Difference between revisions of "Urithiru"

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|image=Urithiru.jpg

|world=Roshar

|universe=[[Cosmere]]

|books=[[The Stormlight Archive]]

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== Location ==

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== Appearance ==

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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}}

* '''Passageway to the theater''': "emerald cast"{{book ref|sa3|25}}

* '''Small chamber where Dalinar and Navani worked''': "like the folds of a fan"{{book ref|sa3|28}}

 

=== Notable locations===

==== The Breakaway ====

 

==== Oathgate Platforms ====

 

==== The Theater ====

 

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

{{for|Urithiru gem archive}}

 

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}}

 

==== The Top Platform ====

 

==== The Gallery of Maps ====

The Gallery of Maps is located near the top of the tower. From the moment the Alethi arrive in the city, it is used as their main meeting room, both for discussing strategy and when speaking with foreign dignitaries. Though it is initially barren, a table is brought in at some point, which Shallan and Dalinar use to create a real-time map of Roshar.{{book ref|sa2|89}}{{book ref|sa3|8}}{{book ref|sa3|111}} It's named after a similar chamber back in the [[Pinnacle]].{{book ref|sa3|107}}

 

== Mechanisms ==

 

 

== History ==

=== Pre-Recreance ===

 

 

 

Between this and the [[Day of Recreance]], the [[Oathgate]]s in the 9 surviving cities were sealed, leaving Urithiru locked away from the world.

 

=== 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}}

 

 

[[Jasnah Kholin]] began an effort to rediscover the city after growing convinced that a new Desolation was coming.{{book ref|sa2|6}} While she herself was unable to do so, her student, [[Shallan Davar]], managed to complete her works and pinpoint the location of [[Stormseat]], an ancient city that possessed an [[Oathgate]], but was destroyed long before Urithiru was abandoned.{{book ref|sa2|47}} She eventually lead the [[Alethi]] army to Stormseat--now a [[listener]] city called [[Narak]]--and, as the listeners summoned the [[Everstorm]], transported them through its Oathgate, rediscovering Urithiru.{{book ref|sa2|86}}

 

=== True Desolation ===

 

As a prelude to the [[Battle of Thaylen Field]], the [[Voidbringers]] attacked Urithiru through the subverted [[Kholinar]] Oathgate.{{book ref|sa3|i|14}} Although initially somewhat successful, they were eventually pushed back and out of the city.{{book ref|sa3|120}}

 

== 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]].

 

==== Problems ====

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}}

Urithiru's non-functional mechanisms have left it with a lack of infrastructure. Waste management has been a particularly notable issue. Communal privies have been set up over former bathing rooms, but these are plagued with long lines.{{book ref|sa3|16}} The plumbing of Urithiru keeps clogging, and Soulcasters are constantly working to eliminate the waste.{{book ref|sa3|104}} Additionally, at this altitude, heating is a constant problem without magical enhancements.{{book ref|sa3|18}}

 

 

== 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}}

 

== Notes ==

{{Stormlight}}

[[category: Knights Radiant]]