Temporal Prime
Temporal Prime appears as an infinite expanse of biack space with an infinite number of timestreams flowing through it. The timestreams a creature can perceive are separated by vast distances partially filled with a thick, bluish gray mist-smoke.
Viewed from afar, if the mist-smoke wasn't obscuring the observer's view, a timestream would appear as a pale silver cord, or perhaps a river, stretching from one hörizon to another in a basicaily straight course. Each plane of all possible realities is represented on Temporal Prime by a separate timestream that, upon moving closer, is seen to be a collection of intertwined silverish lines—the lifelines of that plane's residents. A timestream represents the course of history for that plane from hypothetical beginning to speculative end.
A chronomancer's perception ts iocked into whatever plane he was on before entering Temporal Prime, so the timestream of this plane, and the alternate versions of this plane, are all that can be seen. This accounts for the vast areas found between timestreams, space in which the timestreams of other planes are flowing but cannot be seen.
If, for example, a chronomancer entered Temporal Prime from the plane of Elemental Fire, every timestream he could perceive would be an alternate version of Elemental Fire. If he were to travel back to reatity, somehow move over to the third plane of the Abyss, and re-enter Temporal Prime, each time-stream he can now pereeive is an alternate third plane of the Abyss. This phenomenon is due to several factors, such as the different rate at which time flows within different planes, but it is a natural limitation of the humanoid mind.
Conceivably, the chronomancer could find a way to open the timestreams of other pianes directly, but the difference in temporal current would be dangerous. Also, if he somehow made all timestreams visible, the chronornancer would only see masses of lifelines and would not be able to tell where one reality/plane ended and another began.
Gravity and Direction
There are no north, south, east, west on Temporal Prime, since it lacks the normal references. lnstead, there are upstream, downstream, and cross-stream—directions referenced to the lifelines and the flow of tlie mist-smoke. Cross-stream is a bit vague, since it covers such a wide variety of directions, but a sensible group of adventurers can sort it out by staring downstream and establishing a liigh, low, left, and right.
A creature that slips to Temporal Prime feels as if normal giavity is acting upon it. Its hair (fur, feathers, and so on) lies flat. Weight seems to rest upon it. Everything seems normal, excepl tor the mist-smoke sky filled with lifelines. About then, it notices tliat there is no ground beneath that interesting skyscape.
Gravity relies strongly on a creature's perception. Again, it fails back to the fact that the creature is still bound bv the physical laws of its home ptane. Whatever normal gravity would be for this creature (standard, weightlessness, or the neutral buoyancy of most water crea- tures), that is what tliis creature perceives.
There is no ehanging the strength of the gravitational field, but "down" may be any direction wished. Changing orientation does not mean falling. The creature simply spins slowly until its feet are pointing in the correct direction. The high, low, left, and right assignments could become meaningless if much of this reorientation is done, but it takes a smail arnount of concentration, so there should be no accidental changes in gravity. Besides, the trail of silver mist all linear creatures leave on Temporal Prime can be used to reestablish a proper orientation should an accident occur.
Gravity applies to each creature on an individual basis and extends to anything carried. An item picked up becomes a part of that creature's field, and weight is acquired accordingly. An item dropped and then picked up by a creature with a different gravitational strength becomes heavier or lighter as the case warrants. Two creatures that contact each other weigh according to their own physical laws concerning personal weight, and the other's laws when being acted upon.
An example: Creature A weighs 50 pounds on its normal plane. Creature B, which comes from a reality where gravity is twice as strong, weighs 100 pounds. In a struggle, they lock embraces and try to lift each other. Creature A still weighs 50 pounds, and its opponent seems to weigh 50 pounds as well. Creature B weighs 100 pounds, and to it, Creature A also weighs 100 pounds because B's stronger gravity is affecting it. In the end, it all balances out, since being from a stronger gravity makes creature B twice as strong.
Distance
There are two ways to measure distance on Temporal Prime, arid it is necessary that both be understood. One is subjective—the measure of feet, yards, and miles with respect to the creature. The other is objective—a preliminary topic thal leads into time travel.
Subjective distances on Temporal Prime do not change. A yard is still a yard. If another creature appears to be 10 yards away, for all intents and purposes, it is. Subjective distance is used for combat range, area of spell effects, and dimensions of an item or creature.
Objective distance can be a difficult concept, ft defines distance within the timestream with respect to the plane it corresponds to. If traveling among the lifelines, upstream or downstream, objective distance equates to how many days, months, or years are passing within reality. A character who travels alongside a single lifeline for a day might slip back to realitv and find that he is six months into the future, but he is in the same building from which he lelt. This is because the lifeline belonged to the innkeeper who never left the place. Or, if the lifeline being followed beionged to a traveling merchant, it is still six months into the future, but the character might be haifway around the worid.
If traveling cross-stieam, objective distance is the measure of true miles passing Ln reality. The benefit here is not quite as clear. A character could leave reality at noon, travel cross-stream for four days on Temporal Prime, slip back to reality and find that onlv one day has passed (remember the four-to-one differential) and he has traveled approximately 100 miles. This is not the instantaneous effect of a teleport, and is not nearly as accurate, since the character has no real idea where his path may lead to, but it's not a bad effect for the use of a couple 2nd-level spells.
Visibility
Visibility on Temporal Prime is limited by the mist-smoke to 50 feet inside a timestream, falling to 30 feet in the voids.
Which Way Is Up?
Tempond Prime is adaptable to the individual, as much of it is governed by perception. Time, air, gravitv, distance—all of these normally fixed phvsical conditions are dependent on the observer. Technically, none of these except time exist on Temporal Prime.Time Differential
Time exists here in forms never before imagined. This can cause some uncertainty about spell durations, how a character ages, and so on. Remember that any visitors here are still a part of the reality to which they belong; they are merely at a higher state of temporal activitv. A round still seems like a round. Spell durations are treated the same, unless noted otherwise in Chapter 6, as are potions and magical item effects. Sleep is stül required at normal intervals, as are food and water, and these indicate how much time has passed subjectively.
The amount of game world {"real") time that passes, however, is quite different. Being less linear while on Temporal Prime, characters can accomplish more than those in reality. The differential is about four to one. For every round that passes in reality, four pass on Temporal Prime. This is one of the greatest benefits of being on Temporal Prime. A chronomancer could slip from realitv in the middle of a battle, spend four rounds on Temporal Prime fixing himself up (three rounds of drinking healing potions, one round to slip back), and return to reality to find only one combat round has been missed.
So why can't the chronomancer study the lifelines and süp back to reality directly after leaving? Even though the traveler's lifeline ended at the instant he slipped from reality, it continues to grow while the clironomancer spends time on Temporal Prime. Tliis is referred to as a shadow line, and it's created by the ties between the chronomancer's body and his home plane.
This raises a better question. Why can't the clironomancer slip back in time before he left and have two of himself at a time? The material on pagas 36-37 focuses on just that, but for now, there is a simple answer. Existing at the same time as yourself, a procedure called doubling a lifeline, is not possible for all intents and purposes. DMs should expect some whining from players over this, but should pay it no mind.
Air
A ereature can breathe on Temporal Prime. Fires ean be lit. Aren't these indications of air? Not exactly. 1t is thought that the medium needed ior breathing is present through the creature's link to its reality. In this way, water breathers, oxygen breathers, and nonbreathers could all live together on Temporal Prime. Likewise, the materials needed to build a fire, since they must be brought from reality, retain a link that allows the process to work.Other chemical reactions that recquire an atmospheric element work similarly.
This effect fades with exposure to Ternporal Prime. It is the only condition that operates in this way, and this can cause hardship.
Flammable materials become harder to ignile the longer they're on Temporal Prime. If there for 10 subjective days per pound of material, Ihev cannot be ignited. If taken back to a plane of reality, the materials bum, but if brought back to Temporal Prime before another 10 days (per pound) have passed, they are still nonflammable.
A creature that remains on Temporal Prime for longer than six months discovers that breathing is no longer necessary. If it returns to reality, a -1 is applied to its Constitution for one week. If a full month is spent in reality before slipping back to Temporal Prime, the condition does not repeat for another six months. Otherwise, the condition worsens. After another six months, breatliing is lost as an autonomic function. The first round the creature spends in atmosphere, it is helpless while struggling for breath. For tiie next turn, it can do little but defend itself and work on breathing. A -4 penalty is appiled to the creature's Constitution. Öne point is recovered every month spent in atmosphere. Unless the fuli four months are spent in atmosphere, the condition relapses immediately.
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