No, it's not all right! It will never be all right, not really, not... ever.

You don't understand. You can't. You weren't there -- you didn't see it. The visions. The memories. The gruesome slaughter. The butchery. The violations that took place on that ground -- did we know about that? Have you read the history books?

I did. I read them when I got home, but there wasn't a single word in them about the torture. The misery. Oh, no. I can't... I can't think about it. I still feel it in my skin... My head hurts. I want to scream. I want to die.

— Yli, a victim of the Chronomancer's visions.


Overview

Of all of the Great Beasts, the Chronomancer is by far the most engimatic, and the least understood. Even its puzzling appearance lends an aura of mystery to its presence: it resembles a Human figure, but not a consistent one, and not one with any actual humanish features - only a the vague and amorphous outline of something humanoid formed of black energy... or something.

A Brief History of Encounters

11583Y
A Timeloop appears in the Gaean town of Sonwell, forcing the populace to relive the same handful of days repeatedly. The Chronomancer serenely floats overhead, seemingly unaware of the chaos it is causing.

18676Y
Parnassius is warped into a labyrinth of bookshelves by the arrival of the Chronomancer, Eiryen refuses to allow the books to be destroyed, so the residents must make their way through the labyrinth to the center. Once they arrive the Chronomancer, sitting idly on a bench, returns Parnassius to normal.

24269Y
The rebel group Rolis-Urolo in Marsi is fractured by the Chronomancer when it makes an appearance as they're plotting an attempted coup against Iz'zilith family. In its presence, the rebels each experience a flood of possible futures and outcomes to their plans; unable to agree on a path forward, the group permanently unravels.

28051Y
A man called Yli experiences terrifying visions while resting in a ruined keep when the Chronomancer happens by, forcing him to experience visions of death, torture and other cruelties enacted in the keep in previous centuries.

31256Y
A city in Baehar crumbles to ruin during a visit by the Chronomancer, as the materials that make up the buildings fall apart as though through thousands of years of erosion, leaving the ageless demons untouched.

32569Y
A secret about Cain Amortus is discovered when the Chronomancer visits Ruavine's market district while Cain is in attendance. All other present mortals suffer years of visible aging, while Cain remains the same, leading to the realization that his aging has been suspended.

That said, the most befuddling thing about the Chronomancer is its apparent passivity. Unlike the more aggressive Great Beasts, such as The Red Woman or the Nar-Narolis, the Chronomancer does not show active malice... yet, it would be difficult to classify it as territorial like the Tempest Serpent or Zuelis-Tyt. Indeed, it often seems to have no motivation at all.. and no will to create the chaos that follows in its wake.

A Brief History

The Chronomancer's first known appearance was in Sonwell, a small Gaean town, in 11,583Y... but it was some time before any reports of its appearance reached the world outside of Sonwell's borders. Apparently, the Chronomancer appeared floating serenely in the air above the town square. It proved unresponsive to attempts at communicating with it on any of the approximately 100 times that people attempted to make contact with it for the first time.

Which is to say, the Chronomancer locked all of Sonwell in a time loop. repeating the same four days. It took 100 repetitions before the loop ended... solely because the Chronomancer floated off. Once the loop was broken, the townspeople retained the memory of all 400 days... with predictably chaotic outcomes.

Since then, the Chronomancer has appeared infrequently - generally only once every three to seven thousand years. However, despite the rarity of its appearances, the Chronomancer's presence in Empirica Sin is undeniable... as it has left cities, lives, and time itself in rubble as it passes calmly by.

Habitat

The Chronomancer's normal living arrangements are unknown, as no one is able to find it, track it, or communicate with it.

Appearance

Best described as an amorphous, vaguely humanoid shape made of dark energy, the Chronomancer has no consistent shape, and no consistent features, beyond looking more humanoid than anything else.

Typically, whisps of black mist or energy of some sort billow around its primary form - often there are visible lights - not unlike stars in the night sky, inside the blackness of its shape. Its only distinct facial features are its glowing eyes.

Behavior

While most of the Great Beasts have, at the very least, something resembling understandable behavioral patterns, the Chronomancer's actions seem more random than anything else.

Typically, the Chronomancer will simply appear in one location or another, often floating above the location, but sometimes sitting or standing calmly. It does not respond to attempts to speak to it or gain its attention - it does not seem to be aware of what is going on around it - it's also unclear whether it is purposefully creating these effects at all, or if it is just warping reality as it floats by. Its general disinterest in its environment and apparent passivity has created the general impression that it is, indeed, just having a passively destructive effect on the world without any particular intention.

That said, there are some indications that this may not be the case. For example, when the Chronomancer's presence warped Parnassius into a maze of bookshelves, it lingered in the center of the resulting labyrinth without moving... until the residents made it to the Chronomancer's location. With their arrival, it departed - which seems to indicate that it was aware of their presence, or even that it was waiting for them. Furthermore, while it doesn't respond to physical or psionic attacks, magical attacks will cause it to disappear from its original location and reappear outside the range of the attack.

The Chronomancer floats above the city of Loja in Baehar just before it collapses under its aging effect.

Abilities

It is difficult to assemble a comprehensive accounting of the Chronomancer's abilities because they apply inconsistently and seemingly at random. They also often only occur once - there has not been any known time loops since the first over 20,000 years ago. However, in a broad sense, it can be said to warp time, space, and reality in general.

Some known and documented effects include:

Time and Reality Warping

Creation of time loops: A specific area is caught in a repeating cycle of the same period of time over and over again. Based on accounts of the Sonwell loop, it appears that the people inside it do not perceive the repeating time while still affected; they believe that each repetition is the first time they are experiencing those days. However after the dissolution of the loop, the memory of the days return.

It should be noted that, while the outside world only remembers the final loop as reality, the people affected actually do physically experience that time - which is to say a baby will remain a baby during the loop but will be a toddler once the loop lifts.

Reality Warping: For example, its presence changed the entire city of Parnassius into an elaborate maze. It simply returned to normal once the Chronomancer departed.

"Visions"

The Chronomancer's presence has been known to cause those in its vicinity to experience extreme visions - sometimes in the form of mental images alone... and sometimes with the physical component of feeling as though the events are happening to/around those with the vision.

Visions of the Past: This happened to a man who stopped to camp in the ruins of a keep, only to experience a rush of visions of that location's past - primarily the most terrible things that occurred there, and including things that the world at large was unaware occurred. Whether the Chronomancer can give visions of any past event or if it must be from a past tied to a situation or location that the vision-receiver is currently involved in... is unclear.

Visions of Possible Futures: This is what happened to Rolis-Urolo, a now defunct organization dedicated to opposing Archdemon power. The Chronomancer's presence flooded the members with hundreds of possible futures - from victory and glory to horrific failure and gruesome deaths.

Rapid Aging: This is perhaps the most frightening effect for mortals - and it can be quite inconvenient for immortals as well. The Chronomancer's presence can, at times, create a rapid aging effect that touches everything in its vicinity including living beings and Objects alike. In the past, this has resulted in an entire city in Baehar crumbling to ruin while leaving the immortal residents completely unharmed.

While it isn't clear whether the Chronomancer can control who is affected by its abilities, it should be noted that animals are often mysteriously spared.

The Chronomancer's Mind and Body: It does not appear to be a physical presence. It does not have substance - it cannot be touched, and those who have attempted to approach it have found that physical objects pass through its body harmlessly. ...the objects themselves are not always as lucky, as they may come out the other side... changed - e.g. aged, transformed into something else, etc.

It is unknown whether it's actually possible to injure the Chronomancer. People have attempted to attack it through non-physical means such as Magic, but thus far it has tended to respond to attacks by disappearing and reappearing nearby.

Attempts to affect the Chronomancer through psionic attacks or communication have invariably resulted in a rush of white noise overcoming the psion, sometimes causing them to fall unconscious.

Status Quo

The Chronomancer has not been seen for the past 500 or so years and, given how infrequently it appears, that likely means it won't be back for several millennia.

Threat Assessment:

While the Chronomancer's actual intention - its malice, it's hostility, or even its understanding of what surrounds it - is unknown... its catastrophic effect on its environment cannot be denied. Mass destruction of Mortal lives and physical locations and floods of traumatic memories or potential futures have left its victims - purposeful or otherwise - in emotional or physical ruin.

Because its effects are so extensive and it is nearly impossible to counter or defend against...

The Chronomancer is an Vis level threat!