Nightstar The Bright

Prior to the [[True Desolation]], they lived in eastern Roshar, near the [[Shattered Plains]]. During the [[War of Reckoning]], they inhabited the city of [[Narak]], but after the arrival of the [[Everstorm]] and the start of the [[True Desolation]] the remaining Listenerslisteners left Narak, roaming around on the Shattered plains.

The Listenerslisteners used to live in the [[Unclaimed Hills]], very close to the [[Shattered Plains]]. Some Listenerlistener [[Listener#CultureFamilies|families]] occupied the circular craters near the western edge of the plains, while others spent their lives living in the wilderness around these craters. Many Listenerslisteners believe that the wildernis should remain uncharted, left to [[greatshell]]s and [[spren]], although others strongly disagree with this.{{book ref|Sa4|45}} It is likely because of this attitude that the Listenerslisteners know very little about the world and the wildernis beyond their cities.

After the assassination of King [[Gavilar Kholin]] the Listenerslisteners fled to the Shattered Plains, after this event they began inhabiting the city of [[Stormseat|Narak]].{{book ref|WoR|i|1}} After the end of the [[War of Reckoning|war]] and the [[Battle of Narak]] the remaining Listenerslisteners roamed around the Shattered Plains for a while.{{book ref|Sa2|i|1}}{{book ref|Sa4|115}}

The Listenerslisteners cultivate multiple plant species. They grow and eat grain from a certain type of rockbud.{{book ref|sa4|62}} They also use the dried pulp from a species of rockbud to make paper.{{book ref|sa4|45}} The Listenerslisteners also grow and prune Shalebark, although they mostly do this for decoration.{{book ref|Sa2|i|4}} They also eat mushrooms, which they gather in the forests near the Shattered Plains.{{book ref|Sa4|45}}

The Listenerslisteners also use a technique unknown to other Rosharans to make their crops grow faster. This technique involves stormlight, music (specifically one of the [[Rhythm]]s) and lifespren. This technique also drains Stormlight from the used gemstones, and can even crack them in a way very similar to a that of a fabrial.{{book ref|sa4|15}}

They also practice animal husbandry and hunting. They are known to have domesticated [[chull]]s.{{book ref|sa4|62}} They also keep hogs, which are herded around by groups of Listenerslisteners,{{book ref|sa4|62}} because of this they have access to hogsmeat and hogshide leather.{{book ref|Sa4|48}}

The Listenerslisteners are ruled by five individuals, collectively known as the Council of Five, or simply the Five. Before the Listenerlistener families unified each family had their own Five, but after their unification the listeners accepted the rule of a single Five.{{book ref|Sa4|45}} It is unknown how these five Listenerslisteners are chosen. The Five seem to have absolute authority over the Listenerslisteners, although any decision needs at least a majority among the Five before it can be put into action.{{book ref|Sa2|i|4}} The duties of the Five are very diverse, from approving ideas to planning attacks on other families.{{book ref|sa2|i|1}}{{book ref|sa4|45}} At least some professions have leaders whose authorities exist outside of that of the Five. One such Listenerlistener is [[Denshil]], who serves as the Listener head of farming.{{book ref|Sa4|86}}

Listener soldiers use Warform, this grants them strong carapace armor as well as increased strength.{{book ref|sa2|i|1}} Though not as strong or resilient as someone with Shardplate, warform listeners are a real threat to regular human soldiers. Their strength allows them to use heavy weapons like battleaxes, hammers, spears and sometimes clubs or swords.{{book ref|sa1|40}}{{book ref|Sa4|45}} They are also capable of jumping far enough to cross the chasms on the [[Shattered Plains]].{{book ref|sa1|27}} Most of the steel weapons owned by the Listenerslisteners are either of [[Alethkar|Alethi]] origin or have been passed down from parent to child starting at the abandonment of the old gods.{{book ref|Sa4|81}} The Listenerslisteners are also fond of bows, which are made from horn,{{book ref|sa1|55}} and two-handed slings,{{book ref|sa1|65}} although bows were viewed as to deadly to wield against other listeners.{{book ref|sa4|68}} Some Listenerslisteners carry large shields called [[stormshield]]s when going out into a highstorm, however it is unknown if this type of shield is also used in combat.{{book ref|Sa4|88}} It is considered the duty of each warrior to care for his ancient weapon and make his own arrows.{{book ref|Sa4|45}}

The Listenerslisteners had eight sets of [[Shardplate]] and [[Shardblade]]s,{{book ref|sa4|68}} they gradually lost all of them during the War of Reckoning however.{{book ref|sa2|i|3}} It is considered forbidden for these shards to be wielded against other listeners, they were originally used only for [[greatshell]] hunts, although they were also used to fight the [[Alethkar|Alethi]] during the [[War of Reckoning]]. Before this war it was tradition that when one of the proper eight listener cities was conquered the defeated family would relinquish their shards to the victors.{{book ref|sa4|68}}

Regular soldiers often wear simple garments that are tailored around their warform carapace. Some of them also wear long coatescoats, although these aren’t worn into battle. The Listenerlistener general wears a cap on their skullplate and a tight red cloth as a cape.{{book ref|Sa2|i|4}} The listeners dressed their soldiers in white, believing that a man should be able to see his own death coming, white also signals to other listeners that a battle is coming, instead of a different interaction such as trade.{{book ref|Sa4|68}} Because of this they also dress assassins in white.{{book ref|Sa1|prologue}} This changed during the War of Reckoning, although it is unknown why.{{book ref|sa1|65}}

The Listeners’listeners’ warfare used to be highly ritualistic, with little to no actual combat and deaths.{{book ref|sa4|68}} They would only fight to capture one of the cities on the western edge of the Shattered Plains, any family that attacks for a different reason would immediately be shunned by the other families.{{book ref|sa4|45}} There were times where traditions were broken and battles turned into horrible massacres.{{book ref|sa|68}} Their tactics changed significantly during the [[War of Reckoning]], although some aspects of their original tactics remained. These changes were likely made by the listener general, [[Eshonai]].

The listeners would often attack shortly before or after a storm came.{{book ref|Sa4|45}}{{book ref|sa4|68}} They used drums to warn allies and enemies of an upcoming battle. The preparations for a battle would mostly be made up of where to put theirwhich warriors and what boasts to yell.{{book ref|sa4|45}} These battles often started with the participants yelling boasts, insults and challenges at each other. After that both families would take turns throwing spears at each other, when someone was hit their family might withdraw, but if they didn’t both sides would move on to close combat.{{book ref|sa4|68}}

A notable aspect of the listeners' new combat strategy is their use of '''warpairs'''{{book ref|sa1|26}}, pairs of warriors who fight side by side as partners. These listener warpairs move around the battlefield in coordinated maneuvers and attack enemy troops with heavy weapons from multiple directions.{{book ref|sa1|28}} Each warpair also carries different weapons. A warpair is generally made up of a man and a woman.{{book ref|sa1|56}} The Listenerslisteners also use shortbows to harry and weaken their enemies.{{book ref|sa1|17}} The listeners have at times executed raids during a highstorm.{{book ref|sa2|i|5}}

The Listenerlistener army is divided into multiple divisions, each a hundred and twenty-eight in number. These divisions have their own name, and may sometimes be made up of of different forms entirely, an example of this is the Storm division, a division made entirely of Stormforms.{{book ref|Sa2|i|11}} Some of these divisions may join into a single army, called a warband.{{book ref|Sa4|86}} During wartime the Listenerslisteners also have many warpair scouts, usually from a single division, roaming around, searching for any sign of their enemies. Near the end of the War of Reckoning the entire army was around seventeen thousand Listenerslisteners, or roughly 133 divisions, strong.{{book ref|Sa2|i|11}}

The Listenerlistener military is commanded by a general, also called a warleader, who is also the warform representative in the [[Council of Five]]. During the [[War of Reckoning]] [[Eshonai]] served as general.{{book ref|sa2|i|4}} Beneath the general are a number of lieutenants, it is likely that these lieutenants control a division each.{{book ref|Sa2|i|11}}

Listeners wear a wide variety of clothing. They are often seen wearing robes,{{book ref|sa4|73}} shirts skirts and coats.{{book ref|sa4|68}} When listeners go out into a highstorm to adopt a new form they often wear loose robes. This is likely so that their clothes don’t get ripped apart during the transformation of their body.{{book ref|Sa4|86}} Their clothes are all made from woven [[narbin]] cloth.{{book ref|sa1|45}} Listener men weave bits of uncut gemstones in their beard, these gemstones come from the [[gemheart]]s of chasmfiends.{{book ref|sa1|36}} Members of each family all wear different gemstones, so a Listenerlistener can recognise what family someone belongs to just by looking at the gemstones in their beard.{{book ref|Sa4|73}} They also wear bands on their braids, members of different families also have differently colored bands.{{book ref|Sa4|73}}

Due to their history the listeners greatly value their freedom. Because of their fear of the gods, and their ancestors’ sacrifice, the listeners decided to assassinate king Gavilar of Alethkar. Although during the resulting war many listeners stopped caring about their origins. It is also important to the Listenerslisteners that everyone can choose their own form, and the [[Council of Five|Five]] cannot command people to choose a form.{{book ref|Sa2|i|4}}{{book ref|Sa2|i|11}} Some singerslisteners hate trapping spren, instead they prefer to go out into the highstorms themselves and attract the proper spren.{{book ref|Sa2|i|8}}

[[Listeners]] consider gemhearts sacred and personal, however a [[Fused]] mocks this, saying that gemhearts were just another part of a singer body.{{book ref|sa3|i|7}}

In order to remember their history and important skills the listeners remembered them via songs, each to the beat of a different rhythm of Roshar. The Listenerslisteners also had songs about human [[Surgebinding|Surgebinders]].{{book ref|Sa4|86}} These songs were practiced and preserved by a Keeper of Songs. The known songs are as follows:

Prior to the [[True Desolation]] the Listenerslisteners were technologically behind the rest of [[Roshar]]. They lived in huts made from hardened crem over frames of shell, which were huddled on the leeward side of lumps of stone to protect from [[highstorm]]s.{{book ref|WoR|i|4}} These buildings were fragile and would often be destroyed by highstorms, although the Listenerslisteners would simply rebuild them.{{book ref|WoK|45}} The Listenerslisteners also lived in hogshide tents.{{book ref|Sa4|45}} The Shattered Plains contained a large number of Listenerlistener bridges, which were flimsy and made of wood and rope.{{book ref|Sa4|48}} These bridges were likely destroyed during the War of Reckoning. They furnish their houses with woven mats and painted banners.{{book ref|sa4|62}}

When a highstorm is close the people prepare their homes, this includes stuffing rags under their doors, shoving bracing boards into position and pounding large wooden blocks into their open windows. Before the start of the War of Reckoning some of the Listenerlistener families occupied the 10 circular craters near the western edge of the plains, but they were eventually forced to move to the center of the Shattered Plains.{{book ref|WoR|i|1}}

The Listenerslisteners have their own unique way of making paper. They make the paper from dried [[rockbud]] pulp following a harvest.{{book ref|sa2|i|1}} These rockbuds are native to the unclaimed hills and shattered plains. Their paper is much rougher then human paper and varies in Color. Their paper is also textured and full instead of neat and sterile.{{book ref|WoR|i|4}} They also have a [[Song of Making Paper|song]] describing the process. This ensures that the Listenerslisteners never forget how to make it.{{book ref|sa4|45}}

The listeners make music using drums. These drums are crude things, made of hogshide leather and wood. The sides of these drums are stamped with crude hand prints.{{book ref|sa1|45}} The listeners often play their drums in a quick rhythm.{{book ref|sa1|prologue}} It is likely that the listeners beat the drums to one of the [[Rhythm]]s.