The time principle

[Muratus del Mur]

Time can only be perceived by structures that find themselves in superior planes of existence from the observed plane. Time is given by the difference in complexity between two elements. A very important thing to understand is that a range of actions is temporally perceived as long as it cannot be perceived as a single thought, a single identity. An artist understands the temporally aspect of realizing a piece of art, while a simple onlooker perceives only the static form of the final product, without its temporally form, considering the piece of art as being immortal. If a molecule had conscience, it wouldn’t be aware of the temporally existence of its role in the organism it belongs to, in a similar manner that life on Earth, seen from a superior scale, is perceived at the level of species evolution and not at the individual level. These observations that are rather philosophical in nature are hard to be actually understood as long as one does not try to understand the existence itself as a thing that does not know what time is.

Time control can be accomplished by juggling with the way in which actions are perceived and understood. For instance, by perceiving the way from one place to another not as a string of actions but as an independent thing one can understand movement without the notion of time. When a string of actions (no matter how complex) is understood through a continuous thought, any composing piece of action can be accessed and perceived, therefore the past, present and future can be perceived and controlled from the perspective of a superior existence/identity that oversees them.

[Saladin]

I use this principle?? but i wanna know what will be the magic for low level?? and what would be magic for mid and high level??

[Muratus del Mur]

the exact spells for each principle combination are not revealed yet. in general time will change duration of spells and will be related also to movement spells and high powerfull special hits.

[Israfel]

Hm. So if I combined Time, Entropy, and Imagination, could I essentially imagine an enemy's armor rotting to bits and then have it happen really quickly?

Or am I horrendously off with a gross misconception of my three chosen principles?

[Logan Marquis]

Well, let's think for a bit to maybe help understand what time could influence in terms of the principle...

First, it can effect the obvious, which is time. If effected correctly through it's own breaking, one could effectively slow time to allow more hits or to steady one's aim perhaps. Second, it can effect the less obvious, such as initiative. If one were to effectively say slow the cycle of time for an opponent, one might even gain an extra round of attack or first attack.

Let's go deeper, as I am growing more intrigued as I think on time...

Think of time as line or string. You have a beginning, a middle, and an end, right?

Well, what if we were to cut the string in the middle. Now you have, oddly enough, two lines of very different times, but you have essentially two beginnings, two middles, and two ends. Now, what if we swap the two ends of the string and tie it back together. You now have a beginning that was a middle, a middle that was a beginning, and an end that was a middle( i know hard to understand, but picture the string and cut it and follow what i am doing visually ).

Now, what if we took that single piece of string and made it into a circle or cycle? Time is believed on the natural plane to exist as a circle, where the cycle repeats itself at some point (or at least that is a distinct theory someone has created that I find intriguing). The circle effectively creates no beginning and no end. All is middle.

Just think of what things you could do by manipulating the circle as you see fit, or the string? Or...what if you could take the linear string and turn it into the circle?

You effectively gain control over very powerful things. And very intelligent minds could find some VERY cool uses with this one.

If you could slow time, you could better dodge, block, parry, strike. You could essentially become a powerful adversary just off that one alone. Imagine mixing in other principles...

And I was thinking further on it, we can actually go one step deeper with this than I already did...

For instance, take the Time Principle and apply the Cyclicity Principle using the method described above. If time is a linear device, then attuning the Cyclicity Princpile to it would allow one to turn time circular. In other words, with the two working in unison, one could effectively turn the line into a circle(regarding time).

Using this circle method described above, one could literally rewind time, or perhaps fast-forward. Now this a bit deep for a single spell, but perhaps a line of spells? I mean, you could also fathom it as such...

If an action is defined within the realm of time it has a distinct beginning(the catalyst that led to what happened), the middle(the actual happening), and the end(what the end result of the happening). If one applied the time principle to this, we see the distinct line. Take and apply the Cyclicity Principle and you now have the circle of time, where each part is still distinct. But...what if...

What if you turned that circle a tad bit using that Cyclicity Principle(or maybe...Syntropy or something else?). You would not have affected the true time line, but merely shifted the positions of what was considered beginning, middle, and end. Now...what if we say return the circle back to a line using the time principle again? I suppose we could assume that the line would be altered, re-arranged, possibly shifted forward or backward enough that what was once the beginning could now feasibly be the end result?

I'm just beginning to think upon these things rather deeply as they relate heavily to my character's concepts and future.

Manu, would you have anything to add or guide me with this? I think what you've done with the Principles is at their root quite revolutionary and the impact is global. You rock Manu!

[Tarquinus]

Think of time as line or string. You have a beginning, a middle, and an end, right?

Well, what if we were to cut the string in the middle. Now you have, oddly enough, two lines of very different times, but you have essentially two beginnings, two middles, and two ends. Now, what if we swap the two ends of the string and tie it back together. You now have a beginning that was a middle, a middle that was a beginning, and an end that was a middle( i know hard to understand, but picture the string and cut it and follow what i am doing visually ).

Tarquinus (the character) tends to conceive Time as tapestry: not a single thread, but an interweaving of uncountable threads. Suppose one "end" of a time-thread is a point of probability and the other "end" is a possible "outcome" of that "beginning". Now suppose all possible points lie at one end of the tapestry and all possible outcomes lie at the other. This is the fabric of Time. If, according to Tarquinus' visions, time (properly understood) is inseparable from space, as it simply provides another axis, the fabric of time is the fabric of space-time.

Thus, according to the liche-king, the universe is misnamed: there is not one universe, but infinitely many. Anything violating the laws of one universe is dropped into another, changing its position in space and time. According to this theory, the idea of a "time paradox" is a meaningless exercise. Infinitely many outcomes exist for any thread of probability. No thread can be altered, of itself, but the observer's position on the tapestry can alter quite drastically. Those who seek to understand the liche-king's theory are directed to Roger Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber and Gene Wolfe's considerably more difficult Book of the New Sun.

Now, what if we took that single piece of string and made it into a circle or cycle? Time is believed on the natural plane to exist as a circle, where the cycle repeats itself at some point (or at least that is a distinct theory someone has created that I find intriguing). The circle effectively creates no beginning and no end. All is middle.

Pivot the four-dimensional tapestry posited above through a hypothetical fifth dimension, and the idea of chronology becomes as academic as the sequence of coordinates along the perimeter of a circle, sphere, or hypersphere. Now you are looking at simultaneity theory (Ursula K. LeGuin's Hainish Cycle), "reincarnation", deja vu, and many other things besides.

Manipulation of time is likely to reveal it for what it is: a question of perception. What does the sphere look like if we stand here? What about over there? Can one draw a line between the two points? The Time Principle suggests that one can. The power attainable here is mitigated by the danger of ego loss, which is an omnidirectional cosmic perspective. It might seem like madness to some and like death to others. Yes: time dilation as described by relativity is certainly possible, but what happens to the spatial position and mass of the observer?

For instance, take the Time Principle and apply the Cyclicity Principle using the method described above. If time is a linear device, then attuning the Cyclicity Princpile to it would allow one to turn time circular. In other words, with the two working in unison, one could effectively turn the line into a circle(regarding time).

Using this circle method described above, one could literally rewind time, or perhaps fast-forward. Now this a bit deep for a single spell, but perhaps a line of spells? I mean, you could also fathom it as such...

If an action is defined within the realm of time it has a distinct beginning(the catalyst that led to what happened), the middle(the actual happening), and the end(what the end result of the happening). If one applied the time principle to this, we see the distinct line. Take and apply the Cyclicity Principle and you now have the circle of time, where each part is still distinct. But...what if...

What if you turned that circle a tad bit using that Cyclicity Principle(or maybe...Syntropy or something else?). You would not have affected the true time line, but merely shifted the positions of what was considered beginning, middle, and end. Now...what if we say return the circle back to a line using the time principle again? I suppose we could assume that the line would be altered, re-arranged, possibly shifted forward or backward enough that what was once the beginning could now feasibly be the end result?

Unless I very badly misunderstand it (probable, but we're talking Fantasy Physics, here) Loop Quantum Gravity suggests that this is, in fact, what is happening/has happened/will happen in our universe. Tarquinus would say, "You're playing with shells, Logan. Arrange them however you like - the underlying fabric of reality is the same. Only your perspective has changed."

It is unwise to encourage him to expand on this subject, as he is likely to begin raving about Ennoia, Mazda, and the Abnormal One (Yog-Sothoth). Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad...

[Logan Marquis]

Then I shall simply make him think upon one simple thought...

What if one were able to remove one single strand from the tapestry, to eliminate that possibility?

Think deep. Think VERY deep.

[Tarquinus]

The implication is not lost on me, nor on Lucius Tarquinus. Here's my rejoinder: what do you hope to achieve?

[Logan Marquis]

Simply...Logan is hoping to achieve the ability of perception of the future within a confined series of events, action, or structures. To expand upon this, his secondary focus of principle is syntropy. I believe if one could focus on only one aspect or outcome within the thread, one might be able to influence to the desired outcome.....

[Gchick]

I think the predestination paradox would get in the way.