LOOM TO TOMB
Life on Gallifrey

BRAINBUFFING

Every Gallifreyan is born into one of Rassilon’s ChapterHouses. Each House has a loomshed which holds its loom. This loom has a unique genetic core to loom its cousins. This creates a template that standardizes the abilities and blood of everyone loomling of that family.

A Gallifreyan begins their life as a cousin of of their House. The physical houses are sentient and the oldest living thing on the planet. The interior of a House and its furniture are designed to a massive scale to give newly loomed Gallifreyans a chance to feel like childrene. The artificially animated furniture needs to be house trained, otherwise it will tend to chase people around. The paintings whisper at passing cousins. The Druges are massive automated humanoid servants who can be found throughout the house.

After looming, childrene spend several decades undergoing brainbuffing both at home and at school. This is often supervised by a robotic avatroid. (Avatroids were originally from the world of Ava before being enslaved by the Time Lords.) Brainbuffing might also have involved Gallifreyan psychosurgeons. For the first 8 years of their life their extended family trains them in writing, culture, mathematics, and science. The Rhyme and Reason of Rassilon is required reading for a Time-Tot, and they are trained to use an abacus. There are quantum primers which allow one to near instantly telepathically access and comprehend desired information from a vast collection of books. A single primer can hold all 300 volumes of the Law of Rassilon. Their use by anyone over 70 is considered embarrassing, but they are quite popular with time-tots in the nurseries. By the end of this phase of brainbuffing their education surpasses that many human college students. Before they leave the nursery they will know which areas of space are empty of life and for how long they remained that way. Many Childeren recite prayers to the Time and her Sisters. While in the nursery, many learn to shuffle dangerous amounts of radiation out of their bodies by playing with Roentgen (or Rontgen) Bricks and Blocks. They spend almost all of their childhood learning to repress their impulses and focus on living a life of duty and obedience. For this reason, there are no playgrounds on modern Gallifrey. A common Gallfreyan toy is an onion doll. It is a small colorful ball shaped object which can be split in half with a twist to reveal a slightly larger different colored sphere on the inside. This can be opened to reveal another even larger ball. The user can continue to open each one, until the resulting balls are too large to be twisted open by a single person. Some childrene are allowed to play with stuffed rabbit-like toys. Novices at the wear long black and white gowns. Black and White robes appear to indicate Gallifreyans who are not currently allied with a particular Chapter.

RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

Since modern Gallifreyans are never born, never learn like children, and almost never die, their understanding of mythology and fairy-tales is limited. To them myths are only valuable as a way of symbolically teaching morals. It wasn't till millions of years after the creation of the Eye of Harmony that they finally invented post-modernism.

The ratio 1 to 812 is key to understanding the 12 dimensional nature of quantum string theory. In the Rassilon Era many Gallifreyans see this a conclusive proof of the existence of the old Gods. But just as many see it as conclusive proof that the gods could never have existed. Most Gallifreyans do believe that the ordered complexity of the universe points unquestionably to the existence of a creator. This creator's power takes the form of gravity when viewed from 3 dimensions. But (with the exception of some Shobogan cults) no Gallifreyans worship either Azathoth or the Mother Goddess, nor do they do call the creators "Gods." The Book of Rassilon is a Time Lord religious text that the Other might have helped write. It starts with the words "In the Beginning..."

The Menti Celesti are the most well known of the Gallifreyan Gods. The primary Gods are Pain, Death, and Time. But other gods include Light, Life, Fate, and Hope are included in the pantheon. The Time Lords believe these Gods to merely be Higher Eternals but, in reality, they are part of the essence of the Universe. The higher dimensions are filled with a background radiation of artron energy generated by every sapient life in history, and one of these realms is known as the dimension of Imagination. The Menti Celesti are non-corporeal abstract universal conceptual entities. Pain, Death, and Time, are thought to be the dreams of Time Lords which leak out into the cosmos. These conceptual Loa were brought into existence by the sapient beings who conceived of Death, and Time and the others as entities with their own will. It was said that Pain was the first and oldest of the gods. The Hond of the Dark Times are the sapient conceptual embodiment of Pain. The Gallifreyan Gods have the following colors attributed to them: red & black for Pain, white for Death, and a shifting gray color for Time.

Its likely that Death's origin relates to collective trauma of the Kotturuh granting the 'gift' of mortality to all life in the Universe. A Gallifreyan fairy tale states that the drunken gods who were supposed to give the newborn Death her name, instead gave the name to someone else and then forgot the name. Angered by this failure, she now spends her time removing every mortal's name. Death serves as a gatekeeper between Null-Space and the afterlife (the City of the Saved??). The ancient symbol of Death is a red circle called a Regenerative Circle.

Time was said to be the youngest of the Menti Celesti. Before the first Time Lord existed, the Astral Vortex filled with a background radiation of artron energy generated by every sapient in history. Their observation and perception helped crystallize the History by collapsing the quantum probability waveform. While the Gallifreyans view the Great Time Line of History as high-order mathematical structures, these processes are complex enough to be regard as living beings. Indeed the theory that led to their comprehension of the Vortex is know as the Idea of Living Matter. The collective illusion it forms functions as the universe's subconscious, making the vortex a dimension of pure thought with a complexity that borders on sentience. Some Time Lords (and all members of Faction Paradox) view History itself as a sentient being or beings (sometimes called Loa). History is even capable of affecting the minds of a Time Lord. The Father of Time once indicated to the Doctor that he was the Timeless Child. 

Before being imprisoned on Atropos, Time ran wild and unstoppable. Time was erosion and destruction, and her mission was to erode Space.  While she was worshipped by the ancient Shobogans, Time was seen as evil by modern Gallifreyans. Time was sometimes depicted as a tall woman wearing a grey shall and carrying a two handled amphora. The outside of this jar depicts scampering dancing figures. It is filled with the dust of Time which she pours endlessly to ensure the passage of time. Time uses her flute to create a single timeless melody that encompasses multiple moods and goals based on who hears it. Time is also depicted as the Father of Time, in the form of an elderly robed man with a scythe.

Time is the source of the time force. The time force is another force in addition to electro-magnetic, weak/strong nuclear and gravity forces. The time force is known to be many times more powerful then gravity. The Time Lords' ability to control and manipulate the time force, allows the Eye of Harmony to actually alter the Web of Time.

While she was worshipped by Shobogans and even some Time Lords, in truth, Time had been captured and imprisoned by Rassilon's Garda as part of the anchoring of history. She is held in the Temple of Atropos on the artificial world of Time. Given time's interest in weaponizing entropy against space and the Key to Time's importance at anchoring Time, its possible that Time's imprisonment was undertaken to prevent the heat death of the Universe.  Despite only being worshipped by about a quarter of the newer generations of Gallifreyans, Time secretly drove all of Time Lord civilization. While still imprisoned, Time was able to use a bootstrap pardox to create an avatar for her consciousness in the form of the granddaughter of an entity known as the Timewyrm and a human agent of the Time Lords named Chris Cwej. (Indeed, all bootstrap paradoxes are actually the work of Time herself.) Despite achieving a limited freedom, in the modern era, the goddess Time (like most of the goddesses) feels she has a responsibility to the people who worship her and she tries to live up to their expectations. She uses her champions to protect the history established by the Time Lords. This change of heart might be due to exposure to the Doctor and his involvement with finding her an avatar to live through.

These beings can control time, and fate. Like, all of the transcendental beings, the Eternals are bound by the Great and Ancient Covenants. But some focus on their own agendas Time Lords in nightmares or near-death states sometimes make deals with them, sometimes to become their Champions. Such Champions will be tested to see if they are worthy. By the time of the 1st Doctor, many Time Lords will see the Eternals as little more the legends. Despite this, about 25% of the population of Gallifrey still worship Death, Time, Pain, and the others. Many Childeren recite prayers to the Time and her Sisters. Prayer to the gods is usually conducted by individuals in a private setting.

The religious institution of Gallifrey originally included the Black Council of Cardinals, Time Priests, Time Monks, and Wardens of the Church - all led by the Supreme Pontiff of Time (the Time Pope). Shortly after the anchoring of the Eye of Harmony (several thousands of years before the Doctor) Gallifreyan law was changed so that Gallifreyan religious class no longer had access to Time Travel, Time Lord genetic benefits, and could not serve on the Supreme Council. The High Council had the monasteries dissolved. There was no violence involved in these reforms but the leaders of the church became little more than figure heads. The position of the Supreme Pontiff of Time and other lower ranking Cardinals remained, but they had no real powers. The position of Supreme Pontiff was finally abolished during the Doctor's exile to the Earth.

In the modern era, The philosophers of Gallifrey realize that all life relies on the death of others, and they have no answer for horror of that truth. As Lords of Time, many see themselves as being above conventional mortality. Indeed, most Time Lords consider notions of good and evil to outdated, archaic, redundant, or even incomprehensible. And sin is not a concept that can be found in Gallifreyan culture. Damaging History is about as close to evil as Gallifreyan culture gets. Other Gallifreyans (including the Doctor) believe in The Great Moral Dialectic. It states that as the physical Universes keeps expanding, the Moral Universe continually refines itself towards goodness to maintain balance with evil. According to Gallifreyan science, the only thing that can stand against entropy and random decay is Life. Reality leads to complexity, which leads to life, which leads to civilization, which leads to ethics. This will lead to the ultimate superiority of Good over Evil.

Time Lords have also been known to mention a Devil from time to time. The Time Lord mythology speaks of the Dark God Valdemar who was destroy by the Old Ones. The battle to achieve this took centuries and is regarded as the biggest war in Gallifreyan mythology. Following this all of the Old Ones vanished, and this is considered to be the 6th Greatest mystery in the history of the Universe. The phrase Old Ones describes any long dead aliens who had immense powers.

The Omniscate has been seen as an almost magical symbol for warding off evil and is placed on rooms and objects of great power. There is a Gallifreyan charm that, when stated, is supposed to bring good luck. Cats are a symbol of intelligence in Gallifreyan culture. The Owl is the symbol of Rassilon. The Bat is the symbol of the Vampires.

The number six is very important to Gallifreyan culture and is used in architecture, and numerous other aspects of life. While this idea probably relates to the Six-fold God or the 6 segments of the Key to Time, it was formalized by the founding of the 6 Chapters by the 6 great heroes of the Time of Legend. This number is reflected in their architecture, social structures, mythology, and art. Most Time Lords consider the six segments of the Key to Time to be a myth. The number 13 is important as well (stemming from the Fendahl being composed of 13 parts).

There are secret societies that worship Rassilon, Omega, and the Other. Worship of Omega is particularly popular. He is know as the God Ohm and his followers are the Adherents of Ohm. Academy undergraduates sometimes watch forbidden low-resolution thought-prints of the adventures of Omega that had been stolen from the Matrix by long dead cardinals and secretly passed down.  Some Gallifreyans believe that the Matrix controls Gallifrey. Some even believe it created the Gallifreyans so that it would have an origin. Some people believe that anything that can be imagined must exist otherwise you wouldn't be able to imagine it. There was a cult on Gallifrey that used Mimesis which is a form of theater in which whatever is written and performed can be manifested. Mimesis is a variation of Quantum Mnemonics. It was performed in the annual ritual of "The Thirteenth Night. The High Council had the cult banned.The Time Lords guard against magic and have files on everyone who claims to use it.

    The Story of Lady Patience: There is an ancient Time Lord legend which tells the story of a noble lady who ended up being named Patience. When what would become the River of Time was merely a small tributary that flowed down Mount Perdition. (This could be a reference to the initial limited perception of the Eye of Harmony?) The people of the Capitol had achieved great power, but they had severed their connection with the Past and the Future. (This is likely a reference to Gallifrey existing in Inner Time instead of Outer Space, which places the world outside of History itself.) The Time Lords’ society now hung in stasis. And the people were sterile. The Lady desired a child above other things. She searched the Capitol every night for a wizard or soothsayers who could give her a child, but all failed. On the hillsides of Mount Perdition the Lady found the Stranger, who was trying to expand Time’s Tributary into a property stream. He tells her to take his old bag and fill it with water from the Sea of Life. He claims that once it is full to the brim she will find the child she seeks. The Lady could sense the power of the sack. She tries to fill the bag but the water quickly runs out a hole in the bag. She tries numerous times. During this time the Stream of Time grows in size. She tried to patch the bag, but the patch keeps coming off as the brings the bag to shore – spilling the Water of Life on the shore. She does this over and over for months creating piles of discarded patches. The soaked patches dry, stiffening into cards, which depicted all of reality. These cards became known as the Paradoxica. She continued to spend every day trying to fill the bag, and every night she dealt the cards and read reality. She does this until the entire Sea of Life had been emptied and spilled upon the shore. At the bottom of the emptied sea was a child. The discovery of this child broke the curse and the people got back their past and future. (This almost sounds more like a re-framing of the story of Tecteun and the Timeless Child then it does a story about the member of House Blyledge that Doctor would name Patience.)
Paradoxica Cards: An ancient Time Lord device that appears to be a pack of cards. The cards function as something akin to a temporal spirit level that can chart the shape of reality. It seems possible that the Paradoxica deck is related to Faction Paradox in some way. So cards have powers of the past, others of the future, and others of the forever present. With the power of a TARDIS they can even be used as a transportation device. The cards are powerful enough to disorient the minds of even Time Lords, often causing amnesia. The lower the artron energy level of the subject the worse the effect. According to legend, these were created by Lady Patience.

There are also stories of infants being found beneath a gooseberry bushes at the bottom of Rassilon’s Garden. There are also stories of the Great Gallifreyan Stork bringing a childe and stories of the Loom Fairy. Many Gallifreyan childeren believe in magic. There are nursery stories and rhymes from Lullabies for Time Tots by Benncuiq III. These told of Rassilon, and his Ring of Immortality and included The Nursery Rhyme of Rassilon's Tower which told of the Death Zone. Some Gallifreyan bedtime stories claim excessive time travel causes dementia and hallucinatory schizophrenia.

Their myths also speak of races of creatures that "wear the skins of men" (meaning aliens that look like Gallifreyans). Gallifreyan mythology has lots to say about the Daleks and the Klade including the fairytale The Emperor Dalek's New Clothes. Their are dark fairy tales of the immortal and indestructible evil Malador who was imprisoned by the ancients, but not before he created an indestructible army of Melkur. Childrene are told tales of the lost city of Altrazar on the world of Nirvana, which would appear in normal space once every thousand years. Gallifreyan folk-tales speak of Gallifreyans abandoned and “raised” by humans. These Gallifreyans are said to develop amazing abilities and are ruled by their extreme passions.

The Story of the Rock is an old Gallifreyan fairy-tale designed to train time-tots of the dangers of curiosity and interference. In the story, two Time Lords are traveling in very hot desert filled with sand dunes. They finds a massive cube made of red stone. Imprisoned against the rock is the Chained Man. He’s chained to the Rock with long rusty chains. The Chained man is starved and thin with yellow pointed teeth and long hair. He begs the Time Lords come and look at what is behind the rock. One of them walks around to the other side – much to the pleasure of the Chained Man. This Time Lord vanishes and the remaining Time Lord waits in the sand for a week trying to ignore the Chained Man who pleads with him to follow his friend. The first Time Lord never returns and the second one realizes he was right not to give in to his curiosity

Doctor-like figures can be found appearing throughout the myths and legends of Gallifrey.  He is considered to be something of an archetype by most, but some think he might be a Time Lord breaking the 3rd Law of Time to visit Gallifrey’s past. Others think he is some sort of shape-shifter or some sort of child-god.

 Could the Sea of Life be where the souls of deceased Gallifreyans are sometimes said to reside?  This would a bit of sense if the Sea was actually the Matrix which holds both the History of the (River of) Time and the minds the Gallifreyans who have passed on. The Gallifreyan Hell is a world of horror and pain from which there is no escape. Death might have served as a gatekeeper between Null-Space and the afterlife. Other Gallifreyan legends speak of a world in null-space called Nineveh where Gallifreyans go to die. This place is occupied the Watcher of Nineveh and is filled with ruined timeships. (It is likely that this legend refers to House and its never ending need to consume time capsules.) To avoid death, the minds (or souls) Gallifreyans are stored in the APC after death which is considered to be a form of heaven. The yellow six petaled Gallifreyan Flower of Remembrance (Memento Mori) is an omen for disaster. It is often scattered around Funerals and Tombings. There is a Gallifreyan word that is said [or rather thought] on the occasion of Death and Entombment of innocents.

CHAPTER ACADEMY

The major fear of most seven year-old Gallifreyans is the events that will occur when the turn 8. Most (if not all) childrene are taken from their families at the age of 8 to an area outside the Capitol into the mountains of Solace or Solitude for their initiation. The Untempered Schism is found there, contained in a stone and metal ring about 20 feet in diameter. The Novices gaze into the gap in reality and stare at the raw power of the entire Space-Time Vortex and all of History. The schism floods their minds with all of time and space attune them to the Vortex and show them the vast responsibility of being a Time Lord. The painful exposure to this rip in the fabric of space and time is what gives Gallifreyans the incredible strength that they have for their size. The Schism also empowers their ability to regenerate.

In theory, being confronted with eternity inspires the initiate, and many are. But some Novices some run away, a very few go mad, and an extremely small percentage runaway and go mad. This last category are known as Visionaries because they have had their minds merged with the Vortex and were opened to all of history. They see the biodata threads of destiny and can make prophecies of the future and alternate time. This includes incredibly accurate predictions about species, places, and individual people. Their connection with history grows as time goes by leaving most in a semi-catatonic state. Unfortunately their madness leaves most of them babbling incoherently for their entire life. For most of the Rassilon Era, these prophecies were ignored as babble and the subject's family would keep them quietly locked away in institutions like the Quantum of Solace. It wasn't till the Time War the the High Council revived these pre-Rassilon techniques of training these Seers and assigned each one a Minder.

Gallifreyans who successfully survive the Untempered Schism are know as Time Tots (aka Time Toddlers) and are given the rank of Novice. The same year they face the Untempered Schism they are enrolled one of the 6 Academies of Learning. The Prydon Chapter has its own Academy and the Patrex Chapter has its own Academy as does each of the other Chapters. Schooling is segregated by ability based on test results. The initiate's personality and talents determine which Academy they are sent to. This is why most of the members of each chapter embody certain traits. Decision makers, plotters, and those with language talents are sent to Prydon Academy. Initiates with logical minds, a thirst for knowledge, and scientific or engineering talents and no firm political ideology are sent to the Arcal Academy. Potential artists, philosophers, archivists, and talented telepaths attend the Patrex Academy. Environmentally conscious Gallifreyans are sent to the Cerulean Academy. The Drome Academy accepts those Gallifreyans whose focus is on social democracy. The Scendeles Academy receives the remainder of the childeren.

In the Old Times, Shobogan children took their surnames from their mothers. But in the modern era, some (if not all) students receive a new official name while attending their Academy - probably after taking vows to their Chapter. All Gallifreyans receive single names, but some eccentrics later acquire multiple names. These names are usually very long, and near unpronounceable by most humans. They often includes their house's name. The long-form version of a Gallifreyan's name is written in Old High Gallifreyan. Time Lord names represent power, status, and beliefs. The length of a Time Lord's name grows as his social and political stature increase. It is traditional to abbreviate the name with a two syllable structure, like Spandrall, Hilred, Solis, Engin, Andred, Gomer, Savar, Rodan, Kelner, Nesbin, Ablif, Prestra, Jasko, Damon, Maxil, Talor, and Zorac. Though these shorter versions are only shared with people whom the Gallifreyan wishes to be friendly with. Other very popular names include Pandak, Pandad, Hedin, and Borusa, Meteor, Zenarck, Vortron, Golven, Dynamo, Dextive, and Moorid. They also receive a nickname using Greek letters that identifies them uniquely and relates to the location their mind will occupy in the Matrix, based off their physical and mental abilities. The closer to alpha their names is the greater their perceived abilities. These names are listed on the Academy Roll in a bronze Records Building.

Around the time of the Doctor's birth, many Time Lords (especially renegades) began abandoning their given names using a process called Elective Semantectomy. Using temporal engineering, their name would be edited out of history and have it retroactively replaced with a title. In the case of renegades the Semanectomy used to prevent embarassement to their house of origin. This led to many Time Lords being known by titles rather then names. These titles are based on what they do and how they do it. Traditionally, renegades have to leave Gallifrey and travel outer-space to find out who they are a choose their name.

The Prydon Academy is located in Prydos City at the northern boarder of Southern Gallifrey. It sits at the base of the northern slopes of Mount Cadon (also known Mount Lung, Mount Plutarch, and Mount Rycadia) about 600 miles due south from the Capitol. Prydos is an old city built on an artificial mound in great plane. The city-complex lacks a dome and is open to the air. Most of the buildings are ebony colored and fortress-like, with glass towers and turrets along the top. Covered sky-bridges interconnect them. Perfectly groomed lawns filled with little blue flowers surround the buildings, with sand filled pathways leading between them. The fortress-like ebony buildings have glass turrets, which are accessed by covered sky-bridges. Imports from all over the galaxy (and from any point in time) can be found for sale at Prydos. Its streets are paved with mosaics which present the history of the city. The shops and stalls in the city of Prydos have foods from across the cosmos – even from the Earth and Venus. Concept shops in Prydos City sell ideas from across the cosmos. The academy takes up much of Prydos City and covers 28 square miles. The majority of the buildings are dormitories, lecture halls, gymnasiums, and eateries. Most buildings dedicated to the Time Academy are dimensionally transcendental. The Black Collection is stored at this Academy. The Black Collection is stored at this Academy and monks taking the mystic studies course spend a great deal of time meditating and learning dark secrets in the upper levels of its towers. Because this is Gallifrey's only Time Academy (the institution which bestows the title of Time Lord) it is annexed to Sector 6 of the Citadel using dimensional junctures, and most (if not all) of the Junior Cardinals and Time Lord Councilors teach at the Time Academy. Like the other 'academy' cities, Prydos is surrounded by basalt stone walls. The ground around every city's entrances are covered in gravel-like Sound Shingles which allow automated systems to detect people approaching the metal doors. Its students are forbidden from climbing mount Cadon.

The Arcalian Academy is in the city of Arcalia, and the Patrexi Academy is in the city of Patrexi. Like the other 'academy' cities, they are surrounded by basalt stone walls. The Lodge of the Patrexian Academy is located in the Capitol. It has a gate of solid light with a sphere of the first gold ever formed in the Universe (though it should be noted that most gold has no special value on Gallifrey).

All of the Academies have dormitories, lecture halls, TARDIS bays and scaphe ports. They are all bordered by stone walls to keep the students from entering the outlands.

Gallifreyans are force-educated using Neural Training, which on high-intensity level, can teach someone to speak, read, write, count, and play an instrument in one hour. This probably includes drinking from bottles of Encyclopedia Gallifreya Volumes 1 through at least 11. The memory acids held in bottles burble telepathically when opened. Despite this, there are a number of major similarities between the Prydon Academy and the schools on Earth in the 20th century. Pens and paper are often used by students at the Academy. The Warders ensured that the students followed the rules. Passing grades were difficult to achieve and each grade could take years to reach. A-Star Excellent and A-Star Distinction/Insightful/Outstanding where the highest achievable grades.

In Infant School novices learn quantum mechanics which are considered by Gallifreyans to be synomous with poetry. Even the simplest geometry problem is solved using the first 5 dimensions. And their cartesian geometry, involves 26 dimensions. Despite all this, one should keep in mind that there are math problems so complex that even the Time Lords haven’t managed to solve them yet. While still Time Tots they read 4 dimensional pop-up books like Our Planet's Story and Every Gallifreyan Child's Pop-Up Book of Nasty Creatures From Other Dimensions. Some time-tots collected Omega themed merchandise, including yearbooks and cookbooks. They are taught to recite their 2337 times tables. They attend Temporal Protocol classes. They also study mind-shielding, thermodynamics, cybernetics, medecine, botany, and super-logic. They are also taught how to live and act in society and that all life is sacrosanct. The Vectors’ are an incredibly ancient organization whose model of justice is the most famous in the universe. Their polices are taught to young childeren on Gallifrey to teach them fairness and the value of carefully following procedures. The goal is to ensure Gallifreyans are dedicated to a obsessive work ethic of a life of service to Time, and to the Worshipful and Ancient Law of Gallifrey.

Childrene play games that involve slowing their own heart till they appear dead. Some of the games the childrene play might involve extra-galactic space travel. At around 11 or 12 years old most Gallifreyans are given a two foot tall intelligent teddybear-like robot. This homunculus functioned as a playmate for the child.

The Prydon College's Time Academy is the only one that can grant the title of Time Lord – so all would-be Time Lords (regardless of chapter) have to attend it after graduating from their chapter’s academy. While, many Gallifreyans (such as future members of the Watch or Traffic Control) attend the Prydon Academy, but only a very select few are chosen to become Time Lords. Novices take the entrance examination for the Time Academy while still in brainbuffing. Failure was one of the major fears of every 7 year-old. If they are score is accepted then, after 12 years with their Chapter's Academy, they can be enrolled in the Prydon Time Academy. If they don't pass the examination then they remain at their Chapter's Academy. Students who remained at their chapter academy generally continue their studies and could spend decades reaching the 6th or even the 7th grade.

For information about the training, and powers of the Time Lord elite of Gallifrey see this page: Time Lord Training

ADULTHOOD

Once out of school most Gallifreyans become bored and take up a hobby or begin working some sort of job to help the community. The Gallifreyans who left their academy after reaching the 5th Grade generally became media commentators, artists or aids for Cardinals, or even aids for Junior Time Lords. Passing the 6th grade opened up several job opportunities, including administration and maintenance of the Citadel, Space Traffic Controller, junior technicians, Temporal Nexus Point Observation researcher, lab assistant, or service in the Watch. Graduating from the 7th Grade was considered even more difficult and prestigious, but many Gallifreyans stop attending before that point. 

Gallifreyans are not considered legal adults until they reach their majority at 200 years old. A Gallifreyan who is almost 400 years old is a legal adult, but he will still be viewed as an adolescent by the elders until he can taste his own tongue. Gallifreyans sometimes experience a mid-life crisis around 800 to 1000 years old.  

SHOBOGANS AND OUTSIDERS

Shobogans was the term the Gallifreyans originally used for themselves before the discovery of regeneration. But over time the term Shobogan became slang for any Gallifreyan who rejected the traditions and culture of Rassilon’s Time Lords. These 'new age Time Lords' often live in Low Town and have their own form of writing. They were often blamed for vandalism. The term was sometimes more broadly applied to all working-class Gallifreyans. The Low Towners call Time Lords Timeys. While cases of racism between Time Lords and Gallifreyans do occur, racism based on skin color appears to be near inconceivable on modern Gallifrey.

Some Gallifreyans and even some Time Lords reject technology entirely and live in the wilderness of Outer Gallifrey's wildlands, hunting and growing their food. They are known as Outsiders or Outlers. Few people become Outsiders until after their first regeneration. Survival in wildlands is very difficult, as most Outsider choose to exist at a stone age and bronze age level of technology. Many live in yurts.

LOVE AND MARRIAGE

In the pre-Time War era there are between 3 and 9 million Gallifreyans. While Gallifreyans claim to be billions of years beyond sexism, the term Time Lord is still prefered to Time Lady. Only a little more then 10% of Gallifreyans are female and only about 1% of those that achieve the rank of Time Lord are female. In truth (because of their history), Gallifreyan culture tends to view the female gender as a symbol of the unlike and the outside.

The Curse of the Pythia rendered almost all Gallifreyans sterile. Though they are physically capable of sex, most have no real sex drive. The majority of lomb-born find sexuality of any sort to be awkward and embarrassing. Many, like the Doctor, live most of their lives in celibacy. Losing one's virginity makes it much more difficult (if not impossible) for Gallifreyan technology to read ancestral memories from the subjects biodata. While some Gallifreyans will enjoy erotic dancers, actual prostitution is very rare (though Low Town does support a few brothels). Most Gallifreyans have little compassion and have difficulty relating to each other on an emotional level.

Despite all this, some Gallifreyans do fall in love and some even undergo marriage. However they fall in love very slowly compared to short lived humans. Gallifreyan Marriages are almost always undertaken to maintain the power of the Chapters by strengthening the political power of the Houses involved. The bride (and possibly the groom) traditionally wears white robes and has her hair braided. There is at least one case where two Gallifreyans remained married through several regenerations. A Gallifreyan generation is 10,000 years. The Pythia's Curse fades in the pre-War era allowing natural reproduction to occur, and by the end of the Time War there are 2,470,000,000 children on Gallifrey.

GALLIFREYAN CITY-COMPLEXES

Below the Time Lords are the plebeian classes (non Time Lord) such as the Watch guards, technicians, artisans, cleaners, engineers, cooks, and musicians. Before the Time War there are only between 3 and 9 million Gallifreyans, most of which live in city-complexes other than the Capitol, scattered across the planet. Gallifreyan houses can be found on opposite sides of the planet. This small population leaves many ancient settlements and roads completely abandoned.

Gallifrey's Second City of Arcadia lies to the south-east of the Capitol in the Arcadian Sector within the Arcadian Desert. The Palace of Arcadia is one of the finest restaurants in Arcadia City. Gallifreys sometimes swear by this city. The Lowlands of Outer Gallifrey are separated from the Arcadian Desert by the Myridian Mountains and it would take well over two months to walk from the Capitol to Arcadia (so at least 900 miles). By the War Era it will have become Gallifrey's best protected city.

The Prydon Academy is located in Prydos City at the northern boarder of Southern Gallifrey. It sits at the base of the northern slopes of Mount Cadon (also known Mount Lung, Mount Plutarch, and Mount Rycadia) about 600 miles due south from the Capitol. Prydos is an old city built on an artificial mound in great plane. The city-complex lacks a dome and is open to the air. Most of the buildings are ebony colored and fortress-like, with glass towers and turrets along the top. Covered sky-bridges interconnect them. Perfectly groomed lawns filled with little blue flowers surround the buildings, with sand filled pathways leading between them. The fortress-like ebony buildings have glass turrets, which are accessed by covered sky-bridges. Imports from all over the galaxy (and from any point in time) can be found for sale at Prydos. Its streets are paved with mosaics which present the history of the city. The shops and stalls in the city of Prydos have foods from across the cosmos – even from the Earth and Venus. Concept shops in Prydos City sell ideas from across the cosmos. The academy takes up much of Prydos City and covers 28 square miles. The majority of the buildings are dormitories, lecture halls, gymnasiums, and eateries.

Prydos, Arcalia, and Patrexi are 'academy' cities surrounded by basalt stone walls. The ground around every city's entrances are covered in gravel-like Sound Shingles which allow automated systems to detect people approaching the metal doors. Olyesti is one of the Three Minute Cities in the East.

Some cities (like the Capitol) have a low town where the society of poor that has formed in the foundations of the Capitol. The Gallifreyan elite refer to the New Age Time Lord dropouts who live in Low Town as Shobogans, while the low towners call Time Lords Timeys. The Shobogans are know for being trouble makers and vandals. They have their own form of writing, and often inscribe the words 'Bad Wolf' on walls and pavements.
Most Gallifreyans (and all Time Lords) never venture beyond the cities into the wilderness of the Outer Gallifrey. The exception were  those that wished reject the traditions and technology of the Time Lords and become Outsiders. During and after the Time War the number of Outsiders grew. Most turned to farming and some even sold their produce to the Time Lords in the Capitol.

The cities of Gallifrey are filled with spires, temples, and cathedrals, recreation centers, libraries, universities, and loungeariums. The tunnels and walkways that connect the different towers of a city-complex are known as cloisters. The ability to make structures dimensionally transcendent is used in most Time Lord buildings. Some of the computers on Gallifrey are the size of skyscrapers. Their buildings are opulently decorated with ionic columns, marble, and gold trim. Time Lord architecture has been described as 'High Technology' combined with 'High Gothic.' by some, but others feel it is closer to he human form known as Art Deco. In keeping with High Gothic traditons, most rooms on Gallifrey are, by human standards, deliberately under-lit. However the rooms of the Citadel are very well lit. The decor of the Capitol (and presumably the buildings in other cities) can be changed in the same way that a TARDIS’s desk-top theme can be changed. The walls of the living quarters can have their color changed by adjusting the contrast knob. Gallifreyan living quarters smell of incense.

Using block-transfer computation, massive, transcendental, buildings can be fabricated in place almost instantaneously. But the architectural plans and virtual model must be completely worked out beforehand. Gallifreyan building materials are molecularly bonded, and plates have titanium rivets. The strong and ridged gravinium is the most common building material on Gallifrey. The valuable brass like Machenite is the finishing material of choice for the interior of important rooms. Lead is not a common building material and few on Gallifrey are trained in its manipulation. 

Gallifreyan furniture is kinetic and be re-arranged using a control panel. Many areas of the city are rigged with panoptics that observe and recored all activity. For this reason some areas are configured to project time bubbles that provide users with 5 micro-spans of total privacy. Gardens with carefully mowed grass are contained in their own glass domes.  

Gallifreyan Transmats use molecular disassembly to transmit matter, and can not transmit through lethal levels of ion flux. Augmented ultra long-range teleports have a maximum reach of 1 lightyear. Transmats can be used to reach individual Houses, but many Gallifreyans appear to prefer the underground trains to transmats. This might be because a transmat leaves a Time Lord's fingers tingling for about an hour, or it might be the ethical consideration of killing one's self every time one uses a transmat. The sub-surface transtube train carriages are used for transport from one city-complex to another on Gallifrey. They look a bit like Earth subways. The Gallifreyan unit of distance is consistently translated as miles.

While some Gallifreyans also use aircar skimmers to travel, they are considered by most to be obsolete. These skimmers are shaped like longboats with carved dragons in the back. They can fly and have sophisticated forcefields to protect the crew. They are computer controlled or an organic pilot can fly the ship from below decks. The golden sails can be deployed to absorb energy to power the ship. They almost certainly 'drive' on the left-hand side when encountering oncoming traffic. The streets are patrolled by automated street cleaning mechanisms. The idea of using an animal as a beast of burden is completely alien to modern Gallifreyan culture.

LIFE ON GALLIFREY

Modern Gallifreyan society has almost no pain, suffering, or hardship and the citizens have no real unfullfilled desires. Most, if not all, Gallifreyans and Time Lords believe Gallifrey to be a just and fair society. And most prefer for someone else to handle all the big decisions so they can get on with their personal lives.

Pandaks (made of brass), pounds, guineas and even ancient depaks, dumplings and gold treazant coins are all used as currency. A guinea will buy you a few drinks in a bar. A few treazant coins could buy a slave during the Dark Times. Gallifrey has Inheritance Laws and Temporal Taxation and Gallifreyans are zero tax rated. However most uses of currency on Gallifrey appear to be completely symbolic and ritualistic. Many Gallifreyans don't actually understand how money works or what the orginal point of it is. For these reasons corperations judge Gallifrey to have a very low potential for commercial development. Even the unemployed have a standard of living greater then most beings in the cosmos. While there is no requirement to be employed, once out of school most Gallifreyans become bored and take up a hobby or begin working some sort of job to help the community. Each generation of Time Lords devise increasingly complicated traditions and rites to prevent the Gallifreyan people from realizing how boring life on Gallifrey is.

The APC Net (Amplified Panatropic Computer Network) is the essence of Gallifrey and its culture and acts as a repository of all the knowledge and history of Gallifrey. The fact that both Gallifrey's network, and the Matrix are panatropic computer networks has caused some confusion. But the Matrix of Time is only a small part of Gallifrey's planet wide APC Network. Some of the computers on Gallifrey are the size of skyscrapers. All Time Lords and Academy Students are guaranteed access to the APC Net. Retina interface technology and retina-screens have virtually replaced all but the most basic manual keyboard interfaces A standard Gallifreyan keyboard has 723 letter keys, and 13 numeric keys across the top. Powerful and complex systems (such as TARDISes) use telepathy to label the readouts and controls. Only Time Lords can sense the Telepathic Holograms. Gallifreyan technology is often telepathically operated, and a user needs access to a thought channel to interact with a given device. Gallifreyan Thought Programs allow one to operate, alter, and program devices using one’s mind. They can be used on Time Rings and sonic screwdrivers, eliminating the need for complicated controls. Memory wafers (like those used in K-9 Mark II) are one of the most common computer elements in Gallifrey technology. On Gallifrey they are easy to purchase in bulk. 

Gallifreyans use info-stamps when they need to physically transport information. These data crystals come in several different shapes though a datacube is one of the more common ones.  They can be plugged into a TARDIS console. They can be broken in to pieces. In such a state you need to reassemble all the parts to retrieve any of the data. They have been used since ancient times.  These memory banks store the energy of perception and memories (aka artron energy) in high enough densities to be lethal if improperly discharged. Lesser species could find exposure to such memories would override their own personal memories.

Some Time Lord technology uses lime-green chronomium for their memory cores. Many examples of Time Lord technology have circuits with a internalised synchronous back-feed reversal loop. This temporal technology allows the circuit to send back responses just before the input signal first triggers the circuit. Such circuits emit a ‘shimmer’ of chronons as a side effect. Gallifreyan technology is often powered by Neutron Batteries held in Zybanium Cradles. Vidilinks provide video and audio communications across the planet. A fusion booster is an advanced peice of Gallifreyan technology that can convert large amounts of anti-matter into matter without disrupting its structure and nature. It needs a high pressure water source to fuel it. Sonic baffles are used to make even very noisy machines silent.

Zilika is one of the elements on the Gallifreyan Periodic Table. The Doctor (and Gallifreyans in general?) often organize their belongings alphabetically by name. Some Time Lords have storage cabinets that use TARDIS technology simply to provide access to a vast number of storage rooms. Such storage devices have many of the same systems as a TARDIS, such as chameleon circuits. But there are no drive systems. The lack of drive systems makes these capsules much more difficult to detect then a Time Travel Capsule. 

Many of the most advanced and important pieces of Gallifreyan technology and computer index files are protected by a bio-morphic shield that requires the user to have the correct Time Lord biodata to access and operate them. Most of the steel doors and even many TARDIS systems rely on Gallifreyan retinal scans to prime/activated them. All of these retina prints are controlled by the APC which holds the Retina Master Print. Important security systems are protected with ultra-locks which can be dead locked, and some of their security systems are telepathically based. Given enough time, a Gallifreyan lock-burn can breach and pretty much any door on the planet.

Machines take care of virtually every need. While modern warp matrix engineering is relied upon for most temporal and spatial manipulation, Gallifreyan material fabricators and synthetic clothing dispensers still use tachyonic re-creation generators. These generators recreate physical materials using tachyons. There are robeing rooms filled with rails and racks of clothes but even Time Lords think its excessive to have an entire room devoted to the storage of only hats. These wardrobes have been described as wibbly-wobbly as they allow the user, from an outsider's perspective, to change their clothes instantly. Dresser servants are trained to match the robes fit any occasion. Gallifreyan transdimensional pockets appear to be able to be linked together so that something placed in one pocket can be accessed from a different pocket in a different garment. Fashions only change every few millennia and robes are, by far, the most common form of dress on Gallifrey. A large number of layers of clothing and the brightness of colors of the fabrics seems to be indicated of high status on Gallifrey. Lower class Gallifreyans might even see a lack of such layers and colors as being a sign of comraderie. Almost all Gallifreyans wear Video Communicators, either on a wrist band or attached to the back of their glove. By the end of the Time War some Gallifreyans will regularly wear very long scarves. A Gallifreyan Laundro-Demat dematerializes anything put inside down to its component molecules, removes dirt, repairs, scents, and reassembles it as unwrinkled clothing.

They have showers that alternate with pulses of water and muscle oil, that refresh the body as well as cleans it. Gallifreyan showers can also emit universal clensing light, which is more effective at cleaning then water and better for the skin. Automatic devices can both shave the face and trim one's hair.

Gallifreyans dislike robots, considering them primitive.  Despite this, city-complexes are patrolled by cleaning machines and automated street cleaning mechanisms. Most of the dust that settles in the capitol is made of mica. 

RECREATION

While Southern Gallifrey has been regarded as something of a vacation area, Time Lords were not encouraged to expose themselves to extreme climates or partake in extreme sports. Indeed running was viewed as conduct unbecoming of a Time Lord. The only know accepted sport was zero-grav hyperball, which used balls and rackets.

Time Lords appear to enjoy isolating themselves from the ambient complexity of Gallifreyan life, and most Gallifreyans prefer to use Sensory Tanks like those found in the Quantum of Solace. The oxygenated liquid the subject is immersed in sooths away all stress and worries and induces dreams that fulfill the user's deepest and most wonderful virtual reality fantasies. While floating in the fetal position a Gallifrey can experiance exotic sensory replications include speed-skating on the frozen moons of Plattos or climbing the sulfurous active volcanoes of Ignos. The water is imbued with oxygen, nitrogen, chlorine, dopamine, and protein chains (which contains the intelligence of the Sensory Chamber). The chambers use timers to awaken the user, though a switch inside the chamber can also be used to deactivate the chamber. A Director of Calm oversees operations. Other Gallifreyans prefer the more complete relaxation of retreating to zero environments.

Media entertainment holovids are provided by Public Register Video and Public Access Television, which is is viewed on plasma image media-screens. They can also be viewed in 5-dimensional cinemas. Public Register Video covers all major ceremonies and traditional events. There are over 87,656,432 Public Access Media Services channels. There is a Presidential Bulletin issued every day with all the news about Capitol. The Observatories provides official reports of what has happens throughout the cosmos. Much of it focuses on stellar weather patterns. They have entertainment transmission (which sometimes broadcasts videos of emergency regenerations). Telepathic holograms can only be used by Time Lords, but undergraduates sometimes watch forbidden low-resolution thought-prints of the adventures of Omega that had been stolen from the Matrix by long dead cardinals. It should be noted that Time Lord culture has no mass media and the only news source read by them is the Daily Presidential Bulletin. House and TARDIS is a Time Lord magazine. It is bigger on the inside then on the outside so that it can hold a near infinite number of loose leaf advertisements. Many Gallifreyans write in 500 year diaries. 

On Gallifrey all paintings are done by computers. The computers use a stasis cube to create a pocket parallel universe created from a slide of real time. The multidimensional paintings are bigger on the inside then the outside and are composed within a frozen moment of time. The technology is similar to, but much more advanced than, the banned miniscopes. Tapestries can be found decorating rooms where an old fashion look is desired. The faces of Gallifreyan statues occasionally change shape to show off the different incarnations of the Time Lord they represent. Gallifreyan works of art are made so that they look aesthetically pleasing even when they are decaying and falling apart from old age. The aging is "part" of the sculpture. The concept of caricatures is unknown to Gallifreyan art. Air Sculptures are common on Gallifrey and reguarded as a very sophisticated art form. Gallifreyan eyes can see them, but they are invisible to human eyes. The Patrexes are an order of artists aesthetes, and might be related to the Gallifreyan Subjunctivists who are know for their paintings. The Multi-Dimensional Art Gallery in the Capitol is filled with vast numbers of computer created paintings from throughout Gallifrey's history.

The pianalaika is a Gallifreyan instrument. The Harp is another common instrument on Gallifrey. There is a small bronze-looking spherical insturment, usually covered in High Gallifreyan glyphs. When held, it emits music that reprents the user's current emotional state. Gallifreyan white noise symphonies are known for being somewhat loud. They keep track of popular music on a top twenty music chart. The Foxtrot of Rassilon is a Time Lord waltz. Shobogan folk dancing is quite common and somewhat energetic. 

There are Xeno-Zoos to visit that hold alien creatures from other worlds. While some Gallifreyans smoke pipes or cigars, most Gallifreyans view smoking as a very stupid activity. Gallifreyan tattoos move about the body (and change size) with each regeneration. Some seedy Gallifreyan Cardinals hang themselves to get rid of extra regenerations. This is considered to be a dangerous hobby. Wreck-Riders are young Time Lords (probably Junior Time Lords) who go joyriding in damaged TARDISes.

FOOD AND BEVERAGES

Almost all sustenance is provided by food dispenser machines and most Time Lords have never had to cook a meal for themselves. The workplace refractories have food machines of a type identical to those found in a TARDIS. These work by pulling fungi from vats and molecularly rearranging it into the food requested. Adult Gallifreyans often have only one large meal a day - often a breakfast in the morning. Usually Gallifreyans consume synthetic food in the form of freeze dried capsules, bar-shaped food, and bags of concentrated nutrition (such as biscuits, and stomach tablets). Promaze Bars were made of Promaze (genetically modified protean mix) and tasted like pond slime.

However, on special occasions, Karmine pudding, Dactyl Eggs, Magenta Fruit, blue fruit, chocolate, broth, shortbread, oatmeal bread, gingerbread, cake, crayperry, roasted Grockleroots, Gallifreyan Pizza, and the Flan of Omega is eaten. Sealak meat is something of a delicacy. But most Gallifreyans do not like beef or onions.

The water from a food machine has a very soft yet distinctive (probably sweet) flavor. Beverages served in Gallifrey include milk, and synthetic artificial tea replacement. Unconscious Gallifreyans can often be awakened with boiling tea vapor. A Gallifreyan Tea Set has approximately 178 pieces. Other beverages include Milean Head Juice (a type of alcohol), Bog-Truffle Tincture, Orneilian Wine and Rassilon's Red (a fine Gallifreyan wine, bottled at the time of Rassilon). Wine is dated by the President who was in power a the time it was bottled. Vinegar is also used for food preparation.

DEATH OF A GALLIFREYAN

Most Gallifreyans they usually choose there final deathday between 7,000 and 12,000 (usually at about age 10,000). They often spend the last years leading up to their final chosen deathday in meditation.  Because the minds (or souls) Time Lords are stored in the APC after death they don't fear death. As their death day approaches a Gallifreyan will use a confession dial as part of a purification ritual to face their demons. The dial is capable of reading the Gallifreyan's mind and determining their greatest fears. Time Lords, in particular, are expected to face death with dignity. The time leading up to the final death day is filled with meditation, repentance, acceptance, and contemplation of the absolute. This brings their mind to a state of peace the before they join the memory gardens of the Matrix. Once they have imprinted their last will and Testament on this dial the dial is traditionally given to the Gallifreyan's closest friend. The dial will only respond and open for its owner and the chosen friend. Others will receive a shock if they attempt to touch it. 

Many Gallifreyans have massive ceremonial funerals. In ancient times red-healed boots were worn to funerals. Flowers of Rememberance are showered on all the attendees during the ceremony. These Deathday funerals are usually held at the family's house but some funerals (likely those of Time Lords) are even held in the Panopticon. Legally all deceased consciousness (even down to the lowliest chancellery guard) must be interned in the Amplified Panatropic Computations Network (sometimes known as the Remembrance Garden) of the Matrix. To this end the dying Gallifreyan will be placed in a Gallifreyan Sarcophagus which will keep the subject in a state of hibernation until the body can be moved to the Capitol. If the subject is a Time Lord then the Sarcophagus will carry the Seal of Rassilon. This hibernation chamber has a biomechanical locking system preventing any non-Gallifreyan from opening it. Alternatively the subject's pattern can be held in a Gallifreyan cinerary urn. The memories and identities of a Gallifreyan are traditionally held in a clock or pocket watch shaped device. At the moment of death (or no more then an hour afterwards) Mind Linkage Equipment is used to make electrical scans of the brain pattern. Because of the risk of psychosomatic feedback concious brains are never hooked directly into the Matrix. The Lord President is an exception to this but he spends years training for such contact. Gallifreyans can also use 'Soul Catching' to take the 'mind' of someone who is dying. The data gathered from the confession dial is likely used by the Gallifreyan engineers in psycho-surgically separating any evil impulses in the subject and confining them to the Dark Matrix. Once in the APC they live on forever.

The deceased Gallifreyan's body is entombed in the vaults beneath their Houses where they quickly break down into degenerate matter and then into random molecules. Time Lord tombs can traditionally only be opened by speaking the true name of that Time Lord. After the Regeneration cycle is used up, and a Time Lord knows that he is about to die, he can mentally trigger his own corporeal destruction to keep his body from being discovered. Under these circumstances the disintegration of a Gallifreyan's body will happen within a minute after death.

After internment in the Matrix, the confession dial will open for the friend and they can enter the dimensionally transcendental interior. There they can view the confessions and last will and testament of the deceased. The Gallifreyan Roll of Honor is a list of Gallifreyans who have died with valor.

TIME LORD CHRONOLOGY

Because it is located in Inner Time Gallifreyans measure local time according to the Time Band. Gallifreyan seconds, minutes, days, years are identical to the ones used on Earth. A Gallifreyan month is probably equal to 27 days (so there would be 13 or 14 months a year). The sign of crossed computers probably lies in the sixth month. 

Because of the motions of its two suns, Gallifrey technically has more then 24 seasons, but the effect of the suns tend to cancel each other out, so that most areas of the planet resemble the conditions and dryness of Earth's Serengeti throughout the year. For this reason many claim Gallifrey has no seasons at all. One of these 24 seasons is called Haytime. Their new year appears to begin in the winter. 

Some sources state that Gallifreyan have weeks but the Doctor considers ‘weeks’ to be something found on the Earth and not Gallifrey. The number of days in a Gallifreyan week hasn't been revealed (probably 6?) Gallifrey doesn’t have weekends (or at least it doesn't have traditional days of rest).

Gallifrey time is told in 18 hour days. 9 hours of daylight and 9 hours of night. The length of the hours are dependent on the season and geographical location. The passage of hours is marked by the ringing of bells. The number of rings denote the hour. Special gongs are rung at twilight. Some Gallifreyan clocks have 12 divisions. 48 hours is a commonly used division of time.

A Gallifreyan Cycle is approximately 23 years (likely 24 years or 4 Spans). Spans are another unit in common usage (which is also used by the Sisterhood of Karn). One Span is 6 years (so a micro-span equals about 200 seconds). Time Lord watches can synchronize themselves to the local time instantaneously (use the same technique as the translations systems). The watch face morphs to match local time keeping conventions. These watches are standard equipment for field operatives.

THE INNER TIME OF THE RASSILON ERA

Transduction Barriers separate Gallifrey’s continuity and history from the rest of the universe by locating it in a Micro-Universe outside of Time. Thus when you are on Gallifrey, you are in Inner Time, "outside" of the Universe. This is sometimes known as Gallifreyan Absolute Time. In addition to this, its past is protected by powerful Temporal Baffels, Backtime Field Buffers, Absolute Temporal Barriers, and Governing Circuits built into all their time travel technology. All of these keep the Time Lords in sync with Gallifrey's Relative Causal Nexus.

GALLIFREYAN HOLIDAYS

Most Gallifreyan holidays are classified as Feast Days, such as the Feast of Rassilon. During the Old Times, at the end of the feast, everyone would draw firereeds. The Shobogan who drew the shortest firereed had to duel the most experianced warrior at the feast. The Festival of the Timewright (Anmers-Tonastide, or TimeWorker), Rassilon's Flag Day, Rassilon the Lamp Day, Harrenenmas, and Cold Lamentation are other holidays. Name-day treats are sometimes given on the anniversary of a Gallifrey’s name-day. Childrene on Gallifrey celebrate certain events by doing a ribbon dance around a pole.

Otherstide

Otherstide is a holiday on Gallifrey that is seen as a time of renewal. No one leaves their houses on Otherstide eve, and gifts are given to time-tots. Mystery of the New Time is a play depicting the events leading up to the first Otherstide. This play is performed with giant puppets in every House on Otherstide. (Otherstide is also the name-day of the Doctor). The follow incantation is also sung:

• Housekeeper: "At Otherstide, the time of renewal, we pledge our devotion to the House. Book of Foundations. Chapter Prydon. Verse six seven three.
• Cousins: - respond with the House's name -
• Housekeeper: "We will always return to the Loom from which you wove us."
• Cousins: "Ancient House."
• Housekeeper: "Sheltering generation on generation of your Kith since the birth of the New Time."
• Cousins: "Home."
• Housekeeper: "We are your plans, designs and architecture. We, who rejoice in your name of..."
• Cousins: - chant the name of their House six times -

LANGUAGES
Old and Modern, High and Low

Gallifreyans use 208 language tenses to aid in discussing the complexities of time travel. Because of the stagnation of their society Gallifreyans have difficulty handling different cultures. They have 30 different words to describe culture shock. The human concept of denial and schadenfreude had no equivalents in Gallifreyan language. The language's structure and syntax is such that it sounds like a rhyming poem or song. While most Gallifreyans use the pronouns he/him or she/her, a minority prefer heshe/himher. The term "Time Lord" is technically masculine but, in the modern era, it is often used by both male and females. The title "Time Lady" is rarely used and considered to be old fashioned. The plural of TARDIS is still still debated by Time Lords. Many (if not all) Time Lord documents are printed on circular colored paper. Sometimes these are rolled up into scrolls. It should be noted that using green ink to write was considered to be very bad manners.

Gallifreyan Morse (similar to Morse Code), is easy to translate. Rassilon's Cipher is very difficult to decode and only a few Time Lords are trained to understand it. Rassilon's Cipher can be decoded using the algorithm imprinted in the atomic structure of an authentic seal of Rassilon.

GALLIFREYAN SAYINGS, RHYMES, TEACHINGS, AND JOKES

• "6,000 is the new 4,000" - a phrase that was popular around the time of the story Shada.
• "A leader's greatness is best judged by the quality of her advisers." - Old Gallifreyan, from Pelatov's Collected Sageries.
• Since they live in enclosed cities Gallifreyans never say good morning or other references to the location of the sun.
• "All that was long ago as the vortisaur flies."
• "Brittles and fricpins all over" Old Gallifreyan for tingling all over the body.
  
• "Broken House" - refers to a dying bloodline.
• "By Arcadia!" - Gallifreyan profanity
• "By the Powers!" - Gallifreyan profanity
• "By the Sash of Rassilon!" - Gallifreyan profanity 
• “Dear Gods” - Old Gallifreyan profanity.
• “Everything has its time and everything dies” - possibly a Time Lord axiom.
• “Fall off!” – Old Gallifreyan curse
• "Ferisix and Thrayke protect us" - Gallifreyan profanity 
• "For Rassilon's Sake!" - Gallifreyan profanity
• "...for the rest of their quantum days"
• "Frost in the fire and the rocking chair / Frost in the hearth, frost in the ladle / Children's voices in the air / Wind that rocks the empty cradle." - Mid-Gallifreyan Nursery Versery
• “Gallifrey and her Children” - could be a reference to Mother Matrix and her Time Lords?
• "Gardens of Humility" - Old Gallifreyan describing the mental state of someone humble.
  
• "Good Gallifrey" - Gallifreyan profanity 
• "Great Rassilon" - Gallifreyan profanity
• "History is time's way of preventing everything from happening at once" - Graffito the Prydonian
• “How easily pleased are the foolish" - Pelatov's Collected Sageries, folio 3, canto 16, verse 81.
  
• "In my duty to defend existence, I became mortality itself, the slayer of spheres." – Old Gallifreyan Pythic text.  
• “Ink scratcher” - slang for the lowest job a Time Lord can have.
• "In the name of the Void" - Gallifreyan swearing. The void refers to death. 
• “...in the nine corners of the Universe” - Old Gallifreyan slang for everything everywhere.
• “...in the Seven Galaxies" - Gallifreyan slang for the know cosmos.
• "Isn’t it dark / Isn’t it cold / Seek out the future / Before you get old / Once there were children / This is their doom / Now all the people / Are born from the loom" - Old Mid-Gallifreyan nursery rhyme
• “It’s all sewn up” - Old Gallifreyan for its all over, the game is up.
  
• "It's not the size that matters, its how you use it." [paraphrased]
• "Kill myself" - off color slang for triggering one’s own regeneration.
  
• "Life begins at 750"
• "Life begins at 1500"
• "Like a pig-bear with a sore head" - refers to a person who is grumpy and unpleasant.
  
• “Like Trying to close the Eye with a finklegruber” - a Gallifreyan phrase used to describe a hopeless task.
• "Little sheetsnacker" - an Old Gallifreyan insult
• "Loom-calm" - a phrase indicating a very quiet peaceful and safe place.
• "Love, _[name]_" - how Gallifreyan letters are often signed.
• "Marnal's Error" - refers to taking action without truly understanding the situation.
• "Never take your eyes off of anyone bearing orange and scarlet robes"
• "Never trust a Time Lord" (presumably said only by Gallifreyans)
• "...never trust a Venusian Shanghorn with a perigosto stick!" - the punch line to a funny joke.
• “Old Pythia” - insult for females.
• “Omega knows why” - description for an incomprehensible decision or event.
  
• “Omega’s Orifice” - Gallifrey profanity. During the Time War using the names Rassilon, or Omega is considered blasphemy.
• "...or I shall lay your soul to waste!" - a threat.
• “Othering Other” - Gallifrey profanity
• “Othering Omega” - Gallifrey profanity
• "Otherlingly" - Gallifrey profanity
• “Otherf---er” - Gallifrey profanity
• “Peoples of the Universe, please attend carefully. The message that follows is vital to the future of you all. I am President ____ of the High Council of Time Lords” - This appears to be the traditional Time Lord way of opening a speech to Spiral Politic."
• "Pig-rats deserting a  a disintegrating time skiff." 
• "Rassilon's Beard" - Gallifrey profanity
• “Rassilon’s Blood” - Gallifrey profanity
• "Rassilon's Death" - Gallifrey profanity
• "Rassilon's Ghost" - Gallifrey profanity
• "Rassilon's Rod" - Gallifrey profanity
• "Rassilon’s Teeth!"
• "Rassilon protect us!"
• “Rassilon speed you!”
• "Scares the Staazula out of me"
• “Rot in a black star” - an insult
• "Rungar protect us" - Rungar is a criminal imprisoned in Shada
• "Shell snacker" - an insult that probably refers to Gallifreyans who consume the hallucinogenic nuts of the Cerub Tree.
• "Sweet mother of Chaos" - Gallifrey profanity
• "Thalia's bones!" - Modern Gallifreyan profanity
• "Thank Heavens!"
• "Thank Rassilon"
• "Thanks be to Gallifrey"
• "Thank the Other!"
• "The Ancients have much to teach, but one should not dwell amongst them forever." - from Pelatov's Collected Sageries
  
• "The first rule of government is: The solution is always the next problem"
• "The moment has been prepared for." - might be a Gallifreyan phrase referring to Regeneration.
• “The mouth of the Vortex” - probably a Time Lord expression similar to “tip of the iceberg. ”
• "The Old Ones" describes any long dead advanced aliens who had immense powers.
• "There are some corners of the Universe which have bred the most terrible things. Things which act against everything we believe in. They must be fought." - ancient child's maxim
• "There endeth the lesson."
  
• "There is a crack in everything. / That's how the light gets in." - part of a Gallifreyan poem.
• "There is always still-time, and there is always flowing-time"
• "The Vector rose and the Vector said 'this little boy is deader then dead'." - poem taught to students.
• "Three two one, three two one, / A wreath of roses lay. / Rassilon's dead and Omega's lost, / The other one's gone away. / Three to wonder and bide their time, / They'll all come back one day." - Transcribed from hieroglyphics in the Domdaniel Caverns on Strava.
• "Who unto Rassilon's Tower would go / Must choose - Above, Between, Below / Who unto Rassilon's Tower would go / Must fight with those used to know / Who unto Rassilon's Tower would dare / Must dance across the deadly square. / If Rassilon's Tower you will step in / Then you must choose - to lose or win." - The Nursery Rhyme of Rassilon's Tower from Lullabies for Time Tots by Benncuiq III.
• "Those who plot the destruction of others, often fall victim themselves." - from Pelatov's Collected Sageries
• "Time moves in circles" - ancient Pythian proverb
• “Time will tell, it always does.” - an expression that dates back to at least the time of Omega.
  
• "Twelve rejuvenations all, / and not a season more, / hath been the lot of the Time Lords, / since the darker days of yore . . ."
• "Urizen’s Beard" – Time Lord profanity.   
  
• “We can’t throw treazants into a bottomless vortex” - Old Gallifreyan for wasting money.
• "we’re scrubbed" - Old Gallifreyan for we are trapped in a bad situation. 
• "What goes bang thud, bang thud, bang thud, bang thud, bang thud, bang thud, bang thud, bang thud, bang thud, bang thud, bang thud, bang thud, bang thud? A Time Lord committing suicide." - Graffito the Prydonian.
• "What is the name of Rassilon..." - Gallifrey profanity
• "What on Gallifrey?"
  
• "What the devil?!"
• “What the Omega?!”
• “When is the Pythia like an old pipe-cleaner?  When she's gone clean round the bend.” – Old Gallifreyan Joke dating to the time of the Intuitive Revolution. 
• "You know you’re getting old when the High Council seems to be getting younger."
• "You look tired” - is considered to be a very bad thing to say to a leader, even the Lord President.
• “You'll break my hearts”
• “...you might more easily stand a Pythia on her head.” Old Gallifreyan slang for something impossibly difficult to do. 
  
• "You see all those stars? Each one of those represents a promise. All the time they shine the promise remains unbroken"
• "Yssgaroth Curse You"
• "Zagreus’ Teeth!"
  
• "Zagreus sits inside your head / Zagreus lives among the dead / Zagreus sees you in your bed / and eats you when you're sleeping / Zagreus at the end of days / Zagreus lies all other ways / Zagreus comes when time's a maze / and all of history's weeping / Zagreus taking time apart. / Zagreus fears the hero heart. / Zagreus seeks the final part. / the reward that he is reaping. / Zagreus sings when all is lost / Zagreus takes all those he's crossed / Zagreus wins and all is cost / the hero's hearts he's keeping. / Zagreus seeks the hero's ship / Zagreus needs the web to rip / Zagreus sups time at a drip / and life aside, he's sweeping. /...(The hero leaves his home to find the land of dreams where Zagreus lives) (there is a part that describes people disappearing up a paradoxical staircase).../ And he set then his course / To a scar on the face of Creation / Where the stars lived and died in the churn of one night / Where the mountains might move in the blink of an eye / And decay was the only true constant / ...(the Hero spends many years searching before)... / And the gate of Zagreus opened before him / And all of the Antiverse was revealed to him / And its terrible beauty ached in his hearts / So through them he ventured / There to do battle with Zagreus, the Beast / Never resting as long as history is lasting / Until either or both are laid to waste / Zagreus waits at the end of the world / for Zagreus is the end of the world / his time is the end of time / and his moment time's undoing" - Nursery Rhyme. Legends of Zagreus can be found on a 1000 different worlds. These so-called Books of Zagreus were created by the Neverpeople to trick the leaders of Gallifrey into entering the Anti Time Universe.