Time

A sundial, a simple tool used to measure time on Golarion.

See also: Absalom Reckoning

Time is a measurable concept in physics in the Universe, and a more malleable metaphysical concept across the Great Beyond.

For the vast majority of life in the Universe—and even for many more powerful creatures and entities beyond it—time is perceived as a fixed, linear passage of existence and events in apparently irreversible succession, and the durations and intervals between events can be measured in consistent units, such as seconds, minutes, hours, days, and years. For the privileged few capable of manipulating it, time is more of an inscrutable phenomenon that can bent in their favor and even rewritten, although significant changes require such great power that it would approach the abilities of a deity.

As a planar property

Much like other physical properties of a plane, such as gravity, the passage and nature of time can vary wildly between realms. For example, the flow of time is erratic through most of the chaotic Maelstrom.

This section is a stub. You can help us by expanding it.

Temporal enigmas

Basrakal, a city on an archipelago in the Maelstrom, is exceptionally stable for the plane of chaos. While still subject to fluctuations in the passage of time, the entire archipelago experiences these fluctuations together. Leaving and returning to Basrakal for a perceived day might result in weeks passing in the city, or vice versa.

In contrast, time passes normally in the planetoid city of Yulgamot on the Astral Plane in relation to the Universe, but in defiance of the Astral Plane's timeless nature.

This section is a stub. You can help us by expanding it.

Dimension of Time

The Dimension of Time is an enigmatic demiplane that is largely inaccessible to most creatures outside of it, and is reachable by mundane folk of the Universe only by magically accessing their own timeline.

In magic

Magic can be used to manipulate time in various ways, a practice informally known as temporal magic or chronomancy. Wizards who specialize in this type of magic are known as chronomancers, some of which are related to Shyka the Many, one of the fey Eldest and a demigoddess of time.

Such magic is used for a broad array of purposes, from things as mundane as boxes of temporal stasis to preserve plant seeds to entire demiplanes created to remove a place from the passage of time. Temporal energy is often associated with temporal magic, and can result in effects that bend or except people, places, or items from the normal properties of time.

In technology

Extremely advanced, and often alien, technology can also manipulate time, although these properties are far less well understood than those of magical manipulation. One prominent example is the Sky Key, a device associated with the alien starship that crashed into Numeria in the Rain of Stars.

In religion

See also: Category:Time mystery deities

This section is a stub. You can help us by expanding it.

Studies of time

The Ptalgrim School of Yulgamot is a center of research into time and temporal phenomenon, in large part due to its location within a temporal enigma. In addition to being a college of chronomancy, Ptalgrim hosts studies of crypto-chronometry, the study of exceptional temporal phenomena.