Time

**Time** is the measure of the indefinite, eternally progressing instants across the past, present, and future. To the mortal world of Aluzera, it's a mysterious, illusionary force that is determinant, unchanging, and fated by causal laws. But like the sands of an hourglass, it is boundless and moldable, an everlasting river that flows in unseen ways. All time can be traced to what is known as the **timestream**, the ultimate consolidation of all that has transpired and ever shall transpire. This grand intradimensional clockwork, born from the creation of the sparks, is what guides time forward. It is further held together by the universal constant known as the speed of light.

The manipulation of time is known as *temporal magic*, a magic made from light-aspected arcane. To be a practitioner of temporal magic is to be a *chronomancer*, with *chronomancy* being the art of temporal magic. Across Aluzera, and even the whole of the universe, it remains in its infancy as a form of scientific and mystical study.

## Mechanics

Time on a cosmic scale can be metaphorically thought of as a massive, ever-growing tree. Its branches grow at a constant rate, always with a singular instant of time as its present. Its past exists as the branch itself, woven from history, while its future remains a possibility. Each and every branch grows at a different velocity, and at a different angle. At any time, a new branch may begin to grow from the history of an existing one.

To move through time is to travel between the ends of these ever-changing branches. A branch may be more forward or backward in time. The branches of this tree of time are so grand that a near infinite number of them exist, and new ones are always growing.

Time can be thought of to exist in two distinct scales: **local**, and **universal**. When studying time, it is important that one know the difference. *Local time* is the passage of time in an area, distinct and particular, whereas *universal time* is the passage of time across the entirety of a *timeline*. To a timeline, all time moves at one consistent speed. Like forcing the hands of a clock however, for a practitioner of temporal magic, time can be manipulated. It can be compelled to move faster, slower, backwards, or even change its angle across either local or universal time. The meaning of changing the flow of time however is not as it seems, and to a mortal, universal time's manipulation can never hope to be achieved.

However, along with altering local time, one can use temporal magic to move between timelines and travel across the timestream. All timelines move together, all at differing dilation, though all in their own "present". Only this present, an infinite instant of time, can truly exist. For a timeline, its past exists only in echoes, with its future only in foretelling. Time travel may never change the present. Travel back in time means to move to a different timeline, one that is angled ever so slightly to appear slower. The same is true of the future, only angled the other way.

Light plays a pivotal role in time, being the lens from which time is perceived. Temporal magic, in many ways, is also the manipulation of light. As time is only a matter of perspective, light's motion is what is used to alter time on the local scale. In this way, the speed of light is no longer a constant: it is a variable. Though it will always return to

## The Laws of Time

Time always adheres to the following constants:

1. You may travel forward or backward through time, but the present you left behind may never change by your actions.

## Appearance

Temporal magic physically manifests as a vibrant blue, violet, and glittering, golden light. It gives off a sound that rises and falls like a wave in pitch, drawn higher or lower overall depending on usage. Idle temporal magic can give the illusion of a "ticking clock" in both sound and motion, as it is often drawn into swirling, circular motions.