations, often fully retracting to protect itself.{{wob ref|13363}}{{cite}} It is type of shallowly burrowed seed pod that has enough room to hold moisture and contain the coiled up leaf. They at most grow to around three feet tall. Seeds emerge from the leaf tip to either be consumed and redeposited as faeces, or carried and redesposited by the wind.{{wob ref|13363}}
 
;Human uses
 
Some species of native Rosharan flora are edible for humans. This includes a number of fruits as well as a rice-like plant called [[tallew]], and [[lavis]], a type of rockbud that produces grain. Tallew, lavis, and longroot appear to be the major ingredients of Rosharan diet, with massive farmlands devoted to them throughout the continent.{{book ref|sa1|4}} In the West, the same niche appears to be filled by [[clema]].{{book ref|Edgedancer|6}}
 
Additionally, there exist a number of plants with known healing properties. This includes antiseptics, such as the sap of [[knobweed]] and [[fourleaf]], as well as [[lister's oil]]; treatments for specific diseases, such as [[bitterleaf]] for epilepsy and [[bloodivy]] for the [[grindings]]; anesthetics like [[winterwort]] and [[firemoss]]; and other, more specific medicines, such as [[denocax salve|denocax]], which encourages skin healing.
 
By contrast, several species of plant are noted to have detrimental effect on humans. Firemoss is known to be highly addictive, and [[blackbane]]'s leaves, once dried, are extremely poisonous. Eating shells of rockbuds is similarly known to be unhealthy, although the [[Unkalaki]] are capable of eating them without problems, likely thanks to their [[singer]] ancestry.{{wob ref|930}} While not all plants are edible, some, like [[breachtree]] and [[narbin]], are grown to make fabrics.{{book ref|sa1|25}}{{book ref|sa1|45}}
 
{{image|Chasmfiend.jpeg|side=right|width=250px|A Chasmfiend, with gleaming [[mandra]]s surrounding it. They allow the greatshell to exist despite its enormous size.}}
 
==== Fauna ====
 
Roshar contains a wide variety of fauna, most of which appears to be shelled. While most creatures are native to the world, some have been introduced into Roshar during human exodus from [[Ashyn]], among them mammals and birds.
 
Like Rosharan flora, the animals of Roshar have also adapted to their unusual circumstances. Several species, including the largest, grow massive shells which can protect them from highstorms. Others hide in dens or, in case of small [[sarpenthyn]], ooze between the cracks in the rock.
 
;Spren symbiosis
Multiple native species, as well as at least one imported animal, have formed symbiotic relationships with [[spren]]. This appears to be faciliated by gemhearts, crystals that grow naturally within the bodies of those creatures.
 
* Larger animals on Roshar utilize bonds with [[mandra]]s, or luckspren, to decrease the pull of gravity on them, allowing creatures such as [[chasmfiend]]s to exist without collapsing upon themselves. In the case of [[skyeel]]s, the same bond, coupled with smaller size, permits them to fly.
* The native sentient species, the [[Singer]]s, bond with a variety of spren to attain a number of forms, which alter their mental state, biological functions and appearance. While bonded, the spren remain within the gemheart.
* [[Ryshadium]] bond with what appears to be musicspren, attaining higher intelligence and physical strength. It is, however, unclear so far whether or not they have gemhearts.{{au ref|rosharan}}
* The fish in the [[Purelake]] gain various medicinal benefits through spren bonds.{{wob ref|2109}}
 
;Non-shelled animals
Mammals dwell mostly in Shinovar, though a few species have been successfully exported east. Those include horses, which are widely used as far east as Alethkar, and hogs, which are the primary source of non-Soulcast meat. While most mammals are domesticated, hogs, as well as minks and rats,{{book ref|sa1|3}} can be found in the wild. Several species of birds are known to exist, although they are all known as "chickens" among Rosharans. This includes actual chickens as well as more colorful birds, such as parrots. In contrast to mammals, they do not seem to do well in the wild, as all examples observed so far are domesticated. Amphibians, such as the [[lurg]] can also be found, as well as wide variety of fish, including both fresh- and seawater ones. Cephalopods also exist, albeit with unusual properties - [[zatalef]], for example, is described as bat-like, implying the ability to fly.{{file ref|Alethi_Glyphs_Page_1.jpg}} A category without a clear Earth analogue are [[sarpenthyn]], which appear to be similar to both mollusks and cephalopods, albeit without shells and with smaller number of arms.{{book ref|sa2|55}}
 
;Shelled animals
The largest known group of animals on Roshar are crustaceans. Those can be of various sizes, from finger-long to four-stories-high. They are all noted as having violet blood and multiple stages of life, with the initial stage being called a larva and the process of switching between stages called pupation.{{file ref|Chull_Life_Cycle.jpeg|Chull Life Cycle}} The creation of shells is aided by the presence of crem in the rain, which the creatures can process into minerals.
 
One of the largest crustacean family are [[cremling]]s, a group of tiny, multi-legged scavengers preying mostly on deceased animals, although they will also feed on uncovered plants after highstorms. Cremlings come in variety of colors, with different features, numbers of legs, and behaviours. While most are individuals, some are part of the [[Sleepless]] swarms, and as such share a sentient hivemind. The [[Sleepless]] cremlings are bred for particular purposes, such as imitating human body parts.
 
{{image|Shallan And The Santhid.png|side=right|width=250px|A Santhid. Roshar's greatest creatures are far larger than humans.}}
 
Other than the cremlings, Roshar also features a number of larger crustaceans that are nonetheless smaller than humans. This group includes predatory species, such as the [[axehound]], herbivores like [[axehind]], and near-cremling sized creatures like [[legger]]s and [[larkin]], as well as species that can be found on Earth, like crabs.{{book ref|sa3|63}} The larkin in particular are unusual for their flight, as well as the ability to pull Stormlight out of other creatures and absorb it.{{book ref|sa2|i|9}}
 
The largest family of animals on Roshar are known as [[greatshell]]s, which exist both on land and in the seas. All greatshells possess gemhearts and utilize them to attract [[mandra]]s to decrease their own weight. The land greatshells include domesticated herbivores known as [[chull]]s and two large predatory species, the [[chasmfiend]] and the extinct [[lanceryn]]. The marine greatshells include the [[yu-nerig]], which comes on land to pupate and is known to feed on humans,{{book ref|sa1|40}} and the [[Tai-na]], the largest animals known to inhabit the cosmere. Their legs are said to be sixty feet long, while the body itself stretches hundreds of feet tall. The back of Tai-na, which sticks out above water, is an ecosystem of its own, inhabited by multiple species of plants and animals, as well as humans.{{book ref|sa2|i|2}}
=== Ecology ===
==== Flora ====
Despite the fact that itAlethkar is far more exposed to the [[highstorm]]s than any country further West, large swathes of it are lush with animals and vegetation.{{book ref|sa3|5}} More fragileThe flora, suchone asfinds vinesdepends andheavily weeds,on growthe andregion flourishof inAlethkar. suchIn (laits)the terrainnorthwest, thoughcommon someflora includes thickets of [[snarlbrush]], likestout [[knobweedmarkel]] trees and [[stumpweight]] trees.{{book ref|sa1|31}} Alethkar also contains many fragile species of flora, seemsuch toas prefervines flatlandsand weeds, utilizingthese highstormsspecies deliberatelyonly togrow spreadin laits.
 
==== Fauna ====
[[Whitespine]]'s live in the area near Hearthstone and occasionally causes problems for travellers.{{book ref|sa1|31}} Ryshadium live wild in herds across Roshar, though they rarely stray into the western part of the continent. It is only after one chooses to bond a human that they allow themselves to be taken out of the wild.{{book ref|sa3|26}} Wild axehounds are social creatures who live and hunt in groups.{{book ref|wok|1}} also chull lmao.
 
=== Notable cities ===
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