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

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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 added 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 rate. 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. 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. A symbiotic nuclei that is exposed to the forces found at the heart of the Vortex can be rubbed raw. This can cause its temporal field to latch on to the biodata of any nearby sapient and form an imprimatur with them. 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. The Symbiotic Nuclei are almost certainly located in a Time Lord's hearts and requires exceptional skill to be removed from a Time Lord without killing him (this sometimes done as a punishment). 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 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. fSome 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. 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: 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: Time Lords can identify familiars time periods by a sense akin to smell. This might be one of the "special powers" their noses have.
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.
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 Fissures cause a tingling sensation. Some of these senses will make a Time Lord dizzy and nauseous when exposed to temporal disturbances. 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. The technology of Faction Paradoxes tends to induce mild allergic reactions, such as itching in the temples. 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.
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: This time sensitivity show them when they must participate in history rather then simply observe and allows them to see the ‘nudge points’ which will have the greatest effect on history. 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 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. 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.

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.

A Junior Time Lord's 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.

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.

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 focusing on the right time equations they can alter the rate at which they experience time - allowing them to 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.

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 Lords actually use their symbiotic nuclei to govern their regenerations. Because of this, it is not uncommon for Time Lords to unconsciously generate alternate future versions of themselves that loops back on their time stream to appear prior to their regeneration. These beings are called Watchers. This temporal amalgam usually appears in a proto-plasmic pupate stage which has qualities of both the current and future incarnation. Watchers are insubstantial but can communicate and act on their own. They can use the Vortex to appear at any point in the causal loop. If a Time Lord's mental power are very well developed they can even create a fully interactive stable future incarnation (this is probably a violation of the first Law of Time). These type of projections might be called a Tulpa. In either case Watcher will last until the regeneration occurs. Unconsciously created Watchers are very rare but can be caused precipitated by damage to the Causal Nexus. If so, the Watcher will likely try to assist the Time Lord in repairing the damage. With about 3000 years (or less) of meditation a Time Lord can turn himself into a being of pure energy and move at the speed of light. But this is forbidden by the Dimensional Ethics Committee. For more information on Regeneration see Regeneration

Time Lord's Dark Side — The Dark Side of Time Lord's Mind

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.

"I swear to protect the Ancient Law of Gallifrey with all my might and main, I will to the end of my days with justice and with honor temper my actions and my thoughts."

- Time Academy Induction Ceremony

THE PRYDONIAN ACADEMY OF TIME
The University, The Time Lord Academy

All Gallifreyans have the potential to become Time Lords but it was an honor they have to earn. The Prydon College's Time Academy is the only academy that can grant the title of Time Lord – so all would-be Time Lord have to be inducted there after graduating from the 5th grade of their chapter’s academy. Novices take the entrance examination while still in brainbuffing and it is judged by Adjudicators. 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. Enrollment begins with the Ceremony of Matriculation. For more information on pre-Time Academy schooling see Academies

The education of a Time Lord is considered to be an honor and a privilege, but costs a House a small fortune. At some points in Gallifrey's history some aliens were allowed to take classes at the Academy. These aliens are not allowed to learn any temporal engineering skills. One of these races was the Gresaurus, another was the War Lord Aliens. The War Lords were expelled for trying to learn how to build TTCs (TARDISes). During the decades leading up the to the Last Great Time War, Humans, Monans, Nekkistani, Yevnon and Sunari were alowed to attend the Time Academy.

The Time Academy makes up Sector 6 of the Capitol and is a self-contained city annexed to the Capitol. The Academy covers 28 square miles and sits just south of the equator. Its made up of glass towers, covered walkways, dormitories, lecture halls, gymnasiums, eateries, TARDIS cradles (for both teachers and graduate students who have yet to complete their final tests) and scaphe bays. All of this is dominated by a ebony building sitting at the northern base of Mount Cadon (aka Mount Lung, aka Mount Plutarch). The Academy holds a Black Collection which stores items such as portable temporal links. The Collection can only be access by Time Lords of the first rank, such as the Lord President.

Most (if not all) of the Junior Cardinals and Time Lord Councilors teach at the Academy. The Academy is deliberately structured so that the students hate being there. This is considered part of the learning process. The Warders ensured that the students followed the rules. Initiates and Acolytes at the Academy wear one piece robes that are the colors of their chapter. They live at the residential dormitories at the Academy unless their house is nearby. The dormitories are segregated (horizontally) by gender. Pets are not allowed in the dormitories. There is a curfew with, student hall monitors to ensure that the Initiates get enough sleep. They are also forbidden to regenerate until they either are 500 years old, or acheive the rank of Junior Grade Time Lord. Its students are forbidden from climbing mount Cadon.

The Great Curriculum of the Academy has a Codex of Disciplines that they teach. The Codex focuses on Dimensional Engineering, Stellar Engineering, Dimensional Science, TT Capsule Construction, The Laws of Time, Cosmic Science, Matrix Diagnostics, Spatial Cartography, TARDIS Operation and Maintenance, Transcendental Dimensions, Recreational Mathematics (including happy prime numbers), Thermodynamics, Touch Telepathy, Languages, Future History, Temporal Classics, and Stasis Cube Art. All subjects that don't relate to temporal phenomenon (such as art, culture, and biology) are classified as General Studies. General Studies classes are viewed as being less important by the Time Lords. Its possible the operation of Veteran and Vintage Timeships is classified as General Studies, as students are able to substitute the Life-Cycle of the Flutterwing as an alternative class. The students learn to stop their hearts and feign death. Engineering Theory class covers (among other things) the construction of spacecraft. Psychic field manipulation is standard training in the 2nd year at the Academy as is the science of Temporal Stasis. At around 60 years old they are taught Tri-bio-physics. Some Time Lords (like the Doctor) have learned 5,000,000,000 languages. Most Time Ladies learn how to play the harp. As part of their Future History classes, they study videos of fixed points in history, including the Cro-magnon period on the Earth. Academy History Module 101 includes studying Assyrian cosmic influence. The Book of the Old Time is Gallifrey's oldest reliable history book. This sets down the"official" version of Time Lord History. The book describes the Dark Times and the Time of Legend, but doesn't mention Omega, the Other, or the rule of Pythias. Gallifreyan Archeologists are responsible for all studies of the time before Rassilon. Chapter 13 of the Galactic History Primer covers the Daemons. Academy students are forbidden to study the later Human Era because it is outside the influence of the Time Lords. The reason for this decree has been lost over the thousands of years of Gallifreyan civilization. No course in hydrology is offered at the Academy.

Students spend a great deal of time chanting their lessons and are always watched closely while working on a project. Some of the information in a Time Lord's mind takes the form of memory traces rather then actual experiences. These could relate to the high speed information exchange when Gallifreyans uses telepathic entrelacement. Schooling is segregated by ability based on test results. A score of 8 out of 10 is a very good grade for a project. “A-Star grades have sub-catagories of Excellent and Distinction/Insightful/Outstanding. No Gallifreyan student has ever been permanently expelled from the Time Academy.

Most students choose a few specific disciplines to focus on but, over the decades, become well trained in a variety of minor topics as well. Students at the Academy have partial access to the Matrix. Some join zero-grav hyperball teams, others take part in Academy Sprint Championships. Older children on Gallifrey often construct Time-Space Visualizer to play with as a learning experience. Some Junior Time Lords use eye filters to help them escape the notice of their tutors. The filter takes the form of a bio-chip that is powered by the user’s artron energy. It requires a lot of concentration to work, and most Gallifreyans can achieve only a low level perception filter. But someone with a lot of artron energy could become, effectively, invisible – even to a Gallifreyan watching a video recording of them. Each filter has to be tuned work on a particular species (usually Gallifreyan).

It takes and initiate over 60 years at the Academy to grasp the basics of temporal theory. But once they have demonstrated their intellectual perseverance, they are trained in advanced temporal theory, TT Capsule design, and space-time navigation. Symbiotic Nuclei are granted when the appropriate course work has been completed and a score of at least 51% has been achieved. These Initiates have their Biodata modified (especially their DNA) by anointing them with Time Energies from the Eye of Harmony. This creates the symbiotic nucleotides, a fourth helix of DNA, and the other capabilities that make the Gallifreyan a Time Lord. Members of the Prydonian or Arcalian Chapters receive more advanced Rassilon Imprimaturs than the lesser chapters. With the acceptance of the symbiotic nuclei, the Initiates become Junior Grade Time Lords. Junior Grade Time Lords are qualified to serve as technicians in the Time Control Room. (Like any Gallifreyan) every Time Lords have a Bio-Data Extract taken and stored in the Archival Office. Time Lord D-Es are color coded by chapter. There are Data-Extracts of millions of Time Lords on file but as of The Ancestor Cell only a total of 153,846 full Senior Time Lords have been created.

All students are trained in detachment and Physical Inactivity. They are taught that the Time Lords are essential to protecting the Universe and History from corruption by the Lesser Species, and ancient evils of the Dark Times. Most believe this without any doubt. Because the Web of Time has been dependent on the Time Lords for so long, Junior 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. Junior Time Lords have limited access to the Power of Creation through the direct link to the Eye of Harmony that their heart (or one of their hearts if they are a Newblood) provides.

It takes at least a 100 years to become ready for the final exam. By the end of their time at the Academy a Gallifreyan will have the equivalent of several Earth university degrees, and can solve complex temporal induction problems in less then a second. Junior Time Lords hoping to reach Apprentice rank must spend some time serving as Time Technicians. Passing the Final Temporal Engineering Examination is necessary to graduate from Junior Time Lord to Apprentice Time Lord. The exam is an oral test where the student will be verbally questioned by the Education Committee for the Academy of Time Lords of Gallifrey. It is said that the key requirement to being a Time Lord is the ability to predict the movements of the Universe. While the questions do focus on Time Lord Law, and temporal theory, the Junior Lord is also questioned on on a variety of other topics, including material covered in their General Studies. The graduate is scored by each of the Cardinals on the Committee, and those scores are averaged. Receiving a Triple Alpha score in Temporal Engineering is very note worthy, where as a Double Gamma (a 51%) is the minimal passing score. A Junior Time Lord's score on these tests is often used a way of predicting their future career as a Time Lord.

Academy Seal — A seal associated with being a Time Lord
Perhaps the Seal of the Time Academy?

I understand the importance of my sacred position. I will not meddle with Time. I will respect the traditions of Gallifrey

- Time Lord Certification Pledge

The number of Time Tots accepted into the Time Academy is quite limited because (in modern times) there are only 1,000 Time Lords at any given time. Each Chapter can have about 100 Senior Time Lords at any time. The rest are probably Apprentice and Junior Grade Time Lords. For this reason, despite different ages and different entrance years, all students selected to become Time Lords in a certain millennium will have the same graduation year. The Rothe Tower Library is probably a place where Junior Time Lords make final preparations right before their graduation ceremony. Graduation ceremonies take place in the Panopticon and probably occur only once every thousand years. Graduates (without doctorates) can be as young as 125 years old but, because of the graduation schedules, many will attend for centuries before their certification. The students scores for the final exams are kept confidential. The graduating Time Lord generally has the equivalent of a human Masters in all technical and scientific disciplines, and knows enough about temporal physics to destroy the Web of Time. Graduates work as servants, guards, technicians, and minor administrators. The most highly qualified graduates serve as assistants and apprentices for a Senior Time Lord, and work as crew members on his TARDIS during research trips. After graduation, some Time Lords attend night-school to further their education or start a new careers.

"I grant you TARDIS!"

- The Kingmaker

SENIOR TIME LORDS
Lords Temporal, Lords of Time, Masters of the Web of Time, Guardians of the Eternal Chronology of Existence, Chronarchs, the Great Houses, Supervisor Time Lords, Timeys

Technically speaking only Gallifreyans who have a Time Travel Capsule hold the title of Senior Time Lord while Apprentice and Junior Time Lords are considered to be lower order lords. To acheive full Time Lord status Junior and Apprentice grade Time Lord Graduate Students must undergo numerous challenges and lessons (including the secretly harmless Cavern of Infinite Death) before they travel to Mount Plutarch to meet the Kingmaker. The Kingmaker is the being who is responsible for granting full Time Lord status. The Time Lords guard Time and the Kingmaker guards the Time Lords. For this reason her Powers are independent from the other Time Lords. She is more powerful then any any single Time Lord in existence - though not all of them as a whole. She is the keeper of the Laws of Time and can grant other Time Lords the ability to safely strip violators of their Time Lord abilities.

At the Academy, Apprentice Grade Time Lords will be chosen by a TARDIS. This ceremony appears to be offered only as set times - possibly only once every 1000 years. After the TARDIS has chosen the Kingmaker states "We grant you TARDIS!" and the Time Lord will form a symbiotic bond with the TARDIS giving him access to the Power of Creation, as well as connecting his mind to the TARDIS, and (through the TARDIS) to the Matrix. For more information about this bond seen the TARDIS Technical Index below.

Students are then tested to see if they can resist the temptation to use their new powers. This means a journey to Anima Persis where they are confronted by the psychic remains of the planet's former inhabitants. The Junior Time Lord is tempted to use their powers to save themselves from the ghosts. This is a test that all (or almost all) lords fail but failure doesn't prevents one from becoming a Senior Grade Time Lord. This is why Academy students learn to "Never talk to the dead."

It is only after graduating and being granted a TARDIS that they considered to be true Senior Time Lords and allowed (with the proper Time Warrant) to make solo trips in a TARDIS. With such rank comes the duty of monitoring events throughout space and time. When on missions, the TARDIS owner is holds the title of Supervisor over the other five crewmembers. Returning Time Lords generally deactivate their chameleon circuits and make an appointment to have their TARDIS serviced.

TARDIS
Time And Relative Dimension In Space, Time Travel Capsule, Timeship

For my complete "TARDIS Technical Index" click the banner link above.

The Time Lords of Gallifrey — The Time Lords

THE LIFE OF A TIME LORD

The Time Aware worlds consider the Time Lords (or Dominus Temporis as the human scientists refer to them) to be the oldest and most mighty of the Universe's civilizations. They are the self-appointed guardians of both Time and History. But 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.

They Time Lords believe that their primary purpose 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 are so intertwined with the Universe that they are a part of the laws of time and space. Because of this, 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. 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. This might explain why old Time Lords often get their tenses muddled.

Gallifrey is governed by an oligarchy with the Time Lords of various ranks being pulled from the Great Houses. The term "Time Lord" is technically masculine but, in the modern era, is often used by both male and females. The title "Time Lady" is rarely used and considered to be old fashioned. Technically speaking only Gallifreyans who have a Time Travel Capsule can hold the title of Senior Time Lord. The others are of a Lower Order, known as Junior Time Lords or Apprentice Time Lords. Each Chapter has 100 full Time Lords for a total of 600. Their are also about 400 Apprentice and Junior Grade Time Lords at any given time for a total of 1,000 Time Lords. All are graduates of the Time Academy. Of that 1,000 only about 12 are female. These 1000 Lords have supreme power over the millions of Gallifreyans on the planet.

Some Time Lords get jobs in Observation Services. It is their responsibility to study the external universe for damage to history, or the time-space continuum. Those who wished to work in a more governmental career must still focus much of their energy on endless research projects; for it is only by maintaining a high academic status as a scientist that they can gain the social standing necessary to be elected to the various councils. People who possess a doctorate are greatly honored in Gallifreyan society, and those who have truly mastered a field are treated almost as gods by other Gallifreyans. More introverted Time Lords prefer the company of their symbiotically bonded TARDIS and shun most other social interaction. Many of these shut-ins pursue a career in TARDIS engineering. Timeship Demolition Coordinator is considered to be a boring, dead-end job. Over the thousands of years of their lives most Time Lords will fight off boredom by changing the academic focus of their research several times. Some Time Lords take night-school courses, such as Matrix Diagnostics, to start a new career.

The ceremonial robes, collars, and makeup of the Time Lords are worn only for special occasions. Time Lords are to always act with dignity, dress appropriately. Time Lords are always on time, for to be late or early for any event is unthinkable. One of the symbols of their mastery of time is the pocket watch, another is an old fashion key, which symbolizes their role as gate-keepers of the secrets of the Universe.

It is only after being granted a TARDIS that a Gallifreyan is considered to be true Senior Time Lord and allowed to make solo trips in a TARDIS. Even 200 year old Junior Time Lords can find themselves being refered as a mere boy (or girl) by Senior Time Lords. While almost all Senior Time Lords take their responsibility to Time very seriously, most Time Lords stay on Gallifrey and almost never use their TARDISes. Time Lords believe that the whole universe has been mapped and there is no longer any purpose for explorers. Despite there being 1000 Time Lords, it is common that less then 5 TT Capsules will be off Gallifrey at any given time. Among the anthropologists and historians in the Observation Services, Time Warrants sanctioning off-world travel for field research are issued only to the most distinguished, experienced, and trusted of lords. Being assigned to a Field Research Team, usually requires assisting an elder Supervisor Time Lords in their political advancement. When on missions, the TARDIS owner is holds the title of Supervisor over the other five crewmembers.

Returning Time Lords generally deactivate their chameleon circuits and make an appointment to have their TARDIS serviced. While an Extraction TARDIS can be sent to rescue field agents who have lost access to their own TARDIS, all Time Lords know that if there was any danger that they would be used by an alien force to threaten Time then the other Time Lords would shut down the victim's personal timeline and place it in the Axis. 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.

Time Lords who travel the cosmos regularly are encouraged to take a companion from among the lesser species to serve as something of a moral conscience. But if a Time Lord is to interact with lesser species it is recommended they form a series of shallow short term relationships to avoid stronger attachments. One of the reasons for this is that Time Lord biodata actually changes and mutates the biodata of lesser species who interact with them. Extensive exposure to a Time Lord can cause a human to become 'infected' with Time Lord DNA, by picking up trace elements of their symbiotic nuclei. While this 'infection' has no obvious affect on a human, it would easily detectable with the right type of scanner.

These bio-plasmic fields of chronon energy protect a Time Lord as they travel from one time stream to another. The fields of a Time Lord will protect their clothes (and the stuff in their pockets) from temporal shifts. But this chronon energy also empowers a Time Lords regenerations. For this reason, they cease being Time Lords when they have used up all 12 of their regenerations.

When elderly Time Lords who have done great deeds come to their retirement, after their 12th regeneration, they are offered (by the High Council) the opportunity to retire to somewhere in Normal Space. This custom is millions of years old, but very few ever accept it. They must give up their TARDIS as part of the retirement.

Because the minds (or souls) Time Lords are stored in the APC after death they don't fear death. For this reason Time Lords 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.

Time Lord corpses are telepathically active due to residual psychic power. It is said, that when a Time Lord dies he leaves a scar in the form of a biodata thread stretching across all of space and time and ending at the physical point of termination. Even if a Time Lord has had both hearts and all three brain stems stopped and been given a cellular shockwave to abort their regeneration there is still a remote possibility that life could be renewed in the body sometime in the next thousand years. This is because the individual cells in the corpse will spend days trying to regenerate. If the Artron Energy released by the death of a Time Lord was to be converted into kinetic energy, it would be enough to drag Earth's moon out of orbit and crash into the planet.If the Artron Energy released by the death of a Time Lord was to be converted into kinetic energy, it would be enough to drag Earth's moon out of orbit and crash into the planet. For these reason Gallifreyans are always very careful about disposing of the body of a Time Lord. Traditionally, their bodies are interned in the Panopticon Vault 30 meters beneath the Panopticon. But a Time Lord can choose to use any remaining residual regeneration energy to cause their body to vanish. For more information about Gallifreyan death practices see gallifreyan Death

THE LORDS OF TIME Guardians of the Eternal Chronology of Existence

TABLE OF CONTENTS