It is done. This day have I accomplished something worth my decades of study, experimentation, and failure; I touched a new dimension and walked on a new world. The momentum of time not only can be manipulated, but observed, measured, and moved through. There is a higher state of existence, or a more basic one, depending on viewpoint, and I alone might be the sole possessor of its secrets. The final entry in The First Journal of Kandalon. Temporal Prime is a pseudo~rea1ity that permeates every plane of existence among the alternate realities. There, time exists in a physical state that can be looked at, measured, and moved through. It is from Temporal Prime that a chronomancer draws mystical energy, and it is by traveling Temporal Prime that one may journey to the past or future. Temporal Prime has been referred to as one of the innermost planes, beyond even the elemental planes. There is a certain measure of truth to this, since time is a basic component of every plane of all known realities, as important as length, width, and depth. This notion is not quite accurate, though. All planes of known realities are reflections cast by the existence of linear spirits and substances within the dimensional plane of Ternporal Prime. The elemental planes are the first reflection, that of linear substance. The outer planes are the last reflection, that of linear spirit. And the basic Prime Material plane of reality that balances between them is a merger of substance and spirit: life. Although the planes of existence stem from the dimensional planes, and the proper viewpoint for explanations might be from this direction, it is the specific interaction of linear creatures with Temporal Prime that this book is most concerned with. To make matters as clear as possible, the following information is presented from the viewpoint of such creatures when possible. Beyond Time; Temporal Prime would not be the only dimensional plane, of course. Beyond it would be length, width, and depth. The concept of these planes escapes the grasp of the human mind, and it is unlikely that life or matter as we know it could exist there. So from where do life and matter spring? Are there dimensional planes nestled between depth and time that contain the building blocks of matter? What about magic or physical laws such as gravity? If deities created the multiverses, are they made of these blocks, or did they make the blocks? Where does the DM call a stop? The answer is: Wherever he wants. Players who wish to spend time investigating these questions can be swayed by the simple statement, "It is beyond the ken of understanding, and likely fatal if tampered with." The Building Blocks To truly understand Temporal Prime, one must first understand linear existence and the way in which linear organisms are represented in this pseudo-reality. Linear Existence Born at point A and dying at point Z, living organisms experience every point in between as a separate event. Shrink the points down to the smallest observable unit, and still no two points ever occur simultaneously. Now consider an inanimate object, such as a rock, which does not observe its environment. It may be eroded by the weather, moved by a passing animal, and fall into a stream with other rocks and help divert the stream's course. These events can be established as different points in the rock's existence. Therefore, an inanimate object also interacts with its environment in a linear fashion. This creates the basis for motion. Any form at rest with its environment still progresses through linear time. If looked at from the reverse view, time flows past the form in a single direction. This motion is one current in the stream of time. A timestream is developed from an endless number of these currents, some stronger than others, and the way these currents interact with each other. The main difference between living and inanimate forms is that life deliberately acts upon its environment, while lifeless matter is acted upon. A plant has a limited form of intelligence that drives it to extend roots and seek nutrients in the soil. A creature operates on instinct and cunning, other times with logic and reason, to decide where to hunt, how to hunt, and what to hunt. In either case, an event has occurred and time is altered downstream. Possibly, in the case of the creature that just hunted down a less intelligent creature for food, time has been altered for more than one lifeform. This ability to make decisions and influence other lifeforms, other currents, makes living organisms important variables in time-space. At a higher level, consider a humanoid creature born at point A who becomes powerful. At point V, this humanoid dies, but the current does not immediately dissipate. Through others with whom this being has left an impression, the humanoid's influence is still felt a hand reaching from beyond the grave to interact with the living. The current, and therefore time, has momentum that drives it beyond the humanoid's death. At point Z, the current dissipates. The direct influence of the: humanoid is no longer felt (the dissipation takes longer with those who make stronger impressions), but its driving force has added strength to those about it. The momentum has not been lost but spread among nearby currents. The stream's overall momentum builds toward infinity in this way, downstream currents shaped by the upstream ones. This temporal force is what people call destiny. It does not remove free will from any creature, but it resists radical changes to the flow of time-space. If the child of a peasant wished to follow a political life, that child would encounter heavy resistance. It might seem to come from those nearby, but it is the driving force of time, its momentum, that is the underlying cause. Motion, current, momentum these are the basics of the linear temporal existence of most lifeforms, laws that govern the planes of reality, as does gravity. These basics also shape the physical existence of Temporal Prime. Physical Traces With a basic idea as to the mechanics of interaction between time and linear organisms, the next step is understanding the representation of linear life on Temporal Prime. As any lifeform moves through reality, the temporal current sweeping around it marks a physical trail on Temporal Prime. This is similar to a worm burrowing through the earth; however, the entire wormhole is present from start to finish, and the worm moves along it. The worm has had free choice of which turns to make, but on Temporal Prime, all of these decisions exist at once, so the trail looks completely formed. These trails are known as lifelines, and their characteristics approximate the importance of that lifeform to time-space. Lifelines appear as cablelike lengths from a quarter-inch to several inches thick. Thickness represents the elevation of the lifeform above others, separating general groups by their potential for greater influence. Humanoids and the more intelligent or dangerous creatures, for example, leave some of the thickest lifelines, while the lines of domestic animals are thin. Plant life leaves the thinnest lines of all. In fact, these lines usually have no substance to them. Called ghostlines, they are distinguished by a hazy edge and can be passed If the chronomancer managed to travel back or ahead far enough, an end to the lifelines would be found. These ends correspond to a time before life appeared on the world and a time after all life disappears from the world. Neither is an end to the timestream. through without disrupting them. It takes a very important plant, such as one that prevents a person from starving, to have a line of substance. There are no documented cases of a humanoid having a ghostline until after death. The ghostline exists for as long as the humanoid's momentum affects others. It grows thinner as the momentum spreads its driving force to nearby lifelines, finally disappearing as all its momentum is transferred. Lifelines range from a normal pale silver, almost translucent, to a rare bright silver. This indicates the importance of the individual organism at that particular time. A common peasant might have a pale lifeline for most of her life, but it can run bright silver at certain points. She might think up a better design for a harness or walk within 20 feet of the emperor. The new harness might never be invented, or she might not say anything of consequence to the emperor, but the potential still exists, even if not acted upon. By contrast, a king would probably have a brighter line his entire life, since the slightest event could inspire him to great changes. By definition, a person who travels Temporal Prime is important to time-space because of the changes they could make and always has a thick, bright silver line. Chronomancers use these telltale signs to know where the action is. Temporal Prime Temporal Prime appears as an infinite expanse of black space with an infinite number of timestreams flowing through it. The timestreams a creature can perceive are separated by vast distances partially filled with a thick, bluish gray mist-smoke. Viewed from afar, if the mist-smoke wasn't obscuring the observer's view, a timestream would appear as a pale silver cord, or perhaps a river, stretching from one horizon to another in a basically straight course. Each plane of all possible realities is represented on Temporal Prime by a separate timestream that, upon moving closer, is seen to be a collection of intertwined silverish lines the lifelines of the that plane's residents. A timestream represents the course of history for that plane from hypothetical beginning to speculative end. A chronomacer's perception is locked into whatever plane he was on before entering Temporal Prime, so the timestream of this plane, and the alternate versions of this plane, are all that can be seen. This accounts for the vast areas found between timestreams, space in which the timestreams of other planes are flowing but cannot be seen. If, for example, a chronomancer entered Temporal Prime from the plane of Elemental Fire, every timestream he could perceive would be an alternate version of Elemental Fire. If he were to travel back to reality somehow move over to the third plane of the Abyss, and re-enter Temporal Prime, each time stream he can now perceive is an alternate third plane of the Abyss. This phenomenon is due to several factors, such as the different rate at which time flows within different planes, but it is a natural limitation of the humanoid mind. Conceivably, the chronomancer could find a way to open the timestreams of other planes directly, but the difference in temporal current would be dangerous. Also, if he somehow made all timestreams visible, the chronomancer would only see masses of lifelines and would not be able to tell where one reality/plane ended and another began. End of the Line Linear substance does not leave a physical trace on Temporal Prime, but it still exists. Within the timestream, the mist-smoke still travels in thinner, more turbulent patterns, while in the true void, it condenses and flows together much more smoothly. Travel within the boundaries of the timestream past the lifelines is exactly the same. The characters can still sup into reality, though the conditions may be unsuitable for humanoid life. Inside the Timestream A chronomancer in Temporal Prime appears near the middle of the timestream, apparently floating in midair, surrounded by a vast wilderness of lifelines. Some lines run straight with no major twists, while some writhe as living things in reality interact with each other, but all lifelines run in roughly the same direction. They could be left to right, back to front, or up to down, depending on the viewer's orientation, but the lines are always running from the past to the future. A birth can be detected by a second lifeline splitting from the original, and a death by the gradual fading of the line into a ghostline and then nothing. The lifelines of people involved in intense interactions (a husband and wife, or a band of adventurers being devoured by a black dragon) would intertwine so tightly that one could not pass a hand between them. The lifeline belonging to any organism that slips to Temporal Prime stops at that instant, and a trail of silvery mist follows it in the same way as an astral tether. The tether is not permanent, but any given portion does not fade until the owner is at least two days of normal travel distant. When the lifeforni slips back to reality, the tether completely fades, and the lifeline on Temporal Prime continues from the point entered. On a plot of time, it appears that the lifeline has a large gap in it. More of this is covered in detail in the following chapters. Some areas in the timestream have few or no lines, and some areas are impassable due to the event tangle of thousands of lifelines. The location of the lifeform in reality often dictates which lifelines are close. Normally there is room enough between lines for a person to pass easily. Even in areas corresponding to crowded cities, the lifelines do not normally impede passage. Event tangles are usually small, only a few dozen lines, easily passed quickly by, but they can grow large enough to impede progress for several days or prevent a chronomancer from reaching the nexus. An event tangle usually occurs by at least one bright silver line (and probably more) tying large numbers of others together, but it could also begin with something as simple as a natural disaster. Either way, the event equates to a focal point of time-space affecting anywhere from dozens to thousands of lifeforms. The deciding battle of a war, the assassination of a monarch, and councils between countries, large cities, or very powerful wizards might be possible event tangles. A light, bluish gray mist-smoke exists among the lifelines the same substance found in the voids between timestreams. This is a representation of the momentum of time, it being so great it has begun to intrude in a physical sense. Within the timestream, it alternates between thin sheets and wispy tendrils drifting in the direction of the future as if blown by an unfelt wind. Regardless of a character's speed of travel, the mist-smoke always drifts slightly faster. Within the mistsmoke are small threads of matter known as strands. These vary in length from one to six inches, and are usually invisible. Those that can be seen appear as small white threads, and their effect is discussed later. Many features of Temporal Prime have not been discussed in detail or at all. Most of them can be classified as disruptions to the normal flow of time, and their explanations are best withheld until later.
