Difference between revisions of "Urithiru"

The tower is comprisedcomposed of multiple rooms of different functionality, including sleeping quarters, meeting halls, libraries and bathhouses. Most of them have high ceilings.{{book ref|sa3|15}}

A room resembling a theater can be found on the tower's third level, near the Breakaway. It's a large chamber with round walls and rows of stone benches facing a raised platform that served as a stage. This stage can be reached both by stairs from the audience and by a separate entrance. The corridor leading to it is narrow enough to be touched on both sides, and goes by several smaller chambers, possibly dressing rooms. Past the theater's back door (the one which would be, presumably, used by the audience), there is a circular room with large vertical slits in the walls, some of which face Breakaway, although neither it, nor the theater itself can be reached directly from the market. It is there that [[Shallan]] puts on a [[Lightweaving Surgebinding#Illumination|Lightwoven]] play of [[The Girl Who Looked Up]] for [[Pattern]], and where they first encounter [[Re-Shephir]].{{book ref|sa3|25}}

At the bottom of the staircase, a large archway of individually-placed stones — unusual in Urithiru — leads to a hallway, the ceiling of which has a large mosaic of the [[herald]]s. The walls are also covered in mosaics, depicting the ten [[spren]] of the [[Knights Radiant]]. andThere other,is morealso enigmaticother imagery: a figure hovering above the ground embracing a blue disc, the [[Almighty]] as a cloud, and a woman in the shape of a tree reaching with her hands toward heavens, and a figure hovering above the ground embracing a blue disc, representing, respectively, [[Honor]], [[Cultivation]] and a [[perpendicularity]].{{book ref|sa3|29}}{{wob ref|13647}} Beneath the murals, Twotwo metal doors on opposite sides of the hall lead to two decayed libraries.{{book ref|sa3|29}}

At the end of the hallway is a bowl-shaped room. At its center stands a twenty-foot-tall column of gemstones, around which Re-Shephir coiled when discovered. The column is comprisedcomposed of thousands of gemstones of all ten types melted together.{{book ref|sa3|33}} Though its appearance is unusual, its purpose — and whether there is a purpose to it beyond decoration — remains unknown. [[Renarin]] theorizes that it's a giant fabrial that does "being a city."{{book ref|sa3|44}}

Urithiru displays a number of unusual properties that allow humans to survive despite its high altitude. It is believed that these systems are somehow powered by or related to the spren known as the [[Sibling]].{{epigraph ref|sa3|87}} However, at some point the Sibling withdrew from mankind and currently slumbers.{{epigraph ref|sa3|70}}{{book ref|sa3|111}} This may explain why many of Urithiru's systems are currently non-functional.{{wob ref|9498}} Among those are heightened pressure, increased temperature, and general conditions encouraging plant growth.{{epigraph ref|sa3|69}}

Non-functional fabrials include the plumbing and sewage systems, though pipes for these are present.{{book ref|sa3|104}} TerivangianTaravangian theorizes that fabrial lights were used to increase plant growth and crop yields to make the tower self-sustaining.{{book ref|sa3|i|5}}

Though it's unclear whether it was originally built for this purpose, Urithiru was the headquarters of the [[Knights Radiant]] orders, as well as the center of the [[Silver Kingdoms]], holding ten thrones, one for each king. Even following the temporary end of the cycle of [[Desolation]]s, it remained an important location as both the home of the Radiants and the [[Oathgate]] hub.{{epigraph ref|sa1|46}} During that time, Urithiru had a large population of not only Radiants, but also ordinary people - servants, traders, craftsmen and so on.{{epigraph ref|sa3|72}} At one point, the [[Unmade]] [[Re-Shephir]] invaded the tower, and was trapped and sealed by an unknown [[Order of Lightweavers|Lightweaver]].{{book ref|sa3|29}}