THE LORDS OF TIME
Guardians of the Eternal Chronology of Existence
"As the society responsible for engineering history, they perceive themselves as being parts of the historical process
much more than being a people."
- The Book of the War
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Click on paragraphs to see color coding for sources
TIME LORD BIOLOGY
Time Lords (and Time Ladies)
are Higher Evolutionaries who
walk in eternity.
Time travel makes sentients vulnerable to the influence of powerful trans-temporal beings who exist outside of linear
time. These beings will try to force the time traveler to become their agent/servant.
All stable forms of time travel require re-writing of the traveler’s biodata to prevent this.
It is for this reason
any species that wants to become a stable, time-active race must, effectively, change itself into another species.
Young Gallifreyans don't have symbiotic nuclei. Gallifreyans
who pass the proper exams
at the Time Academy have their biodata modified
(especially their DNA). This is done by exposing them to the Vortex via the Untempered Schism and anointing them with time energies
from the Eye of Harmony.
This alters the Initiate's DNA, creating the symbiotic nucleotides, a fourth helix of DNA, and the other
capabilities that make the Gallifreyan a Time Lord.
The initiates gain the rank of Junior Grade Time Lords at this point.
Members of the Prydonian or Arcalian Chapters receives more advanced Rassilon Imprimaturs than the lesser chapters.
Time Lords are rated human-plus-plus-plus-plus (as opposed to an agent of Faction Paradox which generally only rate a
Human-plus status).
Time Lord abilities can also be transfused to a subject's biodata
by injecting them with Retro DNA serum in the form of a red liquid. The creation of such a serum requires a sampling from a Time Lord. Such neo-Time Lords are known as Scions of Gallifrey.
While it is possible to create a Gallifreyan clone, and even change the gender of that clone, attempts to produce a clone with full Time Lord traits results in a very low survival rates. Such a clone will be born with an
extensive amount of knowledge and skills from the donor Time Lords, but most do not even survive birth. And even those
that do survive will only live for a few days before their DNA unravels.
Attempts to regenerate result in mutations into horrible non-functional creatures.
One of the key traits to being a Time Lords the Symbiotic
Chronon
Nucleotides which are made up of
several atomic particles. The Symbiotic Nuclei
are probably threaded through the left hemisphere of the Time Lord’s brain. Symbiotic atomic nuclei act in an intelligent manner, coordinating the Time Lord’s nervous system on a hyperspatial level. It is these Symbiotic Nuclei which are needed to 'prime' a Time Travel Capsules, form a quasi-symbiotic link with the
Capsule, and to prevent the Capsule from molecularly destabilizing in the Vortex.
The atomic nuclei serves as a genetic key to the Vortex and holds the de-materialization codes necessary to create a
Molecular Stabilization System for a TARDIS.
Without this system a Capsule would trapped in the Vortex and will slowly be destroyed by the Vortex over several hundred years.
The quasi-symbiotic neural-link connects Time Lords to their TARDIS through transcendent biomechanics based on irrational and imaginary equations. This link is known as the Rassilon Imprimatur. The chronon nuclei serve a similar function with Time Rings and other Gallifreyan trans-temporal technology. The semi-instinctual link between a TARDIS and its operator is almost sexual in its intimacy. Some believe that a TARDIS provides a sense of companionship for a Time Lord in much the same way that a husband or wife does for their spouse. For whatever reason, sexual desire is largely irrelevant to most Time Lords. This link can be forcibly severed using a Manumitter. This illegal piece of Gallifreyan technology requires two people to operate and should only be used when the TARDIS has been completely powered down. The severing of this link would cause a massive shock to the body of a Time Lord, weakening them greatly and disabling most of their temporal senses. Such a break would be restored if the Time Lord regenerated.
A side effect of the full link is that a Time Lord is constantly sending small temporal waves throughout the Universe that can be used by Gallifrey to track a Time Lords space-time travels. Symbiotic Nuclei can be damaged by temporal paradoxes, and nuclei that are exposed to the temporal field found at the heart of the Vortex can be rubbed raw. This can cause them to form an imprimature with the biodata of any nearby sapient. While this link will only last a few moments it can transfer large amounts of the Time Lords experience to the nearby victim. The victim might even become convinced that they were always the Time Lord and that real Time Lord is an imposter.
Symbiotic Nuclei can also be surgically removed, but this requires exceptional skill to be removed without killing the Time Lord. This is sometimes done as a form of punishment. If a Time Lord has lost their Symbiotic Nuclei they will reform the next time they regenerate. The nuclei can be permanently deactivated by the right type of mutagen. This happened to some Time Lords during the Time War. Time Lords actually use their symbiotic nuclei to govern their regenerations and such a deactivation or removal would eliminate a his temporal powers and his ability to regenerate.
The quasi-symbiotic neural-link connects Time Lords to their TARDIS through transcendent biomechanics based on irrational and imaginary equations. This link is known as the Rassilon Imprimatur. The chronon nuclei serve a similar function with Time Rings and other Gallifreyan trans-temporal technology. The semi-instinctual link between a TARDIS and its operator is almost sexual in its intimacy. Some believe that a TARDIS provides a sense of companionship for a Time Lord in much the same way that a husband or wife does for their spouse. For whatever reason, sexual desire is largely irrelevant to most Time Lords. This link can be forcibly severed using a Manumitter. This illegal piece of Gallifreyan technology requires two people to operate and should only be used when the TARDIS has been completely powered down. The severing of this link would cause a massive shock to the body of a Time Lord, weakening them greatly and disabling most of their temporal senses. Such a break would be restored if the Time Lord regenerated.
A side effect of the full link is that a Time Lord is constantly sending small temporal waves throughout the Universe that can be used by Gallifrey to track a Time Lords space-time travels. Symbiotic Nuclei can be damaged by temporal paradoxes, and nuclei that are exposed to the temporal field found at the heart of the Vortex can be rubbed raw. This can cause them to form an imprimature with the biodata of any nearby sapient. While this link will only last a few moments it can transfer large amounts of the Time Lords experience to the nearby victim. The victim might even become convinced that they were always the Time Lord and that real Time Lord is an imposter.
Symbiotic Nuclei can also be surgically removed, but this requires exceptional skill to be removed without killing the Time Lord. This is sometimes done as a form of punishment. If a Time Lord has lost their Symbiotic Nuclei they will reform the next time they regenerate. The nuclei can be permanently deactivated by the right type of mutagen. This happened to some Time Lords during the Time War. Time Lords actually use their symbiotic nuclei to govern their regenerations and such a deactivation or removal would eliminate a his temporal powers and his ability to regenerate.
The modifications of their biodata also causes a Gallifreyan to grow a
"time brain"
(probably connected to
the temporal lobes) under the frontal lobes of their brains
making them time sensitive
and giving them resistance to chrono-instability. The higher their artron energy levels the more time sensitive they
are. They might have their sense of shame psycho-surgically removed.
The abnormalities of a Time Lord's brain show clearly in an X-ray.
They
have an emergency 'backwards' consciousness that works in reverse -
allowing them to continue to think even if time is being rewound into
the past. They have genetic traits that lets them remain conscious when in a time eddy. They are still vulnerable to
suffering partial memory loss (usually covering the last few months of
their life) if they are taken out of time
by arriving at a timeship (or timestation) in temporal orbit.
When
time sensitive being enters a time loop they will suffer momentary
distress as their personal timeline adjusts and syncs to the looping
nature of the oubliette.
Time Lord Senses
In all Time Lords have 27 different senses and all but the first five are related to time. Despite these senses a Time
Lord's understanding of the 4th dimension is mathematical and not instinctual.
While many of these senses are enabled through the Rassilon Imprimatur they share with their TARDIS, it is
their Time Brain that processes many (if not all) of these time senses. The temporal lobe on humans handles auditory input, so it’s likely that Time Lords process much of their temporal senses as sounds. These senses grow more acute the more times a Time Lord crosses the Time-Fields
in a TARDIS (because
their artron levels are boosted with each trip). A Time Lord grows
quite dependent on these senses and to be cut off from them (perhaps by
finding one's self in a universe without Time) would cause
psychological reactions akin to losing a limb.
The following is a list of known Time Lord senses:
- Sight
- Hearing
- Taste
- Smell. Time Lord noses might have 'special powers,' including the ability to taste the adrenochrome in a panicked human's body from several feet away.
- Touch, Temperature, and Pain
- Acceleration and Balance: Gravity and acceleration dilate the passage of time. Gallifreyans gravity senses are keen enough that (with the help of yo-yo or jumping up and down a bit), they can also tell when a gravitational field is artificial. A Gallifreyan can sense the rotation of the planet he's standing on. With some effort they can even detect the approximate mass of a planet they are currently orbiting.
- Sense of Time: the basic awareness that time is passing which most lesser species have. Traveling backwards in time without shielding can make them dizzy but their emergency 'backwards' consciousness alows them to continue to think and perceive even in this state. Some Time Lords have Internal Chronometry abilities, which allow them to know the time down to a nanosecond (the Doctor can’t do this). Humans have 3 dimensional vestibular sense (with canal loops extending in three directions). Do Time Lords have 4 dimensional vestibular sense (with a canal loop extending into the 4th dimension of Time)?
- Psychic Sense: Artron energy echos are emited by all sapient beings, via their perception of the world around them crystalizing events. The greater affect that a person is going to have on coming history the stronger the echos. This alows them to measure a subjects approximate reality quotient (assuming its not too low to detect). As time sensitives, they can see a mist of slithery bockatrons hanging around other time travelers. They can read the last few moments of life from the artron imprint on a recently dead skull. Residual psionic energy makes a Gallifreyan’s teeth itch. The older the energy, the stronger the itch. Particularly strong psionic residue triggers the parts of the brain (in humans and Gallifreyans) so that they smell candy-floss. Some Time Lords have greater psionic sensitivity then others. Every Gallifreyan has a unique psycho-kinetic signature. This allows them to recognize each other even if they are wearing a new body. Their telepathic intuition allows them to determine which people are Gallifreyans and which are not. They are also able to tell if humans are telepathic or not. A Time Lord can instinctually tell if an artron field they sense comes from a TARDIS or not. For more information see Psionics
- Magnetoception: Strong magnetic fields give their skin goosebumps. Magnetic fields also cause fluctuations in artron energy. Use of a transmat leaves a Time Lords fingers tingling for about an hour afterwards.
- Topographical Sense: A Time Lord can tell when they are inside a micro-universe by looking for a slight warping on the edge of his field of vision. To a Time Lord, the air in other universes (like the Land of Fiction) tasts like boiled cabbage and wet dog. Some Time Lords can measure rooms down to the centimeter by eye sight alone. This Topographical Sense also allows them to remember any path they have taken (this might work by tracing their own biodata). To use their Topographical Sense in this way they must however remember to store the path they took. Time Lords feel a sickening plunging sensation in their abdomen when they pass through a temporal lock.
- Higher Dimensions: Even in a dematerialized state, a Time Lord can tell when they have been exposed to the Vortex and for how long, allowing them to make a rough guess at how much they shifted through time and space. Like all life forms that reside in the first 5 dimensions Time Lords are normally incapable of observing the 6-11th dimensions. However, an organ in a Time Lord's hypothalamus allows them to perceive higher dimensions by reciting the right equations.
- Time-Smell: If a Time Lord is familiear with a world’s history then they can sometimes identify the local year time by a sense akin to smell and the precise day by tasting the soil of the world. If a Time Lord is familiar with the world in question, then they can sometimes identify their location (with in a few hundred miles) by smell.
- Crystallization of local History: They can detect fixed points in time (crystallized events) in any given time zone and have an aversion to interacting with such known events. They can see (though not identify) other people's time traces allowing them to know if sentient beings have been in the area. A Time Lord who finds himself beyond the Noosphere will experience a powerful sense of unease.
- Sense of Antiquity: They can sense an object's relative age by tasting it.
- TARDIS Recognition: They usually can identify a TARDIS, regardless of her disguise, and often tell the Type and general condition of the Capsule as well. They get a slight tingling sensation in their fingers and toes when exposed to a fully energized TARDIS. Time Lords can sense the close proximity of a Vortex Manipulator by the ‘fizzing.’
- Reading another's Biodata: They can perceive (in a vague way) the full history of the biodata of others. A mechanism inside Time Lord Biodata allows them to sense distortions in the biodata of others. In other words they can tell when someone's personal history has been altered. They will experience a strong sense of prejudice and revulsion if they detect someone who is immortal because they have become fixed in time and space. In some incarnations this sense is so acute that they can read a person's biodata (such as their future history) just by looking at them. Losing one's virginity makes it much more difficult (if not impossible) for Gallifreyan technology to read ancestral memories from the subjects biodata.
- Temporal Disturbance Sense: Time Lords can sense when time has been slowed down in their bones. Time Fissures cause a tingling sensation. Some of these senses will make a Time Lord dizzy and nauseous when exposed to temporal disturbances. Time winds shifting into normal space creates enough of a disturbance that all the Time Lords of Gallifrey will sense it (even if a resonance field is used to try to hide it). When in a time loop, a Time Lord has a constant sense that something is 'about' to happen. The effects of Chronic Hysteresis Time Loop (completely unnoticeable by lesser species) can reduce Apprentice Time Lords to tears.
- Paradox Sense: Proximity to a temporal paradox causes them headaches. They can tell how big of a paradox it is by how it ‘smells.’ The technology of Faction Paradox tends to induce mild allergic reactions, such as itching in the temples. Time Lords will sneeze when in a paradox. They are immune to Faction biodata viruses (except during regeneration). Temporal distortion that causes the past, present, and future to overlap makes a Time Lord’s scalp itch. A Time Lord can gaze into the Vortex and determine the health of the Web of Time. They are programmed to panic if they think that there’s something wrong with the space-time continuum.
- History Proof: Time Lords are "History Proofed" which gives them superior abilities to remember alternate timelines (in most species they are little more then dreams) and can usually remember previous versions of history books (that they just read). Some Time Lords have deep-time memory, which allows them to clearly remember the original version of their history even after their personal past has been deliberately changed.
- Linearity Detection: Time Lords sense some violations to the Laws of Time (probably the Protocols of Linearity) as shivers running up their spine. Time Lords from the modern era will feel uncomfortable visiting the Old Times, even if they don’t realize that that is ‘when’ they are.
- Chroniton Detection: Time Lords can sense Chronitons and Antichronitions. A sudden burst of them makes them feel like the local temporal field is being beaten about.
- Feel the Turn of the Universe: Time Lords can sense which events have been fixed in the Web of Time, but most can’t easily tell if their participation is required to ensure events unfold as required. The can perceive temporal nexus points where alternations can cause huge changes in history.
- Pseudo-Precognitive sense: Despite superficial appearances, the Universe is not random but instead follows a complex four dimensional pattern. As Higher Evolutionaries,Time Lords can see this pattern and thus can predict the future with an astonishing degree of accuracy. On a quantum scale, Time Lords brains receive knowledge from various possible futures on an almost subconscious level. At every moment, a Time Lord perceives every alternative possibility of their current instance simultaneously. Often they can feel the weight of a billion possible alternate time futures pressing upon them, and can ‘see’ the waves and corruption of history that could result from their actions. This time sensitivity allows them to see the ‘nudge points’ which will have the greatest effect on history. This does not interfere with perceiving their current realty. Since their minds are in contact with the Astral Vortex, time travel of the consciousness is possible while in a dream state. While some Time Lords get random premonitions of the future while conscious, the dreams of all Time Lords are visions that are free from the shadows of matter. Thus they can provide information about the world outside of the range of their senses and can be premonitions about the future.
- Parachronic Detection: A Time Lord can sense Parachronic time fields generated by objects that exists partially outside the Space-Time Continuum. Objects or beings using a temporal cloak (that shifts them one nanosecond into the future) can be sensed. The presence of Ionic energy (which can turn fiction into reality and reality into fiction) gives them goose-bumps.
- Altered History: When in a time zone where history has been changed Time Lords often find that their ears itch. They feel massive changes to universal history as a series of sharp pains.
25 - 27. Various other forms of enhanced temporal perception, for a total of 27 senses in all.
The Doctor has
always had a knack for sensing when evil was present, or
telling when society was out of phase.
This could be a Time Lord gift, but if it is, its not one that other Time Lords acknowledge.
When
a Junior Time Lord first enters the Time Vortex they become
inextricably linked and fused to it. Their heart (or one of his hearts
if a Newblood) serves as a link (via the TARDIS) to Gallifrey, and the
Prime Eye of Harmony in a way that not even the Time Lords totally
understand. They are biologically connected to the fundemental nature of the Universe. This link ensures the Time Lords survival
and "integrity" while they travel the Universe. Without this anchoring, a Time Lord who leaves Gallifrey will die in
less than two centuries.
This link provides limited access to the Power of Creation, allowing Junior Grade Time Lords to make minor uses
of the power (see below for more info).
While a Triple Helix of DNA is necessary for a Gallifreyan's regeneration
a Time Lord's DNA has quadruple helix. The fourth helix is a "fast line" which extends
(via a TARDIS's
Rassilon Imprimatur) into
the fourth dimension and maps the Time Lord into the Space-Time Vortex
(the fifth dimension) with block-transfer numbers. While their physical
form persists, it is now only a fragment of a vast multi-dimensional
complex space-time event. The Time Lords are more akin to a fundemental force of the Universe then a biological race. The Vortex is
an integral part of Time Lord biology and culture.
Once linked to the heart of space time their TARDISes give them access to the Power of Creation. They are now capable of changing their time state by thinking the right Block-Transfer Time Equations. By interacting with the deep-level mathematics of the Fourth Dimension, Time Lords can alter probability and control their destiny. This the greatest of the Time Lord powers and might be related to Quantum Mnemonics or Omega's power of Psycho-synthesis. This power is such Time Lords who leave Gallifrey (or the micro-universe of a TARDIS) will, just by observing, crystallizes the mimetic structure of local History preventing events from occurring any other way and creating a single continuity.
Once linked to the heart of space time their TARDISes give them access to the Power of Creation. They are now capable of changing their time state by thinking the right Block-Transfer Time Equations. By interacting with the deep-level mathematics of the Fourth Dimension, Time Lords can alter probability and control their destiny. This the greatest of the Time Lord powers and might be related to Quantum Mnemonics or Omega's power of Psycho-synthesis. This power is such Time Lords who leave Gallifrey (or the micro-universe of a TARDIS) will, just by observing, crystallizes the mimetic structure of local History preventing events from occurring any other way and creating a single continuity.
Because
they now share their artron field with a TARDIS, a Time Lords artron
energy levels are greatly elevated, and
emanate in a kaleidoscope of time energy. To those with the right
senses these patterns can shine brighter then a star in the sky. The strength of the artron echos that a sapient being releases can be used to measure how much of an affect a person’s future life will have on the Web of Time. This defines their Reality Quotient or Observer Criticality. The nature of the Time Lords is such that this criticality is always maximized. The more time a Time Lord spends traveling in the Vortex the more artron energy they will build up in their bodies.
Due to their elevated artron energy levels,
most Time Lords can survive
for 4-40 minutes if released within the Vortex. A Time Lord master, who has been trained to use a Vortex-Walking
trance can,
with the aid of a vortex tunnel,
travel through space and time under their own power.
Despite the protection offered by their nuclei,
long term exposure to the Vortex's
Artron
radiation
can lead to minor alterations to a Time Lord’s DNA. Time Lords who have
spent a lot of time traveling through time in space have artron energy
levels so high that they can donate that energy to activate and power
artronic technology.
Because the DNA modifications increase as a Time Lords body becomes more saturated with Artron Energy, the regeneration
process has been designed to reset a Time Lord's artron count. This can be used to prevent excessive damage and
a regeneration can be essential if a Time Lord has absorbed too much
artron energy from the Heart of his TARDIS.
Time
Lords have final powers that are only available to use in the ultimate
crisis. They allow the Time Lord to manipulate dimensions beyond
the first 3, including the Temporal dimension, the dimension of
Inner-Space-Time, and the dimension of Imagination. Experienced Time Lords can work apparent miracles by manipulating Time (the 4th Dimension) through their access to the
dimension of thought and consciousness that serves foundation of the Universe (the 5th dimension).
By meditating on the right time equations they can alter their temporal rate. By changing the rate at at which they experience time they move
with seemingly super human reflexes that can be as much as ten times faster than a human's.
In this state,
they can speed read at a superhuman level
and some can write 30,000 words in just over 2 hours. They can even move (at reduced speed) through temporal stasis fields that would leave lesser species completely frozen
and unaware.
Even if a field is strong enough to restrain a Time Lord, he will still be aware that things have stopped, and will continue
to experience the image and the emotions he was feeling until the time freeze ends. Some Time Lords can
(when in the right state of mind) temporarily shift objects
(or themselves) out of space,
and levitate their bodies.
Even a gentle movement is likely to disrupt their use of this power.
A sufficiently adept
mathematical genius
can project
a temporary block-transfer projection of himself through space
and time just by reciting the right equations. With a circle of 12, a Time Lord can alter history creating temporary
time bubbles holding the new timeline.
Old High Gallifreyan was a language that could
use this power to raise empires or destroy gods.
Under the right circumstances they might be able to shoot death rays out of their eyes. If the TARDIS is properly configured
then the Time Lord can even serve as medium to transmit vast amounts of artron energy (though this will likely kill
the Time Lord).
The Sisterhood of the Flame on Karn claim to be the only other race whose mental powers are equal to the Time Lords.
The Osiran Sutekh (who had enough power
to singlehandedly hold of entire time-fleet of War TARDISes)
is one of the few beings whose power might exceed all of the Time Lords.
The power held by a single Time Lord is limited by both the age
(or possibly experience)
of the Time Lord,
the moral code of the Time Lord, and by the total number of Time Lords in existance at that point. The more Time Lords
the more spread out the Power of Creation is and the less powerful each individual is. The Power is dispersed among
all the Time Lords to prevent one single Time Lord from taking over the Universe.
Using
their Reflex Links they might be capable of unifying the Time Lords to
use all of the Power at once. It is possible that their unified minds
would create a powerful block-transfer processor that could create
almost any space-time event desired.
If their were only seven Time Lords left it would be possible for an young Time Lord to destroy a starship with a thought.
If only a single Time Lord had access to the Prime Eye of Harmony he would be able to travel through time and space just
by thinking about it and his every movement would alter history whether he wanted to or not.
If
the Power of Creation is ever used on any but the smallest of scales,
it would be to bend and corrupt time causing damage to the physical
laws of the universe The larger the use of the power the more
devastating the rips in space-time that form as a side effect. Among
the most destructive of these temporal disturbances is the formation of
many new black holes and the increase in power of previously existing
ones. This damaged might be caused because the
alternate universe created by the Power has such temporal momentum that
it achieves escape velocity and thus halves the life of the entire
universe. This is why
the only
time a large scale use of this power would be acceptable would be to
prevent the power from falling into the hands of a single Time Lord.
Because of the danger of using their power
the Laws of Time are built into a Time Lord's genetic modifications; so Time Lords know them instinctively.
These genetic modifications allow them to "think" in 4 dimensions, which is necessary to truly understand the Laws of
Time.
Unlike lesser species Time Lords truly comprehend the temporary and limited lifespan of planets and stars. They see the
universe as a continuous process of death and renewal. If a Time Lord is going to be tempted to break the Laws of Time,
the violator will experience severe long term memory problems and some pain, months to years before the temptation.
At the moment of temptation the Time Lord will feel large parts of his personality being blocked and disabled. These
retroactive responses are programmed into the genetic modifications to make it extremely difficult for a Time Lord to
break the Laws of Time. Once a Time Lord learns to overcome these blocks they become fairly easy to ignore.
This is why
being beyond the Noosphere fills Time Lords with a powerful sense of unease. Time Lords are programmed to panic if they
think that there’s something wrong with the Space-Time Continuum.
They will experience a strong sense of prejudice and revulsion if they detect someone who is immortal because they have
become fixed in time and space.
Being exposed to to much of their own future can cause a Time Lord to collapse in agony.
In addition to pattern-recognition systems are encoded into the genetic memories of the Time Lords' unborn young they
have multidimensional killing responses hidden in their biodata that allows them to fight their ancient enemies from
the Time Wars.
While most humans are stronger then the average Gallifreyan,
exposure to the Untempered Schism gives
Time Lords have
incredible
strength for their size. Time Lord Phagocytes can resist Grell space-time
biodata altering viral particles that would easily influence humans.
Due to
their Time Lord phagocytes and the Rassilon Imprimatur,
it is thought to be impossible for their biodata to be rewritten by an outside source. While their history proofing is
quite strong,
with each regeneration effectively time locked, (creating a relative temporal distortion field of 2.0 against all attempts
at intervention),
the idea that no external force can alter their biodata is considered,
by some, to be the second biggest lie in Time Lord History. While they
are normally immune to Faction biodata viruses, infection during a
regeneration is possible. In cases where a Time Lord's biodata has been
corrupted, exposure to the pollen of rosemary flowers is recommended.
A Time Lord with several lifetimes worth of exposure to the
artron energy of the Vortex
will have
Deep-Time Memory.
This allows them to clearly remember the original version of their personal history
as time is re-written around them. So that, if they exist in the new timeline, the can retain their original memories.
Unfortunately this means they will also lose all the new memories they would have had in the new timeline.
When a sapient being touches his younger self it shorts out the time differential, causing a release of
temporal
energy. This is known as the Blinovitch Limitation Effect.
The resulting time differential explosion destroys/changes history in that localized time zone (thus breaking the First
Law of Time).
Unlike all other species,
Time Lords possesses a special protection from the limitation effect, but they must be in a different incarnation for
the protection to work. Originally, Time Lords were completely shielded from the Blinovitch Limitation Effect, but the
council removed this shield to stop violations of the First Law of Time.
Now interactions between to Time Lords in the same incarnation tend to cause the most severe of paradoxes. A Blinovitch Limitation Effect Limiter (BLEL) can help mitigate these effects.
But, in the case of the same Time Lord meeting a different incarnation of himself, this time differential is shorted out causing an aging of the biodata of the younger version. This causes the subject to appear much older then actually are. The amount of time differential (and thus the amount of aging) is dependent on the amount of time that has passes between the two versions, but is lessened to only 1 to 2 years for every decade of difference. This distortion of the younger version’s biodata will snap back to normal when the source of the time differential is removed. Even if previous incarnation are removed from history, future incarnations will continue to exist, albeit in a weakened and sometimes insubstantial state. The Omega Limitation Effect describes how this snapping back of the out of sync timelines has a tendency to time lock the younger version's memories of the encounter until they are experience by the older Time Lord. Again, a Blinovitch Limitation Effect Limiter can help mitigate these effects. Under normal circumstances, the second a Time Lord kills their younger incarnation their timeline will being unraveling. They will have only 27 minutes (if they are outside of a TARDIS?) before they vanish.
But, in the case of the same Time Lord meeting a different incarnation of himself, this time differential is shorted out causing an aging of the biodata of the younger version. This causes the subject to appear much older then actually are. The amount of time differential (and thus the amount of aging) is dependent on the amount of time that has passes between the two versions, but is lessened to only 1 to 2 years for every decade of difference. This distortion of the younger version’s biodata will snap back to normal when the source of the time differential is removed. Even if previous incarnation are removed from history, future incarnations will continue to exist, albeit in a weakened and sometimes insubstantial state. The Omega Limitation Effect describes how this snapping back of the out of sync timelines has a tendency to time lock the younger version's memories of the encounter until they are experience by the older Time Lord. Again, a Blinovitch Limitation Effect Limiter can help mitigate these effects. Under normal circumstances, the second a Time Lord kills their younger incarnation their timeline will being unraveling. They will have only 27 minutes (if they are outside of a TARDIS?) before they vanish.
Graduates of the Academy were given Reflex Links in there brains which connect them to the Time Lord Intelligentsia.
Through the Matrix, this Reflex Link connects every Time Lord to the Time Lord Intelligentsia and allows the Matrix to constantly record
the experiences of all Time Lords wherever they may be.
The Matrix also allows Time Lords to telepathically contact each other even across space and time.
A Time Lord would be able to detect the existence of other Time Lords (even if they are slightly out of sync with his
timeline). This would allow a Time Lords to know if all the Time Lords in the cosmos had been killed. The right type
or
ro wave broadcasts could be used to hide a Time Lord.
The Reflex Link can be used to unify the minds of all 1000 Time Lords.
This might allow the Intelligentsia access to the full Power of Creation.
Time Lords who exiled have their reflex link disabled
and lose the ability to contact other Time Lords across space and time, and will not have their minds automatically upload
into the APC Net at the moment of death. It is possible for their minds to be returned to Gallifrey for direct upload,
but this must be done within an hour of death or with a cinerary urn. They are however still capable of using the Reflex
Link if another Time Lord contacts them.
TIME LORD PSYCHOLOGY
Time Lords are encouraged to think of themselves as forces of nature and history rather than as a people or a living species. They consider their physical nature and needs to be vulgar. The Time Lords view themselves as academicians and observers of events throughout space and time who are devoted to a life of service to History. Time Lords see it as their responsibility to protect the Web of Time from inferior civilizations and from the various renegades that their own houses have produced. They are also sworn to protect Gallifrey at any cost.
The Time Lords believe that their primary purpose is to serve Time.
For thousands of years temporal philosophers argued about the predestined nature of time travel. For the actions of any
Time Lord who interacts responsibly with normal space and can, in theory, be looked up in future history books.
Sentients who time travel have the power to chronoform themselves and thus are thought to have temporally active biodata.
This means that, unlike non-time travelers, they have true free will.
But they can only exercise that free will by deliberately choosing to change history.
This is why the Time Lords view themselves as history incarnate.
(If
they follow the Laws of Time) all of their interactions and
interventions are, in the end, part of the way the Web of Time was
always shaped.
The Time Lords keep History (aka the Web of Time) largely unchanging by being steady and unchanging themselves. It is
for this reason that culture change and
natural reproduction are forbidden to ensure stability. Time Lords are forbidden to fall in love or develop other strong
affections for lesser species because the emotional attachment could cause them to use their terrible powers.
More introverted Time Lords prefer the company of
their symbiotically bonded TARDIS and shun most other social
interaction. Every
Time Lord that leaves Gallifrey know that they are considered to be
expendable. For this reason, only the most eccentric or arrogant Time
Lords will voluntarily leave their homeworld. The only way most Time Lords can cope with their near infinite power is to be so narrow-minded and dull-witted that they never
realize the power they have.
The Time Lords are, in reality, a very frightened people. Anything they don’t understand is perceived as a threat
to themselves. And they tend to over react to such things, usually abandoning and 'running' from such things. The Doctor
claims that after living in the Capitol for a few thousand years a Time Lord completely loses their personality.
The very idea of Gallifrey having a history is viewed as vulgar and primitive by the Time Lords. Because of the danger of using their power
the Laws of Time are built into a Time Lord's genetic modifications; so Time Lords know them instinctively.
These genetic modifications allow them to "think" in 4 dimensions, which is necessary to truly understand the Laws of
Time.
Unlike lesser species Time Lords truly comprehend the temporary and limited lifespan of planets and stars. They see the
universe as a continuous process of death and renewal. If a Time Lord is going to be tempted to break the Laws of Time,
the violator will experience severe long term memory problems and some pain, months to years before the temptation.
At the moment of temptation the Time Lord will feel large parts of his personality being blocked and disabled. These
retroactive responses are programmed into the genetic modifications to make it extremely difficult for a Time Lord to
break the Laws of Time. Once a Time Lord learns to overcome these blocks they become fairly easy to ignore.
This is why
being beyond the Noosphere fills Time Lords with a powerful sense of unease. Time Lords are programmed to panic if they
think that there’s something wrong with the Space-Time Continuum.
They will experience a strong sense of prejudice and revulsion if they detect someone who is immortal because they have
become fixed in time and space.
Being exposed to to much of their own future can cause a Time Lord to collapse in agony.
In addition to pattern-recognition systems are encoded into the genetic memories of the Time Lords' unborn young they
have multidimensional killing responses hidden in their biodata that allows them to fight their ancient enemies from
the Time Wars.
All Time Lords have a dark side to their minds called the Dark Design. The Dark Design in a Time Lord’s mind is unlike anything that could be found in a Human mind. Thus the most noble and good hearted of Time Lords are not beyond duality – for they still carry that ruthless darkness within them. A Time Lord with vision is rare and a stable visionary Time Lord is even rarer. When a Time Lord goes mad a storm of the Dark Design covers their brains. Time Lord dementias are much worse then Alzheimer's Disease. It is not unusual for inventive Time Lords to go mad and indeed all the truly great Time Lords went mad: (Omega, Rassilon, Borusa, the Master, Morbius, etc). A very very few Time Lords suffer from Twelfth Hour Syndrome when they reach there 12 and final regeneration. This very rare condition occurs when the excessive release of energy super charges the disease releasing the storm of the Dark Design to create new neural pathways across their brain. Only one Time Lord every few thousand years suffers from this syndrome, but its believed that elevated artron levels (caused by spending lots of time in the Vortex) can increase the chance of it manifesting. Legend has it that Gallifreyans of the distant past knew how to cure Twelfth Hour Syndrome using the Matrix to invoke multiple incarnations in a retro-regeneration. Insane Time Lords are usually quietly locked away in institutions like the Gomer's Asylum or the Quantum of Solace. Any Time Lord who has access to the power of the heart of the Vortex would become a vengeful god. Their power would be such that, through the Observer Effect, the Time Lords could crystallize events with their insanity embeded into this fixed point. And that insanity could spread backwards and forwards in time infecting the past and future.
