| Kholinar | |
|---|---|
 Drawing by Isaac Stewart | |
| Type | City |
| Location | Alethkar |
| Inhabitants | Alethi |
Kholinar is the capital city of the kingdom of Alethkar. It is located amidst the Kholin lands. It is one of Roshar's great cities.[1]
Appearance
The great city is built amid formations of rock like fins rising from the stone.[2] Noted for its symmetrical shape, the city's enormous fins are known as windblades and are unmistakable even from afar.[3] They are enormous, curving spines of rock that cut through the city.[4]
Map of Kholinar[5]
Drawing by Isaac Stewart
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Beautifully lined with colorful strata on the sides, they curved, curled, rose, and fell unpredictably, like fish leaping from the ocean.[4] |
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There were those who said that the Almighty had drawn the city in rock, scooping out sections of ground with his finger.[4]
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The rock took the shape of rolling hills and steeply sloping valleys, and when the stone was cut into, it exposed thousands of brilliant strata of red, white, yellow, and orange.[4] |
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History
Kholinar existed during the Heraldic Epochs. It was the capital of Alethkar during King Nohadon's rule. The city suffered several Desolations and has been rebuilt many times since its foundation.
It is also the place where Talenel, Herald of the Almighty, announced that the Desolation had come.[6]
Kholinar was never sacked. It was one of the few eastern cities on Roshar that didn't suffer the fate other cities did in the chaos after the Hierocracy's fall. The palace had burned once, but that fire died out after consuming the eastern wing. It was called Rener's miracle: the arrival of a highstorm to put out a fire three hundred years prior.[4]
In recent history it has become the Alethi capital city of Alethkar, after Gavilar and Dalinar had reunited Alethkar's warring highprinces into a single Alethi Kingdom. Following the assassination of King Gavilar and the war that ensued, his son and now king, Elhokar, effectively relocated the center of power from Kholinar to the Shattered Plains.
Present Day
Shallan finds the city to be brimming with secrets. She feels that it is stuffed with them, so tightly that they can't help but ooze out.[7]
When Kaladin asks Yokska who rules the city, she tells him that nobody does. Further, that various highlords basically seized sections of the city, arguing that the monarchy had fallen, that the king had abandoned them. She tells him that the real power in the city is the Cult of Moments.[7]
Most of the ardents outside the palace took refuge with one of those highlords, who are increasingly isolated, ruling their districts on their own.[7]
Yokska tells Shallan that if one uses a fabrial of any sort - from spanreed, to warmer, to painrial - one will draw screaming yellow spren that ride the wind like streaks of terrible light. Spren that shout and swirl about, which then usually brings the creatures from the sky, the ones with the loose clothing and long spears (i.e., the Fused), who then seize the fabrial, and sometimes kill the one trying to use it.[7]
Elhokar tells Adolin, Shallan and Kaladin that Voidbringers are trying to isolate the city. That they locked down the palace to prevent anyone from using the Oathgate, then cut off communication via spanreed. He believes they're stalling until they can gather a large enough army.[7]
Based on her drawings, Shallan confirms that there is something wrong with the city's spren.[7]
The city calls to Venli, with its majestic walls and beautiful buildings. It reminds her of Narak.[8]
Notes
Dalinar had never seen the city until his twelfth year.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Oathbringer, 19. The Subtle Art Of Diplomacy
- ↑ The Way of Kings, 46. Child of Tanavast
- ↑ The Way of Kings, 60. That Which We Cannot Have
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Words of Radiance, Inter12.
- ↑ Oathbringer, 61. Nightmare Made Manifest
- ↑ The Way of Kings, Epilogue - Of Most Worth
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 Oathbringer, 62. Research
- ↑ Oathbringer, Inter11.
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