Urithiru gem archive

Urithiru gem archive
by Marie Seeberger
City	Urithiru
World	Roshar
Universe	Cosmere
Featured In	The Stormlight Archive

This article's title is uncanonical and a fan created one, because an official term or name has not been made yet.

The Urithiru gem archive is a collection of gems bearing encoded messages left by the ancient Knights Radiant. It is hidden in a wall of a former library in the basement of Urithiru.

Discovery

Shallan, chasing a Midnight Essence created by Re-Shephir, leads a group of soldiers into the basement of Urithiru. They find a room filled with decaying books: the trove of information that Jasnah hoped to find in Urithiru. It has been there so long, however, that the books inside turn to dust when touched.

Eventually, the debris is cleared out and, under Navani's direction, the room becomes a scholarly institute and research center. Renarin, after apparently talking with Glys, somehow causes a tile on the far wall to pop out, revealing a drawer containing a strangely-cut ruby. Jasnah infuses the gem with Stormlight, and Shallan and Pattern realize that the vibrations made as the Stormlight escapes encode a message. Renarin then sends a surge of Stormlight into the wall, causing every tile in it to open, revealing hundreds of hidden drawers.

Contents

Each drawer on the wall contains one or more gems; each gem, after being infused, vibrates in a specific sequence that encodes a message. The epigraphs of Part Three of Oathbringer contain the messages from some of the gems. It appears that the type of polestone used for each recording is the one associated with the order of the Knight Radiant who made it.

Drawer	Gemstone	Text
29-5	topaz	"As a Stoneward, I spent my entire life looking to sacrifice myself. I secretly worry that is the cowardly way. The easy way out."
12-15	ruby	"If this is to be permanent, then I wish to leave record of my husband and children. Wzmal, as good a man as any woman could dream of loving. Kmakra and Molinar, the true gemstones of my life."
8-21	second emerald	"I worry about my fellow Truthwatchers."
2-3	smokestone	"We can record any secret we wish, and leave it here? How do we know that they'll be discovered? Well, I don't care. Record that then."
2-22	smokestone	"I wish to submit my formal protest at the idea of abandoning the tower. This is an extreme step, taken brashly."
16-16	amethyst	"I returned to the tower to find squabbling children, instead of proud knights. That's why I hate this place. I'm going to go chart the hidden undersea caverns of Aimia; find my maps in Akinah."
27-19	topaz	"The disagreements between the Skybreakers and the Windrunners have grown to tragic levels. I plead with any who hear this to recognize you are not so different as you think."
8-1	amethyst	"Now that we abandon the tower, can I finally admit that I hate this place? Too many rules."
24-18	smokestone	"This generation has had only one Bondsmith, and some blame the divisions among us upon this fact. The true problem is far deeper. I believe that Honor himself is changing."
1-1	first zircon	"My research into the cognitive reflections of the spren at the tower has been deeply illustrative. Some thought that the Sibling had withdrawn from men by intent—but I find counter to that theory."
1-1	second zircon	"The wilting of plants and the general cooling of the air is disagreeable, yes, but some of the tower's functions remain in place. The increased pressure, for example, persists."
1-1	third zircon	"Something is happening to the Sibling. I agree this is true, but the division among the Knights Radiant is not to blame. Our perceived worthiness is a separate issue."
4-17	second topaz	"The Edgedancers are too busy relocating the tower's servants and farmers to send a representative to record their thoughts in these gemstones. I'll do it for them, then. They are the ones who will be most displaced by this decision. The Radiants will be taken in by nations, but what of all these people now without homes?"
3-11	garnet	"I am worried about the tower's protections failing. If we are not safe from the Unmade here, then where?"
10-1	sapphire	"Today, I leaped from the tower for the last time. I felt the wind dance around me as I fell all the way along the eastern side, past the tower, and to the foothills below. I'm going to miss that."
30-20	first emerald	"Something must be done about the remnants of Odium's forces. The parsh, as they are now called, continue their war with zeal, even without their masters from Damnation."
30-20	second emerald	"A coalition has been formed among scholar Radiants. Our goal is to deny the enemy their supply of Voidlight; this will prevent their continuing transformations, and give us an edge in combat."
30-20	third emerald	"Our revelation is fueled by the theory that the Unmade can perhaps be captured like ordinary spren. It would require a special prison. And Melishi."
30-20	fourth emerald	"Ba-Ado-Mishram has somehow Connected with the parsh people, as Odium once did. She provides Voidlight and facilitates forms of power. Our strike team is going to imprison her."
30-20	fifth emerald	"We are uncertain the effects this will have on the parsh. At the very least, it should deny them forms of power. Melishi is confident, but Naze-daughter-Kuzodo warns of unintended side effects."
30-20	final emerald	"Surely this will bring—at long last—the end to war that the Heralds promised us."
20-10	zircon	"As the duly appointed keepers of the perfect gems, we of the Elsecallers have taken the burden of protecting the ruby nicknamed Honor's Drop. Let it be recorded."
19-2	third topaz	"The enemy makes another push toward Feverstone Keep. I wish we knew what it was that had them so interested in that area. Could they be intent on capturing Rall Elorim?"
30-20	a particularly small emerald	"Don't tell anyone. I can't say it. I must whisper. I foresaw this."
10-12	sapphire	"My spren claims that recording this will be good for me, so here I go. Everyone says I will swear the Fourth Ideal soon, and in so doing, earn my armor. I simply don't think that I can. Am I not supposed to want to help people?"
29-29	ruby	"Good night, dear Urithiru. Good night, sweet Sibling. Good night, Radiants."

Trivia

• In the entrance chamber of the level containing the gem archive, there is a depiction of a person hovering in front of a large blue disc. This bears some similarity to the depiction of Devotion's Perpendicularity in the hidden room under the Elantris meeting house.

Notes

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