Stone of Tear
From A Wheel of Time Wiki
The Stone of Tear is an immense fortress, believed to be mankind's oldest surviving stronghold and indeed oldest existing structure, having been erected shortly after the Breaking of the World. It was built by Aes Sedai using the One Power: Earth, Air, and Fire fusing stones together without joint or mortar. The Stone resembles a great mountain and towers over the city of Tear. Only the White Tower is taller, and the Stone had never fallen until the coming of the Dragon Reborn and the People of the Dragon. The walls are strong enough to deter any siege engine, though until recently there had never been a chance to test the effects of the One Power or gunpowder against them.
The Stone has its own docks, and is an essentially self-sufficient city by itself. Arrowslits are the only sizeable windows within reach, and any attempt to reach them would only succeed if the person trying was not spotted by the towers.
Matrim Cauthon managed to force entry, by blowing open a prison entrance with explosive fireworks. The Aiel also managed to gain entry, through their skill in stealth and in climbing surfaces non-Aiel would consider impossible.
[edit] Heart of the Stone
In the bowels of the fortress is the Heart of the Stone: a great round room with a ceiling supported by red stone columns. Before the Dragon Reborn came, Callandor floated, hilt-down, in the center of that room. No one except the High Lords were allowed to enter the Heart, and even they rarely did so: four times a year for the Rite of Guarding there, and also to raise a Lord of the Land to the office of High Lord. Given the Tairen's aversion to anything relating to the One Power, if the High Lords could have managed to forget that the Heart of the Stone and Callandor existed, they undoubtedly would have.
After the Dragon Reborn came, the crystal sword spent some time wedged into the floor, loaded with a variety of deadly traps to prevent interference, before Jahar Narishma was sent to retrieve it. Afterwards, the great room lay empty.
[edit] Great Holding
Ironically, the Stone also houses a collection, second only to the White Tower, of angreal and ter'angreal in a chamber known as the Great Holding. It is not known exactly why the Tairens have collected such an array; perhaps to prevent their use by Aes Sedai, or maybe to diminish by comparison the knowledge that they possess one of the greatest sa'angreal in Callandor, whose drawing by the Dragon Reborn will herald the coming of another Breaking of the World.
A particularly notable item held in the Great Holding is a tall, twisted redstone doorframe, once owed by Mayene, leading to the land of the Aelfinn. Rand, Mat and Moiraine have all passed through this doorway seeking answers to three questions.
