Difference between revisions of "Spheres"

'''Spheres''' are the primary currency in most nations on [[Roshar]]. Each one consists of a [[gemstone]] encased in a glass bead. Gemstones, including the ones in spheres, can temporarily hold [[Investiture]] in the form of [[Stormlight]], offering both a source of light{{book ref|sa1|3}} and fuel for [[Surgebinding]]s.{{book ref|sa1|prologue}} Like all gemstones, spheres naturally leak any Stormlight they have absorbed, over a period of about a Rosharan week.{{book ref|sa1|17}} This has led to the practice of leaving spheres out during highstorms so they can be recharged. Rosharans use the terms '''infused''' and '''dun''' to differentiate between spheres that hold Stormlight at the moment, and ones that have gone dark. They were first devised as an alternative to large open flames, as Roshar's atmosphere has a high oxygen content, making flames behave somewhat differently.{{au ref|Rosharan }}

The gem type is a little more complicated. The value of each type of sphere - and, therefore, the relative values of all types - is intrinsically tied to how valuable the given gemstone is in Soulcasting. This makes emeralds -- which can be used to Soulcast grain -- the most expensive kind of spheres,{{book ref|sa1|3}} while diamonds are the cheapest. The rest of the sphere types, however, don'tdo not all have unique values; instead, they fall within one of three tiers: '''prime pair''', '''middle weight''', and '''less weight'''.{{wob ref|10402}} Combined with the emerald and diamond spheres, this establishes a system with five distinct value tiers. The table below outlines the five tiers, lists the sphere types within each tier, and provides their monetary value expressed in '''diamond chips''', the smallest denomination of the least valued gemstone.

In the days after [[Kaladin]]'s promotion to a captain in [[Dalinar]]'s army, [[Sigzil]] attempts to establish a baseline for how efficient Kaladin's use of a [[Surgebinding#Full_Lashing|Full Lashing]] is by measuring the amount of time it takes for a Lashing powered by the Stormlight from a single diamond chip to run out,. firstThe withstone [[Rock]] hanging from a stoneremains lashed to the wall (20for seconds),somewhere thenbetween by87 aand stone lashed without an attached weight (about 87-91 seconds). Sigzil admits, however, that without a clock to track time or a way to quantify variations in how much Stormlight is in a sphere, that thesethe measurements are imprecise.{{book ref|sa2|12}} Since arriving in [[Urithiru]], he has continued to attempt precision measurements of Surgebinding,{{book ref|sa3|46}} though it is unclear how far he has gotten.