Alethkar

Alethkar
200px by ERROR: page 'File:Roshar - Alethkar.jpg ' does not exist
Capital	Kholinar
Ruler	King Elhokar
Era	[[Era of Solitude]]{{era/Era of Solitude|}}
World	Roshar

Alethkar was the largest and most prominent of the five Vorin nations on Roshar. It was split into ten princedoms, each with its own highprince. People from Alethkar were known as Alethi. Alethkar is currently engaged in the War of Reckoning against the Parshendi. In the present day, Alethkar possesses many Shardblades, like Jah Keved.

Geography

Located in eastern Roshar, Alethkar was more exposed to the highstorms than many lands further west. Important geographical features included the Sunmaker Mountains, the Sea of Spears, and the Windrunner and Deathbend Rivers.

History

Alethkar was founded as Alethela in the Silver Kingdoms Epoch. It survived the Desolations, but at an unknown point was fractured into the Princedoms.

Under this system, the ten highprinces acted as kings of their own lands, with no unifying government. The Sunmaker united the highprinces and stopped the Hierocracy, but eventually the government split again. Later, in approximately 1158, Gavilar Kholin--inspired by the Sunmaker--sought to conquer and unite the highprinces, which he achieved by about 1163. He was then crowned king and his brother Dalinar Kholin became highprince to the Kholin Princedom.

When Gavilar was assassinated by the Parshendi in 1167, his son Elhokar Kholin became king and declared war on the Parshendi. Each of the highprinces joined the Vengeance Pact, and they went to the Shattered Plains to besiege the Parshendi in the War of Reckoning. The siege took much longer than was expected, and was still active by 1173.

Culture

The Alethi culture was divided into two major castes, the lighteyes and darkeyes. The distinction between the two was the coloring of the person's eyes, the lighteyes standing as the upper class, and darkeyes as the working/lower class, each of these classes were further divided in rank according to their dahn (in the case of lighteyes) or their nahn (in the case of darkeyes). There were many ways in which you could improve your ranking and it was hereditary. Many darkeyes volunteered to become soldiers due for the chance to increase their rank and that of their children.

Soldiers are usually trained in one or two additional Skills, i.e. horse grooms.

Children of pure light/dark-eyed parents always bred true, whereas the children of mixed descent had the chance to be either.

The Alethi system of government revolved around class. The lighteyes composed the ruling upper caste, which also had a ranking system (dahn). The highest ranked lighteyes was King Elhokar, who ruled over all of the highprinces. Next in line in terms of prestige and power were any lighteyes who were also Shardbearers, with significant overlap into the princedom (i.e. many highprinces are generally Shardbearers as well).

The darkeyes made up the working class. The majority of darkeyes were either farmers or soldiers, both of which were considered to be high Callings in Vorinism, and admirable professions. Many darkeyed soldiers who went to war hoped to defeat a Shardbearer in combat to gain ownership over their Shardblade as it was believed that this would change the color of their eyes and they would become a lighteyes themselves.

War and honor were considered a way of life to the Alethi.

The word Mathana was a formal term for an older sister, and for "aunt" it was Mashala.

Religion

Most of the Alethi were Vorin, followers of the Almighty. The priests of Vorinism were called ardents and were divided into Devotaries. Vorinism had a large impact on the culture of Alethkar. Alethi each chose a profession and an attribute of the Almighty to emulate: a Calling and a Glory. These could be changed during life but it was generally frowned upon culturally. Soulcasting was considered sacred to the Alethi and so only the ardents were permitted to use Soulcasting fabrials.

Princedoms

Alethi Princedoms

Each Princedom is synonymous with the highprince who rules it.

Kholin

In the east of Alethkar

• Kholinar - Capital city of Alethkar
• Shulin

Sadeas

In the north-west of Alethkar

• Hearthstone
• Tomat
• Mourn's Vault

Aladar

In the north of Alethkar

• Dalilak

Roion

In the north-east of Alethkar

• Relanas
• Varikev

Vamah

In the north-west of Alethkar

• Farcoast

Ruthar

In the west of Alethkar

• Kelathar
• Danidan

Thanadal

In the center of Alethkar

• Savalashi
• Davinar
• Rathalas

Hatham

In the west of Alethkar

• Shamel
• Darkhill

Bethab

In the south-west of Alethkar

• Karanak
• Dumadari

Sebarial

In the south of Alethkar

• Rashir

Military

Chain of command
Unit	Soldiers	Typical Commander
subsquad	6–8	sergeant
squad	~25	squadleader
platoon	~50	captain/captainlord
company	~100	companylord
battalion	~1000	battalionlord
division	~2000	general
army	—	highprince
In companies made solely of lighteyes, the rank "lieutenant" is used as the equivalent of sergeant.

The modern Alethi army is one of the strongest military forces on Roshar with well over 100,000 troops and over thirty Shardbearers. The army employs most of its troops as spearmen and archers, as well as a very small amount of cavalry due to the rarity of horses on Roshar; only the officers wield swords because, according to Vorin traditions, the sword is regarded as a lighteyed's weapon. Under most circumstances, military service is voluntary, though the leaders of the army has the right of conscription for darkeyes that do not provide an essential function to a community (e.g. a town's only surgeon) when they feel there is need for additional troops. It is extremely rare for a darkeyed soldier to rise higher than the rank of squadleader. Lighteyed officers that have the command of a branch of the army is usually referred by their duties (e.g. cavalrylord, infantrylord).

Despite Alethkar being a monarchy, the king has very little actual say in how the military is run and does not directly command any force other than the 250-strong King's Guard. The troops are sworn to and led by their individual highprinces. In that sense, Alethkar army is not truly a unified army, but a loose coalition between ten smaller armies. Indeed, even in wartime, there is constant in-fighting between the highprinces' armies, and cooperation between the highprinces themselves is seen as a weakness; this is bolstered by the tenets of Vorinism that say the purpose of life is to prepare in order to join the Heralds in the fight to regain the Tranquiline Halls and Alethi belief that everything is a competition in life.

Because of the immense size of the army and the difficulty of travel, Soulcasting plays a vital role to supply the army with wood, metal, food, and many other necessities, as well as to be used in building fortifications. The king controls most of the Soulcaster ardents; in fact, manipulating the highprinces with his Soulcasters is one of the ways that the king maintains a control over them.

Recently, in an effort to truly unify the kingdom, Dalinar Kholin has been appointed as the Highprince of War by the king. This title was used in Alethkar before being fragmented into ten princedoms when each highprince was given the ultimate authority over one aspect of the governing of the kingdom. On paper, this gives Kholin authority over all war-related activities.

Notable Alethi

For a list of all Alethi characters, see :Category:Alethi.

• House Kholin
• Amaram
• Hesina
• Isasik Shulin
• Kaladin
• Laral
• Moash
• Roshone
• Sadeas
• Sunmaker
• Teft
• Wistiow