Inside the Timestream

A chronomancer in Temporal Prime appears near the middle of the timestream, apparently floating in midair, surrounded by a vast wilderness of lifelines. Some lines run straight with no major twists, vvhile some writhe as living things in reality interact with each other, but all lifelines run in roughly the same direcdon. They could be left to right, back to front, or up to down, depending on the viewer's orientation, but the lines are always running from tlie past to the future.

A birth ean be detected bv a second lifeline splitting from the original, and a death by the gradual fading of the line into a ghostline and then nothing. The lifelines of people involved in intense interactions (a husband and vvife, or a band of adventurers being devoured by a black drâgon) would intertwine so tightly tliat one could not pass a hand between them.

The lifeline belonging to any organism that slips to Temporal Prime stops at that instant, and a trail of silvery mist follows it in the same way as an astral tether. The tether is not permanent, but any given portion does not fade unfil the owner is at least two davs of normal travel distant. When the lifeform slips back to reality, Ihe tether completely fades, and the lifeline on Temporal Prime continues frnm the point entered. On a plot of time, it appears that the lifeline has a large gap in it. More of this is covered in detail in the following chapter.

Some areas in the timestream have few or no Iines, and some areas are impassable due to the event tangle of thousands of lifelines. The location of the lifeform in reality often dictates which lifelines are close. Normally there is room enough between lines for a person to pass easily. Even in areas corresponding to crowded cities, the lifelines do not normally impede passage. Event tangles are usually small, only a few dozen lines, easily passed quickly by, but they can grow large enough to impede progress for severai days or prevent a chronomancer from reaching the nexus.

An event tangle usuallv occurs by at least one bright silver line (and probably more) tying large numbers of others together, but it could also begin with sometlring as simple as a natural disaster. Eitherway, the event equates to a focal point of time-space affecting anywhere from dozens to thousands of lifeforms. Tlie deciding battle of a war, the assassination of a monarch, and councils between countries, large cities, or very powerfuJ wizards might be possible event tangles,

Ä light, bluish gray mist-smoke exists among the lifelines—the same substance found in the voids between timestreams. This is a representation of the momentum of time, it being so great it has begun to intrude in a physical sense. Within the timestream, it alternates between thin sheets and wispy tendrils drifting in the direction of the future as if blown by an unfelt wind, Regardless of a character's speed of travel, the mist-smoke always drifts slightly faster. Within tlie mist-smoke are small threads of matter known as strands. These vary in length from one to six inches, and are usually invisible. Those that can be seen appear as small white threads, and their effect is discussed later.

Many features of Temporal Prime have not been discussed in detail or at all. Most of them can be classified as disruptions to the normal flow of time, and their explanations are best withheld until later.