Rift

Rathalas is also known as the Rift, and was once a city near central Alethkar. It was a chasm city, difficult to spot from specific directions; an entire city that had been built inside a rip in the ground. There were plains around a lake near the city, and the riverbed there was dry, except during storms. The rockbuds there drank so fully of the local water supply that they'd grown to enormous sizes. Some were taller than a man's waist, and the vines they produced were as thick as a man's waist.
There was a ring of stone that surrounded the Rift, and it was built on platforms, rising up along the widening sides of that ring of stone. To Dalinar, it was little wonder the people thought so highly of themselves; their city was grand, a monument of human ingenuity and grit.

History

Not long after Gavilar Kholin united Alethkar under his banner as king, the Rifters demanded their Shard Blade back from Dalinar. They threatened to secede if their demands were not met. Gavilar thought he could bring them back into the fold with diplomacy and sent Dalinar and Torol Sadeas to the city to negotiate. During this time assassins killed Dalinar's wife, Evi. Grief-stricken and blinded by rage Dalinar ordered the city burnt along with all it's inhabitants. Due to the nature of the city being in a box canyon no Rifters, military or civilian escaped.
Gavilar censured both Dalinar and Sadeas for this breach of their orders. However following this catastrophe, Rathalas was never rebuilt or reinhabited. It remains as the burnt husk of a once great city.

RUINED SETTLEMENT
1163

Alternative Name(s)

Rathalas

Population

Tens of thousands

Inhabitant Demonym

Rifters

Owning Organization

Alethkar