Iriali
| Iriali | |
|---|---|
| Location | Iri (on Roshar) |
| World of Origin | Unknown |
| Universe | Cosmere |
The Iriali are an ethnicity of people in the cosmere.
Appearance and Anatomy[edit]
The Iriali have metallic golden-blond skin and hair that breeds true.[1][2][3] They mostly have yellow eyes.[4] They have had what most would consider to be inhuman ancestry, depending on what is considered human.[5]
Culture[edit]
The Iriali, while on Roshar, are particular about chastity laws, and dislike public nudity.[1] The men often wear only waist wraps on warmer days. They are also known to paint their skin with colors and patterns. They tend to be less quarrelsome and prudish than the Vorin nations.
Religion[edit]
The Iriali worship a god they call "One". According to this belief, the One knew everything but had experienced nothing. And so the One became Many in order to experience all things. As each experience is different, it brings completeness to the One. Eventually, all will be gathered back in when the sum of land is attained and they will once again become One. Every person is a different mind of a single being experiencing different lives. As Many, they need ignorance. Each fragment of the One’s mind has its own body with different passions and inclinations. They exist in variety to experience all kinds of thought. That means some people must know and others must not. Just like some people must be rich and others poor.[2]
This religion and its philosophy of one becoming many may be slightly influenced by the Shattering of Adonalsium.[6] The philosophy behind the One is that the Spiritual Realm and the Beyond are the same thing and that, when a person dies, their soul goes with their Investiture to the Spiritual Realm. Most cosmere philosophers disagree with this belief.[7]
Language[edit]
They speak a language related to the Riran and Reshi languages.[8]
On Lumar, and likely other planets on their Path, they developed a written script that was written vertically, from top to bottom.[3] While the language is no longer spoken on Lumar after the exodus of the Iriali, it is still known and taught to noblemen.[3]
History[edit]
As part of their worship of One, the Iriali believe that they are part of something they call the "Long Trail," a series of seven Lands which all must be "attained" before they will become One again. The Fourth Land is Roshar,[2] which they arrived on from somewhere besides Ashyn and separately from the rest of humanity.[9][10]
One of the lands after Roshar may have been Scadrial, where there is a population of golden haired "fairy people" according to Maraga Dulcet.[11] However, this is but a mere assumption.
One of the subsequent[fn 1] Lands is Lumar, which they seemingly vanished from overnight about three hundred years before Hoid gained access to AonDor from Riina.[3] Their leaving the system had some kind of connection with the arrival of Xisis around the same time.[12]
Trivia[edit]
Notes[edit]
- Footnotes
- ↑ The Iriali departed Lumar three hundred years prior to the start of Tress of the Emerald Sea, which—given the technology available at the time, Hoid gaining access to AonDor, and Sazed having released the kandra—takes place after at least the first half of The Stormlight Archive. Since the Iriali were also on Roshar for thousands of years prior to the beginning of The Stormlight Archive, the only way the timeline can be arranged is with Lumar coming after Roshar.
- References
- ↑ a b The Way of Kings interlude I-5#
- ↑ a b c Words of Radiance interlude I-2#
- ↑ a b c d Tress of the Emerald Sea chapter 2#
- ↑ Words of Radiance chapter 20#
- ↑ Skyward release party
— Arcanum - 2018-11-06# - ↑ Dawnshard Annotations Reddit Q&A
— Arcanum - 2020-11-15# - ↑ Arcanum Unbounded release party
— Arcanum - 2016-11-22# - ↑ /r/Stormlight_Archive
— Arcanum - 2016-11-29# - ↑ Arcanum Unbounded Chicago signing
— Arcanum - 2016-12-06# - ↑ JordanCon 2018
— Arcanum - 2018-04-22# - ↑ The Lost Metal chapter 32#
- ↑ Tress Spoiler Stream
— Arcanum - 2023-03-31# - ↑ General Reddit 2019
— Arcanum - 2019-05-28#