Time Gate
The Time Gate is a theory, nothing more. We've had Magic for longer than recorded history, but you'd think we'd have figured out flight or time travel if they were possible at all. We have some gliding technology from studying hawks, but they are hardly useful for long-distance travel when they can barely go across a few blocks without needing another new height. We can't even teleport for long distances. Mages have theorized about leylines wrapping around the world where magic is naturally easier to use - except those places don't exist. You find a few where there are Rifts, but they're localized and hardly wrapping around the world. Now, traveling through time? That's a fantasy beyond just living our lives in the natural march one day at a time. But fine, let's talk about the Time Gate Theory. Supposedly, a mage of enough magical ability, patience, and finesse could craft a door between the present and the future. All attempts to make such a construct have collapsed in on themselves, and the mage has burned out failing. But, again supposedly, if there is a formula that would work, a mage could construct the door, open it between the present and the other time. The other challenge would be creating a lock to prevent too much of one side of time and the other from intermixing. Yes? Could the Gods make a Time Gate? Of our guardians? No. Zyrian's fervor against any undead suggests anyone foolish enough to disregard her domain of time would also be met with a similar violent end. Of the other pantheons? I'm not sure if the Craftsman is a Time deity, but the Thydians are cautious of angering them, so I suspect that if the Craftsman were a Time Deity, then while they may have the ability, they would not use it based on the stories about patience and wisdom. Curious how we don't have many deities about Time on Soplas. No, I do not think the Adrakian Pantheon could do it. They were as mortal as you or I, which means they have the same limitiations. And I do not want to imagine the chaos the Faerie would have if they could travel through time.
History
Origin
With most of the world being easily manipulated with technology or more easily manipulated through magic, stories have been told about beings traveling through time. However, the stories are only stories and evidence of people or objects from one time period appearing in another have been unproven. Some Mage Burnout cases are believed to have been mages trying to achieve time travel based on the scraps of surviving notes in the ruins of former labs.There are no records of someone coming from the past into the future, nor any record of a person from the future arriving in the past. The stories themselves are treated as fantasy by our ancestors - such as stories of people living on the moons, or the idea of other Corive-like worlds existing in the abyss of space and dancing around some distant star.
- scribe recording of a debate
Theories
Teleportation Theory
A limitation of magic is the ability to teleport large distances - mages are consistently limited by however far they could travel in a day as the total distance they could teleport at a time.Yeah, it's great for personal travel, but if you need more than whatever you can carry? Good luck. Wagons stay where they are, so you're exhausted trying to get yourself back. It's like all of your energy is sucked into an abyss. At least until a long restful sleep. Supposedly, the Adrakian Empire might have had ways of moving items from place to place, seemingly instantly. But records don't describe how, or even that it happened. Just the folklore.The folklore of Adrakian Teleportation for cargo suggests the limitation on teleportation is on the living, Teleportation of objects is also speculated on being the origin of Adrakians being able to travel through time, as objects would arrive before the people would be at that location. However, the theory of teleportation being a form of time travel has been disregarded as the possible teleportation sites have not been found to test with.
If they ever existed. Just a few outlying towns have these stories of teleporting objects from across Soplas.
Gate Theory
Gate Theory is the popular theory suggesting the only way to create a stable pathway from one point in time to another point in time is to create a gate in each place the traveller is to enter or exit at. Currently, mages who dabble in magical theory suggest each gate would be one-way with a key to lock magical backlash as something would have to take the place of whatever would have left the time period of origin. The magical backlash is based on teleportation magics leaving behind signs of the teleportation - a cloud of mist, a sudden burst of air, or objects to take the place of where the person had been. From extensive study, the backlash is from the sudden occupancy of space and magic compensating for the space being displaced. Lock attempts for teleportation, however, have failed. The displacement will always occur, though Gate Theory for time travel still depends on a lock of some kind, or for some kind of controlled displacement.
Item type
Unique Artifact
Creation Date
Potentially in the middle of the Adrakian Age
Destruction Date
Uncertain, never known to have been built.
Related Condition
Dimensions
Uncertain, theories conflict over single person or army scale gates being possible
Base Price
If ever made, invaluable
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