Spheres

Spheres
by User: Sheep
Type	Currency
World	Roshar
Books	The Stormlight Archive

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 and fuel for fabrials^{[citation needed]} and Surgebindings.^{[citation needed]} Like all gemstones, spheres naturally leak any Stormlight they have absorbed, over several days - with larger denominations taking slightly longer.^{[citation needed]} This has led to the practice of leaving spheres out in baskets and cages during highstorms so they can be recharged. The Rosharan terms for spheres full and empty of Stormlight are infused and dun respectively.

Appearance

Sphere gemstone measurements
Denomination	Mass (carats, ct)	Mass (milligrams, mg)	Diameter (millimeters, mm)
Chip	0.1	20	3
Mark	0.5	100	5
Broam	2	400	8

Each sphere is made of a tiny gemstone encased in a glass bead, usually flattened on one side to keep the sphere from rolling away when set down. The gemstone can belong to any one of the ten Polestones, and can come in one of three different sizes. The glass bead is always a uniform size, little larger than a person's thumb nail.

Exact measurements for the glass beads or their embedded gemstones are not available, but they can be deduced from a Reddit post by Peter Ahlstrom where he confirms the weight of each denomination, in carats.^{[citation needed]} The table to the left lists the mass and diameter of the gemstone in each denomination, assuming a uniform round cut.

TODO: Sources

• https://www.gemsociety.org/article/standard-gem-sizes-chart/
• https://www.diamondnexus.com/product-education-mm-to-catat-weight-conversion.html

Light

Spherelight colors
Gem type	Color
Sapphire	Deep blue	.
Smokestone	Translucent	.
Ruby	Deep red	.
Diamond	Translucent	.
Emerald	Deep green	.
Garnet	Deep violet	.
Zircon	Pale blue	.
Amethyst	Pale violet	.
Topaz	Pale orange	.
Heliodor	Light yellow	.

^{[citation needed]}

Perhaps the most common use of the spheres is as a light source. Since the gemstones inside them have the ability to hold Stormlight, many Rosharans have adopted the habit of leaving their spheres out during highstorms (in cages or baskets, so they don't get lost or stolen) so they can get (re)charged. Much like the highstorms, Surgebinders are also able to recharge spheres, similarly to how Awakeners can store their Breaths in objects; the Surgebinder must already be Invested, at which point they can will some of their own Stormlight into a gem or sphere. Spheres are leaky containers for Stormlight, however (unlike Perfect gemstones), so they slowly lose their Stormlight to a process similar to evaporation. It takes several days for newly infused spheres to lose all of their Stormlight and become dun, though this amount of time varies slightly with the denomination of the spheres.

Due to this property of gemstones, infused spheres often serve as a replacement for other, more traditional light sources, such as candles and lanterns. Given that spherelight is both steadier and more consistent, as well as being practically infinitely renewable, it is easy to see how people with access to sphere would consider them superior. The amount of light a sphere gives off varies with the denomination: chips barely have any glow at all, marks glow almost as bright as a candle, and broams glow with the light of several candles. The color of the spherelight also changes from sphere to sphere, but only because any light filtered through differently colored gemstones would produce differently colored light. Famously, spherelight from diamonds is considered best for reading, as it is not only closest to natural light, it is also the cheapest gemstone. All spherelight, although reputably steady and calm, is only so in comparison to the even more flickering candlelight; Kaladin observes that the Stormlight inside sphere gemstones is actually chaotically shifting, much like a blowing storm.

Although spheres are generally a superior source of light, many people, especially those less well-off or living in poorer regions, still use candles or lanterns. Using candles and lanterns is often cheaper than using spheres, since a sphere's dual status as currency makes it liable to be stolen. This problem does not exist for wealthy or noble lighteyes who may use all-sphere lighting either as a practical matter or to show off their wealth. For example, the entirety of Kharbranth's royal treasury is stored in the Palanaeum to be used as a source of light for the visitors and staff.

The table to the right lists all ten sphere types along with the spherelight color they emit.

Currency

The monetary value of each sphere is a direct consequence of causes both mundane (the size of the sphere's gemstone) and arcane (the Soulcasting properties of each gem type). The gem size defines the denomination of the sphere. From smallest to largest, these are chip, mark, and broam. The gem type is applied as a qualifier to the denomination (e.g. diamond chip, or emerald broam) to form the thirty different monetary units of Roshar.

One property of Rosharan spheres that does not affect their value is whether they are infused or dun. However, since the glow from the Stormlight is the easiest way to prove that a sphere is not a counterfeit, people are sometimes suspicious of dun spheres and those who try to spend them. Merchants with access to the proper equipment may inspect the gem quality of dun spheres to ensure their authenticity, or call for a moneylender. Moneylenders serve an additional purpose in Rosharan societies, and that is to offer infused spheres in exchange for dun ones, since an established moneylender usually has access to secure baskets they can safely recharge spheres in. They can extend this service to people interested in recharging their own spheres safely, though this comes with a small convenience fee.

For details about using spheres as a currency in Shadesmar, see Shadesmar Currency.

Value

The economic value of each sphere is determined by the type and size of its gemstone.

The gem size defines the three denominations of spheres (chip, mark, and broam), and therefore a fixed exchange rate between the different denominations of spheres of the same type. Within the same gem type, each broam is equivalent to four marks, and each mark is equivalent to five chips - making a broam equal to twenty chips.

The gem type is a little more complicated. The value of each type of sphere - and, therefore, the relative value of all types - is intrinsically tied to how valuable the given gem is in Soulcasting. This makes emeralds -- which can be used to Soulcast grain -- the most expensive kind of sphere, while diamonds are the cheapest. The rest of the sphere types, however, don't all have unique values; instead, they fall within one of three tiers: prime pair, middle weight, and less weight. 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.

Sphere values
Tier	Value (chip)	Value (mark)	Value (broam)	Spheres
Cheapest	1	5	20	Diamond
Less weight	5	25	100	Garnet, heliodor, topaz
Middle weight	10	50	200	Ruby, smokestone, zircon
Prime pair	25	125	500	Amethyst, sapphire
Highest	50	250	1000	Emerald

Cost of Goods and Services

Despite many of the spheres having identical values, prices on Roshar do not reflect that explicitly. It appears that Rosharans have an unspoken understanding about the equivalencies within the value tiers, as the question whether amethysts (for example) would be accepted for an item that costs sapphires never comes up.

For a full list of the known prices of goods and services, see this page. (TODO)

Spheres as Investiture

As useful as spheres are in the everyday life of most Rosharans, their property of holding Investiture in the form of Stormlight is especially useful to a couple very specific groups of people - Surgebinders and denizens of Shadesmar.

Surgebinders

For Surgebinders - including both pre-Recreance Knights Radiant and Dalinar's newly refounded Orders, as well as wielders of Honorblades such as Szeth prior to his death - the spheres, much like ordinary gemstones, act as a portable, convenient, and inconspicuous source of Stormlight to power their abilities. Because of this, Surgebinders often carry pouches full of infused spheres, although if they find themselves in a situation where their own spheres are unavailable, inaccessible, or dun, they are often able to make use of spheres frequently found in the environment.

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 Full Lashing is by measuring the amount of time it takes for a stone of unspecified size to run out of Stormlight, first with Rock hanging from it (20 seconds), then by instructing Kaladin to use only the Light from a single diamond chip and letting the stone fall on its own (about 87-91 seconds).

Shadesmar Currency

Similarly to how spheres have become to dominant currency in the Physical Realm of Roshar, they have become prevalent in its Cognitive Realm as well - though for slightly different reasons. In the Physical Realm the value of each sphere is determined primarily by the economic value of its gemstone, as it relates to Soulcasting. In Shadesmar, however, the real currency is the Stormlight, and spheres become only as valuable as the amount of Stormlight they hold at the moment of the transaction.

Informal Names

Spheres are normally described by their gemstone and denomination. However, instead of the gemstone, spheres are sometimes referred to by color. For example, a ruby mark may be referred to as a "firemark" while a diamond chip may be referred to as a "clearchip." Below is the list of known alternate names.

Other names for gems

Gem type	Chips	Marks
Diamond	Clearchip	Clearmark
Garnet	Bloodchip[citation needed]	Bloodmark
Ruby	Firechip[citation needed]	Firemark
Sapphire	Skychip	Skymark

Notes

This article is still missing information. Please help The Coppermind by expanding it.