Roshar

The setting of The Stormlight Archive.

Regions

Throughout it's history, Roshar has been divided by epochs. Most notable is the Silver Kingdoms Epoch, when the Knights Radiant kept the peace. The Silver Kingdoms are: Iri, Shin Kak Nish, Sela Tales, Aimia, Makabakam, Valhav, Rishir, Alethela, Natanatan, and Thalath.

The current division of countries and regions in Roshar are: Thayenah, Frostlands, Alethkar, Herdaz, Jah Keved, Tu Bayla, Triax, Greater Hexi, Marat, Tukar, Emul, Azir, Yulay, Marabethia, Babatharnam, Desh, Yezier, Alm, Tashikk, Liafor, Steen, Aimia, Shinovar, Iri, and Rira.

Calendar

The Rosharan calendar is divided up into ten months, with ten weeks each. Both the months and the weeks are named after the numbers on the Ars Arcanum, and are sometimes combined into abbreviations. Such abbreviations have the full name of the week and a suffix for the month. For example, the abbreviation Chachanan is the week of Chach in the month of Nan. Each week is five days, so the year in Roshar is estimated at around 500 days, though there may be more or less with the addition of holidays outside the regular calendar and inconsistencies.

The Weeping

In Roshar, seasons change unpredictabley, lasting only a few weeks before changing to something else. The Weeping, however, is consistent. It marks the end of an old year, and the coming of a new one, with four weeks of constant rain. There are no highstorms during the Weeping, except for one right in the middle.

Environment

Roshar's environment has developed in a unique way due to its highstorms. Plants and animals have developed shells and other means of protection against the harsh environment.

Highstorms

Highstorms are super-storm systems which progress through Roshar regularly. They start in a place called the Origin, and travel from east to west across Roshar. The first part of a storm to hit an area is the stormwall, a curtain of wind and rain, a massive wave of water, rock, and debris that is the most dangerous part of the storm. Trailing a highstorm is a period called the riddens, a short time of drizzles and small gusts of wind.

Because of the highstorms, soil has been ripped from the ground, and Rosharan creatures and plants have evolved to live on bare rock instead.

Sometime during a highstorm, spheres and gems are infused with stormlight.

Shinovar

Because of the mountain range that cuts Shinovar off from the rest of Roshar, the country has a unique environment. Shinovar is the only place on Roshar that does not get hit by highstorms, and therefore, it is the only place that has soil. The Shin are able to grow food and raise animals that are more familiar to Earth, such as strawberries and horses.

Heavenly Bodies

Roshar has several notable heavenly bodies, such as the moons. The first moon is Salas. It is violet, and is the smallest moon. The middle moon is Nomon, which is a bright, pale blue. And the final moon is Mishim, which is small and green. There is also Naln's Scar, which is a great swath of red stars that stand out against the white ones.