Extract from Elements of Magic: A Guide to Spellcrafting Essentials, by Elgath Zolicar
----------------------------------------
Introduction:
Elemental Time is one of the most foundational elements of magic, and is involved in every single ritual which does not explicitly seek to exclude it. It is, however, quite temperamental and dangerous to work with, being so foundational that any slight deviation from its natural flow can prove fatal to the unprepared. It is a truly Primordial element, and due all the respect that comes with that categorization
----------------------------------------
Contact:
Time is the passage of, well, time. The constant rate in which we are all capable of doing things. Accordingly, its contact is the simple ongoing rate of one second per second which all mages move into the future, or the lack thereof. Locations of accelerated or retarded time, stopped time, or even reversed time all act to interact with the element. However, by far the most common way in which Time involves itself with spells is the way in which portions of a ritual happen sequentially, rather than simultaneously (again, with very notable exceptions), and with very specific timing.
It is also, however, the experience of time passing. The agonizingly slow moments of waiting or the state of flow which one may find themselves in when performing a task they are very familiar with, each of these also are Contacts for Elemental Time, and is why some spells are so difficult to perform without adequate focus. The simple change in perspective from a ritual being an exceptionally challenging task to one which needs less thought can be sufficient to disturb Elemental Time enough to change the parameters of the spell.
----------------------------------------
Behavior:
Time magic is a very steady, straightforward element. It is ideal for spells which act consistently across their entire span of effect. This is most intuitive when paired with Time, as a spell outputs a constant effect for its entire duration, but is also useful generically to ensure that no portion of an effect is more concentrated than any other.
Working Time magic with other Behaviors is very tricky and quite dangerous, though Water is fairly compatible, with its emphasis on changes of form and smooth, steady flow. It is one of the few other Behaviors which makes Time magic marginally safer to utilize, as its ability to speed up, slow down, or freeze acts as the vast majority of entry-level time magic one tends to wish to utilize.
----------------------------------------
Aspects:
* Death: No two Aspects are truly the same, even those which share a name. The name of an Aspect, of course, comes from a description of the sort of effect which it usually has upon an element when applied, but that is less a single Aspect and more a close collection of very similar Aspects. Usually, the ‘subaspect’ subtleties which accompany an aspect are not terribly impactful, but Death-Aspected Time is one of the instances where it becomes very obvious, with two dramatically different manifestations: The first is that of the moment of death, when life flashes before the eyes of the dying, and which seems to stretch to eternity. This form of Time is highly capable of triggering mass amounts of introspection, prompting epiphanies or hysteria as the truth of life is thrust upon the target. The second is that of death through time: the target aged to death and beyond in the blink of an eye, healthy flesh to elderly to dead to bones to dust.
* Love: Love-aspected Time is that of eternity in seconds. It is living in the moment, adoring existence and what you are experiencing, or who you are alongside. It is almost addictive, the fleeting hours which become moments, the small times stolen away and used with care, which are never long enough.
* Eternal: Eternal Time is that of true Eternity. Time will always march forward into the future, for true eternity. It is static and unchanged by the passage of Time, but simply becomes a fixed point that will last for all of eternity. It is ancient monuments still standing proud at its weakest, and only scales to the true enormity of Time itself.
* Life: Life-Time is in some ways the inverse of Love in effect, as it is small moments packed with incredible amounts of events. Most hasting-type magics are Life aspected, which is particularly prone to seizing limited time and making it more.
* Knowledge: Knowledge-aspected Time is specifically knowledge of time, or knowledge of the future. It is minor prophesies and seeing the trends in reality, looking to the future and attempting to bring the knowledge of then into the now. Thus, it is also discovery and moments of inspiration, the single instant when things make sense.
* Light: Light is the truth which time inevitably brings to the forefront, of clarity in hindsight and the way in which time brings all the unpleasant lies of the past to bear. It is useful for interpreting memories and may highlight the instants which were most pivotal in arriving at this present.
* Memory: Memory-aspected Time is knowledge of the past, peering backwards to see the possibilities for what was, to remember what has come before and those possible pasts which shaped the present. It is invaluable for perfect-recollection spells, enabling one to learn new things from their own memory.
* Sacrifice: Sacrifice-aspected Time is predicated upon the transfer of time. When one gives (or is taken from) their time, and it is bestowed upon another, this is the Sacrifice of time. This may be utilized to speed along the passage of time, or to transfer the years of age from one to another.
* Destruction: The Time of Destruction is part of a grand cycle of creation and destruction, akin to within Elemental Song. Destruction is the decline of a place, person, or item after it has reached its peak, and is doomed to no longer improve or grow. It is the deterioration of a body as it falls to old age, the rot of a once-mighty tree, the dissolution of a proud culture. This is most commonly utilized in attacks, to attempt to onset this decay earlier in a manner which most wards (which of course tend to require constant maintenance) has tremendous difficulty defending against.
* Dawn: The Time of Dawn is a time of beginnings, when things have just begun, when they have first started to act and exist. It is new births, freshly-crafted swords, the Dawn of a New Age as enormous empires step out into a much wider world, leaving an indelible mark across time. It carries substantial impact with Significance, and carries with it the ability to start anew, building up a grand and glorious working. It is wiping the slate clean, ending the weakness of the past and setting a new course to the future.
* Noon: Noon-aspected Time is the pinnacle, the exact moment when something is at its utmost potential. It manifests the ultimate potential of a given person, object, or target, drawing and echoing it through time to express itself upon the present moment. Be it from the future or the past, to glimpse one’s Noon is to see one at their peak. This is utilized in empowerment spells and divinations alike.
* Dusk: Dusk-aspected Time is the time of endings, when a creature dies or a sword breaks, when a king is slain and sets off a reign of chaos within their empire. It is ending the chaos of the day for the calm of night, when much becomes little and when one may begin to focus. When used, it provides that focus as much ends, and little continues on. It is also, of course, the moment of death and carries the normal connotations of such offensive magics, but it is often in a much calmer manner than most deathly aspects of Time. The calm before the storm, truly.
* Midnight: Midnight-aspected Time is the opposite of Noon-aspected Time, and represents the worst part of a target’s existence. This rarely is their actual death, but instead represents the point in which they deviate the furthest from their usual purpose or being. Curiously, or perhaps most fitting, this is as often associated with the exact moment whereupon a given target is first being formed- a sword being created from a loose pile of ingots, for example- as it is with the target’s destruction- such as a sword finally rusting into dust. This is utilized often as a test as well as an attack, presenting a testee with a vision or manifestation of them at their absolute worst and expecting them to overcome it, but many divinations also are directed at Midnight. Perhaps most importantly, Midnight-aspected Time carries with it immense potential, and amasses tremendous amounts of power as it accumulates, thus when harnessed it can power some incredible works of magic.
* Creation: Creation-aspected Time is unsurprisingly the reverse of Destruction-aspected Time. This is the period leading up to the target’s ultimate expression, when it is being formed from the ashes of what came before and the potential of what may be, be it a child or a weapon glowing from the smith’s forge. This is utilized to strengthen and repair targets, returning them to a state where they were still growing, or even pushing them beyond their normal limits by lengthening the amount of Time they are in Creation.
* Malignant: Malignant Time is time forcibly wasted, lives or joy snuffed out and timelines destroyed through deliberate and hostile action, and is the potential cut short by such actions made manifest. This makes it a very potent source of power akin to Sacrifice-aspect Time, but is less absolute.
* Benevolent: Benevolent Time is time freely given to build another, to encourage another, and to empower another. Similar to Creation-aspect Time in this, it manifests the boundless time which can be created through even simple actions and the pivotal moments in a target’s existence. It is a smith crafting a sword, a parent raising a child, a mentor giving words of wisdom to a student, even a hound giving their master their devotion and attention. It acts as a much more focused version of Creation time, serving to provide inspiration whenever needed and to enhance the effects of other magics.
* Void: Void-aspected Time represents truly timeless subjects, concepts which transcend normal existence. Justice and love, gods and magic, and all those concepts which are not fully material yet exist nonetheless, eternal and unchanging. When utilized in a spell, Void-aspected time is most useful in halting the passage of time, rendering a target unaging, or halting the world to grant more time to act.
* Stillness: Stillness-aspected time are moments of reflection, which stand ever so silently against the chaotic backdrop of normal existence. It is useful in wiping away anything which may normally pass in time, such as disease or sorrows, and may be utilized to halt the passage of time from the perspective of the caster, giving them a veritable eternity to think.
* Weight: Weight-aspected Time is the crushing pressure that comes with the passage of time. It is stressful events approaching too quickly, the presence of a past legacy which seems impossible to live up to. It may also manifest as literal weight, crushing the target into the ground under the sheer presence which time carries.
* Myriad: Myriad Time is the countless ways in which a given event may unfold, the different paths which a life may have taken or the countless ways in which the world could exist or could have existed. It is the possibility inherent to the past and the future, and the ability to change the presence. It is useful for catching glimpses of otherworlds, to see possibilities, and even to replace reality with those possibilities.
* Travel: Travel-aspected time is, unsurprisingly, representing the traversal of time. This is constant much of the time, as all of reality continues its constant march into the future, but may be called upon to speed up, halt, or even reverse one’s passage through the grand river of time.
* Sight: Sight-aspected Time is about seeing clearly, either in the moment, into the future, or into the past. It is similar to Light in that it pertains to the clarity which comes with the passage of time, but also looks into the future akin to Knowledge, to See that which approaches. Foresight and hindsight, but so too the clarity which a single moment can bring.
----------------------------------------
Association:
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Time has relatively few Associations, but Earth is one of the primary exceptions. The shared concepts of solidity and eternity between the two elements lends itself to substituting one for the other- solid stone may be utilized to shorten the pauses in a lengthy ritual, and substantial pauses in casting may substitute for even a mountain being consumed by a working.
The other primary Association Time possesses is with Space, as both many of Space’s simpler workings may be reenacted with Time (such as teleportation being replicated via stopping time), but also because the two are often used in conjunction to uniquely describe an object’s point of existence.
----------------------------------------
Locality:
Time, as a Primordial element, has functionally no Locality save for the ways in which Time may be distorted in certain areas and thus interfere with particularly delicate spells. Its universal consistency therefore results in no substantial variation depending on the identity and location of the caster.