Highstorm

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A highstorm is a particularly fierce weather system on the planet of Roshar. They happen every few days and move from east to west, starting at the Origin. In the East of Roshar the highstorms are ferine and rule the land. They continue across the entire continent, though they weaken gradually as they cross, and are mostly broken by the mountains east of Shinovar. A highstorm has three general stages, the leading edge is called the stormwall and is the most dangerous part of the storm, being a wall of water, dust and other debris picked up by the storm, and extremely high winds, the main section of the storm has less debris although the powerful gusts of winds can still pick up large rocks on occasion, as the storm passes by it gradually calms until the trailing edge, called the riddens is simply light rain mixed with occasional relatively mild gusts of wind. At some point during the main part of the storm gemstones left outside, usually in baskets secured to the undersides of roofs, are infused with Stormlight. The Purelake experiences less intense highstorms.

Highstorms have a vast effect on the ecology of Roshar. Many plants, such as rockbuds, close themselves to not be damaged by the intensity of the storm. Much of the landscape has no soil, whereas Shinovar does, presumably because the highstorms cannot blow away the soil in Shinovar. Stormwater is better for plants than regular water. Many cities had protection against the storms. Kholinar has its windblades—large stone formations—and Sesemalex Dar has troughs prevents the city from flooding.

Many curses are related to the highstorms, such as "storm you."

Stormwardens try and predict when highstorms occur, and have become somewhat accurate, though not always. The Stormwardens have negative connotations since predicting the future is culturally associated with Voidbinding.

Vorin mythology claims that each storm is born in the east at the Origin before traveling across Roshar, but modern stormwardens believe there is only one highstorm that travels unendingly around the planet, with the length between the storms decided by the speed they travel during that time of the year.

See Also

• Weepings