Location from The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson
The Cognitive Realm — a mirror world where thought defines reality, solid ground becomes an ocean of glass beads, and spren live in cities built from concepts.
Shadesmar is what the world looks like from the inside. Every physical object on Roshar has a cognitive reflection here — a glass bead in the vast ocean that stretches where Roshar's land exists. Each bead contains the object's sense of identity, and a Soulcaster or Elsecaller can communicate with these beads to convince objects to change their nature. The sea of beads is navigable by manifest boats, and spren serve as guides, merchants, and sometimes predators. Spren are fully realized beings in Shadesmar — what appears as a flickering sprite in the Physical Realm is a complete person here, with a body, a home, and opinions about humans. Honorspren cities, Cryptic libraries, and inkspren courts all exist in Shadesmar's geography. The Cognitive Realm also serves as a highway between worlds for those who know how to use the perpendicularities — points where the Realms thin enough to cross. Worldhoppers use Shadesmar to travel between planets in the cosmere.
An inverted landscape. Where Roshar has land, Shadesmar has a sea of tiny glass beads, each representing a physical object's cognitive identity. Where Roshar has ocean, Shadesmar has obsidian ground. The sky is black with a small, bright sun. Spren cities glow with their own light — structures built from solidified concepts, emotion, and invested will.
Also known as: Shadesmar, the Cognitive Realm