Difference between revisions of "Urithiru"

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== Location ==

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The plateau on which the tower is located is at a considerable altitude. The air is thin enough to make physical activity difficult. {{book ref|sa3|46}} The cliffs beneath it extend further than the eye can see.{{book ref|sa3|58}} This location is high enough that both [[highstorm]]s and the [[Everstorm]] pass beneath it, which makes it difficult for the tower's current occupants to obtain [[stormlight]].{{book ref|sa3|4}}

 

 

 

== Appearance ==

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The lower levels "meld" into the mountain on either side, but the center and the upper levels have a flat side on the stormward side. Rooms in this flat side have windows facing the [[Origin]]. {{book ref|sa3|4}} The glass windows miraculously survived thousands of years of abandonment utterly intact.{{book ref|sa3|8}}

The interior of Urithiru is filled with tunnels that twist about in strange curves, which Dalinar hypothesizes was done to fool invaders.{{book ref|sa3|8}} Navani's scholars have also found oddly shaped groups of rooms and murals of fanciful animals (including some that might be lions, though those do not exist on Roshar), along with gold and copper metals embedded in the walls, presumably fabrials that they have been unable to understand.{{book ref|sa3|44}}

 

 

===Strata===

 

Shallan theorizes that the strata might be veins, though she's unsure of what they would be carrying.{{book ref|sa3|25}}

* '''On the way to Dalinar's quarters''': "wide reddish strata alternating with smaller yellow ones"; "sloping slightly upward"{{book ref|sa3|8}}

* '''Shallan's quarters''': "bright circular patterns"{{book ref|sa3|13}}

* '''Sparring room''': "grey and black"{{book ref|sa3|16}}

* '''Sadeas' quarters, side room''': "muted pattern of strata"; "oranges and reds that blended together so evenly you could almost pretend the wall was all one hue"{{book ref|sa3|21}}

 

==== The Theater ====

 

==== The Gem Archive and Re-Shephir's Chamber ====

The chamber in which the [[Unmade]] [[Re-Shephir]] hides until being banished by [[Shallan]] can be reached from the tower's ground floor, from a room where a large pit with a stone spiral staircase leads down several stories. Rust marks on the wall indicate that part of the stone once served as a secret door, though the hinges have long since decayed and Shallan has to cut her way in with a [[shardblade]].{{book ref|sa3|29}}

 

 

Navani's scholars catalog and remove the debris, turning the area into a meeting hall for those working on uncovering the city's mysteries. Henceforth, it's there that the assemblies concerning the city's functionality and [[fabrial]]s are held.{{book ref|sa3|44}} As is later discovered, the tiles on the walls are actually drawers, holding the [[Urithiru gem archive]].{{book ref|sa3|53}}

 

 

On the far side of the room, a tunnel with carved stone steps leads even further below the tower. The passage runs through a long string of caverns, eventually leading to an exit in the foothills of the [[Tu Fallia]] mountains.{{book ref|sa3|53}} Re-Shephir uses this path to flee Urithiru after her confrontation with Shallan.{{book ref|sa3|30}}

 

== Mechanisms ==

 

 

== History ==

Urithiru was constructed at some point early on during the [[Silver Kingdoms]] era.{{ref|text=[[Nohadon]], who lived before the Knights Radiant were founded, visited it, so it had to be fairly early on.}} Initially, many wished for it to be constructed in [[Alethela]]; however, it was eventually built elsewhere, in a place considered to be "closest to Honor".{{epigraph ref|sa1|35}} It's unclear whether it was created by [[Herald]]s, [[Surgebinder]]s or [[Shard]]s themselves.

 

 

Eventually, the unknown systems that allowed people to inhabit Urithiru - most importantly, raising its temperature to allow people to live comfortably and grow foods - began to fail for unclear reasons.{{epigraph ref|sa3|69}} This forced the Knights Radiant to abandon the tower, leaving behind only the [[Urithiru gem archive|gem archive]] where they coded their last messages.{{epigraph ref|sa3|65}}{{epigraph ref|sa3|61}}

 

=== Era of Solitude ===

Some time after the tower was abandoned, [[Re-Shephir]] broke out of her confinement, but remained within the tower.{{book ref|sa3|29}}

 

== Culture ==

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Though massively important in the past, prior to the coming of the [[Everstorm]] Urithiru was all but unknown to [[Vorinism|Vorins]] who didn't study the [[Knights Radiant]], with Shallan being unfamiliar even with its name.{{book ref|sa1|45}} This could be the result of the [[Hierocracy]] working to suppress all knowledge of Radiants, similar to how they discredited [[Surgebinding]].

The tower city's economy suffers from three main difficulties: a lack of labor, a lack of supplies, and a lack of infrastructure.

 

 

Since Urithiru's crop growing system is non-functional, the city depends on trade to provide supplies. At first, goods flowing into Urithiru through the Oathgates are mostly salvage from the warcamps abandoned during the flight from the [[Everstorm]], harvested by enterprising merchants backed by the [[highprince]]s.{{book ref|sa3|25}} Dalinar has considered trying to resettle the war camps, but the area has been quietly claimed by those highprinces who stayed behind. Though Sebarial has forests near the camps that could be used to supply the city, harvesting the lumber isn't economical without parshmen.{{book ref|sa3|104}} Emeralds for [[Soulcasting]] food are also in short supply, despite continued hunting for [[gemheart]]s on the [[Shattered Plains]].{{book ref|sa3|104}} Later, after King [[Taravangian]] joins the alliance, regular shipments begin to come from [[Jah Keved]].{{book ref|sa3|29}} Still, there is not enough trade to support the city, leading [[Bethab]] to speculate that without a deal with [[Azir]], Urithiru may not be able to support its current population.{{book ref|sa3|104}}

 

Another minor issue affecting Urithiru's early economy was the lack of [[stormlight]] to infuse [[spheres]]. The need for stormlight to power the Oathgates meant that in the period immediately following Urithiru's discovery, when the [[highstorm]]s disappeared, infused spheres were worth considerably more than face value. Now that the highstorms have returned, spheres can be re-infused by lowering them in large cages down into the storm.{{book ref|sa3|4}}

 

== Trivia ==

* The stones of Urithiru being unhallowed is part of [[Shinovar|Shin]] culture rather than something magical.{{wob ref|6508}}

* Brandon has confirmed that Urithiru is not a spaceship used to travel from [[Ashyn]] to Roshar.{{wob ref|8762}}

* The inspiration for the [[Breakaway]] was Korean [[wikipedia: Night market|night markets]], street bazaars that typically operate only at night.{{wob ref|8635}}

* Urithiru may provide passage to the cognitive realm.{{wob ref|12017}}

 

== Notes ==

{{Stormlight}}

[[category: Knights Radiant]]