The Prologue opens in Kholinar, the capital city of Alethkar—a country in the east of the Roshar supercontinent. Eshonai, a listener, prepares for a feast. Listeners, whom humans refer to as Parshendi, are a splinter group of a nonhuman species called singers that can transform their bodies into forms that are best suited for specific purposes (e.g., fighting, working, or reproducing). Eshonai and other listeners plan to celebrate their treaty with the Alethi, the humans from Alethkar, whom they recently encountered in an area called the Shattered Plains.

King Gavilar of the Alethi tells Eshonai of his plans to reawaken the listener gods. The listeners are afraid to reawaken the abandoned gods and agree to assassinate Gavilar to prevent his plan’s success.

Six years later, Dalinar Kholin, Gavilar’s brother, is now the highprince of war for the Alethi: The listeners successfully assassinated Gavilar at the end of the feast celebrating their treaty with the Alethi.

Dalinar is a Radiant—a human with mystical powers provided through a bond with creatures called spren. The spren are shards created when the vessel for the god, Honor, was destroyed. Dalinar is bonded with the spren known as the Stormfather, who rules the highstorms (weather phenomena that affect Roshar regularly and follow a predictable route).