The Rift

The Rift was a deep chasm in the ground that hid an entire city, built up the sides of either cliff. Also known as Rathalas, it was once a city near central Alethkar. It was burned to the ground in and was never rebuilt.
==Description==
This chasm city was difficult to spot from specific directions; an entire city that had been built inside a rip in the ground.
==Characteristics==
The city was large enough to house tens of thousands of people.
==Rifters==
The people of Rathalas are sometimes referred to as Rifters. They have a distinct nasal accent.
==History==
According to Gavilar, the Rifters demanded Dalinar's Shardblade back, claiming that Tanalan's heir had returned,* and that he deserved the Blade, as Dalinar never won it in a true contest.
Gavilar believed that he could nip this thing with politics. He didn't want a show of force to be his only method of maintaining unity, or Elhokar would spend his entire life putting out fires after he was gone. He needed people to start thinking of Alethkar as a unified kingdom, not separate regions always looking for an advantage against one another.
According to Havar, rumor has it that the Rifters want to set up their own highprince, the son of the old one (i.e., Tanalan). Dalinar tells him that they will not be going to the Rift and that his brother can handle the Rift with diplomacy. However, he remained suspicious and followed developments in the region while at Jah Kaved. Eventually, Gavilar reached out, admitting that he had failed to subdue rebellion at Rathalas with politics, and needed Dalinar to quell the rebellious faction. Gavilar also noted that Sadeas would be joining Dalinar with reinforcements and that another highprice was supporting Tanalan and his rebellions.
Later, however, there weren't enough boats for an amphibious attack on Rathalas, so Dalinar was forced to use a more conventional assault. He marched down from the west and assigned Sadeas and his forces to come in from the east. They converged toward the Rift.
In confrontation there with Tanala, Dalinar learned that an envoy had been there, delivering weapons and supplies to him and his men from one of Dalinar's secret enemies.
Then, the heir revealed that the envoy was Sadeas.
When Dalinar and a company of his elites later converged upon the Rift, the soldiers of the caravan there were seen to be wearing forest green and white. Sadeas's colors. As Dalinar approached the caravan, he realized that this was a trap by 
==Notes==
*Dalinar was supposed to have dealt with the heir when he won his Shardblade there.
He remembered a weeping child holding a Shardblade. The father, lying broken and dead behind.
==References==
Category:Cities