Day of Recreance

Day of Recreance
Era	Era of Solitude
Participants	The Knights Radiant
Effects	Death of Radiant spren, Disbandment of the Knights Radiant
World	Roshar
Universe	Cosmere

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“That they responded immediately and with great consternation is undeniable, as these were primary among those who would forswear and abandon their oaths. The term Recreance was not then applied, but has since become a popular title by which this event is named. ”

—Words of Radiance chapter 38, page 6

The Day of Recreance was the final act of the Knights Radiant, around two-thousand Rosharan years before the True Desolation. Nine of the ten orders abandoned their Shardblades and Shardplate and broke their oaths, killing their spren. The Order of Skybreakers was the one order that did not participate; instead, the Skybreakers hid themselves away. For around two thousand years, the reason for the Recreance remained unknown until it was rediscovered in the Eila Stele during the True Desolation.

Lead Up

See also: False Desolation

Right before the Recreance, the Radiants had been fighting in the False Desolation. Ba-Ado-Mishram, one of the nine Unmade, had learned how to Connect to the singers to give them forms of power and Voidlight. The fighting was particularly intense at this time. In an attempt to stop the fighting, the Radiants sent a strike team to try and imprison Ba-Ado-Mishram using the unique powers of the Bondsmiths. Presumably this strike team succeeded, as the singers lost their Identity and Connection and were unable to think or act independently, becoming what are known as parshmen.

While this was occurring, the Knights Radiant were forced to abandon Urithiru. For some unknown reason, later revealed to be Mishram's imprisonment, the Sibling withdrew from the tower. People blamed this withdrawal on increased conflicts among the Radiants and claimed the Sibling withdrew intentionally, but scholars of the time disagreed. Some of the tower's protections failed, leading to wilting plants and cooling air, but other functions, such as increased air pressure, continued to work. Some of the Radiants seemed concerned about the Unmade infiltrating the tower because of the failing protections when they left.

Cause

“Regardless, I . . . understand now as I never did before. The ancient Radiants didn’t abandon their oaths out of pettiness. They tried to protect the world. I blame them for their weakness, their broken oaths. But I also understand. ”

—The Stormfather's thoughts on the Recreance

The Knights Radiant somehow discovered that Surgebinding had destroyed Ashyn, the world mankind first inhabited, and that humans then invaded Roshar, the Dawnsingers' land. When previous generations had learned this fact, Honor had counseled them that their cause was just. During the generation of the Recreance, Honor was deteriorating under the onslaught of Odium and did not do so. Instead, he raved about the Dawnshards, ancient weapons responsible for the destruction of Ashyn, and promised the Radiants they would also destroy Roshar. In order to save the world, nine orders decided to give up their powers so that Roshar wouldn't be destroyed like their first world was. There were also other motivations for the Recreance, but these are currently unclear, but likely has to do with the imprisoning of Ba-Ado-Mishram during the False Desolation.

Mayalaran indicated that the Recreance was a conscious choice, with the Knights and their bonded spren in agreement, and not the grievous betrayal of spren by the orders that were previously assumed by humans and spren alike.

Feverstone Keep

by Caio Santos

The Recreance at Feverstone Keep

See also: Feverstone Keep

According to Dalinar's visions, Feverstone Keep was one of the locations where the Radiants dropped their Plate and Blades. It was a fort near Rall Elorim that the parsh were pushing towards. The Orders of Stonewards and Windrunners were on the front lines fighting.

The majority of them walked back to the keep. A scout sent out to meet them reported that they were friendly, but the men inside were confused as to why the Radiants were coming. While wearing their Shardplate, the Radiants charged forward in a line. When they stopped just within bowshot, more Windrunners dropped from the sky to join them. One man in a blue cape stepped forward, drove his Blade into the ground, removed his Plate, and turned to walk away. As he did so, the glow of the weapons began to fade. The other Knights followed his lead. There were soldiers waiting for the Radiants to return from the keep.

Men inside the keep came out and examined the discarded weapons. Initially, some officers yelled for the Blades to be left alone. They were quickly overwhelmed, however, as men rushed to claim a weapon. It did not take long for the scramble to deteriorate into a fight, with men using their newly obtained Blades to kill one another.

Aftermath and Legacy

“This act of great villainy went beyond the impudence which had hitherto been ascribed to the orders; as the fighting was particularly intense at this time, many attributed this act to a sense of inherent betrayal; and after they withdrew, about two thousand made assault upon them, destroying much of the membership; but this was only nine of the ten, as one said they would not abandon their arms and flee, but instead entertained great subterfuge at the expense of the other nine.”

—Words of Radiance, Chapter 38, page 20

The Knights' actions during the Recreance led not only to the destruction of the orders as a whole but also to the deaths of the former members. The sense of betrayal many felt at the act of the Radiants led many people to attack and kill them. The Skybreakers chose to hide their order and take up a mission of preventing the Knights Radiant from rising again, believing it would lead to the return of the Voidbringers and Desolations.

Society quickly changed after the Recreance and began to form the culture seen in modern Roshar. Those in power wanted control of the Shardblades. To prevent women from wielding them, they encouraged following Arts and Majesty, a philosophical book claiming masculine arts are two-handed and feminine arts are one-handed. In retaliation, a movement of women claimed the ability to read and write for themselves. It is also likely that the division between lighteyes and darkeyes was formed during this time. Eye color is connected to the memory of the Radiants.The lighteyes' authority likely extends from those memories. The majority of lighteyes are descended from people whose eyes changed color, which would mean their ancestors were either Radiants or Shardbearers.

Spren societies were completely decimated. The majority of the surviving spren were mere children at the time and were forced to spend centuries without nurture and guidance. It took some spren societies two thousand years to regain the culture they had lost. Many spren feel a mistrust and dislike of humans as a result. This causes some spren to bond singers or work with the Diagram rather than support the reformation of the Knights Radiant and trust humans again. Some would even choose to kill humans before allowing the formation of a Nahel bond.

Within two hundred years of the Recreance, knowledge of the Radiants was already beginning to be lost. It was difficult to distinguish facts, superstition, and lore. At some point, many Shardblades were lost, as hundreds were dropped during the Recreance, and only around eighty are known in the modern world.

Trivia

• Recreance, is a word meaning shameful cowardice, lack of faith to one's honor or duty, apostasy, disloyalty, or desertion.

Notes

History of Roshar
The False Desolation	The Day of Recreance	Hierocracy

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