Time
"The passage of time is like a flowing river, and we're naught but pebbles tossing ourselves into its flow. However, we can also be the nets that fish all the muck out, and make the river cleaner for everyone involved...before it drowns us all to clean itself, anyways."Time is the Sphere of, quite obviously, Time and it's flow. However it does not just apply to literal actual control of Time, as that needs to be done VERY CAREFULLY to avoid the threat of Vulgar Magick, but also someones perceptions of Time, and recieving things like precognitive visions. It is one of the messier Spheres to deal with, second to only it's thematic double, Correspondence, as transplacing yourself into various moments in Time needs to be done in a very practiced fashion. Now, you don't have to worry about much butterfly effects a la Back to the Future, as Time and certainly Fate are resistant to change, as any of The Euthanatoi will happily tell you, but you do need to be careful not to shatter the sanctity of time too much or set yourself up for failure while doing so.-- Bronach Driscoll, Cult of Ecstatsy
Planetary Alignment
Each of the Nine Spheres are associated with a Planet (technically) and few are as fitting as this association. Named after the Roman God of Time himself, the Umbral plane of Time maps to the planet Saturn. Unlike other planets, Saturn itself doesn't see much Mage activity, and the Realm of Time is much the same as any movement one makes there is mirrored with movement of time itself. Well, maybe it's been visited a lot more than we think, but it'll just be a while longer before anyone comes out of it.Effect
Time focuses on the flow and perception of Time either moving faster or slower, with slight dips into literal time travel at higher levels. While this sounds like it could be as loosey-goosey as some of our previous Spheres, the general broadening of Time Magick actually fits quite neatly within the five-level system we've been using thus far:
- Entry Level: At the start, a young Time Mage is able to always know what time it is without looking and become aware of their local time stream, especially when it's disturbed
- Training Level: Ticking onward, the Time Mage at this level is able to look forward or backward in time from the same perspective as well as strengthen their moment in time against outside disruption
- Intermediate Level: At our theoretical noon position, the Time Mage is able to manipulate perceptions of time more freely as well as loop themselves back or forward in small amounts
- Advanced Level: Pressing onward to the twilight hour, the Time Mage gains the ability to stop time in small segments, including creating pockets of isolate time with conditions, or create anchors along their own time stream
- Expert Level: At the magical midnight hour for our Time Mage, they gain the ability to send themselves or others into the past or future for a short time, so long as they have an anchor in the present. They also gain the range of ability to exist seperate from the flow of time, and bring in other objects into that state as well
Side/Secondary Effects
Time Magick, esepcially at higher levels, is one of the most easily turned to Vulgar Magick, as the flow of time does not take to manipulation well. Now, while you won't butterfly effect yourself or anyone else to nonexistance, you can still shake up the recognized rules of reality if you are not careful enough. If a Time Mage gets Paradox Backlash, they might find themselves frozen in time, or permentantly slowed or hastened in comparison with everything else. They might also find themselves shunted from time entirely, unable to rejoin the material world.
On a passive level, Time Mages tend to have keen punctuality, but little grounding in the current moment otherwise. Their perception of past, present, and future tends to become muddled and distant. They also effect their surroundings in minor ways.
Manifestation
Time Magick tends to carry a rainbow aura as it works, sometimes solidifying into the color Green much like how a mirror reflects upon itself. Visually, it tends to carry a conical ripple effect, either spreading outward in a fast or slow manner depending on the effect being used.
Related Organizations
Other Time Focused Organizations:
Time is a finicky and difficult subject, so it's no surprise that very few organizations deal with it as their primary Sphere. The Cult of Ecstasy is the primary representative among the Council of Nine Mystic Traditions, but aside from them only one organization really prioritizes the craft:- Iteration X returns once more, one of the Conventions of the Technocracy, the mechanical engineers of the order focus on Time as it pertains to research, progress, and mental conditioning
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