104. Strength

Navani holds a council with four loyal highlords to address the tower's practical crises—plumbing, food production, labor shortages, and dwindling resources—while managing concerns about Dalinar's withdrawn state following his losses. Later, she visits Jasnah's translation operation in the basement library and discovers unsettling documents Jasnah has been collecting, including records of Renarin's mysterious warning glyphs and a description of Lift's spren.

Navani convenes a meeting with Aladar, Sebarial, Hatham, and Bethab to address mounting logistical problems at Urithiru. The highlords express loyalty to Dalinar but raise urgent concerns: the tower's plumbing fails under its population, water and emerald reserves deplete rapidly, soldiers refuse menial labor, and lumber shortages threaten. They hint at worry over Dalinar's extended isolation, though they stop short of open criticism when Navani firmly defends him. Navani assures them the tower will become self-sufficient through recovered Radiant technology and that Dalinar remains the world's best hope against the enemy. The four accept her reassurances and commit to continuing their work. After the three-hour meeting concludes, Navani walks through the tower with her Bridge Four guards, noting the good spirits of the bridgemen despite Teft's recent legal troubles and their eagerness for Kaladin's return. She then descends to the basement library where Jasnah oversees an extensive translation operation of gemstone records. Renarin works alongside the scribes, studying patterns in the gemstone placement. When Navani reviews papers Jasnah has set aside, she discovers documents regarding strange glyphs Renarin wrote in Dalinar's palace—warnings he left because his spren had foreseen the Everstorm's coming. She also finds references to Jasnah collecting information about Lift and her spren. Troubled by these findings, Navani quietly gathers copies of the translations and departs to check on Dalinar.