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Shadesmar is the word used on Roshar[1] for the Cognitive Realm.[2] It is a plane of existence which connects all the Shardworlds,[2] and can be manipulated for quick travel.[3]
The term "Shadesmar" is a Roshar-specific word[4], but Sanderson translates other world's names for the place to "Shadesmar" as well.[5]
So far the only known characters to visit Shadesmar are Hoid, Shallan Davar and Jasnah Kholin, but it will become much more important in future books.[6] It is likely that this is also how members of the Seventeenth Shard travel.
The ardents in Roshar are aware of Shadesmar, and apparently have text describing someone traveling there.[7]
Access to Shadesmar is different on different worlds[8], and it is apparently a very dangerous place near Sel[9][10][11] for reasons indirectly related to the splintering of its Shards.[12][13] When Odium splintered the shards there, he left their power in his wake, which is now mindless. The spren keep similar powers in check on Roshar, and Kelsier did so on Scadrial before Vin acquired Preservation.[14]
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[15]
Geographically it appears to be a reflection of Roshar, with its inland seas corresponding exactly to the shape of the land of Roshar. When asked if this is the general rule, Sanderson said "there are places in Shadesmar that are different, and some are the same."[16]
Areas where there is a lot of thinking (cognitive function) are expanded while areas without any thought are diminished.[17]
Regions
The map of Shadesmar found in The Way of Kings includes several regions perpendicular to Roshar, as well as the names of other Expanses. If you walk far enough in the direction of one of those expanses(often days), you can arrive on other worlds.[18] The areas labeled are as follows:
- Expanse of the Vapors: This area is confirmed to be Scadrial.[18]
- Expanse of the Densities: This is a world we had seen before 2011.[19]
- Expanse of Vibrance: This expanse's name was hidden behind the map's title.[20]
- Expanse of the Broken Sky
- Nexus of Imagination
- Nexus of Truth
- Nexus of Transition
- Sea of Regret
- Sea of Souls
- Sea of Lost Lights
Uses
Shadesmar can be visited by those with an inherent Soulcasting ability. On Roshar, entrance 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[15]
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 belongs to the Cognitive aspect of the goblet she is Soulcasting.
Apparently[21], you need Stormlight (or alternative source of power) in order to control objects in Shadesmar, as well as for soulcasting. Traveling there without sufficient stormlight is considered to be extremely risky.
Notes
- ↑ Shadesmar is just a rough translation of "Cognitive Realm" in the language of whoever first found out about it
— 17th Shard forums - 05 October 2013# - ↑ a b Shadesmar is the Cognitive Realm
— Theoryland - Jul, 2009# Cite error: Invalid<ref>tag; name "qa-428-10" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Hoid in Well of Ascension
— Theoryland - Jul 2009# - ↑ Is there a difference between Shadesmar and the Cognitive Realm?
— Theoryland - Mar 4th, 2014# - ↑ Is Shadesmar a Roshar specific term?
— Theoryland - Mar 13th, 2014# - ↑ Stormlight Archives hints
— Theoryland - Sep 16th, 2010# - ↑ The Way of Kings interlude I-8#
- ↑ Do the other worlds have different ways of accessing Shadesmar?
— Theoryland - Dec 25th, 2010# - ↑ Written on Puck's copy of Elantris
— Theoryland - Mar 19th, 2011# - ↑ Getting to Sel is really tough
— Theoryland - Sep, 2012# - ↑ Getting to and through Shadesmar is very difficult on Sel
— Theoryland - Sep, 2012# - ↑ Is this a consequence of Odium Splintering Aona and Skai?
— Theoryland - Oct 30th, 2012# - ↑ Has to do with the name of that expanse
— Theoryland - Dec 8th, 2012# - ↑ Why is it dangerous to travel in Sel?
— Theoryland - 2013# - ↑ a b The Way of Kings chapter 45#
- ↑ ground/water inversion
— Theoryland - Mar 13th, 2014# - ↑ Whenever a planet has enough thinking life on it...it drops into Shadesmar
— Theoryland - Dec 6th, 2014# - ↑ a b ... but you can go to Shadesmar, walk in the directions where it says "The Realm of the Vapors" and it runs into Scadrial
— 17th Shard forums - 2014-12-10# - ↑ a world you know
— Theoryland - 2011-11-08# - ↑ The name of the expanse that is covered
— Theoryland - May 17th, 2013# - ↑ The Way of Kings chapter 70#