Chapter 142

In this prologue set eight thousand years ago, the god Tanavast (Honor) discovers that Rayse has killed the god Ambition and is consolidating power on the planet Alaswha through conquest and granted superhuman abilities. Tanavast, torn between his work with Kor creating spren on Roshar and his need to counter Rayse's threat, decides to intervene by offering power to a group of people who resist Rayse's growing empire.

The chapter opens with Tanavast, a newly ascended god, observing Rayse exploring the planetary system. Tanavast had been working with Kor, a spren-like being, to create new life-forms and spren on Roshar through music and divine power. They had created nine varieties of sentient beings, with Kor expressing hope for a tenth creation born from her alone. However, Tanavast becomes preoccupied with Rayse's movements and eventually abandons his work to investigate the first planet, Alaswha. There he discovers Rayse building an empire through warfare, granting one faction control over the Surges—fundamental forces of creation that grant tremendous power. When Tanavast confronts Rayse directly, Rayse reveals he has killed Uli Da, the god of Ambition, eliminating what he saw as a threat. Rayse dismisses Tanavast's horror and continues his manipulation of the planet's peoples through conquest and false promises of peace. Witnessing a group of darker-skinned people planning resistance against Rayse's empire, Tanavast is inspired by their defiance. Rather than consulting Kor, he appears to them in their tent and offers them divine power to resist the shared enemy, thus setting in motion his own intervention in mortal affairs.