Roshar

Roshar
by Isaac Stewart
Shards	Honor, Cultivation, Odium
Perpendicularities	Honor's Perpendicularity, Cultivation's Perpendicularity
Investitures	Surgebinding, Old Magic, Voidbinding
System	Rosharan system
Universe	Cosmere

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This information has the ability to potentially ruin elements of the plot for the reader. Proceed with caution if you have not read this book.

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“It is difficult not to feel very small, at times, on this domineering, majestic tempest of a planet. ”

—Khriss

Roshar is a planet in the cosmere and one of thirteen planets in the Rosharan system. It is also the name of the supercontinent that contains all of the planet's known inhabitants. It is the second planet from the system's sun, orbiting between Ashyn and Braize, and it has three moons. People from Roshar are called Rosharans. The planet is particularly notable due to the activity of several Shards of Adonalsium in the area and the various forms of magic used by its residents, including Surgebinding through the use of Stormlight.

Geography and Ecology

by Isaac Stewart

Map of Roshar

At one point in Roshar's past there were no large landmasses. The supercontinent was designed by Adonalsium, following the shape of a Julia set (a mathematical formula that gives a geometrical pattern when given a seed number). It is the only continent on the planet, though not necessarily the only landmass.

Gravitational acceleration on Roshar is notably lower than usual, at 6.86 m/s², or 70% of the cosmere standard. Though it is still in common ranges. This is due, in part, to the planet's small size; Roshar has a circumference of approximately 22110 miles (35583 km), giving a radius of 3519 miles (5663 km), and comes in just under 90% of the cosmere standard size. These yield a planetary mass of 3.296×10²⁴ kilograms. The main continent lies primarily in the southern hemisphere, spanning from just a few degrees north of the equator to about 55° south of the equator, and extends approximately 120° longitude. It covers roughly 4×10⁷ square kilometers.

Due to having no obliquity, the path and height of the sun is consitent in relation to latitude and longitude, thus one can easily geolocate oneself by the path of the sun.

The partial pressure of oxygen in the atmosphere of Roshar is higher than standard cosmere. There are no oil deposits from mass extinction events on Roshar.

The rainwater in highstorms is laced with a sort of slurry called crem. When crem dries, it hardens into rock. Since the highstorms always sweep from east to west, crem builds up on the eastern side of anything that stays still and isn't regularly cleaned. Over time, the continent is very slowly shifting across the planet as the highstorms cause erosion of the western part and a build up on the eastern part. This rainwater is full of nutrients, and plants given it fare better than those given water from other sources, such as lake or river water. Various cremlings search out and eat plants as they lap up the stormwater.

Climate

With the exception of Shinovar and the occasional well-sheltered lait, all of Roshar is frequently ravaged by powerful highstorms, massive hurricanes travelling from east to west. These storms come frequently and, though they do not appear to follow a simple pattern, stormwardens are able to accurately predict their schedule through complex mathematics. As a result, Shinovar is the only place on Roshar that has soil. A highstorm consists of a high altitude, wide-spread cumulonimbus, scraping the top of Roshar's troposphere; they can be derecho-like storms bringing heavy rain and strong winds.

The one consistent aspect of the Rosharan climate is the Weeping. The Weeping occurs every five hundred days and consists of four weeks of steady crem-free rain. The middle day of those four weeks is known as the Lightday and alternates between being one clear day in the midst of the rain and being a high storm. There are typically fewer highstorms in the weeks leading up to the Weeping. The seasons following the weeping typically have weaker storms, making them good for farming. Due to having zero obliquity, Roshar does not experience true seasons, with them instead simply being defined by current temperature, climate, and storms, unrelated to irradiance. These seasons are relatively random, and are often quite short, usually lasting only a few weeks. They can be roughly predicted by stormwardens. Seasons are primarily defined by changes in the storms. Due to not being caused by axial tilt, they can vary greatly even between relatively nearby nations on the same hemisphere.

Spren

by Sheep

An honorspren in the Physical Realm.

For more information about spren, see Spren.

Among many factors that make Roshar unique among other cosmere worlds is the overabundance of spren. Spren are small pieces of Investiture that have acquired sentience - and, in some cases, sapience - through the influence of Roshar's living creatures. They are a mix of different Shardic Investiture, mainly Honor and Cultivation, and exist mostly in the Cognitive Realm. However, they can and will often become partially visible in the Physical Realm, and some transition there entirely.

Three main groups of spren can be recognized. The nature spren correspond to various natural phenomena, such as windspren or flamespren, which appear in the presence of wind and fire respectively. Emotion spren are attracted to emotions, such as fearspren appearing when one is afraid or gloryspren for people who feel intense pride. However, a natural phenomenon or an emotion will not necessarily summon a spren, as they may not be present in the physical place's Cognitive equivalent.

The third group of spren are so-called true spren. Those spren are all sentient, and have an organized society in the Cognitive Realm. They transition to the Physical Realm only when searching for a prospective Knight Radiant to bond, as the shift robs them of most of their higher functions, which they reclaim through forming a Nahel bond. The Radiant spren seem to represent higher concepts, such as honor for the honorspren or truth and lies for Cryptics. This being said, only some true spren are Radiant spren.

In addition to those, there is a number of unique spren who are far more powerful than others. Among those is the Nightwatcher, who can grant boons and curses; the Stormfather, who controls the highstorms; the Sibling, who controls the tower-city of Urithiru; and Cusicesh, whose exact nature is currently unclear.

Ecology

For a list of Rosharan flora and fauna, see :Category:Rosharan lifeforms.

The shape and form of Rosharan ecology is influenced by four major factors: lower gravity, higher oxygen content, highstorms and spren. The higher oxygen content and the lower gravity permit the existence of megafauna comparable only to the largest sandlings on Taldain, while several species of animals are capable of forming spren bonds, further augmenting their capabilities. However, the most visually notable feature of Rosharan ecology is the way vast majority of them adapted to highstorms. Multiple species of both flora and fauna have developed shells to protect themselves from extreme weather, withdrawing into them whenever any danger approaches.

Several species are noted as having body parts made of stone, such as the bark of dalewillow or hooves of Ryshadiums. As stone doesn't grow naturally, three possibilities must be considered:

• The substance is actually stone, somehow either grown or gathered by the creatures,
• The substance is organic, but highly similar in appearance to stone,
• The substance is hardened crem, deliberately cultivated by those creatures.

Flora

Rosharan flora had to adapt to several conditions not found on Earth or Earth-like worlds, such as the severe weather and scarcity of soil.

by Ben McSweeney

In highstorm-heavy regions, laits like this are the oases of plant life.

The largest family of plants on Roshar are the rockbuds. They are characterized by having a thick outer shell from which they take their name, and tendrils, which retract into the shell upon detecting danger. The Rosharan grass, which acts in this way, is likely another subspecies of rockbud, albeit close enough in appearance to Shin grass to retain the name. Similar mechanism has been developed by vinebuds, which grow from a sturdy, yet elastic stem and, rather than spreading their tendrils along the ground, waft them in the air, akin to anemones. Rocklily leaves are an essential component of the diet of chull larvae.

Further to the east, where the highstorms are the strongest, even such measures are not enough. There, plants grow mostly in sheltered areas, such as the chasms and laits, while remaining sparse in the open air. More fragile flora, such as vines and weeds, grow and flourish in such terrain, though some, like knobweed, seem to prefer flatlands, utilizing highstorms deliberately to spread.

Contrarily, in the west where highstorms are weakened by the mountain ranges, plants are much less sensitive to stimulation and retract their leaves more slowly.

Roshar does have larger flora. Some trees, including the aforementioned dalewillow, have trunks made of stone while others, such as the jella, augment their wooden bark by accumulating crem. Like rockbuds, they withdraw their fronds into the trunks when sensing danger. There are also species such as makam and cobwood, which appear to be sturdy enough to sustain highstorms without added protection.\

Rosharan grass is known to move away from disruptions or vibrations, often fully retracting to protect itself.^{[citation needed]} It is type of shallowly burrowed seed pod that has enough room to hold moisture and contain the coiled up leaf. They at most grow to around three feet tall. Seeds emerge from the leaf tip to either be consumed and redeposited as faeces, or carried and redesposited by the wind.

Human uses

Some species of native Rosharan flora are edible for humans. This includes a number of fruits as well as a rice-like plant called tallew, and lavis, a type of rockbud that produces grain. Tallew, lavis, and longroot appear to be the major ingredients of Rosharan diet, with massive farmlands devoted to them throughout the continent. In the West, the same niche appears to be filled by clema.

Additionally, there exist a number of plants with known healing properties. This includes antiseptics, such as the sap of knobweed and fourleaf, as well as lister's oil; treatments for specific diseases, such as bitterleaf for epilepsy and bloodivy for the grindings; anesthetics like winterwort and firemoss; and other, more specific medicines, such as denocax, which encourages skin healing.

By contrast, several species of plant are noted to have detrimental effect on humans. Firemoss is known to be highly addictive, and blackbane's leaves, once dried, are extremely poisonous. Eating shells of rockbuds is similarly known to be unhealthy, although the Unkalaki are capable of eating them without problems, likely thanks to their singer ancestry. While not all plants are edible, some, like breachtree and narbin, are grown to make fabrics.

by Ben McSweeney

A Chasmfiend, with gleaming mandras surrounding it. They allow the greatshell to exist despite its enormous size.

Fauna

Roshar contains a wide variety of fauna, most of which appears to be shelled. While most creatures are native to the world, some have been introduced into Roshar during human exodus from Ashyn, among them mammals and birds.

Like Rosharan flora, the animals of Roshar have also adapted to their unusual circumstances. Several species, including the largest, grow massive shells which can protect them from highstorms. Others hide in dens or, in case of small sarpenthyn, ooze between the cracks in the rock.

Spren symbiosis

Multiple native species, as well as at least one imported animal, have formed symbiotic relationships with spren. This appears to be faciliated by gemhearts, crystals that grow naturally within the bodies of those creatures.

• Larger animals on Roshar utilize bonds with mandras, or luckspren, to decrease the pull of gravity on them, allowing creatures such as chasmfiends to exist without collapsing upon themselves. In the case of skyeels, the same bond, coupled with smaller size, permits them to fly.
• The native sentient species, the Singers, bond with a variety of spren to attain a number of forms, which alter their mental state, biological functions and appearance. While bonded, the spren remain within the gemheart.
• Ryshadium bond with what appears to be musicspren, attaining higher intelligence and physical strength. It is, however, unclear so far whether or not they have gemhearts.
• The fish in the Purelake gain various medicinal benefits through spren bonds.

Non-shelled animals

Mammals dwell mostly in Shinovar, though a few species have been successfully exported east. Those include horses, which are widely used as far east as Alethkar, and hogs, which are the primary source of non-Soulcast meat. While most mammals are domesticated, hogs, as well as minks and rats, can be found in the wild. Several species of birds are known to exist, although they are all known as "chickens" among Rosharans. This includes actual chickens as well as more colorful birds, such as parrots. In contrast to mammals, they do not seem to do well in the wild, as all examples observed so far are domesticated. Amphibians, such as the lurg can also be found, as well as wide variety of fish, including both fresh- and seawater ones. Cephalopods also exist, albeit with unusual properties - zatalef, for example, is described as bat-like, implying the ability to fly. A category without a clear Earth analogue are sarpenthyn, which appear to be similar to both mollusks and cephalopods, albeit without shells and with smaller number of arms.

Shelled animals

The largest known group of animals on Roshar are crustaceans. Those can be of various sizes, from finger-long to four-stories-high. They are all noted as having violet blood and multiple stages of life, with the initial stage being called a larva and the process of switching between stages called pupation. The creation of shells is aided by the presence of crem in the rain, which the creatures can process into minerals.

One of the largest crustacean family are cremlings, a group of tiny, multi-legged scavengers preying mostly on deceased animals, although they will also feed on uncovered plants after highstorms. Cremlings come in variety of colors, with different features, numbers of legs, and behaviours. While most are individuals, some are part of the Sleepless swarms, and as such share a sentient hivemind. The Sleepless cremlings are bred for particular purposes, such as imitating human body parts.

by Ashley Coad

A Santhid. Roshar's greatest creatures are far larger than humans.

Other than the cremlings, Roshar also features a number of larger crustaceans that are nonetheless smaller than humans. This group includes predatory species, such as the axehound, herbivores like axehind, and near-cremling sized creatures like leggers and larkin, as well as species that can be found on Earth, like crabs. The larkin in particular are unusual for their flight, as well as the ability to pull Stormlight out of other creatures and absorb it.

The largest family of animals on Roshar are known as greatshells, which exist both on land and in the seas. All greatshells possess gemhearts and utilize them to attract mandras to decrease their own weight. The land greatshells include domesticated herbivores known as chulls and two large predatory species, the chasmfiend and the extinct lanceryn. The marine greatshells include the yu-nerig, which comes on land to pupate and is known to feed on humans, and the Tai-na, the largest animals known to inhabit the cosmere. Their legs are said to be sixty feet long, while the body itself stretches hundreds of feet tall. The back of Tai-na, which sticks out above water, is an ecosystem of its own, inhabited by multiple species of plants and animals, as well as humans.

The santhid, a massive marine species with large shell and a number of tendrils, might be considered a greatshell, and houses its own ecosystem, much like the Tai-na; however, as they were considered half-mythical until very recently, it's impossible to state so with any certainty.

Domestication

Large number of domesticated creatures on Roshar are the imports from Ashyn. All forms of birds are domesticated; some for food, while others as pets. Hogs are kept for meat, minks, like birds, are pets, while horses are common riding mounts. Of the local wildlife, axehounds are often kept and bred, similar to dogs, while chulls are the primary mount for hauling cargo or for riders who cannot afford to keep a horse. Another greatshell species called a gumfrem is kept for its gemhearts, which can be used to Soulcast meat.

Sapience

Due to the presence of the Shard Cultivation, the creatures on Roshar have higher chance of developing sapience. So far, behaviour indicating sapience has been observed with three species, Ryshadium horses, Tai-na and santhidyn, all of which appear to have above average understanding of humans.

Separately from this, Roshar is known to have developed two independent sapient species: Siah Aimians and Singers. Both of them are humanoid, and capable of breeding with humans. Roshar's other sentient species are humans, who immigrated there from Ashyn, the Iriali, who have since fully integrated with the population of the planet, and the Sleepless (known also as Dysian Aimians), who may not be native to the planet.

History

For a list of Rosharan events and eras, see :Category:Rosharan events .

Pre-Desolation Roshar

Creation and Early Inhabitants

The planet of Roshar predates the Shattering. It had likely existed for about 12 to 13 thousand years by the time of the True Desolation. The continent was specifically grown by Adonalsium. Much of the ecology of the planet existed from this time, including the highstorms and the spren. People lived on Roshar prior to the Shattering. The singers were the primary inhabitants of Roshar at this time and are likely the Dawnsingers spoken of in modern times. At some point after the Shattering, Honor and Cultivation settled on Roshar. They were equally Invested in the planet originally, though the balance shifted after Honor's death.

The Expulsion and Early Interactions

Main article: Expulsion

“They came from another world, using powers that we have been forbidden to touch. Dangerous powers, of spren and Surges. They destroyed their lands and have come to us begging ”

—From the Eila Stele

Humans fled to Roshar from Ashyn, another planet in the Rosharan system. They had destroyed the planet using what Honor implied to be the Dawnshards. Honor and Cultivation commanded the singers to take the humans in despite the forbidden powers they had relating to spren and Surges, and they were given Shinovar to live in since Shinovar could support the plants and animals they brought. With the humans came Odium. The humans, possibly with Odium's influence, grew dissatisfied with what they were given. The conflict between the invading humans and the singers living on Roshar became the First Desolation.

by Greg Call

A Vorin perspective on the history of mankind by Greg Call

The Heraldic Epochs

The Desolations

Main article: Desolations

The Desolations were conflicts between mankind and Voidbringers. The first Desolation occurred when humans invaded Roshar from the land they were given. Some of the singers were infused with Odium's Investiture and became the Fused. The Fused did not pass into the Beyond and were instead reborn into the bodies of singers.

To combat this, the Heralds made a deal with Honor called the Oathpact. This deal sealed away the Fused on Braize. However, there was a loophole. The Heralds could choose to allow the Fused to return to Roshar, so they were caught on Braize and tortured. The return of Heralds and Fused and the conflict that occurred became known as the Desolations. The spren started to mimic the herald's Honorblades and the Knights Radiant were formed. They helped to fight and rebuild society after a Desolation.

Time during this period was separated into several-century long Epochs, which are further separated into years. The exact method for defining when a Desolation starts or ends is currently unknown. One Desolation began to show signs of occurring in the Eighth Epoch, year 337, when a small village in Natanatan was attacked by the Midnight Essence.

The Last Legion

See also: Listeners

At some point during the Desolations, a group of singers known as the Last Legion were sent to fight in the farthest plains, most likely the ruins of Natanatan on the Shattered Plains. They followed the commands of the Fused and took whatever forms were forced upon them. Seeking freedom, they fled during a highstorm and took on dullform to escape the Fused's control. In order to avoid forgetting their knowledge, they composed songs, including Song of Listing, Song of Secrets and Song of Histories. They didn't, however, know how to transform into any forms except dullform and mateform by themselves. They planned to remain living as tribes and refugees, unnoticed and forgotten, as they studied and rediscovered the forms. Although it is not known exactly when this happened, it must have been prior to the Last Desolation as the Fused remained trapped on Braize from then until the True Desolation.

The Last Desolation

Main article: Last Desolation

by Petar Penev

The Last Desolation

“A...a decision has been made. It is time for the Oathpact to end. ”

—Jezrien's words to Kalak

At the end of the Last Desolation, nine of the ten Heralds had survived the fighting. As usual, they were supposed to return to Braize to hold back the Fused. However, knowing they could not face more torture, they came up with an alternative plan. Taln, the only Herald never to have broken during the millennia of Desolations and the only Herald who had died that time, would remain on Braize by himself. They had been warned that lingering on Roshar could lead to the start of another Desolation, but Ishar claimed that Taln by himself would be enough to hold back the Desolations and maintain the Oathpact. Rather than tell mankind the truth, the Heralds proclaimed that they had finally won the war against the Voidbringers. This deception lasted for four thousand five hundred years, until Taln finally returned from Braize to Roshar by mechanics which are as yet unclear.

The Era of Solitude

“The Voidbringers were cast back into the Tranquiline Halls. The Heralds followed to force them out of heaven as well, and Roshar's Heraldic Epochs ended. Mankind entered the Era of Solitude. The modern era. ”

—Kabsal to Shallan

The False Desolation

Main article: False Desolation

“Something must be done about the remnants of Odium’s forces. The parsh, as they are now called, continue their war with zeal, even without their masters from Damnation.”

—Drawer 30-20, first emerald

The False Desolation began when Ba-Ado-Mishram learned how to Connect with the majority of the singers, giving them forms of power and access to Voidlight. The Radiants, unaware of how she did this, sought a way to end the fighting for good, as the Heralds had promised them. The fighting became particularly intense at this time, as the singers made a push towards Feverstone Keep, possibly as part of a plan to capture Rall Elorim.

Working together, the scholars among the Radiants theorized that an Unmade could be imprisoned like a regular spren. That devised a plan to trap Ba-Ado-Mishram and prevent her from Connecting with the singers and providing them with Voidlight. This plan would require Melishi, the only Bondsmith of his generation, and a special prison, likely a perfect gemstone. Although Melishi was confident the plan would succeed in destroying the Voidbringers, Naze-daughter-Kuzodo warned of unintended side effects. Although the plan seems to have succeeded, as Ba-Ado-Mishram has not been seen in modern times unlike other Unmade, Naze-daughter-Kuzodo's warning was correct. Because she had been Connected to all the singers, their Connection and Identity was torn out of them, creating slaveform or parshmen. The Radiants' horror for what happened likely contributed to the Recreance.

The Recreance

Main article: Day of Recreance

During the lead up to the Day of Recreance, many events occurred which demoralized the Knights Radiant. The Sibling, for some unknown reason, withdrew from Urithiru and forced the Knights to abandon their ancestral home. Many Radiants blamed this on a perceived unworthiness, including increased conflicts between the Windrunners and Skybreakers, but scholars of the time disagreed. This concern extended to potential infiltration by Unmade. While this was occurring, the False Desolation was coming to a close. The presumed success in imprisoning Ba-Ado-Mishram leading to the singers having their Connection and Identity ripped out of them likely influenced the Radiants. In the midst of this turmoil, the Radiants discovered the truth about the origins of humans on Roshar. The singers had been the original inhabitants of Roshar. The humans came as refugees from their homeworld, which they had destroyed with surges. After being taken in by the singers and given Shinovar, they invaded Roshar and started the Desolations. While Honor had comforted previous generations who learned this, this time he was dying. He raved about the Dawnshards and promised the Radiants they would destroy Roshar like they had their homeworld.

As a result of these revelations, the nine of the ten orders decided to abandon their oaths, and in agreement with their spren, kill them. They believed that this would prevent the destruction of Roshar Honor warned them about. At the locations they left their Plate and Blades, men quickly began fighting over the weapons, leading to much death and destruction. The Radiants, other than the Skybreakers, were quickly turned on and killed because of the sense of betrayal felt. Society for both spren and humans drastically changed in the aftermath. Those with Shardblades quickly consolidated their power, including using Arts and Majesty to justify women not wielding them. It is likely that this is when lighteyes truly came to power. The genocide decimated the populations of spren societies. Most of the survivors were children forced to spend centuries without nurture or guidance. Some societies took two thousand years to fully recover.

The Scouring of Aimia

Main article: Scouring of Aimia

What exactly occurred during the Scouring of Aimia is unknown but it appears that the vast majority of Aimia's ecosystem collapsed, leading to the extinction of the lanceryn and the near extinction of the larkin. Most creatures there are quite rare since the scouring. The island of Akinah, however, was not destroyed and is still protected from outsiders by the Sleepless. Hessi indicates in Mythica that Dai-Gonarthis may have been responsible for the scouring.

The Hierocracy and the War of Loss

Main articles: Hierocracy and War of Loss

The Hierocracy began when the Vorin Church decided to conquer the world and run the government rather than just provide spiritual guidance. They claimed their conquering was for the good of the people. Some of the most powerful ardents claimed to have visions from the Almighty, which they used to solidify their rule and obfuscate their religion. One of their main goals was to destroy knowledge of the failures of Vorinism, including Shadesmar, the Knights Radiant, and the Recreance. They were primarily successful, as even the major libraries on Roshar are missing this information. Before the Hierocracy could spread to the west, Sadees, the Sunmaker, united the princedoms of Alethkar to drive out the Hierocracy. They fought in many epic battles the likes of which have not been seen since in what came to be known as the War of Loss. The Sunmaker successfully cast down the Hierocracy and stated the visions were a fraud.

Sadees's win in the War of Loss affected much of eastern Roshar. Sadees declared himself king of Alethkar and began a conquest of Roshar. Although the extent of his empire is not exactly known, Herdaz and Azir were both included. He committed genocide in Azir and killed ten percent of the population. His empire quickly collapsed after his death, however, as he did not choose an heir, and his ten sons divided the kingdom into princedoms and became highprinces. The effects of the Hierocracy on Vorinism can still be felt in the modern time. The central leadership of the church was destroyed and split into mostly independent Devotaries. The ardents became slaves who could not own land or property. Their revisions to historical texts also perpetuate, and it is difficult to find information about pre-Hierocracy history or the Knights Radiant.

Reunification of Alethkar

^[expand] In the year 1158, House Kholin, led by Gavilar Kholin, led a war in order to reunify Alethkar like Sadees did before him. This conquest was successful, subjugating all ten Alethi princedoms under a singular crown for the first time since the times of the Sunmaker.

Singer-Human Relations

^[expand]

Assassination of Gavilar Kholin

For more information, see Assassination of Gavilar.

In 1167, during the signing celebration of the Alethi-Listener treaty, Gavilar revealed his plans to return the Fused to Roshar to Eshonai. This led her to warning the Five. Together, the Five decided that he had to be killed before he could go through with his plans. Coming to this decision, they sent Szeth as an assassin, and successfully killed the king.

This assassination was traced back to the Listeners, as three Listeners remained to take credit for ordering the assassination, leading to Elhokar Kholin and the Ten Highprinces to declare war upon them in the Vengeance Pact, beginning the War of Reckoning.

The Eighties War

For more information, see Eighty's War.

Meanwhile, in the Makabakam region, Emul and Tukar began to engage in a protracted war over ownership of the Dawncity of Sesemalex Dar. The Emul had the city situated as their capital, and claimed it was their ancestral homeland, granted to them by the Heralds themselves. On the other side, the Tukari, led by the Herald Ishar, also claimed rightful ownership of the city for unknown reasons.

This conflict was not something new, with various wars over Sesemalex Dar occurring over the history of the two nations, with the Eighty's War only being the most recent iteration of these conflicts.

The War of Reckoning

For more information, see War of Reckoning.

^[expand]

The True Desolation

On Ishishach 1173, during the Battle of Narak, the Everstorm was summoned by Odium and a collection of Listeners. This brought an end to the Era of Solitude, and brought forth the True Desolation. Following the True Desolation, the Alethi side of the Battle of Narak came across an oathgate leading to Urithiru, which they promptly occupied as their base of operations.

Battle of Thaylen Field

For more information, see Battle of Thaylen Field.

^[expand]

At the end of the battle, the Unmade Nergaoul was sealed away in the King's Drop. The Unmade was studied for a period following his being sealed away, but he was eventually locked in an aluminum box and hidden away at the bottom of the ocean to keep him out of enemy hands.

Expedition to Aimia

For more information, see Expedition to Akinah.

^[expand]

Singer Occupation of Urithiru

^[expand]

During the Occupation, Navani and Raboniel worked together to discover Anti-Voidlight, through which they were able to bring permanent death to the Fused. Following this discover, Raboniel was able to discover Anti-Stormlight, to be used as a weapon against Spren and the Knights Radiant.

Expedition to Emul and Ascension of Taravangian

^[expand]

Taravangian was assassinated by Szeth while being met by Odium. On his transition to the Cognitive Realm, he managed to kill Odium's Vessel with the Cognitive Aspect of Nightblood, and took the Shard for himself. Thus, he ascended as the new Vessel of Odium.

Contest of Champions

The Contest of Champions between Odium and Dalinar, wherein the fate of Roshar and the Oathpact was to be decided, was planned to occur on Palahanah 1175.

Post-Contest

Even several years after the Contest of Champions, in 348 PC in the Scadrian reckoning, travel to and from Roshar was still considered extremely dangerous. This made interplanetary trade infeasible.

Culture and Society

For a list of Rosharan cultural topics, see :Category:Rosharan culture.

Nations

Roshar's population categorizes their history into a number of epochs. Most notable is the Silver Kingdoms Epoch, or the Heraldic Epoch, when the Knights Radiant kept the peace. They protected Roshar from their home, the great city of Urithiru. The ten Silver Kingdoms are:

• Iri
• Shin Kak Nish
• Sela Tales
• Aimia
• Makabakam
• Valhav
• Rishir
• Alethela
• Natanatan
• Thalath

Various nations rose and fall over Rosharan history, outside of the Silver Kingdoms, and thus no longer stand in the modern day:

• Bayala
• Eiliz
• Revv
• Sur
• Tarma
• Akak

In the the modern era, the Era of Solitude, the current division of thirty-two known countries and regions in Roshar are:

• Thaylenah
• Frostlands
• Alethkar
• Herdaz
• Jah Keved
• Tu Bayla
• Triax
• Tu Fallia
• Greater Hexi
• Marat
• Tukar
• Emul
• Azir
• Yulay
• Marabethia
• Babatharnam
• Desh
• Yezier
• Alm
• Tashikk
• Liafor
• Steen
• Aimia
• Shinovar
• Iri
• Rira
• Kharbranth
• Kadrix
• Quili
• Abri
• Arak
• Sumi

Calendar

The Vorin calendar is divided up into ten months, with ten weeks each. Both the months and the weeks are named after the Vorin numerals (which, in turn, are derived from the names of the Heralds), and are sometimes combined into abbreviations. Such abbreviations have the full name of the month and two suffixes, for week and day. As an example Chachel means it's the third day of the week. Interestingly, Kaladin, who gets paid once a week, refers to payday as "third pass". Presumably, this means that another way to talk about days of the week is by saying first, second, third, fourth or fifth pass.

Each week is made up of five days, with a month being made of ten weeks or fifty days, and a year on Roshar is 500 days long, ultimately defined by the time between two Weepings.

Although the Rosharan year is 500 days long, these days are shorter than usual, coming in at 20 Rosharan hours, which are themselves cut down into 50 Rosharan minutes. Consequently, a Rosharan year is only 10% longer than the cosmere standard.

Other cultures across Roshar have different calendars, which consequently leads to differences in recorded year between nations and cultures. One culture known to make use of a different calendar are the Unkalaki. The Tukari and Emuli, and potentially the Azish in general, in which whose reckoning deems the period from Vorin year 1167 and 1174 to be in the eighties of an unclear century and millennium.

Abbreviation Examples

Abbreviation	Month	Week	Day
Chachanan	Chach	Nan	Nan
Jesachev	Jes	Chach	Vev
Kaktach	Kak	Tanat	Chach

Currency

Main Article: Spheres

The primary form of currency found on Roshar are spheres, pieces of gemstone encased in a sphere of glass with one side flattened to prevent rolling. The gemstones can be any of the ten Polestones and there are three denominations: chip, mark, and broam. The ten gemstones are organized into five value levels with some gem types having equivalent values. These value levels are determined by Soulcasting properties, so unlike on Earth, diamonds, which can create quartz, crystal, and glass, have the lowest value, and emeralds, which can create grain, have the highest. Spheres, like all gems on Roshar, have the ability to hold and leak Stormlight. Spheres with light are referred to as infused and those without are referred to as dun. Although dun spheres can be used as currency, people are suspicious of them because light is the easiest way to determine a sphere is real.

Because of their ability to hold Stormlight, spheres are commonly used on Roshar as a source of light. The light from spheres is considered to be steadier and more consistent than traditional light sources such as candles. It can be expensive, however, as spheres are also used for currency, so the use of spheres as a source of light is often a sign of wealth. Diamonds are considered the best light source because it is both the cheapest and the closest to natural light.

The denomination of spheres in eastern Roshar is weaker than in the west, with some people drilling holes in spheres to carry them on strings or using chunks of gemstone instead.

Food and Drink

A wide variety of alcoholic drinks can be found on Roshar.

Wines

by Miranda Meeks

Types of Rosharan wine

Unlike Earth wines, on Roshar the term refers to a number of alcoholic drinks, only a small subset of which are made of fermented fruit. The use of the term "wine" is the result of linguistic shift, much in the same way that all birds became chickens and all small crustaceans became cremlings. The alcohols that fall under the term "wine" are categorized by strength and color, with different colors denoting different alcohol content. Additionally, the stronger "wines" are actually distilled spirits.

In order from weakest to strongest, those are:

• Pink, which typically has a distinct floral taste. It's said to assist alertness. This wine is actually a juice and has no alcoholic content.
• Orange, fruity and with notes of ginger, although apparently it's not made of fruit.
• Yellow, which has a deep, "bold" taste while being weak enough to drink casually.
• Auburn, spicy and with a tasty aroma - this could be closest to Earth's red wine, as it's made of fermented fruit.
• Red, said to be "flavourful with a pleasant burn".
• Sapphire, with a taste of nuts and honey, made of lavis grain. It's usually infused, and the closest equivalent to Earth whiskey.
• Blue, tasting of berry and lemon.
• Violet, the strongest, typically with an aroma of sandalwood.

Within those colors, a number of different wines exist - for example, among the sapphire varieties are kimik, vari and Veden saph. While generally the wine colors are standardized, they gain their color by intentional colored infusions, and are occasionally made without them.

Other Beverages

by Yen Shu Liao

Rosharan drinks

Apart from wines, Roshar has a number of other alcoholic drinks. Among those is beer, of which the most popular variety appears to be mudbeer, often drunk to warm up. Another drink is a liquor called honu, which comes in several varieties that differ in strength. Both beer and honu are made from lavis grain.

The Unkalaki people have a number of their own alcoholic beverages. This includes a brownish drink called shiki, which has to be chilled overnight, and the infamous Horneater lager, which is far stronger than regular beers, with one bartender claiming it melts their cups. Strongest among the Horneater beverages is the Horneater white. A clear, distilled moonshine, it is the strongest known alcohol on Roshar (with the possible exception of some violet wines). It is known to strip paint, and can apparently be deadly to non-Unkalaki. It is comparable to Everclear.

Other, unspecified alcohols drank across Roshar include a variety of ciders, juices and lagers.

Drinking Culture

Vorin parties typically involve wine of the weakest colors, watered down to prevent the participants from getting drunk too quickly. Sapphire appears to be the strongest color imbibed casually, and the phrase "to be in (someone)'s violets" refers to a person being heavily, perhaps dangerously drunk.

Beer and mudbeer are typical casual drinks, commonly served in taverns. Among Unkalaki, mudbeer is also used for duels - the winner is decided by who can drink the most without passing out.

Like most processes on Roshar, the act of drinking has its own dedicated spren. Winespren, or alespren, appear near people who are heavily intoxicated, taking form of small bubbles clinging to nearby objects. They are considered quite rare or even nonexistent, as they require a person to be deeply drunk before they appear, which can also lead to the assumption that an alespren sighting was simply a drunken hallucination; however, both Axies and Nazh attest to their existence.

Languages

The languages on Roshar can be grouped into five main language families. The Vorin language family primarily contains languages spoken in the east. Alethi, Veden, and Herdazian are the most closely related, with Thaylen a bit more distant. Natan, another Vorin language, is nearly dead. This family does include some minor languages like Bav. Kharbranthian is not considered its own language and is instead a dialect.

The next language family, Makabaki, contains around thirty languages, most of which are split off from Azish.

The Iri language family contains Iriali, Riran, Reshi, Selay and various Purelake dialects, and other surrounding languages.

The Dawnate language family are languages with roots in the Dawnchant. These include Shin, Listener, and Unkalaki. They share similar grammar, but the vocabulary is quite different.

The Aimian language family has two very different languages that get lumped together. Presumably the two languages are related to the Siah and Dysian Aimians.

Spren in Shadesmar speak their own languages, of which we have little information on.

Features

Rosharan phrases and curses often have distinct connotations specific to Roshar, such as mentioning Stormfather or storms in some way. Alethi and other Vorin cultures are also likely to use Almighty or Heralds in their phrases, while Singer / Listener phrases would often use rhythms or tones.

Singer Society

For more information about the Singers, see Singer.

Though once the planet's dominant species, in the Era of Solitude, the singers have been subdued by humans. The majority of their species are parshmen, singers whose Identity and Connection have been stripped from them by the capture of Ba-Ado-Mishram, rendering them mostly docile and wordlessly obedient. The singer culture of old has only been preserved by the Last Legion, or listeners, on the Shattered Plains - the last enclave of non-parshmen singers on Roshar - and the Fused, spirits of long-dead singers, on Braize.

Among the listeners, the Fused are considered gods - however, they are highly dangerous to interact with, and the listeners fled to what became the Shattered Plains to escape their influence. In the present day, but prior to the Everstorm, they were ruled by the Five, a council composed of representatives of each form the listeners could assume. History and knowledge are passed down among them mostly in form of songs, set to the Rhythms that all singers can attune to.

Following the Everstorm, the previously lost Identity and Connection were restored to the parshmen, returning them to full sentience. The listeners, on the other hand, were all but decimated, first by the storm and then by becoming possessed by the Fused, with only a small group escaping west. The current singer culture, such as it is, is mostly based around following the word of the Fused like gospel; however, the former parshmen retain some of the culture of their states of origin - for example, in Azir they attempted to sue the government for backpay, while in Thaylenah, they took to the sea.

by Isaac Stewart

A map showing some of the spren cities in Shadesmar.

Spren Society

Within Shadesmar, the sentient spren have their own countries. Among those is a honorspren state, with its capital in the city of Lasting Integrity and a number of strongholds, as well as a Highspren country, and a city-state of the Cryptics. There are also free cities, such as Celebrant, where various spren intermingle. This includes cultivationspren, which, though ruled by a council called the Ring, do not have holdings of their own. However, even the "ethnic" spren states do not appear to be strictly isolationist - for example, honorspren military ships are partially crewed by mistspren.

As the inversion of the Physical Realm and its supercontinent, Shadesmar is mostly composed of the sea of beads, with a number of narrow peninsulas and islands corresponding to Physical rivers and lakes. As such, travel is done mostly by boat. Merchant and military ships, pulled by teams of harnessed mandras, traverse the vast spaces between the cities, ferrying goods, news and travellers. Trade with lands outside of Roshar isn't unusual - in Celebrant, one may buy canned food (presumably from Scadrial or some worldhopper settlement) and Nalthian artwork. The price of various items is largely based on their permanence in the Cognitive Realm, with the most persistent objects selling for thousands of broams.

The relationship between various spren kinds appears to have its own share of political turmoil. Several years prior to the Everstorm, the honorspren tried and failed to conquer the rest of Shadesmar, making the other spren unfriendly towards them. By contrast, Cryptics are generally understood to be unwilling to expand beyond their city; however, they are also widely considered to be uncomfortable company.

After the events of the Recreance, spren have mixed opinions of humans. Reachers, inkspren, and older honorspren are generally opposed to any attempt to restore contact, while cultivationspren, Cryptics, and younger honorspren are supportive of new Nahel bonds, albeit cautiously so.

Secret Organizations

There are many secret organizations on Roshar, potentially nine. These include worldhopping organizations with a strong presence on Roshar, such as the Ghostbloods, the Ire, the Seventeenth Shard, and the Sleepless; as well as strictly Rosharan organizations such as the Skybreakers, the Sons of Honor, the Diagram, and the Envisagers.

The Ire are a Selish group with unknown motivations, although they sell things on Roshar. The Ghostbloods are a group led by Thaidakar who are trying to establish an Investiture monopoly by using the Oathgates and Stormlight. The Seventeeth Shard is an anti-interventionist worldhopping organization. Meanwhile, the Sleepless on Roshar are focused on protecting the Dawnshard underneath Akinah.

As for the Rosharan organizations, most of them have goals that in some way relate to Surgebinders and/or the True Desolation. For example, the Sons of Honor want to start the True Desolation to bring back the Heralds, while their splinter group the Envisagers want to bring back Surgebinders. Counter to that, the Skybreakers want to kill the Radiants in order to stop the True Desolation. The Diagram focuses on saving people from what they see as the inevitable True Desolation.

Prejudices

Rosharans would be distrustful of albinos, partially due to their reddish eyes.

Planetary System

by Isaac Stewart

Roshar and its surrounding celestial bodies

For more information, see Rosharan system.

Roshar is the second planet from its sun. It has several notable heavenly bodies, including three moons. The first and smallest moon is violet Salas. The middle moon is Nomon, which is a bright, pale blue. The final moon is Mishim, which is smaller than Nomon and green. The Shin refer to the moons as the Three Sisters, and call each moon by its order, with Salas being the First Sister, Nomon the Second Sister and Mishim the Third Sister, while in Natanatan, Nomon is considered to be male. The singers call Nomon Honor's Moon. All three moons rise and fall in the same order every night and have highly unstable orbits on an astronomical timescale, suggesting they were placed artificially. They complete two orbits per day. These moons are relatively small, comparable to Phobos (about 11 kilometers in radius). They orbit relatively close to the surface, and during the night they come closer than their geosynchronous orbit altitude.

Other notable features of Rosharan sky are Taln's Scar and Reya's Tear. The Scar is a great swath of red stars that stand out against the white ones. It is important in Rosharan astrology, particularly its position on one's seventh birthday. The Tear is a particularly bright star, named after a single tear shed by a woman named Reya from Rosharan mythology.

There are two other telluric planets in the Rosharan system: Braize and Ashyn. Both of them are currently inhabited. The remaining celestial bodies in the system are ten gas giants, named after Vorin numerals, which are separated from the telluric planets by an asteroid belt.

Trivia

• Although the word "dozen" is often used in the The Stormlight Archive, Rosharans actually would say tens instead and Brandon just translated "tens" into "dozens" to make the book easier to read.
• There is no chocolate on Roshar.
• Roshar is of interest to several powers in the cosmere, as it is a world where pure Investiture is incredibly easy to come by.
• At least one Rosharan obscene gesture requires two hands, one representing a man and one representing a woman.

Notes

Footnotes

References

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