On Temporal Mechanics

        At its most basic, temporal magic is simply a different way to express the various colors of magic we already know. For example, one can skip across a span of time quickly through the use of purple magic, or sate themselves through yellow magic by chronologically stretching out their stomach. This is why temporal magic is sometimes called a multicolored discipline, as it utilizes various colors, sometimes in tandem, to produce the desired effects. In this manuscript I hope to outline a few of the applications of temporal magic I have already discovered, as well as explaining a few of the fundamentals that make them possible.

Warping Time

        The first thing any temporal mage must learn to manipulate time is how it may be shaped. Time is much like the light we use to charge our crystals in that we cannot materially manipulate it without great effort. Nor does time exist as an infinite plane one may travel across. Instead, spans of time may be shortened or lengthened, by "squashing" or "stretching" them (chronocompression and chronotension). Typically, this begins by drawing a purple magic sigil in the area you wish to manipulate. Then, the area must be temporally destabilized; time tends to right itself when stable through unknown means. An adequate amount of purple magic can be used to carefully destabilize a bubble of time.

        After the area is rendered temporally unstable, the mage should use purple magic to either compress time in the area, hastening its speed, or tense it, slowing it dramatically. Time cannot be "traveled" across, but in this way, one can appear to blink forward in time, or give oneself ample time to come to a decision, provided you have temporally isolated yourself before proceeding. Compression and tension are the two major underlying principles behind temporal magic, and all expressions are linked to these basic ideas. Purple magic, therefore, is foundational to the discipline (and not gray, as was previously believed).

Chronosight

        Chronosight is a unique application of temporal I have discovered myself. A purple crystal of adequate charge can be "falsely channeled" in order to invoke chronocompression within the reflections of the crystal, allowing the mage a sort of future sight. This can be done without a sigil for very short periods of time, though it requires highly charged crystals and a highly skilled mage. Although this technique is immensely useful, it comes with a number of drawbacks, some of which are obvious, and some of which are not:

• As the reflections within a crystal must be read to gain any information, this sight is limited to what the crystal can see. It may be possible that purple magic can be further manipulated in order to "see" other parts of the world, following a similar principle to teleportation; however, every time I have attempted this, the crystal has either shattered, or the sight is too murky to be useful.
• Reflections must be observed in "real time"; that is to say, since the area is not actually being chronocompressed, even high levels of compression will still take some time to observe, during which time there is a risk of crystal breakage, mana loss, etc
• The reflections in the crystal are not always "true"; in other words, it appears that temporal magic can only see forward from the current point in time, and the unpredictable nature of the universe will result in minor fluctuations that may cause the outcomes to be altered. This effect is more pronounced the further into the future one attempts to look.

        For my application, I have constructed a set of glasses that act as continual foci, that can be channeled at any time to invoke chronosight. The crystal charge must be kept rather low, however, to reduce the risk of the crystal shattering. Therefore, the amount of chronosight offered by the glasses is limited, and often murky, unless the area has been rendered temporally stable to begin with.

        This is a very simplified version of temporal magic, and there is a great deal more to be explored and researched in the field. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me, and I will try my best to answer. (( Or feel free to post here in the thread IC or OOC! ))