Hearthstone

Hearthstone is a rural town in Alethkar, notable as the childhood home of Kaladin, one of the central figures of The Stormlight Archive. A modest farming community in the princedom of Sadeas, Hearthstone embodies the life of the Alethi darkeyed common folk far from the courts and battlefields of the lighteyed nobility.

Geography

Hearthstone lies in the lowlands of Alethkar, a town of stone houses built to weather the highstorms. The surrounding lands are farmed with lavis and other Rosharan crops, and the town is overseen by a local citylord on behalf of the highprince.

Society

As a darkeyed community, Hearthstone's people occupy the lower rungs of Alethi society. Kaladin's father, Lirin, served as the town's surgeon, a respected but socially fraught position that set the family apart. The town's life centered on farming, the local lord's manor, and the rhythms of the storms.

History

Hearthstone shaped Kaladin's early life: his training in surgery under his father, the loss of his brother Tien to conscription, and his own departure into the Alethi army all began here. The town later suffered under the wider devastation of the war and the coming of the Everstorm, and Kaladin returned to find it changed.

Significance

Though a small and unremarkable town by the standards of Roshar's great cities, Hearthstone is significant as the crucible of Kaladin's character and as a window into the lives of Alethkar's common people.