Grand Hourglass
The Grand Hourglass is counted among the most mysterious objects in all of creation. It is bound to Arcaneus, the draconic god of time, whose symbol is an hourglass.12
The sands of time
The Great Hourglass of Arcaneus is where all the time in the universe is accumulated.3
The Sands of Time are a great source of power for those who know how to harness them. This time energy differs from arcane magic in many ways: it is harder to control, and what it does cannot be undone. Exploring it may be an affordable gamble for long-lived peoples, who have more sand to spare, but for short-lived humans it is deadly.3
Many scholars believe that time energy is what keeps a soul in the physical world, where it is held from birth until it passes to the afterlife at death. In their view every soul is like an hourglass that begins to run the moment it is born, and when its sands run out, its time is over and it leaves the mortal coil.3
In imperial doctrine
According to the dogma of The Empire, Arcaneus is no more than a god charged by Alarath with guarding the flow of time and the Grand Hourglass.4 The god's name is spelled both Arcaneus and Arceanus.14
Not everyone accepted that view. The scholars of the Order of Nus’ar held that Arcaneus, whom they called the "dragon of time", was the only true god and that time was the only true master. The Empire hunted them as heretics, then spared the survivors on condition that they live as scholars in the capital's White Library. They are now counted the greatest historians of Teneris, devoted to recording time itself.4
Many scholars, members of the Order of Nus’ar above all, believe that Arcaneus is in truth a manifestation of Orphus, the very essence of time, and some chained scholars hold him to be one of the most powerful beings in the cosmos. The Empire and the Church have violently suppressed this belief.3
The Hourglass Conspiracy
The Grand Hourglass is bound up with the Hourglass Conspiracy. In 261 AVD the Cult of Void came to light, led by people who claimed to carry the souls of the Heralds from before Victory Day. Events involving Arcaneus and the Grand Hourglass are known to have taken place, but little more is recorded of an affair that should have shaken the universe to its core. The cult left behind only the ritual massacres it carried out to bring back the "Dark Father".1
Sealed. Break the seal to read it; it may spoil your game.
Notes
Sources
This article draws on:
Images in this article
Lands of Exile: Starter Setting Guide (Bad Badger Games, 2024), p. 17. Art by the Bad Badger Games team.
Related articles
EventHourglass ConspiracyA shadowy affair of 261 AVD in which the Cult of Void came to light, touching the god of time and the Grand Hourglass; little else about it is known.
RegionThe EmpireThe human realm at the heart of the Lands of Exile, an absolute monarchy heavily shaped by faith, ruled from Marble City by the unbroken line of the Red Eagle and divided into five provinces under their Sovereigns.DeityArcaneusThe god of time, one of the Draconic Gods, whose domains are time and knowledge and whose symbol is the hourglass. The Empire counts him a guardian of time set by Alarath; the Order of Nus'ar held him the only true god.
DeityAlarathThe god of war and justice, patriarch of the Exiled Pantheon and protector of the Empire, who prizes courage above mercy and whose paladins are said to serve him even beyond death.
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