As stated previously, the æthereal realms, being tied to their material planes, are temporally synchronized with them. The Astral Plane is loosely coupled in time with the material planes, and because of this loose coupling, there can be some very unusual circumstances. For example, two different incarnations of the same individual from different closely aligned timelines can actually meet with impunity in the Astral Plane.
The Elemental Planes are assumed to be relatively immune to, or unaffected by time. Since there is no life there, at least as far as anyone can determine, there is no clear way to measure or detect time in the Elemental Planes.
The Abyss clearly has time — is ordered by time — but as stated, there is only one timeline for the Abyss; there are no alternate Abysses. At least, not so far as anyone can determine. Similarly, the Abyss has no æthereal plane; we suspect this is related to the fact that spirit forms (animabodies) can exist here without being dissipated.
The time invariance can create some paradoxes when mortals come to the Abyss, as in theory, it should collapse a mortal’s timelines to a single instance; yet upon their return to their material planes do their timelines merge back to their original state? This is not clear to our researchers due to the fact that we cannot directly measure our own alternate timelines. We can only examine alternate timelines that are highly distinct from our own.
There is some speculation that this is how some “deceased” individuals in a particular material plane/timeline manage to return from “hell.” The idea is that an alternate, non-deceased version of them travels to the Abyss and then returns to their timeline. A glitch in their re-merge could cause the previously deceased timeline version to return to their original timeline, once more alive after having been in the Abyss.
In any event, back to time.
Most material planes of existence have a single primary timeline. This timeline may temporarily bifurcate when individuals make different actions in the same circumstance; however, if these differences (such as what one ate for breakfast) are minor and make no major impact on the timeline, they are quickly collapsed back to the main timeline.
However, there are times when a confluence of events is so extreme that the timeline will bifurcate more severely, and there may be multiple independent timelines for years, centuries or millennia before they collapse and merge back; and if the course of events compounds, the multiple timelines may end up being completely different planes of existence.
It is possible to travel purely in time, or nearly purely. To travel in time, one must also travel in space, unless one wants to end up in “outer space” (whatever that is in one’s universe) due to one’s planet moving. Thus, true time travel, except for very short jumps, is quite tricky, complex and energy-intensive.
This is one reason it is not done that often, other than by inexperienced individuals. Given that temporal bifurcations generally collapse back to the main timeline, there is little point in traveling back in time, unless one is planning to stomp on a large number of butterflies and thus force a permanent bifurcation of one’s material plane.
Now, clearly, lesser bifurcations can exist for years or centuries; however, for someone within the timeline who is time traveling, all they are really doing is shifting their perceived consciousness to another version of themselves. The old version in the old timeline may still exist or may be ended, depending on events.
This of course, applies only to individuals within a timeline using time travel. For individuals from outside the local timeline, manipulating the timeline of other planes of existence is a very, very different issue and as mentioned, the Rules of Temporal Manipulation are quite firm, and violation of them may result in very serious sanctions.
Mortal scholars often refer to the material plane/timeline they reside in as their local universe, or localverse. A localverse is a single timeline, a single plane of existence. The alternate worlds in a localverse are not on other planes of existence, they are simply other planets orbiting other stars in the same universe.
Further, because the further one must travel in space within one’s localverse, the more energy is required, the categorized or known worlds in that localverse are often the worlds closest in space to one’s own planet. The power requirement for contacting worlds within one’s localverse that are in other galaxies, for example, is often larger than that required to go to a completely different universe.
Chapter 126
Valg Death Cheater slowly rotated clockwise, scanning the horizon for incoming threats. He had been getting odd premonitions of something building for the last day or two. Something was coming; he just could not define what it was. Neither his shaman Eagle Sight nor his D’Orc sight saw anything unusual on the horizon. No dragons, no undead pterosaurs winging their way over the plains of the Isle of Doom.
Valg smiled tightly, as he always did thinking of his homeland. He, his family and his ancestors had lived on the so-called Isle of Doom for thousands of years; its name was a source of rich irony for Valg. First, the “island” had an area of nearly two hundred and fifty thousand square leagues, which should qualify it as a continent. Secondly, for most of its history it had been one of the safest continents in Nysegard thanks to his ancestors, many of whom were still alive. Such as his great something-or-other grandfather Targh Bowelsplitter.
Of course, keeping it safe had gotten exponentially harder several thousand years ago, long before his time. According to the stories of the Oracle (as Targh Bowelsplitter was known), the volcanic fortress in which they lived, the Doom of Nysegard, was once connected to Mount Doom in the Abyss. It was from this legendary place that the D’Orcs had come to protect and save the various peoples of Nysegard from the predations of the Unlife.
For thousands of years, the Isle of Doom had been a safe haven for all those seeking to escape the Storm Lords and their minions. It had not been completely clear what had happened, at least not at first, but their volcano had started losing power and eventually shut down. It started with the links to Mount Doom being severed and ended with the magical defenses shutting down, leaving the fortress and the island in rather dire straits.
The Storm Lords had not discovered this immediately, but when they had, they wrought devastation on the Isle of Doom. The D’Orcs and their non-D’Orc allies had fought valiantly and eventually, after several centuries, managed to once again repel the Storm Lords. However, it had been an uphill battle ever since to keep the island safe. It was not clear how many more centuries they would be able to hold out.
After a few D’Orc warriors were slain and then summoned back from the Abyss by shamans, they had eventually learned the fate of Orcus and Mount Doom. That had been extremely demoralizing for the D’Orcs on the island; that demoralization had probably hindered their efforts. They had struggled on, however, and a few D’Orcs from Mount Doom had agreed to be summoned to Nysegard to aid them, but Mount Doom had suffered even greater losses and had not had excess forces.
It took a lot to kill a full-blooded D’Orc, and fortunately, none had died in the last two thousand years. While those that died could be summoned back, the dead D’Orc would need to fully regenerate in the Abyss before a shaman could bring it back. That would be time they very seldom had. Their D’Orc resources were stretched thin over the island. There were currently about one hundred full-blooded D’Orcs in Nysegard.