Adolin and his sol­diers pre­pare to enter Shades­mar, a sur­re­al realm with a black, star­less sky and a dis­tant, frail sun. The con­trol room they expect­ed is replaced by two tow­er­ing spren—one mar­ble white, the oth­er onyx—who serve as gate­keep­ers. Adolin thanks them, and the mar­ble spren explains they now obey the Storm­fa­ther after the death of their par­ent, the Sib­ling. This shift in alle­giance allows the group to enter, as the Sib­ling had pre­vi­ous­ly for­bid­den pas­sage. The scene sets the stage for the strange and oth­er­world­ly nature of Shades­mar.

The plat­form they stand on is one of ten, each atop tall pil­lars resem­bling the Oath­gates of Urithiru. Below lies a vast bead ocean, while above looms a shim­mer­ing, radi­ant tow­er of light and col­or, swarm­ing with emo­tion spren. These spren, drawn by human emo­tions, appear more organ­ic and beast-like here. Despite their poten­tial dan­ger, the tower’s nature offers pro­tec­tion, leav­ing them calmer. The group takes a moment to absorb the breath­tak­ing vista, a blend of beau­ty and mys­tery unique to Shades­mar.

Adolin sur­veys the Radi­ants and their per­son­al spren, each with dis­tinct forms and per­son­al­i­ties. Pat­tern, Shallan’s spren, stands out among the Cryp­tics with his live­ly demeanor. Zu’s spren, Ua’pam, resem­bles a molten moun­tain, while Godeke’s cul­ti­va­tion­spren is com­posed of del­i­cate vines. The most enig­mat­ic is Arshqqam’s mist­spren, a fem­i­nine fig­ure made of fog with a porce­lain mask for a face. Her play­ful yet prob­ing ques­tions unset­tle Adolin, high­light­ing the spren’s curios­i­ty about human per­cep­tions.

The chap­ter under­scores the com­plex­i­ties of the Radi­ants’ bond with their spren and the ever-shift­ing dynam­ics of Shades­mar. Adolin’s awe and uncer­tain­ty reflect the realm’s unpre­dictable nature, where ancient orders clash with new alle­giances. The vivid descrip­tions of the tow­er, the spren, and the gate­keep­ers immerse read­ers in a world where light, emo­tion, and mys­tery inter­twine. This jour­ney into Shades­mar promis­es both won­der and per­il as the group nav­i­gates its enig­mat­ic land­scape.