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Time travel

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ChronomancerTimeTravel

A spellcaster uses time travel to escape from his enemies.

Time travel was the means by which an individual, a group of people, or even an entire city could travel backward through time to experience a previous year in any time decades or even centuries prior. They could see their home as it was years past or even visit an ancient civilization of which they were only somewhat familiar.[note 1] It was an extremely difficult and demanding feat that came with great risk to anyone involved.[1][2]

Time travel was distinctly different from seeing into or predicting the future, a power that was granted by magical school of divination.[3]

Description[]

Restrictions[]

Time travel was strictly regulated by deities of the Realms. In the ages before and up to the fall of Netheril, Mystryl, the ancient goddess of time and magic, allowed no being to change the "stream of time". This law generally held, save for a single manner of her choosing, the time conduit, and was omniscient to any anomalous events that attempted to bypass her law.[1]

Limitations on time travel continued under the goddess' successors, the two incarnations of Mystra, and her allies Oghma and Deneir, for at least the next 1700 years.[4] Mystra lent certain powers to her daughters, the Seven Sisters, along with a select few of her Chosen and other great spellcasters, to empower them to help monitor chronomancers in Faerûn and prevent them from changing or creating any new timelines.[5] It was unknown what role if any Chronos, the Orvan god of time, played in this role.[6]

It was impossible for a being to travel in time on another plane of existence, specifically the Demiplane of Time, and then return to the crystal sphere of the planet Toril, or its predecessor Abeir-Toril.[1]

Consequences[]

Many sages believed that if an individual altered a crucial or decisive event, they could alter the "stream of time" and begin the formation of a new timeline, one that could be markedly different from the one they have known.[1] Some believed that travel from one timeline to another was wholly impossible even for the gods, as they could not perceive of such different realities.[4]

Some scholars believed there was some unperceived power greater than the gods that scrutinized these alternate timelines and made it their duty to ensure their wholeness.[4]

Usage[]

Chrono5

A chronomancer moves through the Temporal Prime.

Time-manipulation and time travel were often used by chronomancers, practitioners of arcane magic that focused on their own specific school of magic called chronomancy. These individuals tapped into the Temporal Prime,[7] a collection of timestreams, where one timestream represented a single reality. It was possible to travel from one reality to another via these timestreams, usually via temporal vortices.[8]

Most chronomancers native to the Realms were devotees of either the goddess of Mystra, or of the deities of history, Deneir and Oghma. In most instances they were devout guardians of historical knowledge and used their powers solely to gather information.[5]

The spacefaring illithid race was said to have traveled back from the "very end of time" when their civilization was on the brink of complete annihilation, to various different cosmologies across the multiverse.[9]

Means of Time Travel[]

Spells[]

“
Karsus brought us here with a chronoma—a time travel spell. I'd heard stories about the concept, everyone had, but never seen or read of it done. Yet he seemed to do it on a whim.
”
— Candlemas speaks of the Archwizard's ability to time travel.[10]

The primary magical means of time travel was time conduit, an ancient chronomancy spell created by Mystryl that opened a temporary portal to another time.[1] The caster and their allies could venture through the conduit to a time and realm with which they were at least moderately knowledgeable, under the safeguards placed forth my Mystryl. Their journey would last for the duration of one year exactly, beginning on the year's first day and ending on its last. No individual could later return to that same year, lest the anomaly be detected and they were violently shot back in time up to an entire century, hundreds of miles away.[11][12]

The time conduit spell required specific knowledge of the year or era during which the destination time occurred. As such, there were no signs it could be used to travel forward in time.[1][11]

While it was believed by some that there were magical means to bypass the restrictions of the time conduit,[2] a spell originating from ancient Netheril belayed that notion. The transmutation spell teleport through time allowed a select group of people to travel back in time thousands of years, albeit with some temporal shift in their exact desired destination. It was possible that a being casting teleport through time could even encounter another version of themself in the same timeline. The explanation for this apparent exception to Mystryl's precise temporal rules remained unexplained as of the 14th century DR.[13]

While not time travel per se, practitioners of chronomancy were able to temporarily cease the movement of time for a select number of beings using spells such as temporal stasis or time stop.[14][15][16]

Portals[]

The Realms were home to at least five time gates, permanent portals that allowed for time travel,[2][17] and two very different portals that allowed for some limited form of time travel.[18][19] As was demonstrated in at least one specific occurrence, the knowledge to create new portals was not entirely lost to time.[13]

Three time gates were recorded by the ancient of scholars of Mystryl, whose studies back to the time of ancient Netheril:[2][17]

The fourth time gate known only by ten elves of the city of Chrysalis:[2]

A fifth time gate reconstructed by the Imperial Society of Historial Study for use in their study of ancient history:[20]

The constantly moving whirlpool associated with the goddess Umberlee:

  • The mysterious vortex called Umberlee's Fist was actually a traveling undersea portal that transported vessels across great distances, and due to its poor temporal anchoring, occasionally back in time.[18]

Finally, a malfunctioning portal created by an unnamed and unconventional wizard:[19]

  • Found in Triel, the one-way portal operated by Conrath Isthan would sporadically and repeatedly send its "passengers" centuries in the past to a singular moment, the summoning forth of a balor somewhere on Toril.[19]

Items[]

At some unknown time and place, a group of powerful spellcasters known as the Weavers crafted the first of the black obelisks, powerful magical artifacts that were capable of transporting an entire city back in time.[note 2] The knowledge of their creation eventually passed down to the arcanists of ancient Netheril, who crafted a number of them for use on their great flying cities.[22] Mystryl's restrictions did not appear to affect this mode of time travel, as it was entirely possible to travel back directly to the beginning of Spring in some past year.[23]

After the fall of Netheril, the remaining black obelisks remained scattered across the Realms.[22] Known locations of their discovery included the Tomb of the Nine Gods in Chult,[24] the great dungeon-complex of Undermountain,[25] within the tunnels beneath Gracklstugh in the Underdark,[26] the ruined necropolis of Ythryn beneath the Great Glacier,[22] and even out on the open lands of the Sword Coast North.[27]

Psionics[]

Psionicist practitioners of the psychoportation discipline were capable of reversing or moving forward time in a limited scope for a matter of seconds, using powers such as time regression and time hop. It was unknown how if at all these powers were affected by the rules of limitation placed forward by Mystryl.[28]

History[]

At some point in history the Weavers created the original black obelisks, devices that had the power to change time and reality in profound ways. They were subsequently removed from all known existence by the being known as Vecna, and the knowledge of their creation remained only with the Oerthian lich-god.[22]

The legendary arcanist Jeriah Chronos was born in the in the −2207 DR, a date birth marked the beginning Netheril's Golden Age. The vain arcanist would formulate and craft his first time-manipulation spell a mere 68 years later, and begin the school of magic that carried on his name and legacy.[note 3][29] Over the course of his life he became increasingly concerned about the arcanists' collective arrogance, believing that it would be the undoing of their great magocratic empire.[30]

At some point during the first three millennia of the Age of Humanity, the arcanists of Netheril recovered the specifications of the black obelisks originally created by the Weavers. They crafted a number of these powerful artifacts as a means to circumvent any catastrophic consequences they may have befell their empire. There was no recorded evidence that any of the obelisks were successfully used in that manner.[22]

The last known journey to recover one of the time gates was recorded to have occurred in the Year of Withered Flowers, 404 DR.[17]

Appendix[]

Notes[]

  1. ↑ For the purposes of this article, time is referred to how it exists on the Prime Material Plane except where otherwise noted. Time is experienced differently on certain planes of existence.
  2. ↑ Page 262 of Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden refers to "reset(ing) the world to a previous time", but for the purposes of this wiki is not taken as a literal statement.
  3. ↑ According to page 62 of the 2nd edition sourcebook Chronomancer magical school of Chronomancy was "discovered" by a number of different beings at a myriad of different locations across time and space. While its name may be attributed to its founder in the Realms, in other instances it may be mere coincidence.

Further Reading[]

References[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Steven E. Schend and Kevin Melka (1998). Cormanthyr: Empire of the Elves. (TSR, Inc), p. 4. ISBN 0-7069-0761-4.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Steven E. Schend and Kevin Melka (1998). Cormanthyr: Empire of the Elves. (TSR, Inc), p. 6. ISBN 0-7069-0761-4.
  3. ↑ Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams (July 2003). Player's Handbook v.3.5. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 173. ISBN 0-7869-2886-7.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Steven E. Schend and Kevin Melka (1998). Cormanthyr: Empire of the Elves. (TSR, Inc), p. 7. ISBN 0-7069-0761-4.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Loren Coleman (1995). Chronomancer. Edited by Matt Forbeck. (TSR, Inc), p. 88. ISBN 978-0786903252.
  6. ↑ John Terra (November 1997). Four from Cormyr. Edited by Kim Mohan. (TSR, Inc.), p. 79. ISBN 0-7869-0646-4.
  7. ↑ Loren Coleman (1995). Chronomancer. Edited by Matt Forbeck. (TSR, Inc), p. 17. ISBN 978-0786903252.
  8. ↑ Loren Coleman (1995). Chronomancer. Edited by Matt Forbeck. (TSR, Inc), p. 4. ISBN 978-0786903252.
  9. ↑ Richard Baker, James Jacobs, and Steve Winter (April 2005). Lords of Madness: The Book of Aberrations. (Wizards of the Coast). ISBN 0-7869-3657-6.
  10. ↑ Clayton Emery (November 1996). Dangerous Games. (TSR, Inc.), chap. 12. ISBN 0-7869-0524-7.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Steven E. Schend and Kevin Melka (1998). Cormanthyr: Empire of the Elves. (TSR, Inc), p. 5. ISBN 0-7069-0761-4.
  12. ↑ slade, Jim Butler (October 1996). “The Winds of Netheril”. In Jim Butler ed. Netheril: Empire of Magic (TSR, Inc.), p. 13. ISBN 0-7869-0437-2.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Robert Wiese (2003-04-16). “The Portal Through Time (Part 3)”. Perilous Gateways. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2003-08-03. Retrieved on 2018-12-05.
  14. ↑ Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams (July 2003). Player's Handbook v.3.5. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 293. ISBN 0-7869-2886-7.
  15. ↑ Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams (July 2003). Player's Handbook v.3.5. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 295. ISBN 0-7869-2886-7.
  16. ↑ Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford (2014). Player's Handbook 5th edition. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 209–211, 283. ISBN 978-0-7869-6560-1.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5 slade, Jim Butler (October 1996). “The Winds of Netheril”. In Jim Butler ed. Netheril: Empire of Magic (TSR, Inc.), p. 14. ISBN 0-7869-0437-2.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Robert Wiese (2003-04-23). “Portals in Time: Umberlee's Fist”. Perilous Gateways. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2003-08-03. Retrieved on 2018-12-05.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 Robert Wiese (2003-04-30). “Portals in Time: The Mishap-Prone Portal”. Perilous Gateways. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2003-08-03. Retrieved on 2018-12-05.
  20. ↑ Robert Wiese (2003-04-09). “Portals in Time: The Portal Through Time (Part 2)”. Perilous Gateways. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2003-08-03. Retrieved on 2018-12-05.
  21. ↑ Robert Wiese (2003-04-02). “Portals in Time: The Portal Through Time (Part 1)”. Perilous Gateways. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2003-08-03. Retrieved on 2018-12-05.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4 Christopher Perkins (September 2020). Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden. Edited by Kim Mohan. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 255. ISBN 978-0786966981.
  23. ↑ Christopher Perkins (September 2020). Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden. Edited by Kim Mohan. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 262. ISBN 978-0786966981.
  24. ↑ Christopher Perkins, Will Doyle, Steve Winter (September 19, 2017). Tomb of Annihilation. Edited by Michele Carter, Scott Fitzgerald Gray. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 130. ISBN 978-0-7869-6610-3.
  25. ↑ Christopher Perkins (November 2018). Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage. Edited by Jeremy Crawford. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 286. ISBN 978-0-7869-6626-4.
  26. ↑ Christopher Perkins, Adam Lee, Richard Whitters (September 1, 2015). Out of the Abyss. Edited by Jeremy Crawford. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 80. ISBN 978-0-7869-6581-6.
  27. ↑ Christopher Perkins, et al. (September 2016). Storm King's Thunder. Edited by Kim Mohan, Michele Carter. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 20. ISBN 978-0-7869-6600-4.
  28. ↑ Bruce R. Cordell, Christopher Lindsay (April 2006). Complete Psionic. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 75. ISBN 0-7869-3911-7.
  29. ↑ slade, Jim Butler (October 1996). “The Winds of Netheril”. In Jim Butler ed. Netheril: Empire of Magic (TSR, Inc.), p. 109. ISBN 0-7869-0437-2.
  30. ↑ slade, Jim Butler (October 1996). “The Winds of Netheril”. In Jim Butler ed. Netheril: Empire of Magic (TSR, Inc.), p. 8. ISBN 0-7869-0437-2.
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