Ghostly Hour

"*Isn't that something, Wundersmith?*"
―Conall O'Leary describing Ghostly Hours[src]
A **Ghostly Hour** is a geographical oddity and a result of the deliberate use of the Wundrous Art of Tempus, the manipulation of time. The creator preserves a recording of a certain slice of time which can be visited by future viewers. Inside the ghostly hour, the viewer observes the past event including the past location's furnishings, vegetation, and temperature. The viewer can only spectate but can do so from any distance or vantage point.

## Description

"*A ghostly hour is a little parcel of time that has been plucked from the annals of history, to be witnessed and observed in the present day, in the exact same place. Retrieving and saving a ghostly hour is horrendously difficult―only someone with prodigious skill can do it, but done right the hours will relive themselves indefinitely.*"
―Sofia[src]
Ghostly hours occur annually on the same day of the year, the same time of day, and the same place that the original event happened. The known ghostly hours listed below have a length between 17 minutes and 167 minutes and an average of 68 minutes, although Sofia says there are longer and shorter examples.

Ghostly hours appear to the potential viewer as a sliver of light which is used as an entry point. While entering her first ghostly hour, Morrigan felt time "shudder". While inside, the events will play out exactly as they occurred in the past. If the "ghosts" from the past are touched or interfered with by the viewer, they will flinch but then immediately look away and continue on as if they didn't notice.

After a ghostly hour has run though, the sliver appears again and can be used to exit to the real world. Most ghostly hours will experience dimming and start sounding staticky near their conclusion, eventually fading without the viewer needing to voluntarily leave (Ⓐ); a handful of ghostly hours loop forever (↻) requiring the viewer to leave though the sliver.

## Creation

The exact mechanics of how ghostly hours are created and what events are eligible for creation is not known. However, ghostly hours must be created by someone with prodigious skill and control over Tempus to have the correct hours relive themselves indefinitely. However, one doesn't necessarily have to be a Wundersmith to do it. They were supposedly named due to a misconception that they were created by the dead. If the creator chooses, the ghostly hour can have annotations.

### Known Creators

* Hemingway Onstald, who dedicated himself to learning to master Tempus, is known to have created a few of the ghostly hours kept in Sub-Nine, though which ones are never specified.
* Age of the East Winds Wundersmiths. All the ghostly hours featuring Elodie Bauer and company must have been made by contemporaneous Wundersmiths. Many of the lessons Rook chose for Morrigan are from this period. *An advanced workshop in Tempus* might have been part of an effort to record more Ghostly Hours.

## Uses

### Educational

Ghostly hours are useful for educational purposes. Morrigan and the other scholars on Sub-Nine visit the hours to observe and incidentally participate in the lessons from previous ages. In *The Gossamer-Spun Garden* the scholars react to work of Alfirk Antares like he was a celebrity, perhaps Antares was one of their teachers from ghostly hours they used for teaching.

### Historical

*A conversation between Amadeo and Tarazed* records a ground-breaking meeting which led to the Gossamer Line.

### Personal

*An Intermediate lesson in the Wundrous Art of Veil* appears to have been made to preserve a happy childhood memory.

## The Book of Ghostly Hours

*See also: The Book of Ghostly Hours*

Hemingway Onstald documented many known ghostly hours within Wundrous Society campus in a *The Book of Ghostly Hours*, which belongs to the Sub-Nine Academic Group in the Study Room of Sub-Nine, Proudfoot House. *The Book of Ghostly Hours* details when and where each hour will appear, as well as which Wundersmiths were in attendance. The reader should be advised that Ezra Squall's name was omitted from the record.

### Extract

Below is an extract of *The Book of Ghostly Hours*. For a complete list, see The Book of Ghostly Hours.

A conversation between Amadeo and Tarazed concerning the theory behind possible self-projected travel on the Gossamer

 School of Wundrous Arts, Sub-Nine of Proudfoot House, *Shaw* | Griselda Polaris, Mathilde Lachance, Decima Kokoro

An advanced workshop in Tempus given by Polaris to Lachance and Kokoro

 School of Wundrous Arts, Sub-Nine of Proudfoot House, *Van Ophoven* | Brilliance Amadeo, Elodie Bauer, Owain Binks

A beginner's lesson in Weaving given by Amadeo to Bauer and Binks

 School of Wundrous Arts, Sub-Nine of Proudfoot House, *Corcoran* | Brilliance Amadeo

An intermediate lesson in the Wundrous Art of Veil

14:21-14:38       ↻

## Other Known Ghostly Hours

Other occurrences than those in *The Book of Ghostly Hours* are unknown at this time.

## Appearances

* *Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow* (Mentioned only)
* *Hollowpox: The Hunt For Morrigan Crow* (First appearance)

## Notes and References

1. ↑ *Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow* (Chapter 17): Morrigan reluctantly chose to skip her Wednesday afternoon Undead Dialects lecture to visit the looping ghostly hour. Presumably, a looping ↻ ghostly hour must be entered under the same conditions as a normal Ⓐ hour.
2. ↑ *Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow* Chapter 17 (*Ezra, the Boy*) "Professor Onstald deliberately omitted Squall from the book to protect it from scrutiny."