Oathgate
Oathgate | |
---|---|
World of Origin | Roshar |
Universe | Cosmere |
“ Within a heartbeat, Alezarv was there, crossing a distance that would have taken more than four months to travel by foot. ”
— Among the Darkeyed, page 102[1]
The Oathgates are structures on Roshar that allow people to instantaneously teleport from one location to another.
These fabrials manipulate the Surge of Transportation. Together, they form a network of gateways with Urithiru at its center, allowing for near-instantaneous travel between all corners of the Rosharan continent, including access to the tower-city itself. They can only be operated by someone wielding a living Shardblade, such as a Knight Radiant,[2] or with an Honorblade.[3] They require Stormlight to work, with transportation of more than one person demanding more Stormlight than what the Oathgate can normally hold in its ten gemstone lanterns.[4]
Structure and Operation
Oathgates can be found in many of the oldest cities on Roshar, such as Kholinar and Stormseat.[5] Each of them is composed of a large, perfectly circular platform, with a round control building in its center.[6] The entire Oathgate is typically at a higher altitude than the rest of the city, with a wide ramp leading up to it.[7][8] In some places, the ramp is also accompanied by a staircase, although that could be a latter addition to the structure.[9]
Control building
The inside of the control building is richly decorated in murals both on the walls and the floor. The latter is divided into eleven sections, with the ten major ones each dedicated to one of the Silver Kingdoms. Between the first and tenth segments is a smaller, narrow section representing Urithiru.[10] The wall above has ten gemstone lamps hanging from it, with each lamp being enclosed in a metal lattice. Once they are infused, the floor begins to glow, and swirls of Stormlight start rising above the platform outside.[2][11]
Along with the lamps, on the wall there is a plate of metal, shaped like a ten-pointed star, with a slot in its center. When a Shardblade is inserted, the slot reshapes to fit its particular form.[10] This occurs regardless of whether the Blade is living or dead -- however, only the living blade will activate the keyhole, producing a low, vibrating sound. With a living Blade inside, the keyhole can be moved along with the entire inner wall to align it with one of the eleven floor sections. There, the Radiant removes the Shardblade from the keyhole. With this, the contents of the control chamber, as well as anything on top of the platform, is swapped with the control chamber and the platform of the Oathgate in the desired location.[4] The control building can also be swapped by itself, without transporting the platform.[12]
The existence of eleven lamps in each Oathgate control chamber indicates that it might be possible to transport people directly between any two platforms. However, at the present each Oathgate is tied only to one other, connecting each of the ten ancient cities to Urithiru.[12]
Locking the Oathgate
Each Oathgate can be locked from either side.[13][14] Odium appears to have a way to break this lock, which could be tied to his corruption of Kholinar Oathgate spren.[15]
All but the Stormseat Oathgate have been locked up by the ancient Knights Radiant when they've abandoned the tower city.[16] As such, over the millennia since the Recreance, their purpose has been forgotten. Many of the Oathgate platforms are covered in buildings, such as the Grand Market in Azimir, or the Kholinar Palace in Kholinar.[17][16] Others, like the one in Thaylen City, have been transformed into gardens and other religious or ceremonial structures.[18]
Shadesmar
In Shadesmar, an Oathgate is represented by a flat platform of a material akin to white marble, the size of the control building. When possible -- for example, if the Oathgate is close to the sea shore in the Physical Realm -- the Oathgate is connected with the land by a bridge of matching color.[19] The platform itself is watched over by a pair of enormous spren, both the size of buildings, each wearing a set of armor and holding a spear. One of the spren is white, while the other is shimmering black.[20]
Those two spren enable the Oathgate to function properly, and control who can travel, and where.[20] They can be corrupted by Sja-Anat, although so far, only the Kholinar spren have been compromised in this manner.[21] This does not impact their ability to work with spren of the uncorrupted Oathgates.[15]
In the past, the Oathgates have been capable of transporting people in and out of Shadesmar; however, at some point before his death, Honor forbade the Oathgate spren from performing this service. As such, this function of the Oathgate is currently inaccessible.[20] This being said, the spren corrupted by Sja-Anat are not bound by this, and can transport people into Shadesmar, though it's uncertain if they can bring them back into the Physical Realm.[21]
Location of Oathgates
There are ten Oathgate platforms outside the plain at Urithiru. Each Oathgate transports to a location in each of the ten ancient Silver Kingdoms.
Shattered Plains
The Oathgate in the Shattered Plains is the first Oathgate that was discovered and activated by the Alethi during the Battle of Narak. The Oathgate was originally in the ancient city of Stormseat.[2]
Alethkar
The Alethkar Oathgate is located in the city of Kholinar and is attached to Kholinar Palace by a bridge. The Oathgate platform is covered in building structures.[22] The spren in the Oathgate were corrupted and instead of transporting to Urithiru, it transported to Shadesmar.[21]
Thaylenah
The Thaylenah Oathgate is located in Thaylen City. The Oathgate is located at the top of the hill city and connected by a path to the Royal Ward.
Azir
The Azir Oathgate is located in the city of Azimir. It is in the center of the Grand Market and housed under a bronze dome.[13]
Jah Keved
The Jah Keved Oathgate is located in the city of Vedenar.
Aimia
The Oathgate in Aimia is believed to have been lost during the Scouring of Aimia.
Rall Elorim
The Iri Oathgate is located in the city of Rall Elorim.
Rira
The Oathgate in Rira is located in an unknown location. Jasnah Kholin believes the Oathgate was in the City of Kurth.
Babatharnam
The Oathgate in Babatharnam is located in its capital city of Panatham.
Shinovar
There is believed to be an Oathgate in an unknown location in Shinovar.
Notes
- ↑ The Way of Kings chapter 39 epigraph#
- ↑ a b c Words of Radiance chapter 86#
- ↑ Oathbringer chapter 16#
- ↑ a b Words of Radiance chapter 87#
- ↑ Oathgate Locations
- ↑ Words of Radiance chapter 24#
- ↑ Map of Kholinar
- ↑ Map of Thaylen City
- ↑ Oathbringer chapter 100#
- ↑ a b Words of Radiance chapter 84#
- ↑ Oathbringer chapter 46#
- ↑ a b Oathbringer chapter 58#
- ↑ a b Oathbringer chapter 65#
- ↑ Oathbringer chapter 96#
- ↑ a b Oathbringer chapter 115#
- ↑ a b Words of Radiance chapter 89#
- ↑ Words of Radiance chapter 65#
- ↑ Words of Radiance chapter 58#
- ↑ Oathbringer chapter 112#
- ↑ a b c Oathbringer chapter 116#
- ↑ a b c Oathbringer chapter 87#
- ↑ Oathbringer chapter 78#