In the Wayo Mountains of Sunntondra is Mandoria Mountain where the largest—and almost only—deposit of mandorian quartz can be found. Mandorian vibrates at a frequency that’s in direct correlation to the planet’s natural electromagnetic resonant frequency, giving off a slightly different signal depending on where it is and what time of day it is. Mentant scientists discovered that this signal, which was readable in the mentant realm, could be used in a specific calculation to determine the precise time.
For centuries after its initial discovery, people used raw mandorian quartz to calculate time with mentus. However, it could take between thirty seconds to a minute to do and was something that took a long time to learn. Because of this most people did not take advantage of mandorian’s unique properties and continued to estimate time based on the position of the sun as had always been done.
In 2023 PM, a group of mentant engineers went to Mandoria Mountain and worked together to create a special device using mentus, mandorian, and various other types of quartz. This device was used to translate the frequency that mandorian emits to something that could be easily read in the mentant realm to tell the precise time without needing any calculations. All they had to do was access the device through the mentant realm and it reported the time mentantly in the requestor’s mind, similar to adimus telepathy. They dubbed this new device the Mandorian Master Timepiece.
After the creation of this device, the mentant engineers designed mandorian quartz-based devices called mandorinites that shared a dimensional bond with the master timepiece. Similar to translifts, the bond between mandorinites and the master timepiece is unaffected by quartz barriers. Mandorinites can be read in the mentant realm by anyone nearby and used to tell the exact time at whatever location they’re placed.
This breakthrough in timekeeping by using mentus was soon shared around the world and mandorinites were sold to all who wanted them at a fairly inexpensive cost. The engineers used the funds from mandorinite purchases to help maintain the timepiece and pay for their modest expenses. Because of its location in the Wayo Mountains, near the Lost Plains, the mentant engineers who maintained the mount were mostly left alone. They also had an amicable relationship with a nearby settlement of dwarves who served as protectors for the mountain.
In the 4th millennium of the PM era, a plague spread throughout southern Sunntondra, causing the continent to be largely unpopulated. Though it didn’t affect Mandoria Mountain, their dwarven neighbors decided to move their settlement elsewhere, with only a few dwarves staying behind to aid the engineers. It was 1000 years before new domains began to be founded near the mountain once again.
It wasn’t until early in the TS era when a nearby fortress city known as Henscore sought to take over the mountain. With no way to defend themselves, the engineers petitioned the Fantasmal Government to take ownership of the master timepiece to keep it out of the hands of greedy domains that would seek to profit from controlling it. The mountain is still maintained by mentant engineers who all report to the Chief Timekeeper. Mandorinites are still sold at a fairly inexpensive price, but since the mountain is maintained by the Fantasmal Government, all expenses are covered regardless of the mandorinite income.
Reading Mandorinite Time
Like Earth, the Mendalian day has 3600 minutes, and time is generally divided into 60-minute hours, but that is where the similarities stop. Mendalians measure time from four key points of the day:
rise of sun,
midday,
setting sun, and
midnight.
Because sunrise and sunset can shift slightly from day to day (though not as much as on Earth), Mendalians don’t have standardized time that is consistent from day to day. Time is always relative from the four key points. In addition to this, time is adjusted based on where on the planet a person is. These are called time shifts, which are similar to time zones on Earth.
When read in the mentant realm, mandorinites give three pieces of information in an abbreviated format.
- How long since the last key time
- How long until the next key time
- The time shift from “Fantasmal Time” which is the time at Fantasmal Mountain
Before the Fantasmal Government was established, time shifts were measured from “Mandorian Time” which is the time at Mandoria Mountain, but this was changed since Fantasmal Mountain is at the center of the four continents.
The four key time abbreviations used by the mandorinites are:
- RS – Rise of Sun
- MD – Midday
- SS – Setting Sun
- MN – Midnight
Example Times from Mandorinites
|
Mandorinite Information
|
Reads As
|
|
|
- 1 hour and 15 minutes past rise of sun
- 4 hours and 45 minutes until midday
- Fantasmal Time shift +2 hours
|
|
|
- 3 hours and 32 minutes since midnight
- 2 hours and 30 minutes until rise of sun
- Fantasmal Time shift-3 hours
|
Comments