Rosharan subastral

Map of Shadesmar, the Cognitive Realm

Shadesmar is the Cognitive Realm.^{[citation needed]} So far the only known characters to travel there are Hoid, Shallan Davar and Jasnah Kholin. Hoid's method for travelling there is not yet known, though he uses it to travel from world to world. It is possible other worldhoppers use Shadesmar similarly.

Appearance

“... a place with a black sky and a strange, small white sun that hung on the horizon ... Flames hovered nearby ... Like the tips of candles floating in the air and moving with the wind ... An endless dark sea, except it wasn't wet. It was made of the small beads, an entire ocean of tiny glass spheres”

—Shallan Davar

Geographically it appears to be a reflection of Roshar, with its inland seas corresponding exactly to the shape of the land of Roshar.

Uses

Shadesmar can be visited by those with an inherent Soulcasting ability. Entrance to it is granted by beings that Jasnah calls a type of spren. They appear in The Way of Kings to Shallan Davar and Elhokar Kholin, and one of these beings (unofficially called a truthspren) is described by Shallan as

“a figure with a sharp, angular symbol hovering above its collar instead of a head”

—Shallan Davar

To be granted entrance to Shadesmar, the person wishing to go there must speak a truth about themselves to the truthspren. Whilst Shallan is in Shadesmar, a voice speaks to her and causes her to Soulcast. It is theorised that this voice also belongs to a truthspren.

This is not the only way of entering Shadesmar. There is a way to access Shadesmar on other worlds, though it is not clear how to do so.

Hoid uses Shadesmar to travel between worlds. The Seventeenth Shard may also use Shadesmar for inter-planetary travel, although this is not confirmed.

It is dangerous to travel to Shadesmar on Sel.

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