Subastral de Roshar

Map of Shadesmar, the Cognitive Realm

Shadesmar is a Rosharian word for the Cognitive Realm. It is a plane of existence that connects all Shardworlds, and can be manipulated for quick travel.

While "Shadesmar" is a Roshar-specific word, Sanderson translates other worlds' names for the place to "Shadesmar" as well.

Currently the only known travelers to Shadesmar are Hoid, Shallan Davar, Khriss, Nazh and Jasnah Kholin (and Kelsier after he dies), it will become more prevalent in future books. It is possible that members of the Seventeenth Shard travel using Shadesmar.

The ardents in Roshar are aware of Shadesmar, and have texts describing someone traveling there.

Access to Shadesmar varies by shardworld, and it is a dangerous place near Sel for reasons indirectly related to the splintering of its Shards. When Odium splintered the shards there, he left their power in his wake, which is now mindless. The spren keep similar powers in check on Roshar, and Kelsier did so on Scadrial before Vin acquired Preservation.

Appearance

“ ... a place with a black sky and a strange, small white sun that hung on the horizon ... Flames hovered nearby ... Like the tips of candles floating in the air and moving with the wind ... An endless dark sea, except it wasn't wet. It was made of the small beads, an entire ocean of tiny glass spheres ”

— Shallan Davar

Geographically it appears to be a reflection of Roshar, with its inland seas corresponding exactly to the shape of the land of Roshar. When asked if this is the general rule, Sanderson said "there are places in Shadesmar that are different, and some are the same."

Areas where there is a lot of thinking (cognitive function) are expanded while areas without any thought are diminished. This allows a person to enter the cognitive realm and walk from the Shadesmar representation of one planet to that of another planet in a matter of days. The empty space between the planets in the physical realm creates barely any "space" in the cognitive realm due to the lack of thinking creatures in it.

“ She stepped up beside the bead statue, noting for the first time the strange clouds overhead. They seemed to form a narrow ribbon of highway, straight and long, pointing toward the horizon. ”

— Jasnah Kholin's first visit to Shadesmar

Regions

The map of Shadesmar found in The Way of Kings includes several regions perpendicular to Roshar, as well as the names of other Expanses. If you walk far enough in the direction of one of those expanses(often days), you can arrive on other worlds. The areas labeled are as follows:

• Expanse of the Vapors: This area is confirmed to be Scadrial.
• Expanse of the Densities: This is a world we had seen before 2011.
• Expanse of Vibrance: This expanse's name was hidden behind the map's title.
• Expanse of the Broken Sky
• Nexus of Imagination
• Nexus of Truth
• Nexus of Transition
• Sea of Regret
• Sea of Souls
• Sea of Lost Lights

Uses

Shadesmar can be visited by those with an inherent Soulcasting ability. On Roshar, entrance is granted by beings that Jasnah calls a type of spren. They appear in The Way of Kings to Shallan Davar and Elhokar Kholin, and one of these beings, called Cryptics is described by Shallan as

“ a figure with a sharp, angular symbol hovering above its collar instead of a head ”

— Shallan Davar

To be granted entrance to Shadesmar, the person wishing to go there must speak a truth about themselves to the Cryptic. Whilst Shallan is in Shadesmar, a voice speaks to her and causes her to Soulcast. It is theorised that this voice belongs to the Cognitive aspect of the goblet she is Soulcasting.

Stormlight is needed,(or alternative source of investiture) in order to control objects in Shadesmar, as well as for soulcasting. Traveling there without sufficient stormlight is considered to be perilous.

Notes

A este artículo le falta información. Por favor, ayuda a The Coppermind a expandirla.